There are more than 100 major biblical commentary series, some of which are far better than others. Below, I have compiled a list of my favourite series along with some evaluations for any of you out there thinking about delving a little deeper into your Bibles.
ANCHOR BIBLE COMMENTARIES
The Anchor Bible Commentaries have been around since the mid-1950s and as a result contain a wide variety of approaches as well as quality. Some of these commentaries I would highly recommend, such as Jacob Milgrom’s three-volume set on the book of Leviticus or Luke or Timothy Johnson’s work on James, while others, like Anchor’s first edition of Ezra-Nehemiah (though far better than anything I could ever produce) don’t exactly represent the best of modern scholarship.
The series is ecumenical in nature and in many cases contains some very interesting comparison charts and archeological illustrations as well as wonderful word studies and vast biblical referencing. Many volumes contain solid literary criticism and up-to-date historical data, and are all designed in such a way that readers need not be specialists in order to make use of them.
WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARIES
With a chain of 59 published books in the set, Word Biblical should be incredibly proud that there are few weak links: an extraordinary claim. Gordon J. Wenham’s two volumes on Genesis may well represent the best work to date on Genesis. Additionally, Rowland E. Murphy’s work on Proverbs, John E. Goldingay’s Daniel, William L. Lane’s set on Hebrews, and David E. Aune’s work on Revelation deserve some exceedingly high praise. This series is somewhat theologically diverse, contains solid exegesis, great linguistic and textual scrutiny, is form/redaction critical, contains lengthy bibliographic data, and is highly organized. Each section begins with a fresh translation, contains a form/structure/setting section, and is followed by verse-by-verse analysis and finally by comments and an explanation sections meant to bring each segment out of the past and into the present without forcing a specific application down your throat.
NEW INTERNATIONAL COMMENTARY ON THE OLD and NEW TESTAMENT
The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament is similar in many ways to the World Biblical series. Both contain excellent footnote details for more scholarly work while managing not to disrupt the readability because the information has been kept out of the main text. Both have good bibliographic data, historical/theological information, textual-critical/redaction-critical insights and applicable cultural notes. The organization is also well done, though based more on a section-by-section approach than verse-by-verse. Translational issues are dealt with skillfully and issues of authorship and dating are taken care of in the introductions long before the commentary proper. In truth, the major downside to this series is simply that much of the run is incomplete as of yet with a number of titles forthcoming. Still, as with Word Biblical, there are a large number of volumes I feel comfortable in recommending. These include: Robert L. Hubbard’s book on Ruth, Daniel Block’s set on Ezekiel, Douglas J. Moo’s book on Romans, Gordon Fee’s book on 1 Corinthians, and F. F. Bruce’s single volume on Colossians, Philemon, and Ephesians.
NIV LIFE APPLICATION BIBLE COMMENTARY
The NIV Life Application Bible Commentary series represents a good middle ground. Based on the New International Version’s Bible translation, these books are theologically conservative and easy to use. Less technical than anything discussed thus far, they are meant for laity as well as ministers. The authors do a good job of keeping contemporary life in view and seek to make solid connections between each text and today’s world. The exegetical work is well done though straightforward and reads in some ways akin to an Amplified Bible. This series is about practicality as evidenced by the inclusion of the word “application” in its title. These books have an easy-to-use feel and include maps, charts, and diagrams, as well as quotes from the likes of C.S. Lewis and John Calvin. They are well laid out and are a good choice for ministers seeking inspiration or anyone looking for relevance. A good start might be Craig Blomberg’s work on 1 Corinthians and I’d also recommend August H. Konkel’s book on 1st and 2nd Kings.
INTERPRETATION
Interpretation is a commentary series that has found its way into the libraries of almost every minister in North America. The reasons for this, however, may not be the finest. They are short and sweet and easy to find second-hand for just pennies on the dollar. I personally have three of these commentaries that I’ve somehow collected over the years and have used from time to time. There is very little time devoted to background or debated material in many of these commentaries. This is often a result of the diversity between editions in regard to structure and organizational principles. Still, this set does serve an important purpose. They give uncomplicated, succinct interpretations of the scripture passages and even hint towards applicability. They are meant for church leaders and ministers and can often aid in Bible study or sermon preparation. If ever you’re walking around a used book store and you happen to come across an Interpretation series commentary on your favourite book of the Bible, it’s probably a good buy for you. Snatch it up before some Bible college student gets it. As for my recommendation, I’d say Elizabeth Achtemeier’s book on the minor prophets is the best one, followed closely by Walter Bruggemann’s work on Genesis.
PILLAR
The Pillar New Testament Commentary series is a force to be reckoned with. The introductions are well done and the original language work is largely restricted to the annotations, making it easy to read without getting sucked into discussions of Greek syntax. Though these commentaries are quite scholarly, they also keep in mind theological practicality for the reader. These books are academic yet explicable, complete with insightful and sound theological work. They are modern, up-to-date commentaries that take recent and advanced scholarship into consideration. They give good historical information, show how passages build upon one another, and have a vast amount of biblical referencing within the texts. These commentaries are quickly becoming one of the best new series available in English today, but there is one major downside. This is a new series and there are only eight editions presently on the market. From what I have used of them so far, I recommend all eight published works, but most of all D. A. Carson’s volume on John’s gospel.
TYNDALE
The Tyndale series is a large and still growing set of commentaries whereby many of the older editions are being updated or replaced with new ones. Like the Interpretation commentaries, they are inexpensive and can usually be picked up used. Although they do run the gambit a bit, I believe that most are decent works for young students and excellent works for lay people wishing to dig a little deeper into a given text. The purpose of this series is simple enough: to give brief (usually one paragraph) section-by-section exposition of the text. The point is to try and make sure the Bible makes sense to the reader. Though some references to original language do appear, the bulk of these commentaries are geared towards straightforward assessments of the KJV (later NIV), usability, and current relevance. There are a few gems, like N. T. Wright’s book on Colossians and Philemon.
NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY
The New American Commentary series is a modern evangelical commentary set that shows “conservative” and “intellectual” can go hand in hand. That is not to say that this series is meant solely for biblical scholars. In fact, these commentaries lend themselves well to ministers and laity alike. Work with original languages is kept in notations away from the main text for readability. The series takes into account contemporary theological issues and discoveries and is focused on the proposed theological concerns of the author, and this transmits to application well without imposing too specific an employment. It is expository, practical, verse by verse, and user-friendly. Many editions contain helpful comparison charts and illustrations. All said and done, the New American Commentary series is a good conservative middle ground between pulpit and pew. As for recommendations, I’ve had little experience with this series but I’ve recently used Robert Mounce’s book on Romans and found it quite helpful.
HERMENEIA
Hermeneia is perhaps the most scholarly commentary series available in the English language today (though many volumes have been translated to make this possible). The series is ecumenical in nature and represents the most progressive slant of all the commentaries on this list. It is written with serious students and scholars in mind and knowledge of original languages (though not absolutely necessary) would provide the reader with additional discernment. Difficult issues of interpretation are dealt with at length, as well as textual critical and historical critical concerns. This series also makes use of an astonishingly large amount of extra-biblical texts. In assessing a given verse of scripture, the authors draw on ancient historical writings, literature from the Church Fathers, Qumran texts and partials, exploratory “Q” studies, rabbinic literature, and much more. Still, the series is not indecipherable; in fact it is quite easy to peruse. This for the most part is due to methodical organization. Most works follow a stringent structural pattern by which to assess each section of scriptures, such as: translation, structure, genre, redaction, motifs, historicity, history of interpretation, and even delve into summary and applicability.
Though I have somewhat limited experience with this set of commentaries, I have been told that John J. Collins’ book on Daniel is the best scholarship on said book to date and after reading through a few chapters of Klaus Balzer’s work on Deutero-Isaiah I have a feeling that many readers might propose a similar claim in regards to this volume. While the Hermeneia series of commentaries may not be for everyone, it is well worth a look next time your church considers adding something to the minister’s study.
JPS TORAH COMMENTARY
The Jewish Publication Society’s JPS Bible Commentary series perhaps represents the most interesting set of commentaries on this list. Based on the oldest complete manuscript of the Torah (the Codex B19a or Leningrad Codex), these commentaries include line-by-line analysis, taking into account social, textual/historical issues. They include charts and maps, an assessment of the history of interpretation, archeological data, and in-depth word studies, and they consider comparison texts such as manuscripts and fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls as well as information from Talmudic literature. As you may have guessed, these works contain a large amount of Hebrew. They even open from left to right, but this is more novelty than anything, and intimate knowledge of Hebrew is not required. If you are interested in gleaning a different perspective, then pick up the work which scholar Jeffrey H. Tigay did on Deuteronomy.
JOHN CALVIN’S COMMENTARIES
John Calvin’s Commentaries are certainly not up-to-date and clearly do not take into account recent advancements in biblical scholarship. Yet they remain, after all these years, one of the best commentaries. Today, it seems most commentaries are perceived to be old and obsolete within 20 years, often seen as representations of momentarily preferred methods and theological perceptions. What is new this year may well be passé as soon as the next comparable book is published. Once-cherished sets like The Pulpit Commentaries, Barkly’s Commentaries, or the Expositors Commentaries now sit on bookshelves much more for their esthetic value than for their lasting contribution to biblical study. But one long-standing commentary continues to survive the mêlée. John Calvin’s commentaries are highly organized, based on original texts, and written for everyone to understand. Calvin does expert historical/grammatical work. The biggest downfall in regard to this series is that John Calvin did not complete a work on each book of the Bible. Many books from the Old Testament were never started, 2nd and 3rd John and also Revelations are missing, and some books were compiled from lecture notes and published following Calvin’s death, making assessment and usefulness more sporadic. This aside, Calvin’s commentaries are easily worth the $800 they might cost. Fortunately, though, we live in the age of the Internet and Calvin’s commentaries can be found online for free at many sites including this translation at biblestudyguide.org.
http://www.biblestudyguide.org/comment/calvin/comm_index.htm
Other free commentaries available online include Matthew Henry’s and John Wesley’s commentaries which (among others) can both be found on bible.crosswalk.com at http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/MatthewHenryComplete/ and http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/WesleysExplanatoryNotes/.
Both of these sets could be useful for devotionals or for practical application. While Matthew Henry’s work reads much like a large set of instructional sermons, John Wesley’s commentaries read more like theology. The IVP New Testament Commentaries are also available online through Bible Gateway at http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/.
These commentaries make for a good casual read and provide very good general information as they seek to answer all the questions one might have about a given verse. While it should be noted that this series wears its conservative biases out in the open for everyone to see, it is nonetheless my opinion that the IVP New Testament Commentary series represents the best modern commentary set available online.
