Q & R: Study Bible?

I received an encouraging email recently (after the jump). Along the way, the writer asked if I could recommend a study Bible. There are lots of good ones, and probably the one I would recommend most will be released in the next year or two. But in the meantime, regarding understanding the Bible, I’d recommend Walter Brueggemann’s work on the Hebrew Bible, and on the New Testament, N.T. Wright’s growing body of work. There are so many others, of course, but I’m trying to keep things simple. And of course, I hope my podcasts on the Bible would be helpful too.

Here’s the encouraging email I mentioned …

Please excuse the informal nature of my greeting — after reading, discussing, and being blessed by so much of your work (not to mention your conversational writing style), I can’t help but feel as though you have become more than just my “spiritual sage” — I feel as though I’m writing to a friend.
Before my question, I must take a moment to say, “Thank you,” for all the good things that have come from my Christian “enlightenment” — your continuing role in that awakening has changed the direction of my life in the most profound manner. After many years of abandoning the church through my high school and college years, my wife led me back to Jesus after we were married. My new pastor put one of your books in my hand (A Generous Orthodoxy), and that first reading opened the floodgates to what would become my “emergence” as a follower of Jesus. In those past six years, I have finished every one of your books, and have read several other authors you have recommended. As a result, I feel well-equipped to, well, function as a Christian! I know my life would have turned out very differently without you and your very important theology and inspiring guidance.
After years, now, of reading and referencing the Bible through sermons, discussions and leisure reading, I feel like I’m ready (and being called) to really “study” it. I’ve focused so much on the “outward action” part of my faith (thanks, in part to your guidance), that I now feel somewhat deficient as a Christian with regard to my Scriptural knowledge. Now that I’ve finished A New Kind of Christianity, I also feel like I have a better idea of how to frame the Bible as I study it. So, my question is this: Is there a study Bible that you particularly like or recommend?I downloaded your guide for reading the Bible from your website, and plan to download your podcasts to suppliment, as well. Any other resources you would be willing to recommend would be most appreciated.
Brian, before I knew you and your work, I was a skeptical agnostic who didn’t choose to see or feel the world beyond my own perception. Now, I’m a happily married father of two who serves as the worship and music leader at church doing all I can to live out the Kingdom now. God’s love is absolutely transformative (and I’m so blessed to be a part of the “evidence”). I can’t express how important I believe your work to be, both for present and future generations. The conversation you began can definitely resonate through the ages — so long as we are brave enough to continue it!