Giant Print Thin-line NKJV Review
NKJV Giant Print Thin-line Bible Photos
Many is the Bible that has tried to unseat my Nelson 334 Personal Size Giant Print NKJV Reference Bible {I have tried to retire it four times but it just won’t quit} and today, I am reviewing the nearest contender to do just that, the Giant Print Thin-line NKJV. (Note: Thomas Nelson provided this Bible free of charge in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give positive feedback and my opinions are my own.)
The Translation
As you can tell from the title, this is offered in the New King James Version. NKJV and I are the same age (both issued in 1982) though we have not been together that long. That being said it has been 13 years in service for me with 800 1 on 1 discipleship sessions, 300 Sunday school classes, 25 Sunday morning services, 3500 daily readings and 1 international trip. For as much as I have thought I enjoy other translations, NKJV is my go to translation.
Like its predecessor, the KJV, NKJV is a formal equivalence translation with the New Testament based on the Textus Receptus, the same manuscript which undergirds the New American Standard Bible. In fact, NKJV has only one rival for literalness, accuracy, and excellence for study, the NASB. I would put the NKJV at a 10th grade reading level- it isn’t difficult to comprehend but it is not a simplistic translation either.
The Cover & Binding.
This is the black leathersoft edition but, if you did not handle a true leather on a regular basis, you would never know that. Thomas Nelson even managed to add a grain to the imitation leather, a feat that is quite impressive when you stop to think about it; it is a touch you would not expect to find and it is a tactile delight. As far as imitation leathers go, this is the best I have ever handled. I will make a bold statement and say that the feel of this edition even surpasses that of Crossway, who has virtually defined the imitation leather market.
Thomas Nelson has returned to sewing the binding in their Bibles and I am glad to see that. A sewn binding ensures your Bible will last a lifetime. Not only is a sewn binding incredibly durable (Ask my model 334 if you do not believe me), it will lay flat virtually anywhere you open the Bible, a feature which comes in handy if placing the Bible on a lectern.
Layout and Font
The NKJV Text-block is laid out in a double column paragraph format in the new Comfort Print Font, which comes in at a 13-point measurement. I do wish it was in a verse by verse format but that is a little nitpicky.
With the deep rich coloration of the ink, it is very easy to read, so easy as a matter of fact, that I was able to swap out Bibles in the middle of a sermon and deploy this Bible when a smaller print verse by verse Bible became challenging to read. Among Bible publishers, Thomas Nelson has some of the best red ink you can find for your red-letter editions and this edition is no exception. The Giant Print Thin-line is beyond easy on the eyes and if you find yourself headed for bi-focals, as I am, you will find this Bible an excellent choice.
I specifically asked to review a thumb-indexed copy because Nelson handles thumb-indexing much better than most. Something that almost no one realizes is the fact that thumb-indexing is completed by hand so no two thumb-indexed Bibles are identical. The thumb indexing is just the right size and each tab covers about three books each.
Paper
The paper is a touch thin, most likely 28gsm, and fairly opaque; there is a bit of show through nowhere near as bad as with some of its competitors. Despite being fairly thin, the pages turn rather easily.
What about writing in this Bible?
If you use the correct writing implement, there should be no issue with writing or other marking in this Bible. For pencils, Prismacolor or Prang are preferred and for ball-point, Pilot or Zebra will provide you with the best writing experience. Realize, of course, that this is not a wide margin Bible so your ability to write in it might be somewhat limited unless you have really tiny handwriting.
Helps
This is a plain text Bible so the only helps you are given are the translator’s footnotes. As a teacher this does not bother me; I want the men and women who are in my audience to do the work of searching the Scriptures on their own rather than relying on someone else’s work as their primary source of understanding. The footnotes include textual variants and are as well annotated as the NASB or HCSB- you will find them most useful.
Use in Preaching/Comparison to the NKJV Preaching Bible
As I mentioned, I swapped this Bible onto my pulpit mid-sermon. The deep ebony of the black letters and the larger font made it very easy on the eyes and I had no issue quickly returning to the morning text as the verse numbers are rather bold for rapid locating.
The Giant Print Thin-line can easily hold its own against the NKJV Preaching Bible when in the pulpit. The font is a touch larger, compensating for not being in a verse by verse format, with the added benefit of thumb indexing, an option not available in the NKJV Preaching Bible.
Making it incredibly difficult to choose one or the other is the fact that each Bible offers a preferred feature, perhaps even two, that the other does not. The Preaching Bible is verse by verse with references at the bottom of the page while the Giant Print Thin-line offers the larger font and thumb-indexing, both of which make for faster text navigation.
For Every Day Carry
Tall and thin, the Giant Print Thin-line will easily fit into most briefcases/laptop bags. It clocks in at ¾”-1” and weighs around 1.5lbs. It is not a feature you often hear about in technical terms, but this Bible is incredibly well balanced. What I mean by that is that many of its competitors are a touch unwieldy for one handed use and a person who is peripatetic while using their Bible could easily drop the book. Not so here. I cannot go so far as to say that Nelson intentionally designed this for single handed use but I would encourage you to try using one handed and you can draw your own conclusion.
The overall design makes it very readable in most lighting situations. I gauge a Bible’s readability by using it with my bedside lamp which offers a muted white light for reading before sleeping and I will say I was delighted; many Bibles do not perform well in that setting because of issues with paper or font. With the Giant Print Thin-line, Thomas Nelson has a winner on its hands- it is very readable indeed.
Final Thoughts/Should you buy it?
I can easily recommend this Bible to anyone considering it. A number of solid use cases come to mind for this particular edition of the Scriptures; I use it under several of those scenarios. It would not be a regular visitor to my pulpit simply because I have been using a verse by verse format for nearly 25 years and that is not a habit I have any plans to break.
This Bible is incredibly affordable which does lend to an ability to use this Bible for gift giving (Many churches give a Bible to the newly baptized and this would be a great choice.) and also lends itself to being able to keep several copies on hand if one were in college/seminary.
I do not really envision any situation where you would be dissatisfied with this edition of the Scriptures. The only suggestion for improvement I might offer would be to offer it in a good quality leather but a good re-binder can easily replace the cover for you. If you buy the Giant Print Thin-line, you will be quite satisfied.
