18a - More about commentaries

NO Christadelphian commentary exists as yet which covers all the books of the Bible, although if all the individual volumes that have been written were to be assembled and published in a uniform format, we would be nearly there. The nearest overall coverage is provided by The Christadelphian Expositor series, published by Logos Publications, but that is still a work in progress. This appendix looks at well-established series of works by non-Christadelphians, and offers some pointers as to what is available and what is worthwhile. If you have recommendations of your own, please share them.

One-volume works

The New Bible Commentary (NBC) by Inter Varsity Press has now gone through four revisions. Originally published under that title, it then became The New Bible Commentary Revised (1970) and is now The New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition (2000). These are quite substantial revisions, each time under different editorial control (the present editors are D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer and G J. Wenham) with different contributors, but each of these editions can be useful. The updates tend to take account of recent findings and developments and new writers bring their own expertise, but all editions are solidly conservative. The present edition is available in Libronix format as part of the IVP Essential Reference Collection.

The other single-volume work mentioned earlier, that by Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, has gone through a variety of formats, but the content has remained the same throughout. Published in 1871 this was originally six volumes, but as printing techniques improved it became a single volume. A. R. Fausset is the key contributor and he wrote the sections covering Job to Malachi and 1 Corinthians to Revelation, a very substantial part of the whole. Known by its initials (JBF), this commentary is accessible online and is available in electronic format in several of the Bible software formats. Because of its age, it has now come into the public domain.

Abridged editions of other multi-volume works have also appeared, notably Matthew Henry’s Commentary (first published in six volumes in 1708-10) and that by Adam Clarke (this was originally eight volumes, published between 1810 and 1826). As the original expositions are quite wordy, the abridgements are helpful and these too are now accessible electronically, and online. To access Adam Clarke, go here.

SPCK brought out A New Commentary on Holy Scripture in 1928 which has a range of contributors from the Anglican tradition. It was edited by Gore, Goudge and Guillaume and starts rather ominously with this sentence: “This Commentary is written by Anglican scholars who, while holding their faith, are determined in approaching the books to give their critical faculty, instructed by all the means within their power, its full and rightful freedom”. So beware!

F. F. Bruce edited The International Bible Commentary first published by Zondervan in 1979. Bruce himself contributed several of the introductory articles, as well as commentaries on the books of Ezekiel and Revelation and the volume includes contributions from H. L. Ellison and D. J. Wiseman, among many others.

Another useful single volume commentary is The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, edited by Pfeiffer and Harrison (new edition 1990). This time there are no background articles, as in the NBC, just exposition of the 66 books, with contributions from evangelical scholars like E. Earle Ellis, D. A. Hubbard and G. E. Ladd.

By far the easiest way to access these commentaries is to buy a software package like Biblesoft’s PC Study Bible, where you can readily access and compare comments by Barnes, JFB, Matthew Henry and Wycliffe. It is because these commentators say comparatively little about each verse that this is easy to accomplish. But that can help to get an across-the-board assessment of what a particular verse might mean.

Older multi-volume works

That brings us to the more lengthy and more considered works that are available and these are both numerous and extremely variable. The following review takes them in approximate date order and offers a few comments on each. Personal preference varies a lot, so I apologise if I trample upon your sensitivities. My overall recommendation is that it is better to be selective, and go for particular volumes in different series, rather than try to collect one series as if that was the definitive set. I would also suggest keeping your collection of books together in Bible book order (e.g. the Genesis collection together) rather than in sets of commentaries. This makes better visual sense too; for publishers keep bringing out revisions and new editions in different formats and colours, apparently just to try to get you to upgrade your previous volumes in order to get a matching set.

One of the first collections to be published was that of John Gill who wrote An Exposition of the New Testament (three volumes 1746-8), and then his Exposition of the Old Testament (six volumes 1748-63). The value of that work can be seen in that it has now become available electronically, including in the Online Bible.

Mention has already been made of Albert Barnes who brought out his Notes (Barnes Notes) on all the books of the Bible in the early 1800s. They are readily available second-hand and vary quite a lot in quality. One writer said about him: “Placed by the side of the great masters, Barnes is a lesser light.” The notes were originally written for Sunday School teachers, but that was an age when average Bible knowledge far exceeded present levels.

Mention has also been made of The Speaker’s Bible Commentary (1863) and Ellicott’s Commentary (1877). The former was published in America as The Bible Commentary (1871-81) and it is also available in a condensed form in The Student’s Commentary (1887), which was based upon Speaker’s.

In 1863 The Gnomon of the New Testament was published, having been translated from Bengel’s native German into English, the editor being A. R. Fausset (of JFB fame). It was once very popular and has been printed in many different editions (originally in five volumes). Bengel sums up his approach by saying: “Put nothing into the scriptures, but draw everything from them, and suffer nothing to remain hidden that is really in them”. This is a somewhat technical work, but manageable for readers without Greek, as is Alford’s Greek Testament, published in 1861 in four volumes. It was supplemented two years later by The New Testament for English Readers in which Alford’s comments were reproduced alongside the English text, instead of the Greek. Alford’s approach was marked by a shift from primarily theological, homiletic concerns to those of philology, historical studies, and textual criticism (i.e. to determine the most reliable available original text).

In 1872 The Holy Bible with Notes and Introductions appeared, written by Chr. Wordsworth (then Bishop of Lincoln). Often quoted by Brother Harry Whittaker in his writings, Wordsworth’s Commentary also incorporates the Biblical text and extends to nine large-format volumes, the New Testament ones having the Greek (not English) text, whereas the Old Testament ones have just the English. It is a scholarly work with some interesting insights, but it is not readily available second-hand.

Commentaries: a book at a time

Multi-volume works written by one individual have a unity of approach and a consistency of style. By contrast, commentary series are the result of the efforts of many scholars and writers, the work being commissioned under specified guidelines and then edited to match the general approach and format. The resultant books are bound to be somewhat variable, meaning that you may enjoy and profit from some of them but not from others. (This is why I suggest you pick volumes with discretion rather than collect the whole series.)

This time, rather than listing the various series in date order, the review starts with the ones which are most straightforward and least complicated and progresses to those which are highly academic and very specialist. It does not include every available series but is limited to the main ones.

The Century Bible
Small format commentaries originally published 1901-03 in thirty-four volumes (some later editions combined various books). Based on the RV, and edited by W. F. Adeney, they have introductions to each book and short comments below the text. They are available cheaply second-hand and some of them can be useful.

The Clarendon Bible
Designed for schools, these are essentially textbooks and the prevailing attitude is that of higher criticism. But there is some useful information available in the series (thirty-four volumes in all), like Kirk’s Introduction to the volume on Romans. As has happened with many other commentaries, this series has been revised from the 1950s onwards (as stocks of the original version ran out). Based on the RSV, the New Clarendon Bible is more structured and has greater clarity than the original, and includes writers like D. S. Russell and C. K. Barrett.

The Torch Bible Commentaries
These are short books (typically about 150 pages) published by SCM Press in the 1950s. Each book gives a general introduction and offers brief comments on various aspects of a verse. They do not include the text of the Bible book in question, just comments, and again you will want to choose your writer with care. The series includes works by A. M. Hunter (Romans and Mark) and C. E. B. Cranfield (1 & 2 Peter & Jude).

IVP New Testament Commentaries
These are short and straightforward books, published in the 1990s and written by evangelical scholars. Some are worth having, like that by I. H. Marshall on 1 Peter, but generally the treatment is quite basic, non-technical and user-friendly.

The Pulpit Commentary
Originally published between 1880 and 1819, this series of twenty-three substantial volumes is designed to help speakers (hence the name) and includes brief homilies to help develop exhortational themes. In all it contains 26,512 pages, so it could keep you reading for a lifetime, but it is also now available electronically, and in Libronix format. Go here or here.

A Devotional Commentary
As the title of the series suggests, this is predominantly aimed at bringing out practical and thought-provoking ideas from the text, rather than being concerning primarily with matters of exegesis. If you want something easy and gentle to read which will offer you some meditative reflections, this series might suit. The sought-after volumes are by W. H. Griffith Thomas on Genesis and Romans.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Edited by Stewart Perowne, these were first issued in the 1880s-90s, the editorial policy being to let each commentary have its own individual character. The result is that, whilst dated, some of these volumes are still useful, whilst some are quite basic. A later series emerged, this time based on the RV text, in the early 1900s, with several different editors (including J. Skinner, T. K. Cheyne, A. F. Kirkpatrick, and S. R. Driver) and this revised version takes a somewhat more critical view than that originally taken (itself expressive of the shift in religious opinion with regard to the authority of scripture). The bindings of these two editions make them easily distinguishable, the former having a darker blue cover.

A further refinement to this series was the publication in the late 1800s of the Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges under the general editorship of J. A. Robinson. These too have an introduction to each book, the Greek text this time (as you would expect) and short comments on the various verses. These are more specialised and you might need Greek and Latin to get the full benefit from them. The covers of this series are brown.

The Moffatt New Testament Commentary
A product of the 1930s, this series was based on the Moffatt translation of the New Testament and was written with James Moffatt as the editor. It can be quite critical in tone, but the series includes useful works by C. H. Dodd and W. Manson, whilst Moffatt himself wrote two of the commentaries (1 Corinthians and the General Epistles).

Westminster Commentaries
Under the editorship of Walter Lock, this series was first published in the 1890s. It set out to be “less elementary than the Cambridge Bible for Schools, less critical than the International Critical Commentary, less didactic than the Expositor’s Bible”. The series contains a few volumes that are worth collecting, like those by S. R. Driver on Genesis and R. B. Rackham on Acts.

The New Century Bible Commentary
Based on the RSV, this commentary came into existence in the 1960s and has been gradually appearing and being updated since. It is now published jointly by Eerdmans and Marshall Pickering under the general editorship of R. E. Clements (OT) and M. Black (NT). There are some useful volumes, including N. H. Snaith (Leviticus and Numbers, in the original format), F. F. Bruce (Corinthians), and E. Earle Ellis (Luke). One of the advantages of these shorter commentaries is that the writers get to the point faster and are thus less ‘academic’ in their approach (“On the one hand this, on the other hand that!”).

The Expositor’s Bible
Originally completed in 1903, this series includes both conservative and critical writers, so you have as ever to choose and read with care. Originally published as individual volumes, the set has also been republished in six-volume format, and can now be obtained electronically (in pdf format).Some of these volumes, like that by Kellogg on Leviticus are much sought after, and are quite scarce, although individual volumes have been reprinted. Or they can be accessed online: go here for Kellogg.

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary
This is not an update of the previous commentary but an entirely new production under the general editorship of F. E. Gaebelein and J. D. Douglas, with assistance in the Old Testament from Bruce Waltke and Walter Kaiser, and in the New Testament by James Montgomery Boice and Merrill C. Tenney. There are seventy-eight different contributors from many different evangelical backgrounds, and the approach is to offer general comments with more detailed footnotes to explain particular points. This was first published as a twelve-volume set, in large format, including introductory articles, but it is now available electronically from Zondervan at a much cheaper price. A product of the 1980s, this Commentary is now being revised and replacement volumes are beginning to appear.

Daily Study Bible
Originally covering just the New Testament, and wholly written by William Barclay, this series has now been extended to include the Old Testament. Barclay’s writing is deservedly popular, especially because of his helpful insights to New Testament Greek and his easy style of writing. He includes some helpful and practical illustrations and draws widely upon the writings of other scholars. The Old Testament volumes vary in quality and usefulness but, as ever, there is some helpful material to be discovered.

New Testament Commentary
Another series which began as the work of one man is that published by Banner of Truth which was written by William Hendricksen. Starting in 1954 with the Gospel of John, he wrote a series of commentaries until his death in 1982, since when the series has been completed by Simon Kistemaker. Readily recognisable by their gold-coloured dust jackets, this series has gone through several reprints, including consolidating individual books into larger volumes. As well as the usual introduction and general comments, the format includes sections on practical application, Greek words and phrases, and summaries of what a particular section has been saying.

Tyndale Bible Commentaries
This is an excellent and straightforward series of books covering the whole Bible (in twenty-eight Old Testament and twenty New Testament volumes) by trustworthy writers like F. F. Bruce, Leon Morris, Derek Kidner, R. K. Harrison and Joyce Baldwin. All the books are similar in approach and layout. The Introduction to each book gives a concise but thorough treatment of its authorship, date, original setting and purpose. Following a structural Analysis, the Commentary takes the book section-by-section, drawing out the main themes and dealing with individual verses and problems of interpretation. IVP, the publishers, are now completely re-typesetting the series (and producing different covers) but they are also replacing certain volumes, the first on “Esther” by Debra Reid having been issued in February 2008. If that is typical of the updates, it is perfectly acceptable, but adds little to the earlier volume by the late Joyce Baldwin.

The Bible Speaks Today
This series, again published by IVP, began life as a series of individual volumes written with a common format but titled individually. Thus, for example, J. A. Motyer’s book about Amos, published in 1974, was titled The Day of the Lion and John Stott’s book on Ephesians was named God’s New Society. When sufficient of these had been published, the decision was taken to reissue them under the common format of The Message of …: in these two instances The Message of Amos and The Message of Ephesians. Compared with the Tyndale series, these books give rather less by way of introduction and background but provide more commentary, again of a non-technical nature. They are very readable, but vary in quality depending upon the author. The writings of Motyer, Stott and Kidner are first class, if read with discrimination. The New Testament series has recently become available in Libronix format: The Bible Speaks Today: New Testament.

Pillar New Testament Commentary Series
This is another work in progress, again by IVP, based on the Greek New Testament and using the NIV as a basis. It is designed for serious students and already includes works by Leon Morris (Matthew and Romans) and D. A. Carson (John). To date, nine volumes have been published and another series (Apollos Old Testament Commentary Series) is beginning. Of the writing of many commentaries by one publishing house, there is no end, or so it would seem.

Black’s New Testament Commentaries
Published by A & C Black, these volumes which first appeared in the 1960s are written for people with a more academic background and are a bit more technical than the ones considered so far. Under the general editorship of Henry Chadwick, the contributors include C. K. Barrett, F. W. Beare, J. N. D. Kelly and C. F. D. Moule. There is some excellent material here, if used with care, and whilst the approach is scholarly, they are readily accessible.

Anchor Bible
Edited by Albright and Freedman and published by Doubleday in the 1960s, this series is variable in character but includes excellent material from John Bright (Jeremiah) and Raymond Brown (John’s Gospel and Epistles). Contributors are drawn from a mixed background of Catholic, Protestant and Jewish; so read with care!

Word Bible Commentary
Published by Word Publishing, under the general editorship of D. A. Hubbard and G. W. Barker, some sixty volumes of this are presently available, with the remainder in the pipeline. This has a very distinctive approach, which you will either love or hate; in that each section of the text is followed by textual Notes, then observations about Form / Structure / Setting then comes Comment, then Explanation. It can make for somewhat tiresome reading, but the scholarly credentials of the various writers speak for themselves, including F. F. Bruce (Thessalonians), G. J. Wenham (Genesis), R. P. Martin (2 Corinthians; Philippians and James).

New International Commentaries: Old Testament and New Testament
Known by their abbreviations, NICOT and NICNT, this series is still being written and has already been revised in part. The Old Testament series began life in 1976 under the general editorship of E. J. Young and R. K. Harrison, published by Eerdmans. The New Testament series started in 1951 under the then editorship of N. B. Stonehouse and F. F. Bruce. Over the years the length of these books has increased substantially. For example, John Murray wrote the first exposition of Romans for the series which was published in two volumes, later combined, and the total length was 694 pages. In 1996 that was replaced by Douglas Moo’s work on Romans which consists of one volume of 1012 pages, and that expansion and enlargement is typical. Despite their length, and cost, these volumes are very detailed and helpful for the serious student and whilst textual and technical matters are dealt with, most of them are relegated to extensive footnotes. That keeps the text very readable and user-friendly. Recommendations about particular volumes will appear in a later appendix.

International Critical Commentaries
These volumes are intended for the more academic reader, especially those with a grasp of Hebrew and Greek, so if you can cope with that, these works offer detailed commentary. Older volumes in the series are readily available, and the works of Sanday & Headlam (Romans) and Plummer (Luke) are highly regarded. A revised series has now been published (for example, Sanday & Headlam’s work has been replaced by Cranfield’s two volumes), but these are seriously expensive works. Available also in Libronix format, it is evident from the pricing that they are really intended for academic and institutional use.

Commentary on the Old Testament
Published by Eerdmans and now available in ten volumes, this commentary by Keil and Delitzsch, which was first written in German, expounds the Biblical text in considerable detail, including using a fair amount of Hebrew (which is also transliterated). The result is in-depth comment which is however accessible to an English reader, and this is now made more available because it can be obtained electronically from Ages software as part of the Biblesoft PC Study Bible package, or in Libronix format. Volumes are also available second-hand, but you may need several of them to get complete coverage of a Bible book, as the commentary was first published in shorter volumes, which have now been consolidated.

New International Greek Text Commentary
These are commentaries on the Greek text and are designed for the serious student. They are expensive and complicated but some of the writers might appeal, including F. F. Bruce on Galatians, Dunn on Colossians & Philemon and I. H. Marshall on Luke. They are available in Libronix format, at a price!

This is not an exhaustive review of all the available material, but it offers some pointers towards what might be useful to you, and what you might want to avoid. Whichever commentary you choose to read, to help with a particular problem passage, or to widen your general appreciation, the message has to be “read with care” and think carefully! Remember that publishers are always wanting to get sales, and academic authors are under pressure to publish, so the process of updating work is ongoing and if you try to keep up with everything that is revised or re-issued you will need very deep pockets. There are other ways of keeping up with things like archaeological findings or historical reappraisals, including by reading our community magazines.

As ever, your own recommendations or observations are welcome.