Good Bible Commentaries.

[EdwardC]

Do any of you have any suggestions for a good bible commentary? I've heard good things about the Anchor commentary, and also of John Macarthurs bible commentary, but I'd rather not spend a couple thousand on a commentary until I know which would be the best to get.
I'm looking for one that would offer theological, historical and contextual commentary, preferably not a lay persons commentary.
Any siggestions?

 

[ebia]

Do any of you have any suggestions for a good bible commentary? I've heard good things about the Anchor commentary, and also of John Macarthurs bible commentary, but I'd rather not spend a couple thousand on a commentary until I know which would be the best to get.
I'm looking for one that would offer theological, historical and contextual commentary, preferably not a lay persons commentary.
Any siggestions?

Avoid any series written by a single person, and anything written by a pastor rather than a biblical scholar. (MacArthur is out on both counts).

Do you need it in print or is electronic any use?

What exactly do you want it for?

What commentaries have you already read?

 

[wayseer]

Do any of you have any suggestions for a good bible commentary? I've heard good things about the Anchor commentary, and also of John Macarthurs bible commentary, but I'd rather not spend a couple thousand on a commentary until I know which would be the best to get.
I'm looking for one that would offer theological, historical and contextual commentary, preferably not a lay persons commentary.
Any siggestions?

I would recommend the the multi-volume New Interpreter's Bible. Expensive but worth the bucks spent. You can buy it one volume at a time. I would also recommend the Anchor/Yale Bible Dictionary - another multi-volume set. Both will set you up to answer any likely question.

 

[ebia]

New interpreters is certainly very good. But not cheap.

 

[EdwardC]

Do you need it in print or is electronic any use?

What exactly do you want it for?

What commentaries have you already read?

I want one that is in print.

I want it just to learn as much a I can as I am hoping to get into bible college and then seminary, but it doesn't seem like it will be happening for another few years, so I am just trying to teach myself what I can.

I don't own any commentaries, my father-in-law has some sporadic volumes of the barclay commentary, but I have none of my own. That's why I'm on here, I don't want to dish out a couple of thousand dollars until I know I'm getting the commentary that suits me best.

 

[ebia]

I want one that is in print.

I want it just to learn as much a I can as I am hoping to get into bible college and then seminary, but it doesn't seem like it will be happening for another few years, so I am just trying to teach myself what I can.

I don't own any commentaries, my father-in-law has some sporadic volumes of the barclay commentary, but I have none of my own. That's why I'm on here, I don't want to dish out a couple of thousand dollars until I know I'm getting the commentary that suits me best.

In that case you probably don't want the most detailed scholarly work that money can buy - such get you way too bogged down in detailed scholarly argument for what you need. What would be best is to borrow some volumes and actually try reading a few. Even if you don't find exactly what you are looking for it will give you a better idea. Try asking your minister if you could borrow a volume from each of a few different series to look at.

 

[MrPolo]

MacArthur's commentary (which I have at home) is obviously geared to support his own Calvinistic tradition. Explanations are often extremely lacking. You'll see a scant phrase to explain a verse that begs all kinds of questions and makes you wonder how he reconciles some of his interpretations with the text in question. Often his comments seems just like a re-phrase of a verse without much explanation of why we should accept his re-phrase.

If you do want a detailed commentary, it is hard to find one that is under a few hundred dollars because the Bible is simply a large book. I would of course recommend a couple Catholic commentaries which of course support Catholic theology, but those volumes are not, as ebia pointed out, exclusive to one commentator but often collect many different early Church interpretations on any given text.

There is the Haydock Commentary online for free that does that if you are willing to look online.
You can also get the 1-volume New Jerome Bible Commentary for about $60 and that is a fairly scholarly and detailed work.

 

[ebia]

These are really good Catholic commentaries, though there are only a few volumes out so far:
http://www.catholicscripturecommentary.com/

 

[Faith.Man]

The Believer's Bible Commentary
The Bible Knowledge Commentary (2 Volumes)
Unger's Bible Commentary (2 Volumes, OT Only)
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown
Wycliffe Bible Commentary

 

[ebia]

The Believer's Bible Commentary

avoid like the plague

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (2 Volumes)

better. Useful as a a concise layman's commentary. But that is not what he asked for.

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown

older stuff like this is worth having for free electronically, but not worth buying in print.

 

[EdwardC]

These are really good Catholic commentaries, though there are only a few volumes out so far:

Thanks for the link, but I'm not really looking for a catholic commentary, I'm a member of the baptist general conference, so an evangelical commentary might be a better fit for me. I was talking to a pastor this morning and I think that I will be taking the anchor off my list as well, as it teaches (apparently) a liberal theology, and I'm lookng for a more conservative one.

 

[ebia]

Thanks for the link, but I'm not really looking for a catholic commentary, I'm a member of the baptist general conference, so an evangelical commentary might be a better fit for me. I was talking to a pastor this morning and I think that I will be taking the anchor off my list as well, as it teaches (apparently) a liberal theology, and I'm lookng for a more conservative one.

Anchor is towards the more liberal end, but its also way beyond what you want - and with a price tag to suit. If you wanted anything approaching that level of detail Word Biblical Commentaries might suit better. They are quite good value electronically. But if this is your first and only commentary set you'd do better with something more modest in aim. Something like BST, Tyndale Commentaries or IVP New Testament Commentaries. Electronic editions are really the way to go these days - you get way more bang-for-buck.

CCSS is distinctly Catholic, but I've used it in an Evangelical setting without anyone noticing, and quite a bit of it's suggested further reading is by evangelical Anglicans. . When it comes to quality biblical scholarship there is just good scholarship - they all read, engage with, an learn from each other without regard for denominational divides these days. Anyone who doesn't is not worth reading. (yet another reason for avoiding MacArthur).

 

[MrPolo]

Thanks for the link, but I'm not really looking for a catholic commentary, I'm a member of the baptist general conference, so an evangelical commentary might be a better fit for me. I was talking to a pastor this morning and I think that I will be taking the anchor off my list as well, as it teaches (apparently) a liberal theology, and I'm lookng for a more conservative one.

You may also consider a couple commentaries if you are averse to Catholic commentaries. I'm writing a paper in my master's class and I'm not only using New Jerome Bible Commentary and Navarre (which are Catholic) but also Anchor, Interpreters Bible, and New Interpreters Bible which are all Protestant commentaries. Granted you can't buy any of the last 3 on the cheap, but I checked them out at the library. Not sure if that's something you want to do, but I'm just tossing out the idea since budget is an issue.

 

[ebia]

[tangent]what is your paper on?[/tangent{

 

[EdwardC]

You may also consider a couple commentaries if you are averse to Catholic commentaries. I'm writing a paper in my master's class and I'm not only using New Jerome Bible Commentary and Navarre (which are Catholic) but also Anchor, Interpreters Bible, and New Interpreters Bible which are all Protestant commentaries. Granted you can't buy any of the last 3 on the cheap, but I checked them out at the library. Not sure if that's something you want to do, but I'm just tossing out the idea since budget is an issue.

I didn't actually say money is an issue, I said I wanted to be sure of what I was getting before I dropped the money on a commentary.

 

[MrPolo]

[tangent]what is your paper on?[/tangent{

Proverbs 16:6a. I'm actually going to have to cut it to get it down to 15 or less pages. :/

 

[MrPolo]

I didn't actually say money is an issue, I said I wanted to be sure of what I was getting before I dropped the money on a commentary.

Ah, I see. Well, I dropped $400+ on the whole Navarre set and I think I got a deal. I also bought the Ignatius Catholic Study New Testament, a single volume on the NT, which I also find great and you can get it for like $20 online---a steal! But since I'm generally using Catholic stuff, you may take my recommendations in that context.

Quite a bit I search online or via googlebooks too for commentaries. If you go to Google Books and search for like "Psalms Commentary" a bunch will show up and many of them give you page previews. So that might be a way for you to check out a commentary or two to see if it's what you're looking for.

 

[EdwardC]

Does anyone have anything to say about the bibe knowledge commentary? I just had it suggested to me by a pastor I respect quite a bit, but I'm just wondering what you guys might think on it.

 

[ebia]

Does anyone have anything to say about the bibe knowledge commentary? I just had it suggested to me by a pastor I respect quite a bit, but I'm just wondering what you guys might think on it.

For a modest 2-volume commentary it's pretty good.

 

[green wolverine]

About 15 years ago I came across the 6 volume Matthew Henry commentary of the complete Bible and grabbed it. I can't begin to tell you what a HUGE blessing it's been in my life.

If you aren't familiar with Matthew Henry, he was a Puritan pastor in late 1600s and early 1700s England. He is brilliant as well as somewhat droll and witty at times. The thing I love about reading his commentary is that his doctrine is what the historical Christian church has believed down through the ages--no liberalism, dispensationalism and the like. He also focuses on glorifying God and especially Christ.

Since last winter, I've read his discourses on the book of Job and the gospel of John. I can't tell you how much I've learned from him, and how much it's helped me to grow. There just aren't word to express what a wonderful blessing this has been in my life. If I had to evacuate my home, I would take my Matthew Henry commentary with me--all 6 volumes if possible--that's how much it means to me! I would urge anyone who wants to have a greater, deeper more profound understanding of Scripture to read Matthew Henry.

Here's a link to an online MH Commentary to get you started:

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible [Volume Index] | Christian Classics Ethereal Library