The Book Blog

Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament
(To Be) Published in 2008
ISBN 9780310244028 (James)

Review by Kevin Stern

Timed for a launch at SBL/ETS in November, Zondervan releases the first in its series of Exegetical Commentaries on the New Testament. The opening volume on James is written by Craig Blomberg and Mariam Kamell (with Clinton Arnold as general editor). I’m an avid commentary reader and not easily impressed, but this series presents some great scholarship. Several volumes are already on my wish list.

Here’s the series list:

• Matthew- Grant R. Osborne
• Mark- Mark L. Strauss
• Luke- David E. Garland
• John- I. Howard Marshall
• Acts- Eckhard J. Schnabel
• Romans- Frank Thielman
• 1 Corinthians- Paul Gardner
• 2 Corinthians- Bruce W. Winter
• Galatians- Thomas R. Schreiner
• Ephesians- Clinton E. Arnold
• Philippians- George H. Guthrie
• Colossians & Philemon- David W. Pao
• 1 & 2 Thessalonians- Gary S. Shogren
• 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus- Gregory K. Beale
• Hebrews- Douglas J. Moo
• James- Craig L. Blomberg and Mariam Kamell
• 1 Peter- Michael J. Wilkins
• 2 Peter & Jude- Robert W. Yarbrough
• 1-3 John- Karen H. Jobes
• Revelation- Buist M. Fanning III

As impressive as the list of authors is, my real excitement is in the format for the series. Too often commentators treat the details, but give no help with the flow of the passage. Each section in this series begins with a Literary Context that connects the material to passages before and after. There  is also a one or two sentence statement of the main idea of the section and an exegetical outline. The structure sections help you understand the internal structure of the passage as well. This helps immensely in sermon preparation and helps you think through a passage.

Something I’ve never seen before in a commentary but instantly like is the way the author’s translation is organized. The passage is broken down into a phrase-by-phrase outline. The main clause is in bold print and pushed left; subordinate clauses are indented. Those trying to diagram sentences have a ready outline each with an interpretive label to tell the function of the phrase. Those preaching and teaching the text can see the passages in a quick, easy format that helps with exposition and understanding.

The Explanation section clearly separates verses by putting the English text in bold type, then follows it with the Greek text. Speaking of Greek – for those a little rusty on their language, each mention of Greek is preceded by an English translation, so although the commentary has depth, it isn’t intimidating. The commentary is thorough but also to the point. The explanations had limited interaction with other writers, using them for quick explanations rather than cataloging adherents of various views.

The Theology in Application section which closes each passage provides a helpful summary of the theology. The applications in the James volume didn’t suffer from the often forced applications in the NIVAC volumes. You also felt it more of an extension of the exposition. At the end of the book was a summary of the major themes.

I’m now planning room on my shelves for this set of commentaries. One look at the format and authors in this series will soon have it rise to the top of many lists.

Greek for the Rest of Us
William D. Mounce
Zondervan
Published in 2007
ISBN 9780310282891

Review by Ryan Ho

Let’s face it–there’s a lot of bad Greek usage present in many of today’s sermons. Far too many pastors with no training or experience in the biblical languages seek to use Greek to support their points, spouting out terms like “Genitive case” or “middle voice” without any clue as to what they mean. Really, there’s only two solutions to the problem: 1) Somehow convince untrained pastors and laymen to stop their Greek attempts altogether, or 2) Train these individuals to use Greek tools correctly.

Dr. William Mounce, former director of the Greek language program at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, has made every effort to implement that second solution. Practically every Greek language student is familiar with Dr. Mounce; his Basics of Biblical Greek is a staple textbook in many Greek 101 classes, and he’s authored numerous language titles ranging from workbooks to analytical lexicons to morphology studies. Certainly, he’s no newcomer when it comes to Biblical Greek.

Now Mounce has turned his attention to a new group of students–those outside of the academic classroom. One of his more recent titles, Greek for the Rest of Us, targets those who can’t spare the time to study Greek for years, yet who still long to understand the Bible better.

In Greek for the Rest of Us, Mounce does a great job of covering the basics. He breaks the book down into six sections, or “weeks.” He begins with an introduction to the Greek language, alphabet, and pronunciation, then moves into a discussion on the various Bible translations. In the second section, Mounce examines the various elements of English Grammar, explaining “if you don’t understand the basics of English grammar, then you can’t make sense of what the Bible is saying with its groups of words” (p43).  In the third section, Mounce discusses conjunctions, adjectives, phrases, and clauses. In the fourth section, Mounce looks at how Greek verbs work, something that he delves into deeper in the fifth section. In the sixth and final section, Mounce moves onto nouns and their cases. Mounce ends the book with an appendix titled “Hebrew for the Rest of Us,” a short but sweet summary/analysis of the Hebrew language that he certainly didn’t have to include in this volume but did out of a commitment to help the church community.

Let me say off the bat that this book wasn’t developed to enable you to master Biblical Greek. Even if you were to read it from cover to cover, there would still be a great deal about the Greek language that you probably didn’t understand. Mounce’s point in this book wasn’t to cover every element of Greek. Instead, he developed this book to enable people to glean more out of the usage of good biblical study tools than they could otherwise. As the preface  demonstrates, Mounce wrote this book for several reasons: to help people understand why translations are different, to find out what the Greek words mean, to see the author’s flow of thought and central message, and to enable anyone to read good commentaries and other biblical tools that make use of Greek.

Personally, I’ve found Mounce’s work to be an incredibly helpful review, since it’s been several years since I studied Greek in a classroom setting. I think Greek for the Rest of Us (as well as Mounce’s accompanying title, Interlinear for the Rest of Us) would be a great tool for someone who had never studied Greek academically. It’s written very clearly and intentionally. The Greek language isn’t easy for anyone to understand, but Mounce clearly went to great effort in order to communicate it in a manner that anyone could understand. If you’re wanting to become a Greek scholar, this probably isn’t the volume for you–I recommend picking up Basics of Biblical Greek. If, however, you’re interested in learning a little bit about how the Greek language worked, why it makes a difference in Bible study today, and how it can help you in your own personal study, I highly recommend Greek for the Rest of Us.

How to Read Genesis
Tremper Longman
InterVarsity Press
Published in 2005

Review by Kevin Stern

How to Read Genesis by Tremper Longman sheds light on some tough questions. Longman begins with fourteen questions as to how to approach Genesis. In trying to understand what the book said to the original audience, it’s helpful to note what it isn’t speaking about as well. In asking who wrote the Pentateuch, Longman engages critical scholarship with reasonable explanations. He also does an effective job of explaining how Genesis should be seen in comparison with Ancient Near Eastern texts.

The second half of the book provided an interpretive reading of Genesis. This distillation of the story of Genesis was very helpful in understanding the big picture. Longman ends with a look at how Christ and a New Testament understanding impacts Genesis. This book helped me think through some critical issues in new ways and helped me understand that many of the questions we want Genesis to answer aren’t what the book is trying to address. More importantly, I felt that it gave me a handle on what Genesis was trying to communicate both to the original readers and to me.

Tremper also has How to Read Psalms and How to Read Proverbs in this series.

Revolve New Testament Biblezine 2008
Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Published in 2008
ISBN: 9780718019754

Review by Laura Ho

No matter how teenage girls are raised, they all struggle with the insecurities that accompany their age. When I was 15, my parents did the best they could to encourage me to live by the Word of God. To me, however, the Bible was something I just couldn’t understand–I thought of it only as an overwhelming list of demands that I could never live up to.

Today there is a Bible published by Nelson called Revolve 2008. Although the Bible contains the complete New Testament of the New Century Version translation, it’s look is not like your conventional Bible’s. Nelson released it to look like a magazine rather than a typical book. While Revolve 2008 follows the New Testament book by book,  it also adds articles, devotionals, pictures, and question/answer letters that are all very applicable to its audience. Revolve 2008 is a positive way to bring Scripture into the thoughtful, searching mind of a teenage girl.

I recommend Revolve 2008 to any parent, teacher, or friend wanting to encourage a teenage girl to delve into God’s Word.

ESV Study Bible
Good News Publishers
(To Be) Published in 2008
ISBN: 9781433502415 (Hardback)
9781433502453 (Black Bonded Leather)
9781433502439 (Black Calfskin)

Review by Kevin Stern

The ESV Study Bible launches October 15, 2008. Edited by J. I. Packer and a team of 93 evangelical scholars, this study Bible has a number of clever features that got my attention.

Full color maps are embedded in the notes, so you don’t keep flipping to the back of your Bible. There are 50 articles written on topics such as: Reading the Bible Theologically (Packer), Reading the Bible with the Church (John Hannah), the New Testament and Critical Scholarship (Darrell Bock) and the Reliability of the New Testament Manuscripts (Dan Wallace).

The illustrations in the Bible are gorgeous–I’m just hoping they’ll be available on computer soon for presentations. You can check out sample chapters and features on www.esv.org.

One last note: the bindings are all sewn, which is a rarity these days, and will mean that they will be more durable. And for those bibliophiles among us, there is a beautiful calfskin that retails at $239.99 (but sells on our site at $143.99). We can all dream, can’t we?

Update 10.16.08

Now with the whole Bible in hand, I’m impressed. It’s rare to have a product deliver more than its hype, but this delivers way more. The articles are better than I imagined–there is a mini systematic theology, apologetics, and ethics course that would be great for group study. Charts including Old and New Testament timelines, millennial views, key themes, etc. are clearly presented and fair. The notes are more thorough than I’ve seen in other study Bibles-Ezekiel 40 presents four views on the interpretation, a Temple plan, a Temple tour, and a diagram. Discussions of Biblical languages would be really helpful to lay leaders.

It would be tough to get much more Bible in one cover. Crossway has set a new standard in study Bibles.

Being Well When We’re Ill: Wholeness and Hope in Spite of Infirmity
Marva J. Dawn
Augsburg Books
Published in 2008

Review by Kelly Stern

Over the last twenty years, I’ve started to read several books on physical suffering, but this book by Marva Dawn is the only one I’ve finished.  I highly recommend it for two reasons. One is that Marva Dawn knows suffering. She has had far more serious physical ailments than I’ve suffered with my chronic muscle disease. Marva knows pain and disability from the inside. The second reason is that she is a theologian. The Bible has been her textbook on suffering and the Triune God has been her guide. Her life and her theology give me hope that I really can be well even when I’m ill.

Each of the twenty-one chapters in Being Well When We’re Ill begins with a passage of Scripture and ends with a prayer. The pages in between are full of Marva Dawn’s losses and her finds. For example, part of Marva’s suffering results from being physically crippled eighteen years ago by the misdiagnosis of a break in her left leg, As she tried to make sense of her loss, she came to understand that “the harder we try intellectually to create some meaning, the more emotionally exhausted we become because our desire is set on making sense.” She goes on to explain that the search for meaning “escalates the spiritual danger because the more we long to make sense of things the more our desire is for meaning rather than for God in all God’s mystery”. Rather than asking “Why?” Marva has learned to ask “What is God doing in the midst of this?” and “Where do I catch glimpses of the Trinity’s grace?”

I have caught many glimpses of the grace of God in the pages of Marva Dawn’s book. I believe this title will not only help those who suffer, but the loved ones and even the professionals who care for them.