Andreas Kostenberger has been writing on John’s Gospel for years. I’ve used all of his titles on John to advantage. While this volume may never be as well-known as his commentary on John, nor his upcoming major new commentary on John, I think this book is something of a little jewel that Bible students ought not to overlook. To be sure, it is a perfect example of where a scholar writes some of the best the profession can give pastors or those doing intense study of Scripture. Or what is even better is that there is little jargon or extraneous material to have to wade through to get to the good stuff! When scholars take the details of a book and formulate its structure they present to us something that is truly helpful. That is what you will find here!

The introduction is not a complete introduction to the gospel of John, but rather an explanation of what this book is trying to accomplish. It takes the signs (you will learn what they are if you don’t already know) and break the gospel of John down into units. Within the unit, he explains the sign that was given and what Jesus was accomplishing and the Book of John particularly. There are riches in every chapter.

I thought the several charts throughout the book were a wonderful aid to what you were learning and crystallized in one visual what you were trying to grasp.

I disagreed with a few fine points of detail, many of which were only in the footnotes, but overall I agreed with his conclusions and thought the work was awesome. This book will probably never be the most famous one written by this author, but it will do you as much good as any of them.

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.

There is always cause for celebration when a major commentary series reaches completion. That is the case with this final volume in the NIV Application Commentary (NIVAC) series covering Ezra and Nehemiah. Some series never reach that milestone, or if they still will, we can at least say that multiple decades have not been long enough yet. As I understand it, this series has also been widely used, so reaching completion is even more praiseworthy.

This last volume, not counting revisions that may come in the years ahead, is up to the level that you usually get in this series. I can’t recall a case where I’ve seen an important commentary being written by a married couple like this one written by Donna and Thomas Petter. It is almost comical to imagine what this entry entailed to produce. In the preface, you can even tell that they are a little self-conscious about it. After a little chuckle, you will see, though, that the finished product is one where the authors pulled off what they set out to do.

There is a solid introduction to both Ezra and Nehemiah that addresses literary and historical setting, political background, authorship and date, intended audience, structure, and theological themes. The scholarship is mostly conservative. That is followed by some nice maps and charts, a detailed outline, and a select bibliography.

The commentary proper follows the typical NIVAC style of translation, original meaning, bridging contexts, and contemporary significance. I found the original meaning section to be outstanding. The application is more hit than miss. I don’t think I’m being harsh in reviewing it in those terms because I ultimately see most such attempts at contemporary application that way. To be fair, what we have here is better than most.

Most people don’t study Nehemiah and Ezra as often as they do many other biblical books, so this commentary may suffice as the only resource for many Bible students for those neglected books. For pastors and those doing deeper studies, this will be a worthwhile volume to have at hand with other key titles. I recommend it.

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.