Oddbean

Thanks, that’s a good question for me. The Orthodox Study Bible is an interesting translation, but the study notes are hit or miss and can be deceiving. They seem very informative to people who aren’t well read (99% of everyone) because they touch on historical controversies, but they often get those controversies wrong. The two Study Bibles I would recommend are the Lutheran Study Bible and the Oxford Annotated Bible, and I’d recommend them to any denomination because they have tons of useful academic and historical information. You have to read them with the understanding that the Lutheran one is very Lutheran, and the Oxford one is very liberal and secular, but the wealth of information more than makes up for biases, they’re extremely useful. If you’re Reformed (Presbyterian, Baptist, lots of nondenoms and Anglicans) a facsimile reprint of the Geneva Bible is also worth owning. It’s dated, it was the first study bible ever made (from the 1570’s) but theologically it’s still on point and old Bible prints look a lot prettier than modern ones. I’ll provide a link to each of these three, if requested.

Thanks, I will have a look at these options. Thanks for the link offer too but I'm keen on physical version. I think I fall into that 99% so perhaps I don't need to concern myself too much, it's just that they're all fairly pricey, so needs a wee bit of research / recommendation. Having looked around a bit before this it does seem like you do run into a fair amount of pinches of salt eg your Oxford Annotated description. I was just reading parts and following along with a very accessible and engaging lecture series (might be a bit too non academic for some, not sure), but again, would ideally prefer non-screen time.

I'm not even entirely sure what a Lutheran is tbh, so maybe a link to the Oxford one, are there particular editions to avoid? Had a look around and there's a fair amount reasonably priced second hand, which is good.