17 replies to this topic

[paulmj21]

Just in case you missed the mail shot from Accordance.  

 

The Zondervan Illustrated Bible (Old & New Testament) is on sale for a ridiculously low price.  Just three days left until the 28 Jan.  

 

It has become my favourite commentary series.  The photo's and charts are indispensable if you like to show graphic illustrations.

 

I highly recommend this.

 

Zondervan Illustrated Bible (OT & NT) Bundle - Special Offer

 

[Timothy Jenney]

I'll second that. I sent a special e-mail to all the grad students I am teaching this semester, letting them know about the sale. This set is only one of two that I know of, the other being the IVP-NT Commentary and IVP-OT Commentary, that focus on the background of Bible passages. It's that information that the writer and original audience both knew that is essential to understanding the passage in its cultural context. Studying Scripture without it is like hearing only half of a telephone conversation. I HIGHLY recommend this set, especially at this sale price.

[arcanemuse]

I bought it and I own the dead tree version... I just bought the OT hardbacks.... and already had the NT set in paper.    Before the good folks at Accordance come to their senses and regain their sanity... get this set at this insanely low price!  You won't regret it as these are really good commentaries.

[Timothy Jenney]

[Chuckle] Yep.

 

There are several advantages to the Accordance version. First, the commentaries scroll along withe the text, so the correct "Bible background" is always right at hand. Second, these volumes have a lot of amazing color photographs that illustrate their articles. Accordance allows us to drag and drop these into our slideshows and presentations, so our audiences can benefit from them too.

 

[In fact, I know several people who have sold "dead tree" versions to others and used the money toward the purchase of Accordance modules. Just sayin'...

[AbramKJ]

How does this relate to what Accordance has for Atlas and Photoguide? A nice complement? Does one make the other not as necessary? Do they work together well so that all of the above is advisable?  (I don't own Atlas and Photoguide, so it's perhaps a basic-level question.)

[Michael J. Bolesta]

Check your library. I believe most Accordance 10 packages have "sampler" versions of the Atlas and Photoguide. One caveat. The Atlas sampler does not give you the full experience of the Atlas which is quite unique. It is interactive. You can change appearance, search for places, put layers on it (like country or tribal borders, ancient roads, modern borders). You can measure distances between towns. You can make and rotate 3-D topographical maps. Pictures in the ZIB are static. They are great, but the Atlas is in a class by itself.

 

The Photoguide is a great set of photos taken by the some of the Accordance staff, and give a flavor to the Holy Land as it is today. David Lang has articles giving the background on the places that are photographed.

 

Hope this helps.

[JonathanHuber]

The ZIBBC are fundamentally commentaries. They do contain lots of helpful illustrations, but they are primarily text. I think they complement the Atlas and Photoguide rather than replacing them. The atlas in particular is very dynamic, letting you manipulate lots of layers to create the map you want, so no static maps would replace it.

 

The atlas sampler shows the kind of maps you can create, but because it contains only static images, it doesn't really capture how powerful the atlas is. 

Edited by JonathanHuber, 26 January 2013 - 09:43 PM.

[AbramKJ]

That does help, Michael, thank you. I'd tried the Atlas sampler and (as you pointed out) didn't get very far with it. But I've heard great things.

 

I'm guessing, too, that as a multi-volume "Commentary" the Zondervan bundle has more background than what's in the Photoguide alone.

[Michael J. Bolesta]

I'm guessing, too, that as a multi-volume "Commentary" the Zondervan bundle has more background than what's in the Photoguide alone.

 

Correct. The commentary covers the biblical text and the illustrations support this. The text of the Photoguide lists places. It does not have photos of every place, but does give Hebrew and Greek names (in many cases) and other tidbits.

[Tomi]

Facts: deadline and tight budget! 

 

@ arcanemuse ... yes, good folks at Accordance will "come to their senses and regain their sanity" sooner or later. They said it will happen today!

 

This Bundle is an (almost) irresistible Accordance Bait  !

 

Seriously, is ZIBBC Bundle that much superior to IVP Background Set, in text only head to head comparison of course. Would anyone care to elaborate i.e. those who are so privileged to have both Zondervan and IVP sets.

 

Thanks, much obliged.  

 

 

[JonathanHuber]

The ZIBBC set is much larger (9 volumes between the OT/NT compared to 2 volumes for IVP) so there is simply much more material. The IVP set does occasionally provide more detail than the ZIBBC, surprisingly, but the ZIBBC generally provides much more. I wondered how much they would overlap prior to getting the ZIBBC, but I'm glad to have both.

 

You said text only, but the illustrations really do make a difference. The IVP set has only a few (less than 20) illustrations, while the ZIBBC set has over 3000.

[Daniel Semler]

Hi All,

 

  Could someone tell me if these modules include all the prefatory material, all the bibliographical and end note materials of the printed editions ?

 

  I managed to look at a hardcopy in a library and I can imagine the small snippets in places leading one to other inquiries and so the reference material would be very important.

 

  I know I'm leaving it all to the last minute but ....

 

Thx

D

[A.D. Riddle]

D,

 

It appears to include all the endnotes, sidebars, bibliography, etc. I have not noticed anything missing from the OT volumes.

 

A.D.

[Daniel Semler]

Thanx A.D, that's good to know.

 

Thx

D

[Tomi]

I knew that a picture is worth a 1000 words, but needed just a pinch of reasonable feedback, thanks Jonathan.

 

Now that the ZIBBC tool is (finally) in my hand ... it's drill down time  !

[paulmj21]

(I appreciate the sale window has now closed)

However if people are still wanting a detailed review of both ZIBBC & IVP background commentaries (hard copies) I found this one to be extremely helpful.

 

http://www.oldinthenew.org/?p=418

[AbramKJ]

Got the bundle--it's been helpful already, especially as I'm reading through Exodus and the detailed instructions for priestly garments. Having the visuals makes a big difference. 

[RobM]

I got the two sets during the sale and I've loved them. I've especially loved the hyper links to COS. It has prompted me to read a few different ANE texts with parellels to the Biblical text already... including the Tale of Two Brothers and an Egyptian dream oracle manual... texts I would not likely have read had ZIBBCOT not referenced them!