Reviews of Commentaries on Exodus

It took a long time but I finally got done with teaching my girls through the entire book of Exodus as part of our home Bible study!

I thought it be a good idea to review the Bible commentaries on Exodus that I found helpful!

5 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

Looking for a devotional commentary on Exodus?  I highly recommend this one by Philip Graham Ryken!  It is a massive work (1247 pages!) but don’t let the size scare you; general Christian readers and also Bible teachers will benefit from this book by an esteemed pastor.  The book is an exceptional expositional commentary that is something in the middle between a devotional and an exegetical technical commentary and yet sometimes some of the insights in this book point out great points from the biblical texts that other technical commentaries might have missed.  I recommend this commentary as personal devotional or resources for Bible study leaders, Sunday school teachers and preachers and pastors.

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Review: The One-Stop Bible Atlas

Nick Page. The One-Stop Bible Atlas.  Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, February 1st 2011. 128 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

I was searching for a Bible Atlas that was compact, portable yet helpful in covering the geography of events that took place in the Bible.  Having a Bible Atlas handy is a great tool if you are serious about studying the Bible: It not only makes historical narratives in the Old and New Testament become alive but sometimes it answers questions and provide deeper insights into a passage of what’s going on. I thought this book was helpful for both preachers and the layperson and it is worth purchasing.

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Review: A Syntax Guide for Readers of the Greek New Testament

Note: If your pastor prepares his sermon from the Greek New Testament and you want a recommendation of what to get him for Christmas, I recommend this work.

Charles Lee Irons. A Syntax Guide for Readers of the Greek New Testament.  Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, July 27th 2016.  608 pp.

This is a great work for reference for preachers and students of the Greek New Testament.  The book examines the Greek New Testament text at the level of syntactical observations and when appropriate several possible interpretations.  The author Charles Lee Irons wrote this work with the intent of going beyond merely parsing Greek verbs and declining Greek nouns but at the stage of interpretation involving phrases, clauses and sentences.  This work is helpful for those who want a single volume providing this kind of observation from the Greek text.  Why is this important?  As Irons wrote in the introduction, “Analysis of syntax often entails making judgments about the various uses of a certain grammatical form, giving rise to a particular meaning in that context” (9).

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Chance for Giveaway of 3-volume Commentary on the Psalms by Allen Ross

This commentary series put out by Kregel Academic is amazing.  Last year I reviewed another commentary in this series on Exodus by Duane A. Garrett and I’ve thumb through volume one of this particular three volume series on the Psalms by Allen Ross and I’ve been blessed by the contents in them.

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Review: A Commentary on Exodus by Duane A. Garrett

Duane A. Garrett. A Commentary on Exodus.  Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, November, 1^st, 2014. 741 pp.

I must begin with a bit of a personal note.  Many years ago when I was a young Christian I had used the author’s commentary on Hosea and Joel that was my first real exposure to an exegetical commentary.  I was blown away.  I was likewise blown away with Duane Garrett’s recent commentary on Exodus.  Of course this time around I am much older and I felt I was able to benefit more from Garrett exegetical insights than when I was a young college student reading through Hosea and Joel.  Garrett has done an excellent job with his Exodus commentary.

The Introduction was well over a hundred page.  I appreciated Garrett’s point that many commentators on Exodus have neglected the important contribution of Egyptology and one sees Garrett’s tremendous effort in bringing up-to-date scholarship from Egyptology to bear concerning Introductory matters of the book of Exodus.  In particular I thought his discussion of anything chronological stood out, especially with the dating of the events of Exodus.  It is incredibly detailed: He considers the difficulties of Egyptian method of counting how many days are to be in a year, when various Pharaohs ruled and archaeological findings in the area of Canaan as he weighs the pros and cons of various arguments for the late or early dating of the book.  I think it is worth getting the book for the Introduction alone.  While he does not come to a fixed conclusion of when the events of Exodus takes place nevertheless his interaction of the arguments of the various views is a good summary of the various views.

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