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: Memoirs of the Way Home: Ezra and Nehemiah by Gerald M. Bilkes

NOTE: This book is provided to me free by Reformation Heritage Books and Cross Focused Reviews without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

This is a short paperback devotional commentary on the book of Ezra and Nehemiah.  It is written by a faculty member of the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary.  I appreciated the work’s devotional flavor.  Reading through the book I wanted to see how the author would go about using other Scripture for cross referencing in light of the fact that Gerald Bilkes is a professor of biblical theology.  He definitely is Christ-centered and Gospel driven.  In addition, he gives New Testament priority in his hermeneutics.  Thus, Bilkes sees both the book of Ezra and Nehemiah as being about the journey of conversion which leads him to notice that both Ezra and Nehemiah resembled the parable of the Prodigal Son: The fallen son has returned home to the Father.  However the author sees it more than mere similarity since Bilkes invokes this parable again and again: It would be correct to say that Bilkes sees Ezra and Nehemiah through the interpretative lens of the parable.  I think this can downplay other details and movements within the passage of Ezra or Nehemiah.  I also wished that the book could have gone deeper in it’s exposition of Ezra and Nehemiah; I was yearning for more moments in the book where perhaps the author might have given exegetical insights that I would have not gotten if I were to read Ezra and Nehemiah on my own.  Nevertheless this devotional was spiritually profitable and I appreciate Bilkes format of ending each chapter with some follow up questions.  One definitely sees the influence of Puritans upon the author, with the book’s probe of the reader’s heart and motive.

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A Free Matthew, Mark Cornerstone Biblical Commentary

Logos and Tyndale made this commentary available to all at no cost. It’s another freebie for your Libronix software.

The authors for this commentary.

Matthew – David L. Turner is a graduate of Cedarville University, Grace Theological Seminary, and Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati. He has been professor of New Testament at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary since 1986 and has previously published several articles on the Gospel of Matthew.

Mark – Darrell L. Bock (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen) is research professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.

(HT:PG)

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