The NASB MacArthur Study Bible, Second Edition

A review of the MacArthur Study Bible 2nd Edition (ISBN 9780785230304). This volume is a Smyth-sewn gray cloth-over-board hardback with relatively opaque 36 gsm paper. The text of the 1995 New American Standard Bible (NASB) is printed in a 9.5 point font in two 53 character wide text columns. The approximately 25,000 footnotes are presented in three columns in a 7.5 to 8 point sans serif font. Between the text and the footnotes, roughly 72,000 references and text and
translation notes appear in a 6.5 point sans serif font. The Scripture text and the footnotes are line-matched. The words of Christ are in black ink.

The volume features introductions for each book and abundant study material, to include an Index to Key Bible Doctrines, multiple harmonies and timelines, and a ~5000 entry concordance.

The footnotes are clear and concise. They were written from the perspective of a Calvinistic baptist who believes the Bible to be the word of God. I characterize these notes as conservative, dispensational, premillennial, pretribulational, cessasionist, complementarian, and Sacramentarian.

Detailed Contents

00:00 Dimensions, Margins, Layout, Font ... (four charts)
00:36 Size compared to the Compact NASB MacArthur Study Bible
00:49 Size compared to the ESV Study Bible
01:17 The back of the dust jacket
01:39 The cloth-over-board gray hardcover
01:53 Page layout
03:34 The font in the text
04:44 The font in the references
05:04 The font in the footnotes
05:22 Paper qualities (sheen, thickness, weight, color, opacity)
06:20 The layout of the book introductions
07:50 The words of Christ are in black ink!
08:11 The Appendices
10:15 The Index to Key Bible Doctrines
11:58 The Concordance
13:13 The seven color maps
13:45 The volume is Smyth-sewn -- stitching is visible in the maps section
14:16 The white head and tail bands and gray and blue ribbon markers
15:03 This Bible lies flat in Genesis
15:16 The presentation page, title pages, copyright page, table of contents, and other material up front
19:06 The introduction to the book of Genesis
19:43 The material between the two testaments
20:53 The Introduction to the Gospels
22:23 A close-up look at the font
22:50 The font compared to that in the older Compact NASB MacArthur Study Bible
23:27 The font compared to that in the older NKJV MacArthur Study Bible
23:57 The font compared to that in Zondervan's NASB Single-Column Reference Bible
24:32 The translation continuum chart (how literal is the 1995 NASB?)
25:14 How likely is the 1995 NASB to depart from the Masoretic Text?
25:56 How often does the 1995 NASB agree with these Greek New Testaments: Nestle-Aland 28th edition, Robinson-Pierpont, Tyndale House, and Westcott & Hort
27:37 The footnote at Genesis 6.2 - who were the sons of God?
28:25 Acts 13.47 and the quotation from Isaiah 49.6
30:07 Hebrews 1.6 and Deuteronomy 32.43 LXX
30:43 Typos in the footnotes - some topical headings are not in blue ink
31:19 The footnote at Isaiah 9.6 - does this passage refer to the Lord?
32:29 The Augustinian footnote at Ephesians 2.8
33:16 The footnote at 1 Cor 13.8-10 says that tongues ceased at the end of the apostolic age
34:07 Reconciling John's gospel and the Synoptic gospels on the timing of the Passover
35:35 Luke 22.19 - "this is my body" is said to be metaphorical
36:16 An arid interpretation of 1 Peter 3.20-21 - "baptism now saves you"
37:10 A footnote on millennial views
38:21 Concluding observations