WORDsearch released the ESV Study Bible in CROSS format today, for use with either their WORDsearch products, or their free Bible Study program, Bible Explorer 4. This should be a hot-ticket item, as the paper-bound ESV Study Bible has been very well received since its release, which was less than two months ago. I find it surprising – and encouraging – that the work is being made available in ebook versions so soon after initial publication.
WORDsearch looks to be the first electronic publisher to get the ESV Study Bible out the door. The work is currently being discounted to $33.33 on the WORDsearch website. The list price shows up at $49.95, which seems a bit steep, but you never know how the licensing costs are working behind the scenes.
I haven’t had the chance to check this out yet (I’ll be happy to report back when I have), but I presume that, unlike the paperbound editions, this book will consist of the study notes, articles, maps, and cross references, but not the ESV text itself. Of course, it will have the ability to sync with the ESV – or any other translation, or even other books of study notes, or commentaries. For some reason, I thought the ESV itself was “free in BE” on their website, but it looks like a $29.95 purchase on-line. However, I believe you can pick it up for $9.95 if you use the “get more Bibles” interface in InstaVerse, which suggests to me that you could also get it for that price by calling WORDsearch sales.
[Update: I see today (Dec 5th) that Biblesoft has the ESV Study Notes available for PC Study Bible as well. The pricing, both list and discount, is essentially identical to WORDsearch. JWG]
[Update2: (Dec 18th) I saw today that Oak Tree Software now has the ESV Study Notes available for Accordance. The pricing, at $40, splits the difference between the list and “sale” prices of the other two vendors, though it’s not clear to me if the Accordance price is introductory or not. One big advantage to implementing these study notes on the Accordance platform would be that they have the ESV available in an edition with Strong’s tags, which would seemingly make for a much richer study experience with these notes. JWG]