CROSS-eyed: Commentaries

Showing posts with label Commentaries. Show all posts

Friday, November 09, 2012

Commentaries on Mark's Gospel

This Sunday I conclude a sermon series through the Gospel of Mark (about 60 sermons total). I really enjoyed the pace and laser focus of Mark's Gospel. There is nothing like spending 14 months focused completely on the glory and beauty of Jesus as the Son of God. Along the journey, I developed some thoughts on the resources available on Mark. For those who care, here are a few:

1. The best Mark commentary is James Edwards' Pillar New Testament Commentary. It is the perfect combination of light and heat, spirit and truth, head and heart. It is scholarly yet pastoral. I highly recommend it.

2. There are a handful of very good homiletical commentaries on Mark (sermons compiled in book form). For example, RC Sproul's St. Andrew's Expositional Commentary and Timothy Keller's King's Cross and R. Kent Hughes' 2 volume Preach the Word Commentary.

3. JC Ryle's Expository Thoughts on Mark is worth its weight in gold.

4. William Lane's NICNT and David Garland's NIV Application Commentary and Donald English's Bible Speaks Today are very good.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Proverbs' Commentaries

I absolutely loved our short summer series on Proverbs. God has been kind to impart His wisdom to us so generously.

Here are some of my thoughts on the resources available for Proverbs:

1. The best commentary on Proverbs is the Mentor Commentary by John Kitchen.

2. The inspiration for this series came from the excellent little book, A Proverbs Driven Life by Selvaggio.

3. Waltke's 2 volume commentary in the NICOT series is extensive and fantastic. Volume 1. Volume 2.

4. Kidner's Tyndale commentary is the best short commentary on Proverbs. This is the best commentary in this series that I've used. But, I found myself wanting Kidner to say more.

5. That's it. Not many other good commentaries on Proverbs.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Hebrews Commentaries

As I have done with previous books I have preached through (John, Philippians, Psalms, Micah, James, Daniel, Ruth, Galatians, just to name a few), here are my thoughts on Hebrews commentaries:

1. Best Hebrews Commentary: Peter O'Brien's Pillar New Testament Commentary on Hebrews.

2. Very Helpful: Stuart Olyott's I Wish Someone Would Explain Hebrews to Me! and Raymond Brown's The Message of Hebrews

3. Good Homeletical Commentary: Richard Phillips' Reformed Expository Commentary.

4. Decent, but not as helpful as the others: FF Bruce's NICNT and George Guthrie's NIV Application.

5. Classics: John Owen (abridged in one volume) and AW Pink.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Old Testament Commentary Sale

The NICOT is a good series of OT commentaries. The new Hosea volume is now available. WTS is offering it for 45% off and they are offering an additional 10% off their already low prices on the other volumes in the series. Check it out:

Here is the link to the Hosea volume.
Here is the link to the rest of the NICOT series.

Psalms Commentaries

Here are a few brief thoughts on Psalms commentaries based on my study this summer:

1. Nothing comes even close to Spurgeon's Treasury of David (this is really "must own" stuff).

2. Kindner's 2 Volume Tyndale Commentary is very good (Volume 1 and Volume 2).

3. Wilcock is weak (which is sad to me because I love all the other Bible Speaks Today commentaries that I've worked with).

4. Both Boice and Lawson have good homiletical Psalms commentaries.

5. The Messiah in the Psalms by Belcher is a good read with lots of helpful Christ-focused applications.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Philippians Commentaries

After studying Philippians, preaching through it, and writing a basic commentary of my own, here are my thoughts on the available resources.

Philippians is one of the few books that has 3 top-notch, excellent commentaries.

1. The best commentary on Philippians is Walter Hansen's Pillar NT Commentary on Philippians. Readable, pastoral, extensive, helpful, Christ-centered, applicable. Everything you look for in a good commentary.

2. Gordon Fee's NICNT commentary on Philippians is a close second to Hansen's. This is a very good commentary (my favorite in the NICNT series). Fee does a great job outlining passages and keeping the big picture in mind, while at the same time providing rigorous exposition.

3. If you can read Greek, PT O'Brien's NIGTC is excellent.

4. I also like Hawthorne (WBC), but found myself disagreeing with his conclusions more than the others.

5. I was disappointed by Motyer, Silva, and Melick.

6. DA Carson's little book, Basics for Believers, is a great small resource for understanding the main point of each chapter.

7. I think MacArthur's Philippians homeletical commentary might be one of his best.

Thursday, February 04, 2010

What Timing!

A cause for great gratefulness:

The Pillar Series is my favorite commentary series.
Peter O'Brien is one of my favorite commentators (mainly b/c of his Ephesians contribution).
I'm planning to preach through Hebrews later this year and into next.
Hebrews doesn't have any really good commentaries.

So, you can see why I'm thrilled to hear that the next Pillar volume is Hebrews by PT O'Brien.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Micah Commentaries

After studying Micah, here are my thoughts on the commentaries:

1. The Best: Bruce Waltke's whopping 500 page commentary on Micah. Wow. This commentary is as in depth on any book of the Bible I've seen. On each passage, he has an "exegesis" section that is very technical and an "exposition" section that is very pastoral. I was very pleased by the countless references to Christ and His church. You can now get the paperback version.

2. The best short commentary: Waltke's Tyndale OT Commentary.

3. The best middle-sized commentary: Prior's Bible Speaks Today Commentary. Very good!

4. Good, but not the best: Gary Smith and Kenneth Barker.

5. Best homiletical commentary: James Boice.

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

James Commentaries

After preaching through James, here are my thoughts on the commentaries:

James is a book that has a lot of good commentaries.

The Best: Douglas Moo's Pillar Commentary

Very Good:

-Motyer's Bible Speaks Today Commentary

-Doriani's Reformed Expository Commentary

-Blomberg's Exegetical Commentary

-Hiebert's Commentary

OK, but not the best:

-Martin's Word Biblical Commentary

-Adamson's NICNT

-Davids' NIGTC

OK Homiletical Commentaries:

Kent Hughes

John MacArthur

Anthony Selvaggio

Very thorough devotional commentary: Thomas Manton

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

New Pillar Commentary Coming Soon: Philippians

As of right now, I'm planning to preach through Philippians in 2010. So, of course I'm excited that my favorite commentary series has its Philippians volume coming out soon: The Letter to the Philippians.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Daniel Commentaries

Here are some of my thoughts on commentaires on the book of Daniel.

1. Tremper Longman is the best all-around commentary.

2. Homiletical commentaries abound.
-Iain Duguid is fantastic. A must have! Very Christ-centered.
-James Boice is good and helpful.
-Sinclair Ferguson is also good and helpful.
-Stortz is not as helpful as the others.

3. Not worth the time or money.

Olyott and Wallace.

4. Notable.

-Archer is very helpful.

-Hope in the Midst of a Hostile World is the weakest volume in The Gospel According to the Old Testament Series I have read. However, it is still helpful (which says a lot about this series).

-I wish I would have purchased Young at the beginning. A lot of commentators refer to him.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Gospel of John Commentaries

Here are my thoughts on Gospel of John commentaries:

The Best:
DA Carson's Pillar NT Commentary

Next to Best:
Leon Morris' New International Commentary

Best Short commentary:
Bruce Milne's Bible Speaks Today Commentary

Best Devotional commentary:
JC Ryle's Expository Thoughts (3 volumes)

Not worth the time or money:
-Kent Hughes' Preaching the Word Commentary
-Kostenberger's Baker Exegetical Commentary (This is a good commentary if it is all you have. However, Kostenberger usually just restates what Carson says. They are almost identical. No need to have both.)
-Beasley-Murray's Word Biblical Commentary (very weak volume; I sold mine.)

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Updated Commentary Recommendations

I've updated my NT commentary recommendations in time for you to get a Christmas list together. I've added and updated based on my John and Revelation studies.

Gospel of John Commentaries:
-Carson is the best.
-Milne is very helpful and shorter.
-Morris is good.

Revelation Commentaries:
-Johnson's Triumph of the Lamb is excellent!
-Poythress' The Returning King is very helpful and shorter.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

New Pillar Commentary

The newest addition to the Pillar NT Commmentary Series is now available. Super New Testament scholar Douglas Moo contributes the volume on Colossians and Philemon.

In my opinion, this is the best commentary series available. The volumes that I have read are 10x better than the next best commentary on that particular book.

I would highly recommend this series to anyone who cares about studying Scripture. Start a wish list that you can send to family for Christmas gift ideas. Just start the wish list with the available Pillar commentaries. Then, when a new one comes out, add it.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Commentary Resource

I was alerted to a new website devoted to Biblical commentaries. It looks like it is going to be very helpful.

For each Biblical book, you can see reviews of each commentary, what "type" of commentary it is, compare prices, see the cover, and much more. Look around and see what you think.

Here are my commentary recommendations for the NT.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

My Favorite Commentary Series

The Pillar New Testament Commentary Series is second to none. Each volume in this series is both exegetically sound and devotionally engaging. These two characteristics are hard to find in a commentary. You usally either get a good scholar who doesn't seem to love the truth he is writing about. Or, you get a bunch of application without solid theological truth undergirding it.

The only downside to the Pillar series is that it only covers part of the NT. They are slowly introducing new volumes as the years go by. Thus, I rejoice when I hear of a new volume being published.

Soon, the volume on Colossians and Philemon will be available. It is written by Douglas Moo (who also wrote the volume on James).

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Ruth Commentaries: Get Block!

If you are interested in studying the Book of Ruth, here are my thoughts on available resources:

1. Block is on top! Daniel Block's commentary on Ruth in the NAC series is THE best resource on Ruth. I cannot speak for the Judges portion of this commentary, but the Ruth exposition is second to none. This is the most thorough and clear commentary on Ruth I read, and it is wonderfully Christ-centered! If you don't want to take my word for it, here are some other voices (much more helpful than mine):
-Tremper Longman gives this volume a 5-star rating.
-Desiring God lists this as the best commentary on Judges/Ruth.

2. Faithful Indeed. Sinclair Ferguson's small little book called Faithful God is a faithful exposition of Ruth. This is basically 4 messages that Sinclair preached on Ruth in book form.

3. Love this Title! This is a brand new book in the Gospel According to the Old Testament series (see other volumes in this series here). From Famine to Fullness: The Gospel According to Ruth by Dean Ulrich is a great meditation on Ruth. The title of this book accurately communicates the message of Ruth.

4. Duguid Good. The Ruth section of Esther & Ruth in the Reformed Expository Commentary series is very helpful. It contains 5 sermons in written form from a great Old Testament scholar: Iain Duguid.

Here are some other commentaries I read but did not find much help from (which is more of a reflection on my weaknesses than the authors'):

1. Judges and Ruth in the Tyndale Old Testament Series.

2. Ruth in the Bible Speaks Today Series.

3. The Book of Ruth in the New International Commentary of the Old Testament Series.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

NT Commentary Recommendations

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Christmas Books

Merry Christmas to all! Thought I would share some of my Christmas gifts with you. Here are the 7 books I received this year. Usually, I ask for books that I would like to have but don't want to buy for myself (like commentaries). Since my lifelong goal is to preach through every book of the Bible, I am confident that these books will one day be invaluable to my study and preaching (even if its 50 years from now).