Review: Genesis, volume 1: Genesis 1-11 by James Montgomery Boice

James Montgomery Boice. Genesis, volume 1: Genesis 1-11Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, May 1st 2006. 464 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

Are you studying through the book of Genesis and wish you can understand more of what you read?  A book that would be helpful is this title.  The book is an expository commentary, which is between a devotional and heavier exegetical Bible commentary. It was written by the late preacher James Montgomery Boice and covers first eleven chapters of Genesis.  Overall I enjoyed this and learned a lot of new things from the book of Genesis as the result of reading the Scripture in conjunction with this commentary as a learning tool.

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Review: Ephesians by James Montgomery Boice

I’m taking a break this Saturday from the series on Jonah in light of a busy week (preached from Wednesday to Sunday each day this week).  So I’m posting this book review of a work that I just finished.  

Get Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary over at Amazon

I read this commentary because of the author.  Previously I read James Montgomery Boice’s commentary on Phillippians which I thoroughly enjoyed.  I also enjoyed this commentary on Ephesians.  It is a good expositional commentary and ideal for devotions through the book of Ephesians.  I appreciated that it was practical.  I have seen other reviews saying that it’s not exegetically detailed but I think it is not fair to expect an exegetical commentary when the intent of the commentary is expositional.  While there are other commentaries on Ephesians that are more exegetical than this one (I think the best is still Harold W. Hoehner’s exegetical commentary) I think it is still worthwhile for the exegete to consult Boice’s work to help with thinking about the application and delivery of the content of Ephesians to God’s people.  Boice did bring out good lexical insight from the meaning of certain Greek terms in ways that are very insightful.  Read this to warm your hearts for God in light of what He has done for us in saving us.

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Review: Philippians by James Montgomery Boice

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

Good commentary on Philippians. I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt it was a good commentary to accompany my own personal devotional through Philippians. Insightful observations were given from the text, especially when Boice makes observations from Greek word studies, things that the general reading audience would not pick up themselves. Examples include his explanation about the Praetorian Guard are only in Rome, what citizenship meant to the Philippians who were loyal to the Roman Empire and also the Greek word for form in Philippians 2 refer to the inward true nature of something (thus form does not just mean “image” but that Jesus was truly God in essence). I appreciated this commentary a lot. The first 96 pages was devoted to the first chapter alone, though towards the end of the book Boice picked up the pace; I would have appreciated if he would have been able to give the same attention and care of slowly going through the text towards the last half of the book just as he did in the first half. I recommend this commentary for the expositor and the lay reader.

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