Really? The sample pages didn’t strike me as having a lot of extra room for notes – definitely not a wide margin edition.

Sorry if you didn’t feel my notes were warranted. I’m not asking for a custom version. I have a particular aesthetic in my mind of what an effective Bible should look like; this blog is my opportunity to comment from that point of view. My ideal Bible is single-column black letter text with cross references that fit on the inside margin and a wide margin on the top, bottom and outside of the page for notes. So far, my NASB cross-reference Bible comes closest. And that’s what I use.

Can you imagine the finance department at Zondervan banging their heads against the wall?

I’ve spent some time recently looking at NIV reference bibles and it’s clear that Zondervan simply adapted the reference notes that appear in those versions for the TNIV. Which I can’t blame them for – it’s definitely more cost effective than creating a new reference system or even trimming an existing one. But economics don’t excuse a poorly designed Bible, which this one borders on, in my opinion. Hopefully it’ll sell despite whatever flaws it has and Zondervan will be encouraged to publish more “serious” editions of the TNIV.

All that said, in the end, it’s the Word that matters, not the wrapper.