“The Westminster Study Bible is state of the art.”
“Beautifully accessible, with the highest level of biblical scholarship and precision, and with contextual and theological sophistication unmatched by any other study Bible.” —Willie James Jennings, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Theology and Africana Studies, Yale Divinity School
Based on the recently released New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, The Westminster Study Bible (WSB) includes interpretive materials from over eighty leading biblical experts who, as teachers in a variety of educational settings, are sensitive to how the biblical texts have been received, what their cultural and social consequences have been, and how readers might hear them now in multiple contexts.
“The WSB contains a wealth of useful reference materials written by specialists with exceptional clarity, including study notes; overviews of the biblical books; thematic essays; and tables, charts, and diagrams. . . . This volume will be an essential resource for teaching and research at all levels and is appropriate for readers from different religious backgrounds.” —JODI MAGNESS, Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
“I have been waiting for The Westminster Study Bible for a long time. . . . The WSB is deeply interdisciplinary and attentive to ancient and modern contexts. It provokes us as readers to build bridges among and between different interpretations and the different worlds that have shaped and been shaped by biblical traditions. A most useful text for an undergraduate classroom.” —JACQUELINE M. HIDALGO, Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, University of San Diego
Who Benefits from
The Westminster Study Bible?
The Westminster Study Bible is an ideal textbook for a range of biblical studies courses, as well as courses in religion, philosophy, and the general humanities, whether introductory or advanced.
“This study Bible is a treasure. The materials that have been strategically compiled and expertly drafted to support text engagement are wonderful resources for the casual reader, the serious student, and the mature scholar. In my future study and work, this will be the English Bible I pull from the shelf and place on my desk. And when students, parishioners, colleagues, and friends seek a recommendation, this is the Bible to which I will refer them.” —BRIAN K. BLOUNT, President Emeritus of Union Presbyterian Seminary
“A superb resource for a wide range of interests, and for both informal education as well as for secondary, post-secondary, and seminary contexts. Highly recommended!” —ADELE REINHARTZ, Distinguished University Professor, Classics and Religious Studies, University of Ottawa
“This is a critically important resource for God’s people to engage the Bible with our hearts open and our reason sharply tuned, that we may hear anew God’s word to us and follow Jesus in his way of love.” —THE MOST REV. MICHAEL B. CURRY, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church
“The WSB stands out for its commitment to integrity in presenting the biblical text, making it a trustworthy resource for teachers, students, pastors, Christian educators, and studious church members alike.” —BISHOP VASHTI MURPHY MCKENZIE, President/General Secretary, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Features of
The Westminster Study Bible
INTRODUCTIONS TO BIBLICAL BOOKS orient readers to each book’s historical, cultural, and literary contexts and provide a reading guide with a general overview and outline of each book. Additional introductions to traditional groupings of books in the Jewish and Christian canons are also included.
STUDY NOTES open up the biblical texts and explore cultural insights from the ancient world as well as help readers to grasp how certain texts may have functioned in much later periods and far different settings.
TABLES, CHARTS, AND DIAGRAMS introduce historical timelines, rulers of ancient empires, measurements, Gospel parallels, and more.
COLOR MAPS illustrate ancient Near Eastern geography, political territories, historical events, and place names across the time span of the biblical writings.
AN INDEX to the study notes, excursuses, essays, and other materials helps readers navigate the interpretive resources.
THEMATIC ESSAYS provide wide-ranging treatments of the different ways the Bible may be read and interpreted, examine aspects of the Bible’s history and its ancient contexts, explore various themes in biblical literature as they relate to contemporary concerns and issues, and show how the Bible has been received and interpreted in culture and science over time and locations.
Essays Include
- The Bible as a Collection: The Making of the Biblical Canons
- The Bible and Methods: How to Read the Bible
- The Bible in Its Ancient Contexts
- The Bible in Public Life
- The Bible in Religious Interpretation and Practice
- The Bible in Global Contexts
- The Bible, Gender, and Sexuality
- The Bible, Race, and Ethnicity
- The Bible and Social Justice
- The Bible and Visual Art
- The Bible in Film and Media
- The Bible in Music
- The Bible in Literature
- The Bible in Museums
- The Bible, Science, and the Environment
THEMATIC EXCURSUSES offer more expansive discussions of important topics relating to the biblical text.
Four Types of Excursuses
- Reading through Time excursuses provide a glimpse into how the interpretation of a particular text has changed through the years and across different communities of readers.
- Making Connections excursuses show how the biblical text may be related to events or circumstances outside and beyond the immediate passage at hand.
- Focus On excursuses offer a more detailed consideration of a theme, concept, figure, or place that appears in a passage or across many passages.
- Going Deeper excursuses afford a more thorough exploration of a topic than can be offered in the briefer study notes.
Sample Excursuses
- The Exodus Event
- Human Bondage in Ancient Israel
- The Divine Mandate to Exterminate the Canaanites
- Woman Wisdom
- Exile and Restoration Metanarratives
- Isaiah and Disability
- Healing in the Gospels and Acts
- Son of God vs. Son of Man
- Anti-Judaism
- LGBTQIA2+ Issues and Paul
- Frederick Douglass, Paul, and Onesimus
- Revelation in Popular Culture
Why Do We Need
The Westminster Study Bible?
“Study Bibles are plentiful, but not all study Bibles are the same. The Westminster Study Bible distinguishes itself by providing not only helpful study notes of the biblical texts but also examples of how contemporary readers are reading the Bible in particular contexts. It also has a global orientation not seen in many study Bibles. I enthusiastically recommend this study Bible and would use it in my own teaching.” —KAH-JIN JEFFREY KUAN, President Emeritus and Professor of Hebrew Bible, Claremont School of Theology
The Westminster Study Bible provides up-to-date scholarly insights into the biblical texts and their ancient contexts while fostering critical thought about the important role the Bible has played throughout history and in our contemporary cultural contexts. One need look no further than the daily news to see how the Bible continues to play a key role in political and cultural debates, where it has often figured prominently throughout history in a range of hot-button issues: from justifying slavery to motivating its abolition, from mandating the death penalty to calling for its abolishment, from debates over marriage and sexuality to discussions regarding civil rights and care for the environment.
The Westminster Study Bible is a Bible for today’s readers, helping people of diverse backgrounds understand the many different ways scholars, politicians, activists, artists, and everyday people have used and often misused the Bible to support particular agendas and objectives.
Westminster John Knox Press has long been dedicated to supporting critical thought in the realm of religious studies in ways that have direct intersections with social issues in the here and now. The press is proud to continue that effort with The Westminster Study Bible.
Meet the Editors
General Editors
Emerson B. Powery is Professor of Biblical Studies and Dean of the School of Arts, Culture, and Society at Messiah University. He is the author of Jesus Reads Scripture: The Function of Jesus’ Use of Scripture in the Synoptic Gospels and The Good Samaritan: Luke 10 for the Life of the Church; the coauthor of The Genesis of Liberation: Biblical Interpretation in the Antebellum Narratives of the Enslaved; and a contributor to and coeditor of True to Our Native Land: An African American New Testament Commentary. He also serves as the general editor for Early Christianity and Its Literature, a book series of the Society of Biblical Literature.
Stacy Davis is Professor Emerita of Religious Studies and Theology at Saint Mary’s College. She is the author of This Strange Story: Jewish and Christian Interpretation of the Curse of Canaan from Antiquity to 1865 and Haggai and Malachi in the Wisdom Commentary Series. She has contributed to Bitter the Chastening Rod: Africana Biblical Interpretation after Stony the Road We Trod in the Age of BLM, SayHerName, and MeToo as well as The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century.
Mary F. Foskett is Wake Forest Kahle Professor of Religious Studies and John Thomas Albritton Fellow at Wake Forest University. She is the author of A Virgin Conceived: Mary and Classical Representations of Virginity and Interpreting the Bible: Approaching the Text in Preparation for Preaching. She is also coeditor of Ways of Being, Ways of Reading: Asian American Biblical Interpretation; Between Experience and Interpretation: Engaging the Writings of the New Testament; and Diverse Strands of a Common Thread: An Introduction to Ethnic Chinese Biblical Interpretation.
Brent A. Strawn is D. Moody Smith Distinguished Professor of Old Testament and Professor of Law at Duke University. He is the author of numerous articles, chapters, and books, including Honest to God Preaching: Talking Sin, Suffering, and Violence; Lies My Preacher Told Me: An Honest Look at the Old Testament; The Old Testament Is Dying: A Diagnosis and Recommended Treatment; The Old Testament: A Concise Introduction; and The Incomparable God: Readings in Biblical Theology. He is coeditor of The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Law and served as both translator and member of the editorial board for The Common English Bible, as well as the book reviewer for Exodus and section review leader of the Pentateuch for the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.
Associate Editors
J. Todd Hibbard, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Detroit Mercy
Jennifer L. Koosed, Professor of Religious Studies, Albright College
Davina C. Lopez, Professor of Religious Studies, Eckerd College
Henry W. Morisada Rietz, Professor of Religious Studies, Grinnell College
Claudia Setzer, Professor of Religious Studies, Manhattan College