This latest entry in the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary (ZECOT) series continues to deliver the goods. Additionally, the series continues to provide us these nice volumes on individual books in the collection of Minor Prophets. The author of this one on Malachi, Dennis Tucker, has a nice collection of successful writings, though a bit more in the Psalms. He has worked on Jonah as well, though I’ve not used that one.

Immediately in the Introduction, he establishes what he feels is Malachi’s theme—“fidelity to the great King”. He gives conclusions that he well works out on things like author and date. I notice he is quite thorough in listing all the main opinions before his conclusions, which might be the concern of some. Far more important is calling balls and strikes on these plethora of scholarly opinions and that he does.

His historical analysis was succinct, but clear. When he tackled literary analysis, he especially highlighted “direct discourse (DD)” and saw it as a key to unearthing structure. He’s probably on to something there. This series has high expectations for structure, and I think he came through. it made sense, though other possibilities exist.

Somewhat related is the theological message of Malachi, and he gave us what he felt were the three most important things in that regard. Perhaps that section could have been longer, but it was still helpful. Next, he gave an outline of the style we have come to expect in this series.

The commentary was good throughout. The exegesis was sound and thorough. If you are looking for a single volume on Malachi, here’s you a great option. Many of these shorter prophetic books are packaged in commentaries, so this is a nice asset to have at hand. Perhaps I liked the volume on Nahum better, but this one can stand along side the other existing ZECOT volumes on Minor Prophets.

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.

Here’s a nice commentary on what many would agree is one of the most challenging books of the New Testament. Thoughtfulness and tone are its two most prominent strengths. Its weaknesses are few, especially if you consider the aims of the series. I don’t see how you couldn’t consider this volume a success for faith formation.

If you read Peeler’s preface you will get a feel for her writing. She’s got quite a humble knack for self reflection. She’s tenacious in her digging for exegesis while remaining gracious to opposing viewpoints throughout. She might be a bit left of me theologically, but not nearly as much as I expected.

The Introduction was delightful. With the needed depth, it read so well. It led with probing, on-target theology. Hebrews’ place in the canon transitioned nicely to the always thorny issue of authority. While so much has been written on authorship, Peeler was surprisingly lucid in less pages than most major commentaries who rarely escape the fog. The other outstanding feature of the Introduction was her contribution to the discussion of Hebrews’ Warning Passages. From there I delved into her commentary on those passages and they were original without being strangely speculative. I’m not sure I fully agree with her line of reasoning, but that was the most new, interesting material that I’ve had to process on them in a long time.

All of the commentary was consistently good. Most of us have two or three of our favorite big exegetical commentaries as our go-to, but I’ll likely add this one to my short list.

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.