As I approached this volume, I returned to my reviews of the earlier two volumes that together with this one will comprise a major 3-volume set of New Testament introduction. I recalled how impressed I was with the two previous releases and immediately thought that the only question would be if this volume could maintain the high quality. I’ve seen multi-volume sets by one author run out of gas before the end; haven’t you? That’s not the case here and that’s all the review owners of the previous volumes will need to desire this one.

The design remains unchanged and that allows a great template for us. He gives quality help throughout. He isn’t speculative. For example, after telling us the major positions on the authorship of Hebrews, he admits we really don’t know. He is balanced. For example, when explaining the millennial positions in Revelation, he encourages us to not put a “preset grid for interpretation”, though he is sympathetic to futurist perspectives. He is consistent throughout.

At this point, it is, perhaps, more important to gear this review toward the three-volume set since I suspect that is how it will be marketed going forward. As with previous NT introductions , this one presents great background information. How, though, does this set stand out? The hint is in the subtitle where with background we find “theology and themes”. To tell the truth, that can often help pastors and Bible students even more than the background stuff. Background shows you where it came from while theology and themes tell you where it’s going. That we need to know and this work will guide us there.

Let the other such NT Introductions step aside. There’s a new top dog in town.

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.

Hard on the heels of Goldingay’s recent NICOT volume on Jeremiah comes this one on Lamentations. Who better to write on Lamentations than one who just finished a major work on Jeremiah? While not a sequel, the two works are natural companions. Fortunately, he didn’t run out of steam from exhaustion with the major labor that work on Jeremiah surely required. Perhaps the genre difference in Lamentations sparked his interest as he writes with obvious vigor.

When I reviewed the earlier Jeremiah work, I felt he was more overtly conservative or at least more sympathetic to such conclusions and that made it for me his best work to date. Perhaps he wouldn’t agree at all with my perceptions, but I have them nonetheless and continue to have in this Lamentations volume. If your view of Scripture is like mine, that will make this volume much more valuable to you.

Beyond his conclusions, questions of scholarly work and investigation can never be doubted in his work. No one would ever accuse him of laziness. He is at his best in addressing questions that interest scholars. Some of those questions are more esoteric to, say, pastors or general Bible students, but I feel that he has written more profitably for such audiences without sacrificing the scholarship that is his thing. Again, more so than some other works of his. I’m other words, the work isn’t dry.

While there isn’t a section called structure in the Introduction, he covers it effectively in “the unity and interrelationship of the poems” and following. Genre works into that discussion beautifully here and is likewise explained. Since Lamentations describes the devastation of 587 B.C., the historical background is straightforward yet well presented here. He wisely comes out for the MT though it is through something of a circuitous journey. The theology and thematic sections culminating in the questions of theodicy are rich. In fact, that is where the treasures of Lamentations lay for pastors and Bible students.

The commentary proper is on target. Take for example my favorite passage in Lamentations in chapter 3 where hope rises precisely where all looked lost. Amid the scholarship, he made me pause and thank my Lord for His steadfast love (Hesed). That’s striking the right balance in an exegetical work for sure. Another good one!

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 Garland is a busy scholar. In addition to this revision of his older NAC volume on 2 Corinthians for the emerging Christian Standard Commentary (CSC) series, he has just released a new commentary on Romans for the TNTC series. In resent years he’s written well received volumes on the Gospels as well. If you think about it, it’s an elite group of scholars who write multiple commentaries. I guess that is for good reason as it’s likely success in earlier commentaries that catch the eye of series editors and make for further opportunities. Then, of course, there’s the work itself. Ever notice how many announcements for commentaries in all the major series never actually appear? Back to Garland. He’s good and he’ll keep getting these opportunities as long as he wants to do them.

I’ve used the first volume of this work to advantage, but as I read the introduction of this revision I kept thinking that Garland is really good, even sneaky good. There’s quality and clarity in his straightforward, yet incisive writing. It’s the accumulation of good things for the reader every few pages that makes it so substantial. For example, in a few pages Garland took me to Corinth. While that might not be a place you’d actually want to go, it’s a place you much go to understand the epistle. Later he will take you through a discussion of the unity of the letter. You know that yawn-inducing trek so many scholars take you that goes at best in circles. I loved it this time! He was gracious yet I envisioned a bomb going off and wacky scholarly arguments flying through the air as I read. It only took a few pages to prove how disingenuous such arguments are at best and how delusional they really are.

The commentary itself is similarly golden. I offer his discussion of 4:16-18 as proof. Read it. Now that’s commentary writing. There’s plenty more too.

If pastors, teachers, or dedicated Bible students could only have one volume on 2 Corinthians, here’s the perfect choice.

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 in the time-tested Tyndale New Testament Commentary (TNTC) series is a substantial commentary, perhaps more so than usual, but still will be welcomed, I believe, by the target audience of the series. Romans of necessity is going to be a key volume for any NT series and so the selection of David Garland was a coup for the editors. He’s written enough well-received commentaries in several other series to show he’s up to the task. When you open the book itself, you will find that he lived up to the expectations formed by his prodigious output.

After a bibliography that rivaled more technical series, he dives into an Introduction that shined. The TNTC is going to limit authors here more than larger series, but what he delivered in the constraints upon him was impressive. He made the sentences count. His comments on audience were penetrating and filled with nuggets one could expand in profitable directions. As he proceeded, you will appreciate the conservative conclusions, the clearheadedness to weigh scholarly matters based on real importance, and a consistency to approach the text as if, you know, it was the Word of God. It held my interest to the end which is more than could be said for some commentary’s introductions.

In the commentary proper, I read sections of several passages that will tell you where the commentary will take you. There’s just something about Romans that makes the perusal of key passages more obvious to anticipate the quality of the whole. On the other hand, it might make you turn away too quickly if you are already determined you know Romans. I stayed in even after he and I got crossed up on a few passages and found quality in every case. He is clearly reformed (that statement already tells many of his conclusions, doesn’t it?), but this is no defense of the Reformation which derails many commentaries on Romans. He is in the text. He is careful with the text. He is respectful of the text and realizes, as he should, that exegeting it is the task at hand. Use him and there’s enough worthwhile content to help you form your own conclusions.

His commentary replaces the volume by renowned scholar, F. F. Bruce. As great as Bruce was, Garland has easily surpassed him. This is a must-have 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.

The NICOT gets a major replacement in this massive commentary on Jeremiah. The series likewise snagged a prolific scholar in John Goldingay to provide this commentary on one of the harder books of the Old Testament. One can only marvel at the output of Goldingay, and whatever you might think of him, you can find no evidence of haste in this thorough production. As I perused this volume, I repeatedly found myself thinking what intense and intimate time he has spent in Jeremiah. Both the depth and scope are impressive. I can just imagine what a conversation on Jeremiah with Goldingay would be like. I bet he could cite the most obscure passages to make his point.

Before I discuss the particulars of this commentary, I must admit that this commentary is easily, by a wide margin, my favorite work by Goldingay. For comparison’s sake, I find this work much more useful than his work on Daniel in the WBC series. The format may have helped that be so, but the work itself was better to me across the board. Sometimes Goldingay makes conclusions in his writings that seem bewildering to me for an evangelical to make, and though that occasionally shows up here, he seems to mention those things but concludes more evenly this time around.

The first part of the Introduction really shines. Here we find background information that really opens Jeremiah to our understanding. In the section on the unity of composition he thoroughly discusses five major perspectives (he calls horizons). Some are nonsense, but all are exquisitely explained. He covers authorship and date next and makes Jeremiah come alive even if one can’t agree with all he says. After canonicity and textual discussions, he dives into an enlightening presentation of Jeremiah’s theology. Don’t miss the last section called “analysis of contents”. “Wow” is the word that comes to mind there.

The commentary proper also shows a depth that impresses. What are you looking for? Background? Textual matters? Theology? Details? Big picture? It’s all to be found here. Again, you may not agree with all he says, but you will leave knowing far more than you came with on the passage. As you probably know, that can’t always be said in commentaries, even major ones. In far to many of them, the mass of details can’t be harnessed and made into anything of substance.

I’ll rate this commentary higher than I expected when I first cracked it open. It’s a big one. In size and usefulness.

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.

The RCS continues its unearthing of old treasure in this latest volume on Matthew edited by Jason K. Lee and William M. Marsh. I don’t know about you, but I see the gospel of Matthew as an ideal book of the Bible for the type of insight you can gain from this RCS series. There’s just something about Matthew’s uniqueness, his beautiful parables and miracles, and fascinating stories from the ministry of Jesus Christ that has enthralled Christians for centuries. Because of that beauty, gems of understanding from another time to help us grasp its riches and effectively interpret are especially inviting.

As has been surprisingly uniform across the volumes of this series that I have encountered, copious research has gone into pulling out the most meaningful nuggets from the Reformation era. As is always the case as well, they do not allow themselves to only quote their favorite authors, but truly give a real swath across the spectrum that puts a major historical epoch in perspective. The same general introduction and an overview of the contributors to Reformation writings is found here as in every other volume, but there is a nice historical introduction to what will be finding in Matthew. From there, you have those wonderful writings for each passage that are the most meaningful.

You are not going to agree with everything that you read here. How could you? All the writers that are quoted in it don’t even agree with each other. That is not the point. If you were wondering how this might help you in your studies, besides the obvious historical understanding, it is all these treats that are the icing on the cake you made in your exegetical work. Read it near the end of your studies and that icing will be a tasty treat.

This volume on Matthew is truly up to the mark of all the wonderful contributions that have already come down the pike in this series. I give it my full recommendation.

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.