Oxford's ESV with Apocrypha

If three new editions of the ESV wasn't enough, there's now some concrete news on a fourth: the Oxford edition of the ESV with Apocrypha, which is being published in hardback at the end of the year. Thanks to a sharp-eyed reader, my addition was called to the official page:

Oxford University Press: English Standard Version with Apocrypha

Since the publication date is given as December 31, 2008, I'm assuming we won't actually see it until 2009 (around the time Cambridge's wide margin ESV is expected to hit). According to Oxford:

The English Standard Version Bible with the Apocrypha, for which the Apocrypha has been commissioned by Oxford University Press, employs the same methods and guidelines used by the original translators of the ESV, to produce for the first time an ESV Apocrypha. This will be the only ESV with Apocrypha available anywhere, and it includes all of the books and parts of books in the Protestant Apocrypha, the Catholic Old Testament, and the Old Testament as used in Orthodox Christian churches. It will have a lovely pre-printed case binding, and will include a full-color map section, a table of weights and measures used in the Bible, and many other attractive features.

So if your wishlist isn't already straining, here's something else to add. I'm looking forward to seeing the page spread, just in case it proves interesting.

Comments

[Tod Twist]

I had seen the listing for this edition at evangelicalbible.com a couple of days ago, and I was pleasantly surprised. All the discussion that I had seen seemed to preclude an ESV Apocrypha. The separate commissioned effort is a nice solution to the matter.

My own interest in the ESV stems from its acknowledged connection to the RSV, which is the last modern English translation that could even come close to being a common Bible for Christians (and in both confessional and academic circles). I had decided to just stick with the RSV after using the ESV a few years ago, and recently a good friend persuaded me to reconsider. Besides, new RSV editions are quite scarce (except for Catholic editions which mostly seem to have zippers installed in the covers).

I hope that this new edition of the ESV with apocrypha proves to be the beginning of the adoption of ESV by some of the communities that require the larger canon. That would mean more options in binding and format.

Maybe the ESV can gain enough of a foothold in the market to be used across denominational boundaries like the old RSV.

One can hope.

[Paul Lund]

Amazon has it for $16.50.

Click Here

[Bob Burns]

Yes, I hope it will sell well so we can see other editions. This first one will doubltless be feature-free. The unadorned text has its asthetic pluses but I rely on at least cross-references. I'd also like a pocket sized one.

If this thing is released in the same dimensions as Oxford put out the "New English Translation of the Septuagint" I'm going to have them bound together as I pretty much bring my current ESV and the New English Translation of the Septuagint everywhere with me these days!

[Edward Simmons]

Any news on a geniune leather bound addition of the Oxford ESV with the Apocrypha?