I’m a fan of study Bibles. My favorite is the NIV Study Bible from Zondervan, which happens to be the best-selling study Bible in the world. I discovered that Bible in 1989, and it transformed my reading experience. When the Archeological Study Bible appeared, it was the first time I’d gotten genuinely excited about a new study Bible in 20 years. There are photos and articles sprinkled throughout the text, and longer articles that help pull a confusing collection of artifacts into sharp focus for their contribution to the biblical story. There are, of course, thousands of notes, timelines and maps to help round out a fascinating study Bible. This is well worth the money, and the hardback editions are considerably less than the leather-bound copies.

The Archeological Study Bible (Zondervan, 2010)