I received the NKJV Foundation Study Bible for free as a member of the Thomas Nelson Bibles Blogger Program. I am providing an honest and unbiased review. Note: this review contains affiliate links.
You Want to Study the Bible. So Why Does It Feel So Hard?
Ever been here before?
It’s 6:15 in the morning. You’ve got your coffee. You’ve got your Bible open. You read a chapter. Maybe two. And somewhere between Leviticus’s laws about mildew and Paul’s third use of “therefore” in Romans 8, you think: I have no idea what I just read.
You close the Bible. You feel guilty. You tell yourself you’ll “really dig in” tomorrow.
I used to think that if I just tried harder, I’d suddenly crack the code and the Bible would open up like a novel. But I’ve learned after years of teaching and studying Scripture that the problem isn’t usually your commitment. It’s often your tools.
Think about it. You wouldn’t hand someone a pile of lumber and a dull saw and say, “Build a house. Just try harder.” Yet we hand people a text-only Bible with no context, no notes, no useful maps and wonder why they feel lost in Ezekiel.
The truth is, the Bible is an ancient library of 66 books, written across thousands of years, in languages and cultures vastly different from ours. Wanting a little help understanding it isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of wisdom.
So when I got my hands on the NKJV Foundation Study Bible, Wide-Margin edition, I was curious. Could this be the kind of tool that actually helps a regular person—not just a seminary student—study Scripture with more confidence? Let’s talk about it.
In This Review
What Does This Bible Promise to Do?
The Foundation Study Bible has been around for a while, and it’s earned a solid reputation. The concept behind it is right there in the name: foundation. It’s not trying to be the most exhaustive, footnote-heavy, academic study Bible on the shelf. It’s trying to give you a trustworthy starting point.
This new wide-margin edition takes that same proven resource and adds something practical: 1.3 inches of margin space for your own notes. That might sound small, but if you’ve ever tried to scribble a thought in the gutter of a standard Bible, you know how much that extra room helps.
So whether you’re a brand-new believer who just picked up a Bible for the first time or an experienced disciple who’s been teaching a Sunday school class for twenty years, the Foundation Study Bible wants to meet you where you are. It does this with a focused set of study helps: theological notes, full-color maps, a concordance, and cross-references, all designed to be concise and trustworthy rather than overwhelming.
It’s built for people who want depth without drowning. And in a market flooded with study Bibles that weigh six pounds and have more footnotes than Scripture, that restraint is actually its biggest selling point.
The NKJV translation itself is worth noting. It keeps the literary beauty and formal structure of the King James tradition but updates the archaic language. You get “you” instead of “thee” without losing the word-for-word translation philosophy that many serious students prefer.
Deep Dive: Three Things I Genuinely Liked
1. The Wide Margins Change How You Interact With Scripture
This is the headline feature, and it deserves the spotlight. Those 1.3-inch wide margins transform this Bible from something you read into something you use.
Here’s what I mean. Picture yourself working through the Gospel of John. You read John 15:5—“I am the vine, you are the branches”—and something clicks. Maybe your pastor said something about it last Sunday. Maybe you’re going through a season where you feel disconnected from God and that verse suddenly has weight.
With a standard Bible, that moment passes. You might remember it. You might not.
With wide margins, you grab a pen and write it down right there, next to the verse. A prayer. A question. A connection to another passage. Over time, your Bible becomes a living journal of your walk with God. When you flip back to John 15 six months later, you don’t just see the text, you see your own spiritual history written alongside it.
2. The Study Notes Are Helpful Without Being Overwhelming
This is where the Foundation Study Bible really shines for its intended audience. With over 293,000 words of study notes, there is substantial content here. But unlike some study Bibles where the notes take up more real estate than the actual Scripture, these are concise and straightforward.
Why does that matter? Because when you’re a new believer trying to understand what “justification” means in Romans 3, you don’t need a 500-word essay at the bottom of the page debating four different theological perspectives. You need a clear, simple explanation that helps you keep reading with understanding.
And for more experienced students, concise notes serve a different purpose: they give you a quick reference point without doing all the thinking for you. They’re a springboard, not a crutch. That’s exactly what a good study tool should be.
The over 300 theological notes with an index are a nice touch, too. They draw attention to major doctrinal themes like grace, covenant, and redemption. That helps you see how those threads weave through the whole Bible. For someone who wants to move beyond reading individual verses and start understanding the big picture of Scripture, this is gold.
3. The Cross-References Are Extensive and Actually Useful
With over 32,000 end-of-page cross-references, this Bible makes it easy to do something that can seriously improve your understanding: let Scripture interpret Scripture.
Here’s an example of why that matters in real life. Say you’re reading Psalm 22—“My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?”—and you see a cross-reference pointing you to Matthew 27:46, where Jesus cries out those exact words from the cross. Suddenly, a psalm written a thousand years before Christ takes on an entirely new dimension. You’ve just moved from reading poetry to watching prophecy unfold.
That kind of connection-making is what turns casual Bible reading into actual Bible study. And having 32,000 of those connections at your fingertips means you don’t need a separate commentary or a smartphone app to start seeing how Scripture holds together.
NKJV Foundation Study Bible
Publisher
Thomas Nelson
Released
June 3, 2026
Binding Hardcover, Leathersoft
Deep Dive: A Couple of Honest Watch-Outs
- The 8-Point Type Size May Be a Struggle for Some Readers
Let’s be real: 8-point type is small. If you prefer larger text, this could be a genuine frustration. The wide margins are wonderful, but they come at a cost, and that cost is page real estate. To keep the Bible at a size that doesn’t feel like you’re lugging a set of encyclopedias around, the type size stays compact.
For some readers, this will be a non-issue. For others, it might make extended reading sessions uncomfortable, which defeats the purpose of a tool designed to help you spend more time in the Word.
- The NKJV Translation Isn’t for Everyone
The New King James Version is a formal equivalence (word-for-word) translation. That means it prioritizes accuracy to the original language structure, which is excellent for study. But it also means the sentence structure can feel stiff compared to other translations.
This isn’t a flaw in the Bible—it’s a matter of fit. Know your preference before you buy. Personally, most of my study is done using the NKJV, ESV, and the NET, but everyone has a preference. Using a Bible you will actually read is what matters most.
The “Simple Theology” Impact: Why Tools Like This Actually Matter
Here’s something I believe deeply: what you understand, you can obey. What confuses you, you tend to ignore.
A study Bible like the Foundation Study Bible is more than a nice-to-have accessory. It’s a discipleship tool. When you have study notes that explain the historical context of a passage, or a concordance that helps you trace a theme across the whole Bible, or cross-references that connect the Old Testament to the New, you’re building a framework for understanding God’s character, His promises, and His purposes.
And that understanding changes how you live. It changes how you pray. It changes how you respond to suffering, how you make decisions, and how you love the people around you.
Theology isn’t an academic discipline. It’s the foundation your life stands on. A tool that helps you build that foundation well is worth every penny.
The Verdict: Buy or Pass?
Buy this if: You want a reliable, well-built study Bible that gives you solid study helps without burying you in information. If you love journaling, note-taking, or marking up your Bible, the wide margins make this an excellent choice. It’s ideal for small group leaders, new believers who want to go deeper, and experienced students who want a clean, functional study Bible they can make their own.
Skip this if: You need large print. The 8-point font is a real limitation for readers who struggle with smaller text. Also skip it if you strongly prefer a dynamic equivalence translation (like the NIV), the NKJV’s formal style won’t be your favorite reading experience.
Bottom line: The NKJV Foundation Study Bible, Wide-Margin does exactly what it promises. It builds a foundation. And in a world full of flashy, overcomplicated options, sometimes a solid foundation is exactly what you need.
