Good Bible Typography

Carl Shank • November 10, 2021

Good Bible Typography. In a recent issue of Bible Study Magazine (November–December 2021), Mark Ward, editor, provided a well written and visual article "A Revolution in Bible Design: Meet the People Who Designed Your Bible." In that piece he reviewed the work of Bible designers and crafts people who design today's versions of the Bible, noting the typeface designs used and paper quality. In fact, in a YouTube segment, Mark has an entire talk on Bible typography well worth your time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu4t9FKn9M4).


He quotes Dan Farrell, VP of Design Crossway (who publishes many modern Bibles, especially the ESV version today) on the best Bible font — "Bram de Does created two of the finest typefaces ever designed when he developed Trinité and Lexicon for Enschedé in the late 80s and early 90s. Lexicon is especially well suited to Bible design because of its option for shorter ascenders and descenders, its tall x-height, and its readability at small sizes. It has a calligraphic elegance without being delicate. For these reasons, I think it's a timeless typeface that will continue to be highly effective in Bible typesettings many decades from now." Indeed, a Google search for the type used in Bible today lists Lexicon as the most used Bible typeface with masterful Trinité N°2 Roman used in the ESV edition published by Crossway. (See Sample 1 Below)


There are a multitude of de Does Lexicon fonts available at various weights — two main groups: Lexicon No.1 and Lexicon No.2. Lexicon No.1 has short stems (ascenders and descenders); Lexicon No.2 has 'normal' stems. Both groups share the same widths thus making it possible to change fonts without reflowing text. Each main group contains 12 weight variants, six upright weights (A to F) and six italic weights (A to F), where A is the regular weight and F the boldest weight. These are expensive, asking over $4,000 for the complete set, and over $2,000 for set No. 1 or No. 2. (See Sample 2 Below).


Why is Bible typography important? The older KJV (King James Version) two-column Bibles often used by congregants were ill-designed, hard to read at small sizes, and each verse a separate paragraph with verse numbers and other markers interrupting the flow of the textual thought. They were not reader-friendly Bibles, and they often separated biblical thoughts and gave unfortunate fuel to "biblicism," that is, quoting verses and thoughts out of context. Atomistic quoting of single verses became the trend of preachers and well-intentioned Bible study leaders. Contexts were ignored, and through bad typography verses were clumped together in an unfortunate manner. Mark Ward offers some notable examples and instances of this in his YouTube talk.


Those who appreciate the biblical text want it read accurately and legibly. Paragraph divisions were incorporated into the Biblical Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek texts (New Testament) arbitrarily. Even the verse numbers and divisions were arbitrary, supposedly for better study of the inspired Word, but led to unfortunate theological problems and even heretical points of view. The point I am making is that while we need to study the Bible as the Word of God to us and pore over the biblical theology therein, we need better Bible typography to do so.

Successful Layout & Design

Puritan Typography

By Carl Shank • May 15, 2026
Puritan Typography Theology Informing Type “Creational realities have not spilled out randomly without purpose; rather, they reflect the wisdom, design, and intention of the good God who made them. It’s our job, then, to observe and learn. . . . And indeed, long before [Jonathan] Edwards began to keep his notebook of earthly pointers to heavenly truths, the seventeenth-century English Puritans were writing lengthy volumes organized around exactly this sort of principle.”[1] “The Puritans were a group of ministers and laypeople within the Church of England who sought to promote Reformed and experiential piety while striving to purify the national church from Roman Catholic influences in doctrine and worship, beginning during the Elizabethan era and continuing as a powerful force until the early eighteenth century. More broadly defined, the Puritan movement included those who were firmly within the Reformed and experiential tradition that flourished not only in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England, but also well into the eighteenth century north of Hadrian’s Wall (among the Scottish Presbyterians), across the North Sea (among the Dutch Further Reformation divines), and across the Atlantic Ocean (among the New England Puritans and eighteenth-century evangelicals).” [2] Puritan typography flows from Puritan theology. The English Puritans of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries inherited a typographic world shaped by the late Renaissance, the Reformation, and early modern printing. Their type styles were not merely aesthetic choices. Rather, they reflected theology, scholarship, readability, economy, and cultural identity.

King James Bible Typography

By Carl Shank • April 7, 2026
The King James Bible (KJV), commissioned by King James 1 in 1604 and published in 1611, has been a profound Bible translation and masterpiece of beauty through the ages. It has been one of the most influential English translations of the Bible. Its history combines politics, religion, and literary achievement in early modern England. It has an elevated, poetic style that influenced many later writers. It has been prized for its literary beauty, historical continuity and memorability in public reading and worship (ChatGPT).
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