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Commentaries
Galatians
N. T. Wright e rst major biblical commentary om the pen of N. T. Wright
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Galatians is o en read by Christians as being primarily concerned with the traditional doctrine of justi cation through faith, but it is also a text focused deeply on the political concerns of its speci c historical moment. is commentary from N. T. Wright—the inaugural volume of the Commentaries for Christian Formation series—o ers a theological interpretation of Galatians that puts that historical context of the book in dialogue with present questions, so that readers can understand both what Paul meant and what his writing might mean for us today.
Each section of verse-by-verse commentary in this volume is followed by Wright’s re ections on what the text says about Christian formation today, making this an excellent resource for individual readers and those preparing to teach or preach on Galatians. e focus on formation is especially appropriate for this biblical le er, in which Paul wrote to his fellow early Christians, “My children— I seem to be in labor with you all over again, until the Messiah is fully formed in you!”
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction to Galatians
1. The Situation in Galatia 2. Paul’s Answer 3. Commentaries and Christian Formation
Galatians 1:1–17
1. Galatians 1:1–5: Apostleship and the Gospel 2. Galatians 1:6–9: Another
Gospel? 3. Galatians 1:10–17: The Story
So Far
Galatians 1:18–2:10
1. Galatians 1:18–24: First Jerusalem Visit: A Happy Relationship 2. Galatians 2:1–10: The Second
Visit: Standing Firm
Galatians 2:11–21
1. Galatians 2:11–14: Peter in
Antioch 2. Galatians 2:15–21: The Great
Transformation
Galatians 3:1–14
1. Galatians 3:1–5: The Spirit and
Faith 2. Galatians 3:6–9: Abraham and the Covenant 3. Galatians 3:10–14: The Curse of the Law
Galatians 3:15–29
1. Galatians 3:15–18: The Unbreakable
Covenant 2. Galatians 3:19–22: Why Then the
Law? 3. Galatians 3:23–25: Under the
Paidagōgos 4. Galatians 3:26–29: Abraham’s One
Family
Galatians 4:1–11
1. Galatians 4:1–7: The New Exodus 2. Galatians: 4:8–11: Don’t Go Back to
Slavery!
Galatians 4:12–5:1
1. Galatians 4:12–20: True Friends and
False Friends 2. Galatians 4:21–5:1: Two Women,
Two Families, Two Covenants, Two
Mountains
Galatians 5:2–26
1. Galatians 5:2–12: The Warning and the Challenge 2. Galatians 5:13–26: Love and the Spirit
Galatians 6:1–18
1. Galatians 6:1–10: Closing Exhortations 2. Galatians 6:11–18: Final Warnings and Example
N. T. Wright is one of the most highly respected biblical scholars in the world today and the author of over eighty books, including e Crown and the Fire, Following Jesus, For All God’s Worth, e Lord and His Prayer, e Way of the Lord, What Saint Paul Really Said, and Who Was Jesus?
978-0-8028-2560-5 | Jacketed Hardcover | 440 pages | $39.99 US $53.99 CAN | £32.99 UK | Available May 2021
The Commentaries for Christian Formation (CCF) series—edited by Stephen E. Fowl, Jennifer Grillo, and Robert W. Wall—serves a central purpose of the Word of God for the people of God: faith formation. Some series focus on exegesis, some on preaching , some on teaching , and some on application. This new series integrates all these aims, serving the church by showing how sound theological exegesis can underwrite preaching and teaching , which in turn form believers in the faith.
Uniting these volumes is a shared conviction that interpreting Scripture is not an end in itself. Faithful belief, prayer, and practice, deeper love of God and neighbor: these are ends of scriptural interpretation for Christians. The volumes in the Commentaries for Christian Formation series interpret Scripture in ways aimed at ordering readers’ lives and worship in imitation of Christ, informing their understanding of God, and animating their participation in the church’s global mission with a deepened sense of calling.
The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah
omas Renz
In this commentary, omas Renz reads Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah as three carefully cra ed writings of enduring relevance, each of which makes a vital contribution to the biblical canon.
Discussing the historical se ings, Renz takes up both long-standing issues, such as the relationship of Zephaniah to Josiah’s reforms, and the socioeconomic conditions of the time suggested by recent archaeological research. e place of these writings within the Book of the Twelve is given fresh consideration, including the question of what one should make of the alleged redaction history of Nahum and Habakkuk. e author’s careful translation of the text comes with detailed textual notes, illuminating some of the most outstanding poetry of the Bible (Nahum) and one of its most-di cult-to-translate chapters (Habakkuk 3). e thorough verse-by-verse commentary is followed by stimulating theological re ection, opening up venues for teaching and preaching from these prophetic writings.
No ma er their previous familiarity with these and other Minor Prophets, scholars, pastors, and lay readers alike will nd needed guidance in working through these di cult but important books of the Bible.
omas Renz is the rector of Monken Hadley, a parish within the Church of England. Previously, he taught Old Testament and Hebrew at Oak Hill eological College, a seminary in North London.
978-0-8028-2626-8 | Jacketed Hardcover | 750 pages | $56.00 US | $75.99 CAN £45.99 UK | Available June 2021
The Book of Amos
M. Daniel Carroll R.
In this commentary on the book of Amos, Daniel Carroll combines a detailed reading of the Hebrew text with a ention to its historical background and current relevance. What makes this volume unique is its special a ention to Amos’s literary features and what they reveal about the book’s theology and composition. Instead of reconstructing a hypothetical redactional history, this commentary o ers a close reading of the canonical form against the backdrop of the eighth century BCE.
“M. Daniel Carroll R. has been a leading gure in Amos studies (among other areas) for decades. Here, in commentary form, is his de nitive treatment of the book a er a lifetime of devoted study to our most articulate prophet of judgment. Every page re ects meticulous scholarship with an eye on the most pressing concerns of Amos’s day and of our own, leavened and be ered by Carroll’s keen insight and judicious assessment. is will be the rst commentary on Amos I consult for years to come.” — BRENT A. ST WN Duke Divinity School
“ is commentary is the culmination of a lifetime of work on Amos: a welcome contribution that e ectively conveys the uits of scholarly research to a wider audience. Carroll’s engagement with Latinx interpretation, in particular, draws helpful a ention to the signi cance of this work for all Amos’s readers.” — CARLY L. CROUCH Fuller Theological Seminary
M. Daniel Carroll R. (Rodas) is Scripture Press Ministries Professor of Biblical Studies and Pedagogy at Wheaton College. Celebrating a heritage from both Guatemala and the United States, Carroll’s interest in and commitment to Old Testament social ethics was born during his time teaching in Central America, which largely was during the era of the Central American revolutions. He has wri en extensively on the prophets and on Old Testament social ethics, especially as it pertains to global migration.
978-0-8028-2538-4 | Jacketed Hardcover | 640 pages | $52.00 US | $69.99 CAN £42.99 UK | Available
THE NEW INTERNATIONAL COMMENTARY ON THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Letter to the Ephesians
Lynn H. Cohick
“Cohick’s scholarship is exceptionally up-to-date, and her text is highly readable and relevant for commentary users interested in the message of Ephesians. She fairly engages other scholars and a ends to the grammar and the ancient context, highlighting also ancient social realities that many commentators miss.” — C IG S. KEENER Asbury Theological Seminary
“With an emphasis on cultural backgrounds, New Testament scholar Lynn Cohick o ers a esh exposition of Ephesians that is historically grounded and theologically astute. is commentary should be on the shelf of every pastor, teacher, and student who wants to know not only what Ephesians means, but how its message can be applied to life today.” — REN H. JOBES Wheaton College
Lynn H. Cohick is provost/dean and professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary. Her other books include Christian Women in the Patristic World, Women in the World of the Earliest Christians, and a commentary on Philippians in the Story of God Bible Commentary series.
978-0-8028-6842-8 | Jacketed Hardcover | 600 pages | $55.00 US | $73.99 CAN £44.99 UK | Available ILLUMINATIONS COMMENTARY SERIES
Jonah
Introduction and Commentary Amy Erickson
e dominant reading of the book of Jonah—that the hapless prophet Jonah is a lesson in not trying to run away from God—oversimpli es a profoundly literary biblical text, argues Amy Erickson. Likewise, the more recent understanding of Jonah as satire is problematic in its own right, laden as it is with anti-Jewish undertones and the superimposition of a Christian worldview onto a Jewish text. How can we move away from these stale interpretations to recover the richness of meaning that belongs to this short but noteworthy book of the Bible? is Illuminations commentary delves into Jonah’s reception history in Christian, Jewish, and Islamic contexts while also exploring its representations in visual arts, music, literature, and pop culture. A er this thorough contextualization, Erickson provides a fresh translation and exegesis, paving the way for pastors and scholars to read and utilize the book of Jonah as the provocative, richly allusive, and theologically robust text that it is.
Amy Erickson is associate professor of Hebrew Bible and the director of the Master of eological Studies program at the Ili School of eology.
978-0-8028-6831-2 | Jacketed Hardcover | 500 pages | $70.00 US | $94.99 CAN £55.99 UK | Available May 2021
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Proverbs
A Shorter Commentary
Bruce K. Waltke and Ivan D. V. De Silva
Since 2004, Bruce Waltke’s magisterial twovolume NICOT commentary on the book of Proverbs has been recognized as a de nitive exegesis of the Hebrew text, groundbreaking in its illuminating analysis that the authors and redactors of Proverbs had organized their material into discernible clusters and groupings. Waltke and Ivan De Silva here o er an abridged and revised version of the preeminent commentary, which is more accessible to students, pastors, and Bible readers in general. In place of a technical analysis of the Hebrew text, Waltke and De Silva interpret the translated text, while also including their own theological re ections and personal anecdotes where appropriate. A topical index is added to help expositors with a book that is di cult to preach or teach verse by verse.
At its heart, this shorter commentary on Proverbs preserves the exegetical depth, erudition, and poetic insight of Waltke’s original and maintains the core conviction that the ancient wisdom of Proverbs holds profound, ongoing relevance for Christian faith and life today.
Bruce K. Waltke is professor emeritus of biblical studies at Regent College, Vancouver, and distinguished professor emeritus of Old Testament at Knox eological Seminary, Fort Lauderdale. He was a translator of the New American Standard Version Bible and is also a member of the commi ee responsible for the New International Version.
Ivan D. V. De Silva is instructor in religious studies at Trinity Western University and adjunct faculty at Paci c Life Bible College.
978-0-8028-7503-7 | Paperback | 528 pages | $38.00 US $50.99 CAN | £30.99 UK | Available March 2021
ALSO AVAILABLE FROM BRUCE K. WALTKE:
The Book of Proverbs, Chapters 1–15
978-0-8028-2545-2 | Jacketed Hardcover | 729 pages | $60.00 US
The Book of Proverbs, Chapters 15–31
978-0-8028-2776-0 | Jacketed Hardcover | 624 pages | $60.00 US THE TWO HORIZONS NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY
1–3 John
omas Andrew Benne
e le ers from John wri en to churches at the end of the rst century CE possess meaningful theological insight for Christians today—in a sense, they were wri en for us.
True to this sense, omas Andrew Benne keeps historical speculation to a minimum and delves into the theological depths of 1–3 John in this commentary. He begins by providing a new translation of the text from the Greek, along with verse-by-verse exegesis, and then moves into an extended re ection on a litany of relevant theological topics, including questions of trinitarianism, creation, faith, atonement, eschatology, salvation, the nature of divine and human love, and the composition of the church. In these pages, readers challenged by Johannine metaphors (“walking in the light,” “children of God,” etc.) will nd clarity, and pastors will nd detailed guidance for teaching and preaching.
Benne ’s scholarship is critical but confessional, academic but accessible, and, above all, rooted in a faithful reverence that seeks not to read 1–3 John as a detached outsider to the text, but as the author’s fellow believer, so that the text’s theological concerns can be spoken to once again in a fresh and compelling way.
omas Andrew Benne is a liate assistant professor of theology at Fuller eological Seminary and lead pastor of Coast Bible Church, San Juan Capistrano, California.
978-0-8028-7577-8 | Paperback | 222 pages | $29.00 US $38.99 CAN | £22.99 UK | Available April 2021
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The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians
F. F. Bruce
A er a lifetime of work that earned him the appellation “dean of evangelical scholarship,” F. F. Bruce’s legacy of defending the historical reliability of the New Testament and explicating its meaning remains in uential today, and rightly so. is collection of three commentaries in one volume—Bruce’s nal study of Paul’s writings— represents his legacy well. It received immediate acclaim upon publication in 1984 and an Evangelical Christian Publishers Association Gold Medallion award the following year. In these pages—now Bruce’s third volume in the Eerdmans Classic Biblical Commentaries series—this giant of twentieth-century biblical studies speaks still.
F. F. Bruce (1910–1990) was Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester, England. e author of numerous commentaries and other books, he served as general editor of the New International Commentary on the New Testament from 1962 to 1990.
978-0-8028-7592-1 | Jacketed Hardcover | 470 pages
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Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians
F. W. Grosheide 978-0-8028-7707-9 | Paperback | 416 pages | $40.00 US
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George Eldon Ladd 978-0-8028-7590-7 | Paperback | 308 pages | $31.50 US
Discovering Exodus
Content, Interpretation, Reception
Ralph K. Hawkins
is concise introduction to the interpretation of the book of Exodus encourages in-depth study of the text and deliberate grappling with related theological and historical questions by providing a critical assessment of key interpreters and interpretative debates. It draws on a range of methodological approaches (author-, text-, and reader-centered) that they are at the spiritual heart of the Bible.”
and re ects the growing scholarly a ention to the reception history of biblical texts, increasingly viewed as a vital aspect of interpretation rather than an optional extra. roughout Discovering Exodus, Ralph Hawkins gives strategies for reading the book of Exodus, including archaeological criticism. He also reviews key issues raised by Exodus and connects these issues to questions of how this important Old Testament book should be interpreted today.
Ralph K. Hawkins is director of the program in religion and professor of Hebrew Bible and archaeology at Avere University, Danville, Virginia. He is also the author of of Old Testament at Pi sburgh eological Seminary.
How Israel Became a People.
$22.00 US | $29.99 CAN | Available May 2021
Discovering Psalms
“ is introduction to the Psalms, by a scholar who has been studying them and praying them for decades, amply demonstrates their potential to feed our worship and revolutionize the way we pray.” — JOHN GOLDINGAY Fuller Theological Seminary
“ e best introduction to the Psalms that I have ever seen. Readers will nd answers to virtually every question that they might bring to their study of the Psalms, ranging om possible Davidic authorship to how the Psalms in uenced the New Testament writers.” — J. CLINTON McCANN JR. Eden Theological Seminary
“In this lively and engaging book Jerome Creach introduces contemporary Christians to the book of Psalms and encourages them to use it for both study and worship. At a time when many churches are losing touch with the Psalms, he convincingly shows — JOHN BARTON University of Oxford
Jerome F. D. Creach is the Robert C. Holland Professor 978-0-8028-7262-3 | Paperback | 240 pages
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978-0-8028-7409-2 $30.50 US
Discovering Revelation
e book of Revelation has been received over the past several centuries with both fascination and aversion, but one thing is certain: it has profoundly shaped Christian history and culture. And the way it has shaped history and culture has been determined, in large part, by how the book has been variously—and sometimes irresponsibly—interpreted.
David A. deSilva addresses the interpretation and reception-history of Revelation in this compact, up-to-date, and student-friendly introduction to the book of Revelation, focusing on its structure, content, theological concerns, key interpretive debates, and historical reception. Discovering Revelation draws on a range of methodological approaches (author-, text-, and reader-centered) as complementary rather than mutually exclusive ways of interpreting the text. DeSilva pays special a ention to de ning features of Revelation, such as its use of sequences of seven as a major structuring device, its nonlinear plotline, and its deployment of contrast and parody. As deSilva writes, “A text as rich and multidimensional as Revelation calls for its readers to adopt a rich and multidimensional approach that draws upon a variety of interpretative angles and skills.”
David A. deSilva is Trustees’ Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland eological Seminary. His many other books include An Introduction to the New Testament, Introducing the Apocrypha, and Galatians: A Handbook to the Greek Text.
978-0-8028-7242-5 | Paperback | 240 pages $22.00 US | $29.99 CAN | Available April 2021
