Here’s another early volume in what will be a completely revamped Interpretation Bible Commentary series. The Book of Acts, of course, provides its own excitement, but here’s a book that helps you catch elements of that excitement you might otherwise miss. Yes, this is a more critical commentary than people like me are going to widely use, but with a pile of more conservative ones on the desk I’m likely to pick up one like this one. What am I looking for? Some theology that other pile misses. For good measure I too hope it catches sizzling details in the story overlooked by others. This book easily meets those goals.

To have well written and provocative commentary you will subject yourself to some misfires. To think the story of Ananias and Sapphira and other such stories as some kind of gallows humor might be one example. To think one of the main points of Pentecost was to champion multiculturalism might be another. He even denigrated Stephen slightly, but in a way more than I’m used to seeing. But that’s a good case to show why I still found value in this commentary. There were those little details that caught his eye that others miss that was fascinating to me even in Stephen’s story.

Of its kind, this book stands out. Those who are of a more critical orientation will simply love it I would guess. For the rest of us, it’s not as critical as many volumes. It spoke winsomely of, say, salvation or the Resurrection at times. Most importantly, it can be captivating at pleasant intervals. Walk in knowing what to expect and you have a winner here.

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.

It took a few years, but we finally get the other half of Daniel Estes’ superb commentary on Psalms here. For that matter, this finishes the OT for the NAC, which is a feat few series can hold up to us. I think it’s classy that the publishers are allowing this series to be completed (there’s the final NT volume coming next year) even though the replacement CSC is underway.

Mr. Estes has taught Psalms in both the church and the academy. It shows. Though the greatest value of this commentary is later, the Introduction shines. I loved how he walked through how Psalms has been interpreted, particularly in more recent times. He creatively described the theology of Psalms in terms of “five basic worldview questions”.

From there, he launches into form, structure and setting. He well describes the more traditional genre classifications. I personally grow weary over commentators who keep coining new genres until there are so many than a genre conversation is meaningless, so I welcome his approach. On superscripts, he is a bit more agnostic than me, but you can decide for yourself when you read his explanation. Toward the end of the Introduction, he describes how he is going to handle each passage. That is a plus.

In the commentary proper he uses the same effective format as before. The commentary itself is outstanding.

Psalms is one of the most important books in the Bible and any serious pastor or Bible student will have multiple commentaries on it. Besides some of our beloved older commentaries and some other devotional ones, we must have these exegetical ones that really explain the text. This volume can truly stand as a giant beside Garrett (POTC—recently released), Ross (KEL), and Hamilton (EBTC). I wouldn’t be without any of them, but this equally valuable commentary is at least $10 cheaper per volume than any of them. For that reason and because it is truly equal to the others, you can safely start here if you are just embarking on building your library. In any event, this title simply must make its way to your shelves.

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.

This series runs in a different lane and it’s one I enjoy traversing. Though we’re only a few volumes in, a few have already stood out to me. This design of focusing on Christian Formation strikes gold here in Job. Though that should have been obvious I guess, it hadn’t occurred to me. I see it now!

The Introduction got off to a bit of a shaky start for me in the section on “the Many Stories of Job”. At first I thought the author was highlighting inconsistencies though it turned out to be more of a history of interpretation. He was a bit too dogmatic at times about others getting it all wrong as well. Then, however, he got into the interpretation of Job and we stepped out of the shady part of the trail. Starting at page 15, I was fully engaged. Perhaps the author was a bit too mystic and Catholic, but he sure spoke to me.

There were observations a plenty that hadn’t occurred to me. His take on suffering in Job is a case in point. He did hold to a few critical positions, like Elihu’s speeches being a later addition, but mostly he kept them to himself. I imagine I like this commentary far better than had he produced a traditional one.

Each periscope gets a succinct explanation by him that consistently stays in the lane of theological observation and Christian formation. I would never make this my primary commentary on Job, but I’d sure be happy to always use it as a secondary one to dig a little more.

Replace the word “exegesis” with “fun” and you’ll get the idea of how this book struck me. Outside of the normal uses of a commentary, I am sure that some really could benefit by only using it to meditate on Christian formation. However you choose to use this commentary, I predict you are going to be pleased.

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.