NET Bible, Full-notes Edition, Cloth over Board, Gray, Comfort Print: Holy Bible

Despite the title I have to say I still love this Bible.Likes...There are 3 types of notes. They are translators notes, study notes and text critical notes.I find the translators notes the most interesting. These notes are fantastic, they do a good job of explaining why the translators made the decisions they did when they chose the specific English translations. Sometimes the translation can seem a little odd if your used to the NIV, NLT etc but the notes explain why it's different, they are not always convincing but at least you have the rationale behind the decision.Study notes explain cultural context, odd biblical idioms and stuff modern or non Semitic people would not know.Text critical notes refer to alternative manuscripts etc.I love the fact thomas Nelson has taken this on as they are much more able to bring the net to a wider audience.I like how they sometimes quote how other versions have translated the original languages.The thomas Nelson version uses caps and small letters to refer to footnotes.. the first edition used numbers. Both the Letters and original numbers start afresh on each page.I like how it sometimes includes Hebrew and Greek words in the notes along with transliterations. It also occasionally includes references to important scholarly works when relevant.I love that there is a bibliography of cited works.The hard back cloth version knocks more than half the price off of the other versionsThe 8 pages of maps at the back are good, reverting to vector images used under copyright from zondervan's new king James version I think. (The original has satellite maps which were quite cool but unclear and not as useful). They are patriarchs, exodus and conquest, 12 tribes, monarchial period, Jesus travels, Paul's travels and Jerusalem of Jesus day.Dislikes...While on the subject of maps I would have liked small maps in the notes like in the esv study Bible instead of (or as well as) those at the back.There are no introductions to the biblical books but this is ok because most of us own dozens of other Bibles or can find such information readily.I liked the original layout and style of the first edition. The Thomas Nelson edition has a central block of 1 column text at the top surrounded by notes in 3 columns. It looks a little like a Talmud page. (The first edition had 2 columns of Bible text, separated by a line with 2 columns of notes at the bottom.)The Bible text is in black print which is clear and good but the text notes are in dark grey with a smaller font (and slightly narrower font than the first edition). Which makes it a little more difficult to read.These grumbles are not that bad on the whole and mostly on style.My number one gripe is that the Hebrew font quoted in the notes is modern sans serif and not the traditional biblical Hebrew style. To be fair it is still ok to read but not the way I think it should look.The Greek font looks normal.Conclusion...This Bible is great. The features I like massively outweigh the ones I dislike.It will likely bring a deeper understanding of the meaning of the original text.If you are looking for a change then this could be it. It will be ideal if you're concerned about translation, alternative manuscripts or academic opinions.I would certainly recommend this Bible to be read alongside your favourite study Bible as it will often shed new light on other versions.

This is such a great bible as, I'm sure you know, it includes a wealth of translation notes, and that makes it more interesting if that's your thing. I particularly like it. The NET translation is solid enough too, moderate, literate and readable.The cloth version is fine, I bought it as it was the most available (and quickly delivered) in the UK.The quality appears ok. I'd buy a leather or imitation leather version tho if there was any issue with the binding. It appears perfectly fine at the moment. The quality of the paper is good and the text size is a bit small, but not a deal breaker, there's so much to read! All in all I'd highly recommend it. Great resource!

reading

Excellent notes. The cover its a bit simple but seems sturd

It was really quite a treat to finally get my hands on an "NET Full Notes Edition" - the contents of which clearly are just terrific. There are several reviews and discussions around about the actual "internals" of this Bible so I wont go into too much about that side of things here. I will however say that the notes are just fantastic if that's the kind of Bible you are after. This is a really detailed study Bible and the references and notes are of course the reason for buying this - and on that merit the Bible is worth every penny (which happens to be a lot of pennies actually!)However - and I say this with a heavy heart, for me the Bible is a disappointment because of the quality of the binding. Mine was "cloth over board" and maybe other editions are better. However, I do doubt that as the text block itself is probably the same in all bindings.The first copy I received was clearly faulty as the ribbon markers were stuck to the inside pages and had damaged the pages when I first opened the book. It was also damaged in transit. Amazon were excellent and their customer services superb in sending me another and free return of the faulty one. However, I have to say that both of the books were very "sloppy" in the way the text block is made. This inevitably causes the block to sag (badly) and put a huge strain on the end pages which are the means its attached to the cover. The first copy I had was already tearing on the back cover and I can see already that the same issue will arise in the second copy I have. I am guessing that with even the most gentle of handling, this book could well fall apart quite quickly and I am already wondering if its best to take it apart and try and strengthen it now from new or just try and repair it in the future. This should not have to be the case!This is obviously a real shame and the work that's gone into the contents and indeed the whole concept of this Bible really deserved a much better production and quality of binding. Having said that, I again can only speak for the ones I have received and maybe other bindings are better, or I have been unlucky (although it seems other have had similar problems).I brought this for the contents, and not for something to sit pretty on my shelf, so to an extent the binding is of course a bit irrelevant. I can not say how pleased I am with the contents and given I couldn't afford the leather version, then I obviously will make the best of what I have and appreciate the word inside.I don't know if this helps or confuses anyone thinking of buying the Bible...you are going to have to weigh up all aspects of this for yourself!

THE PRINT IS TO SMALL, FOR READING !!

I've read the NET Bible fully before this review; it was a worthy read and I want to particularly praise the notes. That said, the notes betray a biased translation, i.e. 1 John 5 the word γεννήσαντα is translated "fathered" when the word in every other English translation is translated "born of". This is just one of numerous examples of the translations bias; the good thing is, if you read the notes you can normally catch them out, as the notes are often more honest than the translation. Every translation has a bias, which is why I suggest this is a good purchase to go along with another modern English translation to grasp the nuance of the koine Greek.Sadly the book binding did not last even a year of use, I ended up reading bits or going online to finish it.