After reviewing several volumes in the IVP New Testament Commentary series, I find this volume on First Corinthians as one of the best it has to offer. Alan Johnson writes with such heart. Scholarly endeavors never obscured the simple believer in Mr. Johnson. That is not to say that this volume lacks in scholarship, but that it doesn’t lose sight of what’s most important.

In the author’s preface, Mr. Johnson says, “my life has been transformed by the words of Paul in this ancient letter.” He sees First Corinthians as Paul working “through his theology of the cross as lifestyle”.

In the Introduction, Mr. Johnson begins by setting Corinth in its first-century setting. He feels that setting is essential to grasping what First Corinthians is attempting to say. Further, he feels that too much emphasis on Greek culture overlooks the Roman character of Corinth. When Mr. Johnson spoke of the market-service economy in Corinth as well as the impact of tourism on the culture, he brought up points that are not well stated in several other works. He briefly describes the religious environment and social status inconsistencies in Corinth too.

From there, he tackles the subject of Paul, who he states is the author. He tries to fit in Corinth with Paul’s overall chronology. He sees Paul’s purpose for First Corinthians as:” status seeking, self-promotion, a competitive drive for adulation and success, even use of the Christian church as a means of self-promotion and advancement”. He briefly overviews scholarly viewpoints on the integrity of First Corinthians, followed by discussion of rhetoric, major theological themes, and contemporary relevance.

After an outline, he jumps into the commentary itself. It is well done! In my judgment, he always struck the right balance that you are looking for in one of these mid-length commentaries. He got to the heart of the issue quickly without being superficial. I see this commentary as an excellent addition to the library of any pastor or Bible student. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

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 young Biblical Theology for Christian Proclamation (BTCP) series continues its impressive start with this fine volume on Romans by scholar David Peterson. When I saw that Mr. Peterson was scheduled to produce this commentary on Romans, I fully anticipated an excellent volume because of his track record in producing a top-flight commentary on the Book of Acts in the Pillar New Testament Commentary series. Though this series may not go as deep on the exegetical level, it creates its own niche by carefully probing biblical theology with competent exegetical work behind it. Mr. Peterson has proven himself adept at both types of commentary. In other words, he has succeeded with this BTCP volume on the Book of Romans.

The learning that Mr. Peterson brings to the table is clear in the Introduction he writes on the Book of Romans for this volume. Although this series required that he summarize more on introductory matters, the research behind what he says is obvious. He begins by discussing the character of Romans and dives immediately into the epistolary framework of the book. This approach requires deeply probing what Paul was doing at this point of his ministry. The next section is on structure and argument. He agrees with those who see four main divisions in the argument Paul presents. He finally arrives at a new approach that he presents in four literary factors: alternation, refrain, progression/digression, and recursion. Next, he tackles purpose and puts Jews and Roman Christianity in its proper context along with Paul’s mission. He ends with a discussion of continuing relevance for the Book of Romans and an outline of the book.

There’s another introductory chapter that discusses biblical and theological themes found in the Book of Romans. This chapter effectively draws out in accordance with the aims of this series what will be developed throughout the commentary itself. In my view, there’s much to glean in this section to greatly enrich one’s understanding of Romans.

The commentary itself begins with the text, a discussion of context, another of structure, followed by verse by verse commentary. That is followed by a section entitled “bridge” that ties the discussion together and makes some helpful conclusions.

All the volumes in this series so far have been of high quality, and snagging Mr. Peterson for the Romans volume is something of a coup for the editors. It raises the stature of this series. This volume will be appreciated by pastors 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.

The NIVAC commentary series has successfully found a niche as a resource to pick up after you’ve studied the major exegetical commentaries and now need to think about application and contemporary significance. This commentary on Esther by Karen Jobes fulfills the aims of the series effectively.

In the Introduction the author begins with a somewhat subversive illustration to turn our minds toward the subject of the Book of Esther, but becomes much more helpful when she discusses the Book of Esther itself. The style is more succinct, and even breezy, than in some other series, yet the main points are still well covered. The historical background, as well as authorship and date, are all well covered before the author asked the question: is Esther reliable history? I appreciated, especially after having read as many commentaries on Esther as I have, her saying that the objections raised against the historicity of Esther are not “beyond explanation”. She approaches genre in a section about ancient storytelling and argues that Esther has great value whether it’s historically accurate or not. I’m a firm believer in the historicity of Esther, but love seeing her say that the relationship between biblical narrative and history “consciously rests on the concept that God has in fact worked in history through events that really happened”.

Her love of Esther’s story becomes clear in the section on literary structure. Again, this section is not as lengthy as in some of the larger commentaries, but the bases are still well covered. The same could be said of the section on the theology of Esther. Even more in line with the design of this series is the final section on contemporary significance. You will gain some helpful insights.

After a bibliography, she jumps right into the commentary itself. As with every volume in this series, it is divided into original meaning, bridging contexts, and contemporary significance. That design can’t help but have some repetition, but the author did a good job with it. I rate this volume as a success and a worthy 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 on Esther is my first foray into the Evangelical Exegetical Commentary (EEC) series. I don’t, therefore, know how this volume compares to others in the series, but I can assure you that this volume by Anthony Tomasino is outstanding. It’s my understanding that this series is produced by Logos Bible Software in digital form for readers. For guys like me who simply must have a hard copy in their hands and can’t quite put up with digital volumes of anything, I’m glad Lexham was produced to release these volumes in print. The good news, then, is that this fine commentary is now available to tech savvy readers and dinosaurs like me.

The Introduction to Esther runs to 130 pages! Don’t let that scare you away. All the pages are put to good use and the layout is such that you can easily skip areas that are not of particular interest to you. After opening with proof that this story has incredible relevance by the repeated attempts at Jewish extermination across the years, he gives a thoughtful synopsis and historical background to Esther and her times. He covers textual issues, sources, date and provenance from every angle. While I could not agree with all the author sees in sources and redaction, this commentary falls firmly into the conservative category. He further explains canonicity. All scholars obsess over genre and historicity when it comes to Esther. I appreciate that when he lists the historical difficulties that most every Esther commentary mentions, he at least doesn’t deny that they could have happened.

If the aforementioned subjects are not that important to you, please pick up reading again on page 70 with the purpose of the book of Esther. Purim, resistance, and all kinds of other literary features are discussed. The characterization is fully developed and well done. I underlined many sentences in the section on motifs, and for the record, I’ve never seen that better done. That takes him through structure and then he dives into theology. When he is finished, it’s clear that he is written the best Introduction in a commentary on the book of Esther that we have today.

The commentary proper includes his own translation, textual notes, commentary biblical theology comments, application and devotional implications, and a selected bibliography. Though it is a scholarly heavyweight, pastors can jump right in and enjoy this commentary thoroughly. At least, I know I did. Mark this down as holding the number one position in major exegetical commentaries on the book of Esther. I highly 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 4 of the Expositor’s Bible Commentary EBC) series continues the winning record this revision has had of the popular, much beloved original EBC series. In the revised set, volume 4 covers from Chronicles to Job. In this case, we have two new authors (on Chronicles and Esther) creating completely new works along with two authors (on Ezra and Nehemiah and Job) doing a revision.

The new work on Chronicles was handled by Frederick Mabie. By all accounts this is a thorough, conservative improvement over the older series. He provides a succinct, interesting Introduction to First and Second Chronicles. In addition to great text, he provides a few charts and graphs that greatly enhance the work. He deviates from the usual synoptic approach to Chronicles with Samuel and Kings. That makes this a stronger commentary on the Chronicles itself. I’m particularly glad to have this work.

Edwin Yamauchi revises his work on Ezra and Nehemiah. Immediately I noticed substantial updating in the Introduction in some places. He’s clearly an expert in history and packs an incredible amount of great information into the Introduction. The maps were much improved as well. This is a helpful commentary including textual notes after each commentary.

Elaine Phillips writes on Esther. Not only is this a substantial improvement over the older set, it superior to many other commentaries on Esther available today. For one reason she’s not so skeptical of Esther’s history! She admits the problems, but doesn’t find them insurmountable. The Introduction is brief, but good. I consider this a real asset.

Tremper Longman revised Elmer Smick’s well-received commentary on Job with the goal of updating the scholarship but keeping Smick’s conclusions intact. Since this commentary was well received in the past I think this was an outstanding way to handle Job in this series. There’s conservative conclusions, a fine chart on page 682, followed by good explanation on parallelism. There is good description of the characters and language before we get into the commentary. Again, it’s very helpful.

This would be a great volume for pastors, especially if you consider its great value in covering from Chronicles through Job for a fair price. Don’t miss this 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.

Colin Kruse has revised his popular commentary in the beloved Tyndale New Testament Commentary (TNTC) series to extend its life for another generation. It was one of the last releases in the older set and has proven to be one of the most popular. I’ve never seen anything but positive reviews for the older edition. While we could not call this a major revision, the series editors were wise to secure Mr. Kruse for this revised edition. Aimed at pastors and Bible students, this book strikes a great balance between scholarly information and helpful exegesis and exposition.

This volume continues to have a major Introduction for a mid-level series. Some sections are little revised while others have additional paragraphs that brings the discussion up-to-date. The author’s love of the Gospel of John is clearly displayed from the earliest pages. He begins by explaining the significance of John’s Gospel followed by an overview, a brief discussion of distinctive features, and a scenario for both the Gospel of John and the Epistles of John. Next, he briefly addresses sources.

He explains John’s purpose as well as the likely readership. He’s very favorable to the Apostle John being the author and examines both external and internal evidence. He summarizes reasons found in the scholarly world for the frequent rejection of John’s authorship before concluding with his comfort in seeing John as the author. From there he goes into the date and place of writing and speaks favorably of the historical reliability of John’s Gospel.

One of the most enhanced sections is entitled “recent trends in the interpretation of the gospel of John”. As before, he discusses it as a Gospel of signs, a two-level drama, and explains the narrative criticism scholars see in John. He adds, though, discussion of structural exegesis, reader-response approaches, feminist approaches, and postcolonial approaches. There’s a great section on the theology of the Gospel of John covering all the important elements that are even found in larger exegetical works. He ends the Introduction with a brief discussion of the structure of the Gospel of John.

The commentary itself is also unchanged in places while others receive substantial upgrading. I don’t know how you couldn’t rank it as one of the very best of the mid-level commentaries on the Gospel of John. Factor in its economical price, and this is a volume pastors and Bible students must consider.

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.