The Tyndale Old Testament Commentary (TOTC) series keeps turning out these replacement volumes at a rate that would be a model for other series. The series retains its status as the best shorter commentary series that still has real depth with each of these new releases that I have seen. Knut Martin Heim upholds the standards that we have come to expect from the series. As a matter of personal taste, I may not have liked this volume as much of some of the other recent releases, but that probably has as much to do with the uniqueness of Ecclesiastes as anything else. In other words, scholarship on Ecclesiastes has gone a direction that some of us feel only gets us farther from its truth. Perhaps I’m a little too much of the old school to follow his theory about Qoheleth rather than Solomon, but I must confess he’s in line with the majority of what’s being written today. I can’t quite swallow that the writer of Ecclesiastes is mostly being sarcastic either. On a more positive note, the writing and scholarship in this volume are impeccable. He clearly communicates what he thinks and is adept at succinctly presenting current scholarly thinking.

The Introduction is crystal clear in explaining his viewpoint. While he has trouble with Solomon as the author, he highlights inter-textual issues, Canon, date and historical context, language and genre, as well as the theological and practical message of the book. I found him easy to follow. There’s a good select bibliography and analysis outline as well as his own translation. The commentary proper is never trite or simplistic and whether you agree with what he says or not you will appreciate gaining so much information in a short compass.

I’m an advocate of having all these TOTC volumes in one’s library and so I recommend this new release on Ecclesiastes as well.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.