Review: Mark: Through Old Testament Eyes

Andrew T. Le Peau. Mark: Through Old Testament Eyes.  Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, September 27th 2017. 352 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

This is a wonderful commentary.  It is one that I would recommend every Pastor and Bible teachers have as one of their resources while they are teaching through the Book of Mark.  I do believe it is an indispensable tool.  I know there are many Bible commentaries out and no doubt someone would ask me why this commentary.  “Why one more new one when there are so many that have been written already?”  I think this commentary is unique and helpful by providing a concentrated focus look at Mark “through Old Testament eyes,” which is the book’s subtitle.  What that means is that this commentary interprets the Book of Mark according to the Old Testament content which clearly Mark would have assumed the readers would have been familiar with.  Unfortunately today many Christians are less familiar with the Old Testament than Christians in previous generations.  And the insights that this commentary points out with the Old Testament is a treasure trove that makes this worth every spent getting it.

This work is the first volume in a new Bible commentary series called “A Background and Application Commentary.”  It is published by Kregel Academic.  The author Andrew Le Peau is actually the series editor and I would say from reading this volume this is off to a good start!

Readers must not skip over the introduction.  The introduction is very valuable in explaining what the author is trying to do.  In addition Andrew Le Peau also gives a great illustration as an explanation and defense of using the Old Testament to further help interpret the book of Mark largely because Mark intentionally echoes the Old Testament and is himself very familiar with the Jewish Scripture as readers shall see in the commentary.  Le Peau is nuanced here to note that knowledge of the Old Testament is not the only thing that is needed in biblical interpretation and by looking at Mark through Old Testament eyes that does not mean other extra-biblical studies is not important such as Second Temple Judaism and Classical studies.  Nevertheless he points out also how often the Old Testament background is neglected and unfamiliar to Christians, with the ignorance of it hurting Christians in the long run when we read Mark.  I really enjoyed the discussion in the introduction about the structure and outline of the book of Mark in addition to the author’s observation and example of literary devices used in the book of Mark.  These insights and facts wetted my appetite to dive into the commentary.

Of course the bulk of the book is the actual commentary of verses and passages in the book of Mark.  Each chapter is divided according to the chapters of the book of Mark and hence there is sixteen chapters for sixteen chapter of Mark.  Besides the traditional running commentary of verse by verse look at key words and phrases the book also have three other unique features.  Sprinkled throughout the main body of the book is a section called “Through Old Testament Eyes” which gives readers overviews of chapters and section so readers can see the bigger picture of Old Testament use by the New Testament author.  There is also a feature called “What the Structure Means” which looks at the way the writings are organized and how is impacts meaning.  Finally there is a feature titled “Going Deeper” that gives an extended look at certain topics.

I learned a lot from this commentary and it enriched my knowledge and appreciation for the truths taught in the book of Mark.  It made me open up my Bibles to the Old Testament and being blown away at the richness of Old Testament practices, doctrines and prophecies.  This enlarged my faith in knowing Jesus Christ is real.  The book also spiritually encouraged me very much as well and made me love Jesus more deeply.

The only criticism I have for the book is rather trivial though any improvements in future editions of this book and the format for the other volumes in this series would only make this good commentary and commentary series better.  I noticed that the “Lists of Tables,” “Lists of what the Structure Means,” “List of Through Old Testament Eyes” and “List of Going Deeper” appear towards the end of the book; I think it might be better to have it near the beginning of the book next to the table of content as one typically think of going to the front to find lists of where something is in the book.

I recommend this commentary.  No one preaching through Mark should neglect having this volume on hand as reference and as one’s study material.

NOTE: This book was provided to me free by Kregel Publications without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.