Expanded Bible

I recently received a copy of a new bible called The Expanded Bible.
Published by Thomas Nelson. In reading the summary online of it I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

Let me just say I was astounded. This Bible takes the style of the Amplified Bible and 'Expands' it... no pun intended.

I quickly read through the Gospel of Matthew, Galatians and James. These are 3 books that I have read the most and LOVE. I have studied these books, read commentaries on these books etc... I learned even more using this Bible.

What it does is takes a passage of scripture and 'expands' it. By that I mean it will add info in parenthesis. These items are of various natures.
1) Alternate translation... This will give you phrases that the text could mean. For example 1 Corinthians 14: 1 says "You should seek after [Pursue; Make your aim]...." This is an alternate idea that the original language shows but our English language doesn't allow to follow...

2) Literal. This is where the Literal meaning of the Greek or Hebrew is inserted to give you a sense of the tense... Tense is something the English language doesn't have. In the Greek language there were words that would imply a continually active form. So when Paul says in Gal 2:19 "It was the Law that put me to death [For through the law I died to the law] is the literal translation and is put in there so that you can compare the 2.

3) Traditional. This adds in [ ] the words that we are well familiar with thanks to the King James Version but may not be included by scholars in the text due to their not being in older manuscripts.

4) Comment: Periodically a comment will be entered in to help you understand a passage.

5) Reference (MY FAVORITE) When I watch a movie I always drive my wife nuts because I'll hear a line a character says about cold and automatically connect it with another movie that the same character played a snow bound etc... I am just weird like that. This feature will connect you through out the Bible. for example in the Matthew Genealogy of Christ it gives the references to the Old Testament for these people. Better than your typical center column Cross Reference!

I can't wait to spend more time in my personal study of the Bible reading this Expanded Bible and the notes. It helps to bring to light all varieties of things!
I know this will help you in your personal study as well!