The NKJV Classic Verse-by-Verse Center-Column Reference Bible

A review of Nelson’s Classic Verse-by-Verse Center-Column Reference Bible in brown Leathersoft (ISBN 9780785229674). This Bible features a 10 point Comfort Print font; reasonably opaque paper; a two-column, verse-by-verse format, with the words of Christ in red; line matching; two broad and long ribbon markers; thumb indices; and 72,000 references, as well as the full set of textual and translation notes, located in the center-column. Seven somewhat glossy Zondervan (International Mapping) maps are included, as is a 165 page concordance. Each book begins on a separate page and is prefaced with a brief introduction. On the down side, there is no map index, print non-uniformity (fading) is occasionally noticeable in the red letters, and the paper has a glossy finish. Although it is Smyth-sewn, this Bible can be coaxed to lie open in Genesis, but it will not lie flat there.

Detailed Contents

00:00 Details (Dimensions, Margins, Layout, Font …), Three Charts
00:13 The Unboxing
03:57 The clamshell box
04:35 Dimensions compared to other NKJV Bibles
05:45 Page layout
07:02 The font in the text
07:45 The text is line matched
08:35 The references and textual and translation notes
09:33 Paper qualities
10:40 Print non-uniformity in the red letters
11:50 The book introductions
12:53 Headings in the text
13:46 References and notes at Revelation 22.19
15:10 The concordance
16:18 The seven maps that span eight pages
17:07 The paste-down construction with paper liner
17:10 The sewn binding, shown in the gutter in Genesis
17:45 The flexible leathersoft cover
17:55 The Bible lies open in Genesis, but at an angle
18:19 The text falls away into the gutter
18:55 The presentation, title, and copyright pages
19:50 The table of contents and Preface to the New King James Version
20:58 The brown head and tail bands, and the brown and red ribbon markers
22:04 The NKJV is a relatively literal translation – my translation continuum chart
22:12 A close-up look at the font
22:52 The font compared to that in the Nelson NKJV Single-Column Reference Bible (ISBN 9780785218142)
23:12 The font compared to that in the Nelson NKJV Thinline Reference Bible (ISBN 9780785217992)
23:43 The font compared to that in the Holman NKJV Large Print Ultrathin Reference Bible (ISBN 9871558196537)
24:43 The font compared to that in a 1980s Nelson NKJV Reference Bible
25:26 Compared to the R. L. Allan 53B Longprimer
25:58 A glance at the spine
26:12 How to tell if your NKJV has the 1984 text, rather than the 1982 text
26:43 Comparing the references in the various Nelson NKJV Comfort Print editions
27:54 Comparing the text and translation notes: ‘cheat’ at Col 2.8
29:21 A listing of some omissions in the NKJV’s textual notes, as well as some out-of-date entries, to the tune of ‘As with gladness men of old’
30:00 Since it’s based on the Textus Receptus, the NKJV usually agrees with Robinson-Pierpont’s Byzantine Textform, but not always
30:10 Thumb indices
30:25 Summary – pros and cons