Paul D. Hanson covers Isaiah 40 – 66 in the Interpretation Bible Commentary (IBC) series, picking up where Christopher Seitz left off. In the preface, the author gives his explanation for why the book of Isaiah was divided in this series while most other books of the Bible were not.

He doesn’t provide an Introduction to Isaiah, or even to Isaiah 40 – 66, as a whole. Instead, he divides this work into two parts with the first one being on Isaiah 40 – 55. He does, however, give a good overview in these two sections. He begins his overview in part one by covering the historical setting. He writes well and always incorporates the theological underpinnings. Next, he discusses the personal dimension of the prophetic message, and then goes into the worldview of what he calls “Second Isaiah”. He ends the overview by discussing the literary qualities found in this section.

From there, he jumps into the commentary section, which is more of a passage by passage presentation rather than a verse by verse one. He highlights both God’s compassion and justice often. There’s much theology throughout.

In part two, he tackles Isaiah 56 – 66, which he calls “Third Isaiah”. The overview and the following commentary are done in the same fashion as before. While I cannot agree with several historical or source theory statements, I do appreciate the theology he draws out throughout the book.

This book is a great companion to its predecessor on Isaiah 1 – 39. Again, the author makes good use of the IBC format. I recommend this book for those looking for one of the better critical presentations on Isaiah out there today.

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.

Christopher Seitz has provided this commentary on Isaiah 1-39 in the Interpretation Bible Commentary (IBC) series. This is one of the few books of the Bible to get two volumes in this series. Isaiah 40-66 has been done by Paul Hanson. Reviews I have seen labeled this work a “conservatively critical commentary”, which seems fair to me.

In the forward to the book, he states that he finds treating the final form of the book of Isaiah as an intelligent approach. That’s not to say, that he doesn’t take critical detours to imagine historical reconstructions and sources. Each time he does that, it seems to me to be the least valuable portions of the book. I find little guidance in such guesses.

In the Introduction, he begins explaining the character and position of the book of Isaiah. He states that he can see why Isaiah has a place of prominence among the prophets. He admits, as well, that “Isaiah’s salvific character” plays a role. In the next section, he tries to explain why it’s a good idea to have a commentary on what he calls “First Isaiah”. As you probably know, critical scholars imagine either two or three Isaiah’s depending on the critic. Next, Mr. Seitz describes the literary structure of Isaiah 1-39. There were some interesting observations in that section. From there, he tackles the historical structure. He breaks down things like the superscription and call of Isaiah, the Syro-Ephraimite coalition, and King Hezekiah and the 701 BC debacle.

In part one, he gives an overview of Isaiah 1-12 in 10 detailed pages. From there he dives into the commentary itself, which includes more interesting tidbits for the reader, though mostly all from a critical viewpoint. In part two, we have an overview of Isaiah 13 – 27 in the same style and again followed by commentary. Part three concludes with an overview of Isaiah 28 – 39 with the corresponding commentary.

If you know what to expect in an IBC volume, you will find this a great one in that style. Most I’ve seen rank it above the other mid-length critical commentaries, and I’m inclined to agree with that as well. This is a respected book in the IBC series.

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.

Robert Harvey and Philip Towner joined forces to contribute this commentary on the similar letters of 2 Peter and Jude in the IVP New Testament Commentary (IVPNT) series. Mr. Towner has also written the commentary on the Pastoral Epistles in this series while Mr. Harvey was a pastor of many years. You could tell which one was the pastor and which one was the scholar, though in both cases the pastor was scholarly and the scholar was pastoral. Maybe my bias as a pastor causes me to enjoy Mr. Harvey’s commentary on 2 Peter more, but we can appreciate Mr. Towner stepping in after the untimely death of Mr. Harvey.

Mr. Harvey begins his Introduction to 2 Peter by jumping into the background of the book, including authorship. I appreciate that he has no trouble believing Peter wrote this work, and even to trace Peter’s marveling at being forgiven throughout the letter. He dispenses with some of the stranger features of genre study, and moves on into the style and vocabulary of Peter. He gives further discussion of topics in 2 Peter, canonicity, date (A.D. 65 to 68), and origin and destination. In discussing Peter’s purpose, he talks about strengthening the brothers and seeing God’s actions in our lives. Next, he tackles the historical background of Peter’s world before he concludes and gives an outline of the book. The commentary was thoughtful, helpful, and seemed to find the heart of every passage.

Mr. Towner begins his Introduction to Jude by explaining the book’s neglect today. He explains the historical background of Jude’s time before he discusses questions of authorship and date. He seems at least open that Jude could have been the writer, yet is uncertain about the date. Next, he discusses the theological character of this book. In it he sees a redemptive story and a Trinitarian outlook. He sees Jude’s technique as working through apocalyptic too. Further, he discusses eschatology, the church, and faith as seen in the Book of Jude. As is common in most commentaries on Jude, when he gets into the literary character of Jude he talks about Jude’s use of Midrash and the similarities with 2 Peter. He closes by explaining the opponents that Jude faces in the writing and some thoughts on our reading Jude today. As we said before, the commentary itself has more of a scholarly feel.

This commentary is a fine, economical choice if you are entering into a study of these two books that receive less attention than most. You will find good help 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.

Volume 1

Volume 1 in Eugene Carpenter’s two-volume set on Exodus in the Evangelical Exegetical Commentary (EEC) series covers Exodus 1 – 18. I heard discussion as far back as 2003 of a coming, major commentary on Exodus by Mr. Carpenter as one to be highly anticipated. As it turns out, and as the acknowledgment explained, Mr. Carpenter completed the work just days before his accidental death in 2012. It is a blessing that the work was finished before his death.

Since the EEC began as a digital commentary series, it’s exciting to see these two volumes available as a hardback for a wider audience. I imagine this commentary will continue to raise the reputation of this budding commentary series.

Mr. Carpenter begins the Introduction with a discussion of textual issues. He concludes that the text is well preserved. He further explains the significance of the title as well as the canonicity of Exodus, which has not been majorly challenged. When he discusses authorship, he concludes: “Moses was most likely the focal inspired author-editor and originator of the Pentateuch and thus of Exodus, with the gifted Joshua and possibly Eleazer serving as important early inspired editors or contributors.” While my beliefs would be even more conservative than that, it’s clear he’s more conservative than most of the major Old Testament commentaries on Exodus we have today. He’s a little more nebulous on date and gives too much credence to some of the critical theories out there. Still, I was pleased when he discussed the history of the book that he said, “the events in Exodus are real history; it is accurate history as intended by the author”.

Next, he goes into the theological elements of the book. In that section, he discusses the God who speaks and acts, the people of God, and Exodus: a lasting paradigm. After a brief discussion of structure, he gives a detailed outline and a select bibliography.

The commentary section is very full. For each passage he gives an introduction, a translation, textual notes, and very detailed commentary verse by verse, all followed by biblical theology, application and devotional implications, and a selected bibliography for the passage itself.

This commentary by Eugene Carpenter is clearly a top-three commentary for what we have available today. I imagine it will be used for many years to come and I highly recommend.

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 2

The second volume by Eugene Carpenter in the Evangelical Exegetical Commentary (EEC) series covers Exodus 19 through 40. The commentary maintains the high standards set in volume 1. Without a doubt, this is a major exegetical commentary on Exodus. Mr. Carpenter has clearly done a great deal of work that he shares here.

The Introduction that Mr. Carpenter writes for Exodus is in volume 1. This volume picks up at 19:1 with the same type of commentary we saw in the earlier volume. He has an introduction for each passage, followed by a translation, verse by verse commentary, biblical theology comments, application and devotional implications, and a selected bibliography for that passage.

The work is deep, full, and yet accessible. He succeeds on the exegetical and the theological level. He interacts with some scholarly opinions that I find little value in, but he does provide much that is of great help.

This volume covers the 10 Commandments as well as the ceremonial laws in the later chapters of Exodus. Scholars will find a treasure trove of footnotes for further study.

This work is well done and it is well worth adding to your library. 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.

Volume 7 of the Expositor’s Bible Commentary (EBC), Revised Edition, covers from Jeremiah through Ezekiel, and is another successful updating in the beloved series. This volume contains two brand-new authors with new works and one revision by an author from the original series. It uses the helpful format found in the other volumes of the series.

The Book of Jeremiah is tackled by Michael Brown, replacing the respected Charles Feinberg. He begins the Introduction by describing the world of Jeremiah’s day. Next, he describes the uniqueness of the book of Jeremiah, both in its length and in its contrast between despair and hope. He describes how he comments on the final, canonical form rather than drowning in the nebulous world of sources. After that, he discusses date and authorship, stylistic differences, and his own opinions about editorial activity and sources. I found that to be of little value. When he gets back to historical background he is much more effective. The discussion of background is followed by one of literary style where he discusses issues of structure. He ends with a section on texts and versions, followed by a bibliography and outline. The commentary itself follows the normal style of overview, translation, commentary, and notes. He gives solid exegetical help with commentary of sufficient length for the aims of this series.

Lamentations is done by Paul Farris, Jr., replacing H. L. Ellison. I’ve seen some good press on this commentary, and it appears to be well earned. He begins the Outline discussing title, authorship, date, and historical setting. From there he gets into literary setting where he describes the alphabetic acrostic poetry, the voice, the dirge meter, and city laments in the Ancient Near East. After a brief section on liturgy, he has one on theology. Even including the bibliography and outline this is rather brief. The commentary itself follows the same style mentioned above, but is very detailed and helpful.

The work on Ezekiel has been updated by Ralph Alexander. The Introduction has not been majorly updated, but has a much better appearance. It still covers background, unity and authorship, date, place of origin and destination, occasion and purpose, literary form and structure, and theological values. Some reviewers downgrade Mr. Alexander’s commentary merely because he has a pre-millennial viewpoint. Don’t listen to them. This is a commentary of value.

This is another fine volume that bolsters the status of the EBC, revised edition, 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.