Logos International Study Bible

The Logos International Study Bible is a study Bible published in 1972 by Logos International, and edited by Bible scholar Harold E. Monser.^[1]

The Logos Bible is based on the 1901 American Standard Version (ASV) translation of the Bible, which has been called "The Rock of Biblical Honesty" by Bible scholars.^[2] This study Bible is unusual in many regards:

• Breadth of intended audience - the Logos Bible has been recommended for beginners, teachers, Bible scholars and students.
• Cross-references - the over 100,000 cross-references are significantly more than many study Bibles
• Topical analyses - the Logos Bible includes a large number of topical articles, spread throughout the text
• Variorum readings by over 150 world-recognized scholars

The editors displayed an unusual amount of care to avoid any bias or appearance of bias in their choice of readings, explicitly including the commentaries of recognized experts from streams of Biblical scholarship with which the editors personally disagreed.

Although the Logos Bible has consistently been highly regarded among Bible students and scholars, no further editions were published. The company itself failed not many years after publication.^[3]

Comparison to The Cross-Reference Bible

The Scripture text, variant renderings and readings, topical analyses, most of the Preface, and Index of the Logos International Study Bible are identical (including the typesetting) to those of The Cross-Reference Bible - Variorum Edition - American Standard Version, edited by Monser, and copyright by him in 1910.^[4] That edition was published by The Cross-Reference Bible Company with original editions published prior to 1929. The Logos edition excluded the following from the Cross-Reference Bible:

• Several paragraphs of the Cross-Reference Bible Preface,
• An entire page pertaining to abbreviations identifying New Testament manuscripts (such as part of the description of Codex Alexandrinus, as well as the entire description of Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209, and numerous other Codices),
• A two-page section called Analysis of the Pentateuch,
• Extracts from the Preface to the American Standard Version,
• Index to Nelson's Bible Atlas,
• Index to Littlefield Maps,
• Color maps associated with the two map indexes.

The Logos edition added:

• The Layman's Commentary on the Holy Spirit,
• A concordance drawn from the King James Version instead of the American Standard Version,
• A different set of color maps.

In-text features

The following example is part of the first column of page 1756, which includes parts of Matthew 2:23 and 3:1:

Margin notes

The letter a that appears after the word "city" in the first line corresponds to the "a" in the left margin, where there is an entry containing "Gen. 4:17". In the text of Genesis chapter 4, verse 17, the word "city" also appears, where it has the symbol "‡" next to it. At the bottom of that page, there is an article entitled CITY, next to the symbol "‡", which has nearly all of the references in the Bible to the word or idea of "city". In the fourth line, there is a superscript "1" next to the word "that". The corresponding margin entry has the letter "Q", followed by a reference to Isaiah, chapter 11, verse 1. This indicates that the passage that follows the letter, in the text, is a quotation from the Old Testament. Similarly, parallel passages are indicated with a P, as used under footnote "e" for chapter 3 verse 1 in the left margin.

Footnote articles

At the bottom of the page are two more examples of in-text articles. The article for Nazareth is referenced from verse 23 with the symbol "*", and the article for John the Baptist, with the symbol "†". The latter article continues for two more columns in the text.

Pronunciation

In the first and fifth lines, the words Nazarene and Nazareth are rendered Nǎz’ǎrẽth and Nǎz-ǎ-rẽne’, respectively. These are indications of the pronunciation, and are given for most words translated or adapted from Biblical languages, particularly including place and personal names.

Variorum readings

Translation always involves a certain amount of subjective judgment. The Logos Bible endeavors to make all such judgments explicit and available to the reader. These are given immediately under the text, in the section labeled "Var. rend.". A comprehensive list of sources at the beginning of the Logos Bible identifies the scholarly sources from which these are drawn, and are indicated in the text.

Other features

Following a comprehensive index, which lists all of the in-text articles and references, the Logos Bible includes The Layman's Commentary on the Holy Spirit edited by John Rea. The Layman's Commentary includes in-depth treatment of most New Testament passages that deal with the Holy Spirit, beginning with Matthew 3:11-17 (the baptism of Jesus). The commentary comprises over 100 pages, and draws from a number of English translations, Bible commentaries and dictionaries. The Layman's Commentary was also published separately by Logos International, also in 1972, as ISBN 0-912106-22-0 and ISBN 0-912106-38-7.

Finally, the Logos Bible also includes a concordance, coordinated with the index, and a number of maps.

References

1. ↑ Harold E. Monser, ed. (1972). The Logos International Study Bible: American Standard Version. Logos International. 
2. ↑ "The American Standard Version of the Holy Bible". eBible.org. Retrieved 2006-09-24. 
3. ↑ "Run Baby Run". Retrieved 2006-09-24.  Comments by Rob Allen, the son of Edward W. Allen, who was the managing editor of Logos during the early to mid-1970s.
4. ↑ Harold E. Monser, ed. (1910). The Cross-Reference Bible - Variorum Edition - American Standard Version. The Cross-Reference Bible Company.