A Guide to Biblical Commentaries and Reference Works

John F. Evans

• Publisher: Zondervan Academic
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9780310520979
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Reference

A Guide to Biblical Commentaries and Reference Works, by John F. Evans, summarizes and briefly analyzes all recent and many older commentaries on each book of the Bible, giving insightful comments on the approach of each commentary and its interpretive usefulness especially for evangelical interpreters of the Bible.

A Guide to Biblical Commentaries and Reference Works is essentially an annotated bibliography of hundreds of commentators. More scholarly books receive a longer, more detailed treatment than do lay commentaries, and highly recommended commentaries have their author's names in bold. The author keeps up on the publication of commentaries and intends to update this book every three to four years.

OLD TESTAMENT COMMENTARIES

PENTATEUCHAL STUDIES

★ Alexander, T. Desmond. From Paradise to the Promised Land, 3rd ed. 2012. Helpful as a theologically sensitive content survey. There is a lengthy, up-to-date evangelical assessment of the old Documentary Hypothesis and recent critiques. The main value, however, is the tracing of pentateuchal theological themes which will be developed in subsequent Scripture (OT and NT). For another, fuller content survey, see Hamilton. [3rd ed.: BBR 22.4; JSOT 37.5; ExpTim 10/14; JESOT 2.1; TJ Fall 14; 2nd ed.: Them Spr 04; RelSRev 1/05; ExpTim 11/04; Evangel Aut 07].

★ Alexander, T. Desmond, and David W. Baker, eds. Dictionary of the OT: Pentateuch, 2002. Invaluable for students. [Them Sum 04; EvQ 4/05; CurTM 10/05; Anvil 21.1].

★ Wenham, Gordon J. Exploring the OT, Volume One: A Guide to the Pentateuch, 2003. There is probably no better, more lucid and accessible introduction to the Pentateuch for the beginning student (207pp.). More advanced students might skip this purchase. [EvQ 4/05; JETS 9/05; RelSRev 1/06; CurTM 6/05].

☆ Alter, Robert. ‡ The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary, 2004. See Genesis. [BL 2005].

✓ Blenkinsopp, Joseph. ‡ The Pentateuch: An Introduction to the First Five Books of the Bible (ABRL) 1992. Added to this is Treasures Old and New: Essays in the Theology of the Pentateuch (2007) [BSac 10/07; JAOS 126.4; CJ 10/06]. Keep in mind that the 1992 vol. has now been replaced by Joel Baden, The Composition of the Pentateuch (2012), which surprisingly returns to something like the classic Documentary Hypothesis [JSOT 39.5].

✓ Briggs, Richard S., and Joel N. Lohr, eds. [ℳ], A Theological Introduction to the Pentateuch: Interpreting the Torah as Christian Scripture, 2012. A FS for Moberly.

✓ Campbell, Antony, and Mark O’Brien. ‡ Sources of the Pentateuch: Texts, Introductions, Annotations, 1993. Following this is Rethinking the Pentateuch: Prolegomena to the Theology of Ancient Israel (2005). Both authors pursue and promote (with some vigor) more traditional source criticism. By contrast, many evangelicals (Wenham) and critics (Whybray) believe source criticism has had poor returns for a long time.

✓ Clines, David J. A. ‡ The Theme of the Pentateuch, 1978, 2nd ed. 1996. A much cited study proposing partial fulfillment (and non-fulfillment) of the promises as the main theme.

✓ Dozeman, Thomas, and Konrad Schmid, eds. ‡ A Farewell to the Yahwist? The Composition of the Pentateuch in Recent European Interpretation, 2006 [JSS Spr 09]. The follow-up is The Pentateuch: International Perspectives on Current Research (2011) [JSS Aut 14; JSOT 36.5; ETL 88.1].

✓ Fretheim, Terence E. ‡ (IBT) 1996. An excellent introductory guide into the Pentateuch from a moderately critical perspective.

☆ Hamilton, Victor P. Handbook on the Pentateuch, 1982, 2nd ed. 2005. A solid content survey, which has often seen used as a textbook.

☆ Kitchen, Kenneth A. On the Reliability of the Old Testament, 2003. A strong (the critics would say “strident”) challenge to higher critical skepticism about the Bible’s historical worth. There is a massive amount of detail and learning here, especially ANE inscriptional and archaeological evidence. Wenham [Anvil 23.2] says “anyone who reads it will be bowled over by the breadth and depth of Kitchen’s encyclopaedic knowledge,” and he expresses hope that this “work will preserve another generation of theological students from losing faith in Scripture.” [JSOT 27.5; BSac 4/05; CTJ 11/04; CBQ 7/07; JETS 3/05; Them Sum 05; DenvJ 5/04 (Hess); HS 2005; JAOS 124.2 (harsh); VT 56.2; ExpTim 11/04; RTR 4/05; Presb Fall 06; RB 4/05; BASOR 8/05; CJ 1/06]. On the dating of Deuteronomy, see also the 3 – vol. Kitchen – Lawrence, Treaty, Law and Covenant in the ANE (2012) [BASOR 11/14 (Beckman)], which argues for close similarity to 2nd millennium Hittite treaties.

✓ Knight, Douglas. ‡ “The Pentateuch” (pp.263 – 96) in The Hebrew Bible and Its Modern Interpreters, eds. Douglas Knight and Gene Tucker, 1985.

✓ Knoppers, Gary N., and Bernard M. Levinson, eds. ‡ The Pentateuch as Torah: New Models for Understanding Its Promulgation and Acceptance, 2007. A collection of studies by world-leading scholars, presented at an international SBL meeting, heavily revised, and reflecting the movement of scholarship toward a later dating of the pentateuchal materials and their compilation. [BBR 19.2; VT 59.2; JHebS 2009].

✓ Lohfink, Norbert. ‡ Theology of the Pentateuch: Themes of the Priestly Narrative and Deuteronomy, ET 1994.

✓ Mann, Thomas W. ‡ The Book of the Torah: The Narrative Integrity of the Pentateuch, 1988, 2nd ed. 2013. [JSOT 38.5].

✓ Moberly, R. W. L. ‡ The Old Testament of the Old Testament, 2001. A fascinating narratological-canonical reading and new proposal for the crux in Exod 3 and the revelation of the divine name.

✓ Nicholson, E. W. ‡ The Pentateuch in the Twentieth Century, 1998. [JBL Sum 01].

✓ Noth, Martin. ‡ A History of Pentateuchal Traditions, 1948, ET 1972.

☆ Poythress, Vern S. The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses, 1991.

✓ Rad, Gerhard von. ‡ The Problem of the Hexateuch and Other Essays, 1938, ET 1966.

✓ Rendtorff, Rolf. ‡ The Problem of the Process of Transmission in the Pentateuch, 1977, ET 1990.

✓ Rofé, A. ‡ Introduction to the Composition of the Pentateuch, 1999. A modification of the classic Wellhausen position.

✓ Sailhamer, John. The Meaning of the Pentateuch: Revelation, Composition and Interpretation, 2009. Evangelical scholarship on the canonical form, building upon The Pentateuch as Narrative (1992). [BL 2010; BBR 21.1; VT 61.4; JETS 12/10; SBJT 14.2; Them 11/10, 5/11; BSac 1/12; BTB 2/12].

✓ Schmid, Konrad. ‡ Genesis and the Moses Story: Israel’s Dual Origins in the Hebrew Bible, ET 2010. Important for following continental European developments in Pentateuch scholarship. [JBL 119.2; JSOT 35.5; VT 62.3; RBL 2011].

☆ Schnittjer, Gary. The Torah Story, 2006. An engaging introduction and survey for laity and beginning students.

✓ Ska, Jean-Louis. ‡ Introduction to Reading the Pentateuch, ET 2006. Carr perhaps overdoes it in saying, “This book is now the best starting point for an introduction to past and present study of the formation of the Pentateuch.” [RBL].

✓ Sparks, Kent. (IBR bibliography) 2002. [RelSRev 7/03; EvQ 1/05; BBR 15.1; TJ Spr 05].

✓ Van Seters, John. ‡ The Pentateuch: A Social-Science Commentary, 1999. [JBL Fall 01]. Earlier vols. on the Pentateuch were: Abraham in History and Tradition (1975); Prologue to History: The Yahwist as Historian in Genesis (1992); and The Life of Moses: The Yahwist as Historian in Exodus – Numbers (1994). Summarizing much of his work is The Yahwist: A Historian of Israelite Origins (2013) [CBQ 1/15; JSOT 38.5], where he defends a revised Documentary Hypothesis that places J in the exilic period.

☆ Vogt, Peter T. Interpreting the Pentateuch: An Exegetical Handbook (Kregel) 2009. Packs much useful learning and counsel into a brief guide (214pp.). [JSOT 37.5].

✓ Watts, James W., ed. ‡ Persia and Torah: The Theory of Imperial Authorization of the Pentateuch (2001). Reflects how scholarship is pushing the date of the Pentateuch later. So now we get books that never would have been written 50 years ago: Richard Wright, Linguistic Evidence for the Pre-exilic Date of the Yahwistic Source (2005).

☆ Wenham, Gordon J. “Pondering the Pentateuch: The Search for a New Paradigm” (pp.116 – 44) in The Face of OT Studies, eds. Baker and Arnold, 1999.

☆ Wenham, Gordon J. Story as Torah: Reading OT Narrative Ethically, 2000. I have found no wiser guide to the complicated topic in the subtitle. The book, though focused mainly on Genesis, can inform one’s reading of all OT narratives. [Anvil 19.1 (Moberly)]. Important vols. on OT Law and ethics include: John Barton’s two books on Understanding OT Ethics (2003) and Theory and Practice in OT Ethics (2004); Frank Crüsemann, The Torah: Theology and Social History of OT Law (1996); Waldemar Janzen, OT Ethics (1994); Dale Patrick’s OT Law (1985); and J. W. Watts, Reading Law: The Rhetorical Shaping of the Pentateuch (1999). From the evangelical camp we have Toward OT Ethics by Walter Kaiser (1983); Hetty Lalleman’s Celebrating the Law? Rethinking OT Ethics (2004); and, most recommended, C. J. H. Wright, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God (2004) [JSOT 6/05].

✓ Whybray, R. N. ‡ Introduction to the Pentateuch, 1995. Also important in the discussion is Whybray’s earlier book, The Making of the Penta...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• From the Author
• Abbreviations
• Symbols
• Introduction
• Commentary Series
• Old Testament Commentaries
• New Testament Commentaries
• Bargains for a Bare-Bones Library
• An Ideal Basic Library for the Pastor
• The Ultimate Reference Library
• Index of Names
• About the Author