This is the inaugural volume of the New Word Biblical Themes series. For some reason, only 15 volumes were ever written in the old series meaning that by far most in the WBC series did not have a corresponding offering in this series. The first thing you notice now is that unlike the old series each volume is not written by the author of the corresponding WBC volume. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it makes this new series more distinct, less likely to rehash information from the WBC series, and not bound by any of the weaknesses (or strengths) of the commentary. This series will be entirely in the hands of the new authors and the work they do.

That brings me to Nijay Gupta, who additionally happens to be the series editor. Richard Longenecker did the WBC volume back in 1990. That has been ranked as a high-class exegetical work ever since, though it has been consistently labeled a bit overboard with its entertainment of newer perspectives by many in the more conservative camp. Spring forward 34 years and I will say the same thing about Gupta. He works well from where he reasons, but do you accept that line? I found his work here easy to read and follow with all necessary scholarly spade work behind it, but he is dialed in to the wrong frequency for me.

Perhaps you’ve already guessed he is sympathetic to the New Perspective on Paul (NPP) and (full disclosure) I am not. Still, he divides how we view Paul’s thought in four main ways: 1) The Reformation Approach, 2) NPP, 3) the Apocalyptic Paul Approach, and 4) the Salvation-Historical Approach. He sees it as a combination of #2 and #4 while I would see it as a combination of #1 and #4. My viewpoint is unimportant as you are seeking a review of his book. My point is, more than in most books, your viewpoint is going to greatly affect your valuation of this book. Gupta himself says, “… leaning into one of these approaches leads to a particular kind of reading of Galatians, and promoting another one presents a different reading, sometimes starkly different.” This is a book about themes and your guiding theme orients everything else you say.

I still must commend certain things about this book. He lays the issues out well even if he, in your opinion, chooses the wrong option. There is value sometimes in reading on an entirely different track. Also, he very cogently and succinctly lays out his position in an understandable way. It’s quite easy to see what he believes, and why he believes it, even if you cannot agree with it.

And there you have it. Part of this book’s final score will be the viewpoint you had before you even cracked it open.

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 was the inaugural volume of the new Commentaries for Christian Formation (CCF) series. I’m sure they were pleased to snag N. T. Wright since he is such a major scholar. To be sure, he is controversial because he is one of the proponents of the New Perspective on Paul. Because I especially liked the new volume on Hebrews in this series, I backed up to check out this one. Since I’m not a NPP guy and because Wright isn’t in any of the main series I’ve consistently reviewed, this was my first foray into Wright’s writing.

By the end of the Introduction here, I felt I understood Wright and could see what all the hoopla was about. He is an engaging, even provocative writer. Rather than an academic work, I felt I was reading a captivating essay. The more I read, the more I wondered if it would help a lot of works to adopt that style. It is much more gripping and makes for more of what we might call a real reading experience. I must give Wright all the props for his writing.

Still, I wasn’t fully persuaded by his arguments. They had enough going for them that I could find places for caution in running mindlessly to our usual conclusions, but not enough to just overthrow them. (You can decide if I was too biased a reader). For example, he is convinced that the Reformation oriented New Testament studies away from what they were in the First Century (that will never do in some circles! ). Again, I think he gives us enough to consider more carefully earlier concerns, but no where near enough to think the Reformation recreated Christianity in its own image. From there his comments had value mostly in regard to when he was not trying to advance his scheme because, as I said before, the man unquestionably possesses advanced writing skills.

His work still has value in the commentary section. I see him as a guy standing at a different vantage point. Sometimes it’s too far away to see through all the bushes, but where he has a clear line of sight, it’s something else.

He’s probably geared quite nicely for Christian formation, probably more so than for theological precision for sure too. Based on what I’ve said, you’ll know how many stars to give this work.

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.

Galatians gets its turn in the outstanding EEC series. The series is one of my favorites in the major exegetical commentary category. In that vein, many releases are coincidentally coming out on Galatians (probably not the timing publishers really wanted), but this is easily one of the best.

The Introduction is well done and pretty conservative. It’s engagingly written and touches all the needed places. He takes the South Galatia View and lays out his case well. I wish he would have more directly addressed structure beyond his simple outline.

Even better than the Introduction is the Commentary proper. Exegesis fills his wheel house from wall to wall. In each passage, he gives some very detailed textual notes followed by his own translation. From there, he offers his most helpful work in the commentary section. It’s detailed, copiously footnoted, and hits the sweet spot on depth. After that, he gives theological comments of varying lengths. Pastors will appreciate the application and devotional implications section. Most sections have an additional exegetical comments, though I couldn’t quite gauge what determined if it went here or the earlier section. Each passage had its own selected bibliography.

If you’re building a theological library, you could start here. I’m pleased with this offering in this series I admire.

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.

Tremper Longman in the New Testament? That was a surprise! With a little more thought I can guess why. There are many OT allusions in Revelation as well as the fact that Daniel is especially related to Revelation and Longman has written on it.

I must admit up front that I don’t share Longman’s overall prophetic position, but I expected it before I began. The final product is also what I expected.

While this work cannot serve as a main commentary choice, it is useful as an additional resource. Longman is clearly an OT expert and it shows. I often disagree with him even in his OT content, but there’s always good stuff to find as well. That ends up being true in this book too. Beyond some speculative material is solid OT insights.

The style of the work matches previous volumes in this series. Here the OT nuggets and comments on structure are far and away the best features here. No matter one’s perspective on prophecy, nuggets on structure are delightful to the Bible student.

Where I’d use this commentary is narrow (more so than others in series), but in those places it is rich.

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 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.

This volume picks up where his recent one on Joel, Obadiah and Jonah left off. The strengths and weaknesses are of necessity the same as he clearly worked on Micah at the same time. His Micah is on par with the best of that work (Joel).

His historical background section was my favorite of the Introduction. That time period is as fascinating as any novel could be and even covering the scholarly bases couldn’t diminish it. In unity of composition, authorship, and the text he goes scholarly to the hilt. You can imagine how that complicates conclusions. Both considering Micah among the Twelve and its relevance were better. He is quite expert on the Twelve and can plumb that line with ease. Structure, in my view, is weakly covered unless an outline is enough for you.

The commentary proper is what you’d expect, and what you’d want if the NICOT is a style you go for. Exegesis is nice. Scholarly issues deeply probed. Historical background expertly intwined. There’s some theology and, as usual, that may be a matter of taste.

If you want one major commentary, this will work fine. It’s newer and aware of what’s gone before. Theologically it’s in line with others in the series. Recommended.

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.

What volume could be more important than the one on Matthew in an NT series that aims at considering the book from an OT perspective? Matthew, as Capes explained, has been loved since its earliest days specifically for its OT connections. Additionally, Matthew particularly shines in this series’ unique design. Matthew has so many special features that pulling those out for observation is especially rich for us.

This series is not an exegetical commentary offering. Without apology, it’s a second level asset. We must, then, grade it on its aims. In that vein, it is clearly a winner. Beyond the obvious OT allusions, it is structure that best shines here. Whether macro or micro, Capes stays alert for important structure and offers real understanding to us.

Though its scholarly underpinnings are first rate, this book is engagingly written in a way that any Bible student could be enriched by it. It’s not written for scholars, but they will appreciate it. It’s more about what brings Matthew to life.

The Introduction is engagingly written. It doesn’t really answer any questions, but it tells you what they are. Probably most readers aren’t really after those questions anyway, and there are other major commentaries than can better address them.

Every chapter of Matthew gets a chapter here. Not every word or phrase is covered, but the big picture is beautifully told. I especially enjoy the type of things that get a shaded box to discuss. That’s where the treasure is in this book, so don’t miss them.

This is special series filling a real niche and this one on Matthew gets its due here. If you understand what you’re getting, you’ll 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.

Here’s a solid new commentary on Daniel in the winsome Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament (ZECOT) series. Widder projects as one who did her homework throughout. There’s the right balance between lucidity and depth throughout while the volume succeeds in finding its own niche in what has become a crowded commentary market.

What are the strengths of this commentary? Plenty to be sure. They become apparent in the Introduction. Avoiding stilted language, Widder manages to engagingly lay out scholarly trends on every issue, to weigh them, and to crown the scholarly consensus winners. She hit her stride on Structure after somewhat warming up on earlier topics like genre, authorship and date. Structure was clear and compelling. That is, wouldn’t you agree, fortuitous for this series with its specific aims? Significance of the book discussions and the outline proceed at a high level as well. In the commentary proper, depth, exegesis and clarity are good as is thriving in ZECOT’s sterling format. The tone resonates throughout her writing too and she never turns to lecturing us or grating on our nerves. She can go from macro to micro seamlessly as well. The discourse analysis sings.

What are the weaknesses? Though fewer, they sometimes stand close to the strengths. While the scholarly survey is tops, she is less adept at championing her conclusions. If that is not your preference as is mine, you’ll love the book even more. Perhaps the controversial Daniel 9:27 best illustrates what I’m saying. There’s more scholarly variety there, so the weighing gets harder while the conclusions get more imprecise. ( I’m not basing this merely on disagreeing with what she shared either).

She rarely cuts a new path either. Rather than any original explanations, it strikes me as more of a weighing of the known opinions. That’s worthwhile too, but that is what might separate, say, a really good commentary from a great, influential one.

Still, I’m comfortable in labeling this one a really good commentary. I should mention there’s some theological nuggets along the way too. The book as a whole package succeeds.

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.