Richard B. Hayes has given us in this commentary on First Corinthians one of the best volumes in the Interpretation Bible Commentary series. Though I often turn to this series to grasp the critical angle on a book of the Bible, I found this one to be more conservative than several I’ve seen in that series. Mr. Hayes is a captivating writer and that is a pleasant bonus in any commentary.

The Introduction begins with an explanation of setting. When he describes the city of Corinth, he feels that it is not as wild as some writers say. He believes it had only the normal vices of any seaport city. In describing the occasion of the letter, he feels it springs from two factors: a report from “Chloe’s people” that contained alarming news and a letter from the Corinthians themselves asking for clarification on several matters. He explained Paul’s background with the group and the socioeconomic diversity in the congregation. He feels the Corinthians had issues that Paul turns to theological ideas. The section on unity and structure is a little weak as well as the arbitrary comment about certain texts being altered or added. He sees as the major theological themes as Christology, apocalyptic eschatology, embodied existence, the primacy of love, and the transformation of power and status through the cross. His last section is on the major focal points of the commentary. After a brief outline, he jumps into the commentary itself.

The commentary is thoughtful and well done. Take for example the passage of I Corinthians 5:1-13. Because that passage censures the incestuous behavior of someone in the Corinthian church with his mother-in-law, many struggle with the passage or rob it of its urgency. The author stuck to the text but didn’t dodge any of the issues involved. He defended the concept of church discipline. As I said, this book is more conservative than many in the series.

There are, as you would imagine, some places where I just couldn’t follow his conclusions; especially if those conclusions were based on his unsubstantiated claim of a textual alteration or addition. Still, it’s a vivacious effort. I believe it will make a fine addition to your library.

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 commentary in the New International Greek Testament Commentary (NIGTC) series is considered by many to be the preeminent major exegetical commentary for Revelation on the market today. It’s prized for its work on the Greek and its explanation of Revelation’s Old Testament background. Since this is quite a technical work, the author has also prepared “Revelation: A Shorter Commentary” that effectively presents this work in a less technical manner. Eerdmans publishes it as well.

I should disclose that I subscribe to a premillennial interpretation rather than his “eclectic, redemptive-historical idealist view”. Though he is a brilliant author and knows something about arguing well for his position, he, in my opinion, has too casually addressed those of my persuasion by quoting the most radical authors he could find in our world. For example, he beautifully listed the reasons futurists hold the positions they do, but he does not, in my opinion, do as well countering them. In fairness to him, my bias may have been at work.

This work is thorough. You will figure that out when you see an almost 40-page bibliography. More amazingly, the Introduction is 176 pages! I doubt you will come across a scholarly issue involving the book of Revelation that is not addressed in this massive volume.

In the Introduction Beale spends a great deal of time examining the date of this book. His discussion is primarily between a later date (95 A.D.) and an earlier one (70 A.D.). Though it’s quite a rarity in scholarship, conservative scholars prefer the later one in this case. He brings out the issues from every conceivable angle. Next, he tackles the situation of the churches and the purpose and theme of the book. Regarding authorship, he is open to the Apostle John having written it but argues that it doesn’t matter since it has no effect on the message of the book. After discussing genre, he previews the major interpretive approaches including: the Preterist view, the Historicist view, the Futuristic view, and the idealist views. It’s at the end of this section that he declares his own eclectic view. Since it’s so important in the Revelation, he spends a good deal of time discussing symbolism. He looks at the text of Revelation, the use of the Old Testament in the Apocalypse, the grammar of the Apocalypse. In these sections he is extremely detailed. Next, he investigates the structure of the book and even include some helpful charts. It was my favorite section of his Introduction. He spent time overviewing the disputed significance of Revelation 1:19. In the last section he discusses theology and the goal of the Apocalypse. He sees the important items as suffering in victory, the throne, the new creation, and the place of Christians in the world.

The commentary itself is as detailed as anyone could want. Again, I don’t see how any item could be missed that may pop into your mind. Like me, you may also have a different interpretive outlook on the book of Revelation than the author, but you come here for exegetical help. I see this book as a treasure trove for scholars, but pastors will likely prefer his shorter commentary by the same publisher mentioned above. I imagine this commentary will hold the top spot in the scholarly world on the Book of Revelation for many 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. 

Lawson Younger, Jr., has turned out a fine volume on Judges and Ruth in the pastor-friendly NIVAC series. He did a fine job in pulling out the type of scholarly information that is most beneficial to pastors while also aiding pastors to connect with modern audiences when presenting the text.

In his Introduction to Judges, he begins with a brief discussion of the title of the book and role of the judges in Israel. Since the Book of Judges is anonymous, he spends little time on authorship other than stating that fact. In explaining the purpose of the book, he agrees with Daniel Block that it has to do with “the Canaanization of Israel”. He also discusses chronology, the role of the tribes in Israel, and the concept of “herem” found in Judges. I felt he excelled in his discussion of the structure of the book. In fact, he was more succinct than I have seen in larger works. He describes the double introduction and double conclusion found in the book. He also describes the cycles section and relates how the book differentiates between the major and minor judges. That section was full of insights. Next, he discussed bridging contexts by looking at interpretive issues. His analysis seemed well on the mark.

He does a fine job in his Introduction to Ruth as well. He explains that the author is unknown, and the date of composition can’t really be arrived at by some of the overly subjective ways that some scholars do. He has more to say about canonical status and position. He debunks some scholarly attempts to disprove the unity of Ruth. As we would expect, he well explains the concept of “hesed”. He gave one of the better, brief explanations that I’ve seen. He briefly discusses genre and purpose, as well as the structure of the book. Since it is central to the story he does discuss a few other background issues: the “goel”, the levirate marriage, and genealogy. For both books he provides an outline and a bibliography.

The commentary is ideal for what this series aims for. For each text, he discusses original meaning, how to bridge contexts, and contemporary significance. This is one of the more successful volumes in the NIVAC series. I plan to use it myself when I’m in Ruth and Judges, and warmly recommended to you!

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 commentary on the Book of Psalms was easily one of the most acclaimed in the original EBC commentary series. Many rate it one of the best on Psalms for pastors while scholars can’t deny its expertise, so it was wise for the publishers to ask Mr. VanGemeren to update his earlier work to extend its life for another generation of pastors.

Though it is not a major revision, the Introduction gives a great overview of the Book of Psalms. The author begins by seeing the place of the Psalms in the life of Israel, and then wisely describes the Psalms as both our word to God and God’s Word to us. That’s an outstanding way to think about the Psalms! Next, he gets into the nuts and bolts of Psalms. That includes a discussion of Hebrew poetry, its use of parallelism, and literary analysis. From there, he dives into the forms and the formation of the Psalter. That includes a breakdown of the types of Psalms, his thoughts on editorial shaping of the Psalms, and doing a holistic reading of the Psalter. In discussing themes, he highlights the names of God, the perfections of God, the acts of God, the hope of redemption and righteousness, the kingdom of God, the Davidic Messiah, and wisdom from above. After a brief section on composition, he gets into structure. That requires going deeper in some of the subjects like parallelism and other literary devices that were brought up earlier. All told, he covers 16 of these literary devices. He reviews literary genre and discusses praise, lament, and other types of Psalms like enthronement, wisdom, and other miscellaneous types. There’s a quite helpful discussion of Psalm titles including people, background, and musical information. There’s a bibliography and outline before he begins the commentary.

The commentary includes the text, verse by verse commentary, and exegetical notes. At key places, there are sections called reflections that go deeper into repeated themes. The commentary itself is superb. I’ve used and loved the old edition for years, and am glad to have this revised edition for the years ahead. They’ve even made the font larger and dedicated the whole of volume 5 for this one outstanding commentary on the Book of Psalms.

Pastors, the hype matches reality! This is a great commentary for you. Don’t miss 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.

Perhaps you have noticed the widespread praise that has been heaped upon this commentary. No doubt, scholars across the spectrum can’t deny its success. Not only do many reviewers list it as the best commentary available on Ezekiel, but I’ve even seen reviews that say it is the greatest commentary in print on any Old Testament book. After reviewing it myself, it’s easy to see why scholars are impressed. There are simply no weaknesses in all the categories we expect to be addressed in a major exegetical commentary. What I would like to add to all that press is that I believe pastors can also be greatly enriched by both these volumes Mr. Block has given us on Ezekiel here in the New International Commentary on the Old Testament (NICOT) series.

Pastors, you will love Mr. Block’s passion for Ezekiel and his prophecy. In addition, you will love his high view of Ezekiel’s God. Instead of just listing copious facts, of which there is plenty in this commentary, this impressive array of information is marshaled to say something to us about Ezekiel, his prophecy, and his God.

His Introduction runs 60 pages. He begins with a background of Ezekiel’s world. Covering the political and social environments, he draws a vivid portrait for us. Next, he discusses author, purpose, and methods. The discussion of Ezekiel’s methods is really an exercise in rhetorical criticism. From there, Block jumps into the literary style of the book. He interacts with other scholars and attempts to explain the structure of the individual oracles. Look for the interesting chart on pages 28 and 29. Since it is so important in studying the Book of Ezekiel, he explains what he calls the formulaic framework. It’s in this detailed section that you discover so much of what is especially unique about Ezekiel. It’s amazing the amount of work that must’ve gone into preparing the information in this section. After a brief section considering the text, he discusses Ezekiel in Jewish and Christian tradition. The final section is a probing look at the theology of Ezekiel. He realizes a past, present, and future aspect of Ezekiel’s vision. The outstanding introduction is followed by a lengthy bibliography.

The commentary in volume 1 covers chapters 1-24. It’s extremely well done. It misses nothing on the exegetical level, draws careful parallels, and is sensitive to theology.

Volume 2 of this fine two-volume set covers chapters 25-48. There’s no introduction as he did a full introduction for the book in volume 1. The commentary is in the same thorough style. For every passage, he gives a translation, a discussion of the nature and design of the passage, commentary on the text, and theological reflection. If you hold to a pre-millennial viewpoint as I do, you may find him a little more nebulous about what the text is predicting for the future at places in these later chapters of Ezekiel. You could grab Cooper in the NAC to compensate if you wanted, but the commentary still gives outstanding exegetical help throughout.

Besides being a seminal academic work, this commentary is easily in the “must-have” category for pastors. It would be a mistake not to secure your own copy!

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.

Volume 11 of the Expositor’s Bible Commentary (EBC) series, revised edition, replaces volume 10 in the old series. Both volumes covered from Romans through Galatians. We have a mixture of original authors being updated by younger scholars, new scholars replacing old ones, and one who did his own revision. What we have is yet another success in the EBC series!

Respected scholar Donald Hagner revised Everett Harrison’s original work on Romans on such a level that we now have a joint authorship. The Introduction covers the founding and history of the church at Rome, authorship, date, and place of origin, destination and integrity, occasion and purpose, composition of the Roman church, literary form, theology, the New Perspective on Paul (wisely rejected here), canonicity, and followed by a bibliography and outline. The commentary follows the usual EBC style: overview, text, commentary, and textual notes. It’s a solid effort for a mid-length commentary on Romans.

The Book of 1 Corinthians is a new work by Verlyn Verbrugge. He is known for the vast amount of academic works that he has edited. The Introduction addresses Paul’s missionary strategy, the church at Corinth, specific occasion of the letter, date, authorship, and integrity, literary characteristics, theological considerations, and a bibliography and outline. His editorial background gave him good insight on what would be helpful to pastors. He clearly aimed his work at them and succeeded.

II Corinthians was handled by Murray J Harris. His Introduction looks at historical background, unity, authorship, date, place of composition, occasion and purpose, special problems, theological values, structure and themes, and bibliography and outline. The success of Mr. Harris on II Corinthians is universally acknowledged. He has had a coup of sorts: the most highly-rated mid length commentary on II Corinthians with this effort as well as the top major exegetical commentary in his volume in the NIGNT series. I can’t recall anyone else who has done that. This is an outstanding commentary and the revision was successful as well.

Galatians saw James Montgomery Boice be replaced by Robert Rapa. I must confess having a warm place in my heart for the late Boice’s commentary, but it’s age did call for its replacement. The Introduction discussed the identity of the Galatians, the relationship of Galatians and Acts, authorship, date and place of writing, the epistlolary and rhetorical structure of Galatians, and a bibliography and outline. It was a little brief, yet contained conservative conclusions. Pastors will find the commentary adequate.

After reviewing almost all of the EBC volumes, I just don’t see how you could go wrong with this volume as a pastor or Bible student. The price is right, and the quality is good without getting as wordy as some of the major exegetical commentaries. For many pastors, that is another plus. Here’s another winner that you should check out!

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.

Volume 1 of the Expositor’s Bible Commentary (EBC) series in this revised edition covers the books from Genesis to Leviticus. As is common in this series, this volume is a revision of an already valuable commentary. In this case, two authors revise their original work while another is replaced with a new scholar. There’s some great help to be found in this volume.

The Book of Genesis is revised by the original author, John H. Sailhamer, who is known for his writings on the Pentateuch. It appears to me that the earlier part of the Introduction is not majorly revised, but much material is added farther in. He begins with a discussion of the historical background, followed by one on the unity of the book. Next, he discusses authorship, date, and place of origin. In doing so, he reviews both the traditional and critical viewpoints. He expands to discuss the compositional view where he surveys what he calls In-Textuality. He goes on to discuss purpose, literary form including an assessment of structure, and the final shape of the primary history. He also compares it to the Old Testament (Tanak) as a whole. After an outline, he jumps into the commentary and gives an overview, commentary, and textual notes on each passage. I agree with those who rank it highly.

The Book of Exodus is done by prolific scholar Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. I have long had a deep respect for his work. I am aware that some think that his work on Exodus is not long enough while others expressed disappointment that his revision was not more in-depth. Still, his work strikes me as quite helpful in a series with the aims that the EBC has. In the Introduction, Kaiser discusses title and theme, authorship and unity (with conservative conclusions), date of writing, the text of Exodus, the date of Exodus, the route of the Exodus, and a brief discussion of theology. After a brief bibliography and outline, along with a chart about the Tabernacle, he jumps into the commentary proper. It’s in the same style mentioned above and is very well done.

The Book of Leviticus has Richard Hess replacing the work of R. Laird Harris. Mr. Hess has also written a commentary on the Song of Songs that is highly regarded. In his Introduction, he reviews name and text, date and authorship (with a favorable view of Mosaic authorship), scholarship and interpretation, and theology. Most agree that he has turned out a substantial improvement over the old edition. The commentary is outstanding and there are a few charts along the way that greatly help understanding.

This commentary provides great help on Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus. It’s a bargain with its three commentaries for one price deal. Pastors and Bible students will love 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.

This book is the latest entry in Kregel’s series entitled “Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis”, edited by David M. Howard, Jr. If you have already used the earlier volumes on the Pentateuch, the historical books, the Psalms, the prophetic books, and apocalyptic literature, you know what to expect. This entry is equal in value to its predecessors. It tackles only Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon since the Book of Psalms has its own volume. The series is geared for graduate-level exegesis courses, but any pastor or Bible student could glean from its contents.

The first chapter overviews the task of interpreting Old Testament Wisdom literature. That requires explaining Wisdom’s perspective in the biblical sense. The author discusses what he calls the pedagogy of the sages and thoroughly reviews the genres of Wisdom: poetry and proverb.

The next chapter tackles primary themes in the Wisdom books. Each of the four books being studied are discussed one at a time. Outstanding theological themes are shared in this lengthy chapter. Whether you agree with all of them are not, you will be given much food for thought that will advance understanding.

Chapter 3 turns more toward the hermeneutical task. In this chapter, you will learn the importance of the ANE background, textual criticism, and context. This chapter also gives a detailed list of hermeneutical resources that can be consulted. Chapter 4 extends the process by diving into exegesis. Chapter 5 guides the reader into taking that exegesis and turning it into a sermon. Since some portions of these Wisdom writings are the trickiest to turn into sermons, this guidance will be greatly appreciated. Chapter 6 continues the process of sermon building to organizing the material and applying the text. Chapter 7 serves as an appendix of computer and Internet resources.

There is a helpful glossary of terms in the back of the book that defines carefully important highlighted words from the text of the book.

Mr. Curtis has done good work here. It’s thorough enough for deep study, yet short and the succinct enough to be used widely. This book can do you a lot of good and 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.