What pastor hasn’t heard of Charles Hodge? You will often see his commentaries in worn condition in used bookstores because generations of pastors have used his works. For some years now, Banner of Truth has become THE publisher of his works and fortunately are keeping them in print in far better quality volumes than used to be the case. What we have here, however, is something the older pastors have never had: Charles Hodge on Hebrews.

If you get this lovely hardback edition, be sure to take the time to read the introduction that was prepared by William Vandoodewaard. He provides a brief biographical overview of Hodge’s life before he explains how this Hebrew volume came about. In short, it took some work on his behalf to gather and edit Hodge’s material into what became this new commentary!

The commentary, of course, is not as full as his other commentaries, but you will enjoy having it on hand to study. The first section contains exegetical lectures that though briefer are in the Hodge style that we are familiar with. He even has comments on the Greek interspersed throughout his perceptive comments. The next section is called sermons and outlines. They are mostly sermons rather than outlines and are hit or miss in terms of texts addressed. Still, they cover some of the most important texts in Hebrews in quality sermons, again though shorter, that may be quite helpful in suggesting approaches to preaching these texts. In addition, they will make fine devotional reading.

You know you can count on Banner to create a volume that will last for years to come and I highly recommend this latest 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 Tyndale Old Testament Commentary (TOTC) series keeps turning out these replacement volumes at a rate that would be a model for other series. The series retains its status as the best shorter commentary series that still has real depth with each of these new releases that I have seen. Knut Martin Heim upholds the standards that we have come to expect from the series. As a matter of personal taste, I may not have liked this volume as much of some of the other recent releases, but that probably has as much to do with the uniqueness of Ecclesiastes as anything else. In other words, scholarship on Ecclesiastes has gone a direction that some of us feel only gets us farther from its truth. Perhaps I’m a little too much of the old school to follow his theory about Qoheleth rather than Solomon, but I must confess he’s in line with the majority of what’s being written today. I can’t quite swallow that the writer of Ecclesiastes is mostly being sarcastic either. On a more positive note, the writing and scholarship in this volume are impeccable. He clearly communicates what he thinks and is adept at succinctly presenting current scholarly thinking.

The Introduction is crystal clear in explaining his viewpoint. While he has trouble with Solomon as the author, he highlights inter-textual issues, Canon, date and historical context, language and genre, as well as the theological and practical message of the book. I found him easy to follow. There’s a good select bibliography and analysis outline as well as his own translation. The commentary proper is never trite or simplistic and whether you agree with what he says or not you will appreciate gaining so much information in a short compass.

I’m an advocate of having all these TOTC volumes in one’s library and so I recommend this new release on Ecclesiastes as well.

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.

John Goldingay is a big name in the scholarly world, and I can understand why the editors of the Word Biblical Commentary (WBC) series would ask him to revise his popular volume rather than replace it. It’s also good to see this revision since we haven’t seen many new releases from this series in quite a while. A page near the beginning shows that several volumes are now in revision or are forthcoming. Likely you are aware of how highly rated this book is to scholars while in many cases it might not be as well-loved by conservative pastors. In short, the author has not changed his overall conclusions on the Book of Daniel, but he has expanded his explanations in several cases. The page count has grown by nearly 300 pages! I’ll make it easy for you to rate this volume if you’re already familiar with the one that has been around since 1989. The perspective has not moved to the right, but the scholarly contribution has been successfully updated to the point that I see this volume holding its lofty status for several more decades to come.

I compared his Introduction in the original volume since I had it on hand and have used it several times. I do not personally endorse his viewpoint, but I felt he explained it well and, in many cases, took on more introductory issues that were even found in the original volume. He even followed the reception of Daniel through the New Testament and into later history all the way to the current time. That is a fascinating contribution, to say the least. I thought his conclusion after studying Daniel scholarship in the 20^th century was that nothing changed at all during that time was quite surprising.

For you scholarly types, the bibliography has also significantly grown. He knows how to operate in the unique WBC format and his notes for scholars in every passage are extensive. He looks at structure more than some of these volumes do and the part that pastors would find most interesting still remains in the Explanation section. Sometimes his conclusion about the text or historicity leads him to places where I would strongly disagree. I don’t think this revision will majorly raise perceptions that pastors hold about this volume, but scholars are likely to give it the highest rating. Even if you don’t subscribe to all the author’s viewpoints, the book is simply too significant not to have access to for any kind of study or research on Daniel.

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.

Prolific commentator Andrew Steinmann has produced this replacement volume on Genesis in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary (TOTC) series. As with several of these replacement volumes, they are a little thicker than those they replaced. In this case, Steinmann has replaced Derek Kidner, who is the master of the briefer commentary. That being said, Steinmann has proven to be more conservative and dependable at key points even if Kidner’s pithiness may never be matched. As great as Kidner was, I’m not sure if I ever liked him on Genesis as much as I did on other books that he wrote on anyway. As for Steinmann, this is my first foray into his works. Though he has written massive commentaries on Ezra and Nehemiah, Proverbs, and Daniel, they were part of the Concordia Commentary series of which I am not familiar. In any event, Steinmann did prove adept at matching the TOTC style.

He begins his Introduction describing the foundational place of Genesis in the Old Testament. He well explains the traditional view of the Pentateuch as being the work of Moses including his marshaling of the witness of the New Testament. To meet scholarly demands, he well describes the Documentary Hypothesis too. Though he was gentle, it’s so easy to see that that hypothesis should be relegated to the trash heap of history. He does a fine job discussing literary features and addressing the historical and archaeological issues that so often plague studies of the Book of Genesis. He uses a few helpful tables and charts before he gets into the theological themes of the book. Fortunately, he doesn’t hesitate to highlight the messianic promise of Christ. He provides a lengthy outline for analysis as well.

The commentary was conservative and wonderful. He knew how to succinctly overview scholarly thoughts before giving some guidance without pushing the book beyond reasonable length requirements. I worked through his commentary on the creation of man and the Fall and felt his comments were ideal for what this series is trying to accomplish. Pastors will love this book and it could easily be the best volume now to put in the hands of the serious Bible students in our congregations.

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.

Thomas Schreiner’s volume on Romans in the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (BECNT) series has been one of the top-rated commentaries on this pivotal doctrinal book of the New Testament since its release in 1998. That the publishers would ask for a second edition rather than a new contribution is of no surprise at all. Don’t miss his preface to the second edition as he explains the major contributions that have come out since his original work and the passages (Romans 2:14-15, 5:12, 7:13-25) where he has altered his conclusions. He describes these changes as “a different direction in defining the righteousness of God”. Works he has released during the intervening 20 years between these two editions have already revealed that he has moved to an even stronger reformed position, particularly on the subject of justification. Most second editions don’t kindly point out where to expect changes as he has done in this preface, so I believe he should be congratulated. As for these changes themselves, those of a more reformed persuasion will only like this new edition better while those who are not as much of that persuasion will not find enough passages involved to downgrade the commentary. At the end of the day, no matter where you fall on that spectrum, this is still an outstanding work in a respected series by a major scholar.

Since I had the first edition on hand to compare, I can let you know that the Introduction is not majorly changed. The layout is better, there’s occasional editing, and most of the new content is near the end on rhetoric and structure. Still, it doesn’t seem dated, especially as he adds new references to more recent scholarly works, and because he tackles the key issues that introductions ought to address rather than esoteric scholarly preoccupations that often sound ridiculous 20 years later. Without question, this commentary would still be one of the places I would turn to consult introductory issues.

The commentary is clear and helpful, up to anyone’s scholarly requirements, and insightful where needed. He does better than most at putting what should be in footnotes in their proper place so the commentary itself flows better. Even if you aren’t as reformed as he is, you can get a clear explanation of those viewpoints in those passages where it’s most debated. The BECNT format is helpful to the reader and he follows it well. Without being overly verbose, he gives Romans the meaty treatment it deserves.

This second edition is so well done that I predict it will easily remain near the top for another 20 years.

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.