This commentary will serve as a handy help to pastors and Bible students. Since there is only a little over 500 pages of actual commentary covering all 12 of the Minor Prophets, it is obvious that Mr. Shepherd has not attempted to produce the typical prolix commentary of our day. What he has provided, however, is direct help on grasping both the meaning and overarching theme of these prophets. His stated niche,that to my mind he has accomplished, is presenting these 12 prophets as a unified composition. In other words, instead of 12 random prophecies that so lacked cohesiveness that they were not even fully integrated within themselves, he paints a portrait of the Lord designing them as so unified that they should never be completely thought of by themselves. You can’t deny that that is a refreshing approach after years of commentators trying to decide if each passage within each of these prophecies is even legitimate!

It will be extra important to read the introduction to this work as he makes his case for the cohesiveness and unity of these prophecies. I personally thought this introduction read well and made a lot of sense.

The commentary proper lacks the thoroughness of some other works, but what he shares is good all around. Perhaps it shows the forest better than the trees, but that is no problem. There are plenty of other commentaries to analyze those trees!

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 latest release of the ZECNT Is a fine exegetical commentary on the highly-debatable Book of Revelation. Personally, I always give commentators a little slack because this book manages to trip them coming out of the gate in almost every instance. In other words, the reader is going to approach both the book and the commentary with his or her own theological system. For that reason, no matter what the perspective of the commentator happens to be, he or she is going to start out with a much higher group of detractors than if, say, they had written on the Gospels or one of the Epistles. Fanning has done the best that could be done. He has tried to write a commentary that would be helpful to the widest number of readers without rigidly lobbing off whole swaths of them. He does, however, lean toward positions that would be labeled futurist as opposed to historist. Still, he is fair to all. More importantly, the exegesis and examination of structure are both rock solid. No, I don’t agree with every interpretive point he makes, but what commentator on Revelation could hope for that from any of us? The point that must not be lost is that this commentary can help you as you wrestle with this challenging book of the Bible.

I thought the introduction was exceptional. Throughout, he both lays out varying opinions and respectfully submits his own. He begins by talking about authorship and really does not land on one outlook himself in this case since he doesn’t find it critical to the overall interpretation of the book. He discusses date and setting, genre with an emphasis on prophecy, imagery and symbols, all before he addresses the thorny subject of hermeneutical approaches. He explains both the importance and the specifics of the use of the Old Testament in this book and how to view prophecy and typology. I thought his discussion of topology was particularly apropos. He discusses text, language and style, before he dives into structure and outline which is an emphasis of this series. He gives a lot of outstanding insights before he provides his own outline. There is a select bibliography given as well.

The commentary proper follows the typical style of this series and is quite helpful. There were just a few places I wish he had said a little more. Still, when you talk about what you really need to learn in an exegetical commentary you will find it all here in spades. The end of the book gives a nice summary of the theology of Revelation too.

He probably does for a futurist position what Beale does for the modern fad of an eclectic position. You’ll need both. Therefore, you should probably put this in the must-get category.

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.

I have really enjoyed these early volumes in the ZECOT series and this new title is no exception. Joel Barker provides another competent exegetical commentary with an emphasis on discourse analysis this time on the Book of Joel. Unlike other mostly unprofitable types of criticism, discourse analysis renders real insights into the text. If you are looking for a standalone commentary on the Book of Joel, this volume will definitely meet your needs.

After he offers his own translation of Joel he jumps into an effective introduction to the Book of Joel. By the first few paragraphs, you can tell that the author enjoys Joel. To be sure, that always makes a commentary better. He offers six theories for the historical context of Joel. He lays them out clearly and makes it easy for one to evaluate. I might not agree with his final conclusion, but I appreciate his defining the issues. He makes a wonderful case for the literary integrity of Joel. I tend to find that with every book of the Bible, but I appreciate his compelling case that should answer any critic. He looks at Joel’s place among the Minor Prophets as well as describing Joel from the perspective of rhetorical discourse. He proves here that he is up to speed on those issues as you would expect for this series. I really appreciated his thoughts about the structure of Joel as well.

The commentary proper follows the usual ZECOT pattern. He does an outstanding job here. My only caveat to that statement is his discussion of 2:28-32. I know we have to first place these scriptures in the context of the prophet’s time, but I just felt he was a little brief on the importance of this passage in the New Testament. Still, this is first-rate commentary on a book of the Bible where you’re likely to need it. I’d rank this commentary a winner!

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.

David Bauer is the right person to write this academic introduction to the Gospel of Matthew. I’ve known for years that Mr. Bauer has followed in the footsteps of Jack Dean Kingsbury. Kingsbury’s writings on Matthew first fascinated me well over a decade ago. In fact, this volume divides the book of Matthew in the same three places that Kingsbury first did. I find that division to be quite helpful and accurate. Bauer takes the best of Kingsbury and expands it to all that we have learned since and offering his own additional conclusions.

Part one called an orientation covers form and genre, approach and method, circumstances of composition, and shape of composition in four chapters. I got the least out of this section especially as the theories of composition don’t do much for me. Academic tops will still likely work through it.

Part two is where the book starts to shine offering an interpretation in three chapters along the lines of the aforementioned division of Matthew’s gospel. There is brilliant insight to be found here.

Part three entitled reflection gives us 5 chapters looking at the Christological titles of Jesus, additional aspects of christology, God, salvation history and eschatology, and discipleship. You will find outstanding nuggets along the way even if there are occasional statements that you find totally subversive to your thinking. Take the book as one requiring a little digging to remove its treasure with a little junk to move out of the way and the gospel of Matthew will come alive to you in a whole new way.

I see this book as the pinnacle of a key interpretive arc of Matthew’s gospel. In that sense, it will be an indispensable volume.

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.

Every new release of the Evangelical Exegetical Commentary (EEC) series that I come across reinforces my thoughts that this series has something special brewing. It’s almost like when this series releases a new volume it immediately becomes the go-to exegetical commentary, especially for pastors who want a truly scholarly work. This latest volume covering Amos, Jonah, and Micah by Joanna Hoyt lives up to the lofty standards this series has already established. This volume is easily one of the best on either of these three prophets and you are blessed to have all three of them covered in this large (800+ pages) impressive volume.

For this review, I gave the most attention to Jonah because so many scholars today seemingly fall off the cliff when they get to Jonah. Delightfully, I found a commentary here that is not ashamed of Jonah, does not laugh off his historicity, or roll its proverbial eye at his grand message. Pastors will get solid help here. Scholars, though so many of them run left of the line found here, will find this an incredibly detailed scholarly look at the prophet. It seems no stone is unturned. In fact, the weakest area of contribution would be on structure, but the volume is still too wonderfully thorough to criticize.

I’m not saying that I agree with every sentence the author writes in this volume, only that everything is so well explained and in such depth that I have a thorough grasp of the issues involved to make my own decision. That is always what I’m looking for in an exegetical commentary.

To be sure, Amos and Micah are as well handled as Jonah in this book. The introductions to each are ideal and the things that scholars need beyond what pastors are looking for can all be found as well. Every passage bears traces of painstaking care and work. There are no signs of haste. From what I’ve read, Hoyt is a young scholar who strikes me as making quite a splash here. I’ll be using this book for years to come!

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.

When I reviewed the original volume of this work just a few years ago, I was thoroughly impressed with it and gave it the highest rating. Quite simply, it was one of the best exegetical commentaries I had ever seen on Jonah. As it turns out, this Second Edition is very little changed from the earlier one. Nevertheless, my opinion has not changed either. There’s a new EEC volume that covers Jonah with two other prophets. It would be fair to say that these two volumes supersede all exegetical commentaries in print today on Jonah.

I love the approach of a ZECOT volume. Modern scholarship has had many developments that are of no detectable value for pastors, but discourse analysis really opens up the understanding of a passage. Youngblood is outstanding in handling the discourse analysis and gives dependable, conservative help throughout.

As I said for the first edition, Mr. Youngblood’s Introduction to the book of Jonah struck me as being of the perfect length and depth. He discussed the usual suspects – placement in the Canon, historical context, literary context, and an outline – with verve. Much of the information was of the kind that really aids one preaching on Jonah. He beautifully wove in his discourse analysis as well throughout the entire work.

The commentary itself is superb. Again, he always keeps us grounded in the context at large. Still, he draws out the needed background, word meanings, and other important detail. At the end of every periscope, there is fine theological reflection too.

You may not need to replace your first edition, but this is a commentary that you cannot do without!

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.