I have truly enjoyed reading from my New International Version Halley’s Study Bible. My current Bible reading challenge has been to read the Old Testament in two years and the New Testament and Psalms both years. Since this is the fourth time for me to read through the Bible, I have been paying extra attention to minor details I rushed over in previous years. This Bible has given me many delightful insights into the hows and whys for my questions as they arrise. I’m currently reading about King David’s reign and the nations he conquered. I’ve been trying to keep straight which nations descended from whom, and the footnotes have been very helpful. Other inserts are especially insightful as well. For instance, an insert with chapter 10 of 2 Samuel ties together the promise of an eternal king given to King David with the prophets Amos, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah, as well as the message Mary received from the Angel Gabriel.

These inserts also bring in helpful information from other historical sources as well. For instance, reading an insert about Moses, we learn that a well known and respected historical book, Josephus, reported that Moses had commanded an army while in Egypt, and had considerable influence until he took it upon himself to kill an Egyptian, which led him to flee to Midian.

I especially like the photographs that help bring the text to life. There is a photograph of a man making mudbricks which may be like the ones the Israelite slaves were forced to make in Egypt. Charts also help summarize information such as the 10 plagues of Egypt and the pagan Egyptian gods these plagues exposed and showed God to be superior to them all. More information is given about the plagues in additional inserts as they are included in the Biblical text.

I find the overviews of each book of the Bible to be helpful in setting the stage for what I will read next.

Maps are placed throughout the Bible to help the reader identify where events took place, as well as a full color atlas in the back of the Bible. Most of the maps I find to be very helpful, but I must take issue with one map in particular. This criticism it not of this Bible only, but of all the Bibles I own to date, and I own several in various translations. On my third time reading through the Bible, I began taking more careful notice of where events took place, and as I read about Moses tending his father-in-law’s sheep, I realized that Horeb, the mountain of God, and the burning bush had to be in Midian as well. There is a long wide body of water between Midian and the place on the map that claims to be Horeb, also known as Mt. Sinai. The Sinai Desert was part of Egypt. Moses fled Egypt, crossed or went around that body of water, and went to Midian, not the Sinai Desert. And he didn’t take his father-in-law’s sheep across that body of water to Mt. Horeb.

Tradition has claimed that Horeb is in the Sinai Desert, and a huge commercial industry is built around the site. Archaeologists all agree that there is no evidence of the Israelites having stayed there, yet our Bibles, all of the one’s I’ve seen at least, still make their maps showing Mt. Horeb in the Sinai Desert. This is the kind of fodder that feeds the Bible-mocking skeptics of our day, saying there is no evidence of Israelis living around Mt. Sinai.

Archaeologist’s have discovered all the evidence any open-minded person needs, to provide convincing proof that the true Mt. Sinai/Horeb is in Saudi Arabia, not the Sinai Peninsula. The peak of Mt. Sinai is still blackened to this day from the time God gave the Ten Commandments to the Israelites from the fire at the top of the mountain. The split rock at Horeb is there where Moses struck the rock and water came gushing forth. The erosion on the rocks coming down from the towering split rock only adds further evidence. The altar where Aaron’s calf stood is there with a combination of Egyptian and Israelite symbols written all over it. I could go on and on naming literally tons of evidence that the Israelites were there, exactly as it was stated in the Bible.

I will continue to use and enjoy this excellent Bible in the years ahead. I have never owned a copy of the Halley’s Bible Handbook, but through reading the added information in this Bible, I have gained great respect for Henry Halley’s work.

The error in the placement of Mt. Sinai on maps has been perpetuated by all of the major Bible publishing companies, but I challenge Zondervan to take a step of faith to honor God over corporate business practices, and put corrected maps in the next Bibles you publish. Our Bibles need to teach faith and truth, not tradition.

I received this Bible for free as a member of the Bible Gateway Blogger Grid, in exchange for an honest review. #BibleGatewayPartner.

Another great video with more information about the true Mt. Sinai.