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Apr 1 2010

NICOT and NICNT available on Google Books

by John Dyer

I came across a post from a blog called Theonology today that links to all the NICNT volumes on Google Books, and it turns out that most of the text is viewable. 

I also looked up all the NICOT volumes to see what was available. They are mostly "limited preview"

Here are the links from Matt's original post on the NICNT:

[HT: Mark Heath]

Mar 2 2010

Which Commentary Series is Best?

by John Dyer

Dr. John Walton, a Hebrew professor at Wheaton, sent me a list of recommended academic commentaries which I've added to Best Commentaries. But his list also included a grid view that listed books of the Bible on the left and commentaries series on top. Each cell had an icon representing how strongly he recommends the work. With Dr. Walton's permission, I used his idea to build something similar based on the overall rankings in Best Commentaries.

Here's what it looks like

 

Go check it out: Commentaries Series Rankings

Apr 15 2009

Moore College: Recommended Commentaries and Reference Works

by John Dyer

Moore College, an Anglican institution in Australia, has generously allowed Best Commentaries to use its "Recommended Commentaries and Reference Works" available from the Moore College book store. The list was originally published in Societas 2007, pages 14-17.

In addition to adding the works as5-star reviews I've created four libraries out of their recommendation lists:

Thanks Moore College!

Jan 3 2009

Forthcoming Focus on the Bible and Mentor volumes

by John Dyer

Willie MacKenzie over at Christian Focus Publishers just sent updated information on forthcoming volumes in the "Focus on the Bible" and "Mentor" series. Here's the info:

Focus on the Bible

  • Exodus - Allan Harman
  • Levitics - Michael Milton
  • Ecclesiastes - William Barrick
  • Jeremiah/Lamentations - Michael Wilcock
  • Ezekiel - Dominic Smart
  • Amos - Terry J Betts
  • Luke - Timothy George
  • John - William Cook
  • Acts - Bruce Milne (autumn 2009)
  • Galatians - Joseph Pipa (autumn 2009)
  • Philippians - David Chapman
  • 1 & 2 Timothy & Titus - Ligon Duncan
  • Hebrews - Barry Joslin
  • 1, 2 & 3 John - John Hannah

Mentor Old Testament

  • Genesis - Stephen Andrews
  • Deuteronomy - Michael Grisanti
  • 1 & 2 Kings - Robert Fyall
  • Ezra/Nehemiah - Tiberius Rata
  • Psalms - Allan Harman (2 volumes)
  • Song of Solomon - Iain D Campbell
  • Isaiah - Paul House
  • Ezekiel - John L Mackay
  • Hosea - John L MacKay
  • Matthew - Knox Chamblin (2 volumes, Summer 2009)
  • Romans - Bill Barcley
  • 2 Corinthians - Robert Thomas
  • Galatians - David McWilliams (autumn 2009)
  • Ephesians - Richard Mayhue
  • Philippians - Matthew Harmon
  • 1, 2 Timothy & Titus - Terry Wilder 
Dec 7 2008

New Series: Ancient Christian Texts

by John Dyer

IVP Press just sent me some information on a new series called Ancient Christian Texts, edited by Thomas C. Oden and Gerald L. Bray. It will be a 15 volume series of translations of full-scale patristic Biblical commentaries with publication starting in mid-2009. Here’s the complete list, along with publication dates where provided from IVP:

  1. Commentary on the Gospel of John by Theodore of Mopsuestia
    Marco Conti, translator
    Joel C. Elowsky, volume editor
    [February 2010]
  2. Greek Commentaries on Revelation by Oecumenius of Isauria and Andrew of Caesarea
    William C. Weinrich, translator
    Thomas C. Oden, volume editor
  3. Pauline Commentaries of John of Damascus (Blankenship) and Theodore of Mopsuestia (Gregory)
    James R. Blankenship & Charles David Gregory, translators
    Michael Glerup, volume editor
  4. Latin Commentaries on Revelation by Victorinus, Apringius, Caesarius, Bede
    William C. Weinrich, translator & volume editor
  5. Commentaries on Romans and 1-2 Corinthians by Ambrosiaster
    Gerald L. Bray, translator & volume editor
    [May 2009]
  6. Commentaries on Galatians-Philemon by Ambrosiaster
    Gerald L. Bray, translator & volume editor
    [September 2009]
  7. Commentary on John,Vol. 1, by Cyril of Alexandria
    David Russell Maxwell, translator
    Joel C. Elowsky, volume editor
  8. Commentary on John, Vol. 2, by Cyril of Alexandria
    David Russell Maxwell, translator
    Joel C. Elowsky, volume editor
  9. Commentary on Matthew (Opus Imperfectum), vol. 1
    James Kellerman, translator
    Thomas C. Oden, volume editor
    [May 2010]
  10. Commentary on Matthew (Opus Imperfectum), vol. 2
    James Kellerman, translator
    Thomas C. Oden, volume editor
    [August 2010]
  11. Commentary on Jeremiah by Jerome
    Michael Graves, translator
    Christopher A. Hall, volume editor
  12. Commentaries on Genesis by Severian (Hill) and Bede (Hardin)
    Robert C. Hill & Carmen Hardin, translators
    Michael Glerup, volume editor
  13. Homilies on Numbers by Origen
    Thomas P. Scheck, translator
    Christopher A. Hall, volume editor
    [November 2009]
  14. Syriac Commentaries on the Prophets by Ephrem the Syrian
    Marco Conti, translator
    Thomas Buchan, volume editor
  15. Eusebius of Caesarea on Isaiah
    Jonathan Armstrong, translator
    Joel C. Elowsky, volume editor

Here’s a link to what I have in the main website: Ancient Christian Texts, and you can also check the forthcoming commentaries page. As always, “This is what is anticipated but subject to change.”

Dec 5 2008

Technology and Theology Blog

by John Dyer

Just wanted to let visitors to BestCommentaries know that I’ve recently started a blog on technology and theology called

www.donteatthefruit.com

Go check it out!

Oct 13 2008

New Series: Mercer, Augsburg, Lange's, Epworth, Spirit-Filled Life, College Press NIV, UBS Handbooks, SIL Exegetical Summaries

by John Dyer

Over the past few weeks, I’ve added some less well known series.

image Mercer Commentary on the Bible

A 7 volume set from Mercer University Press based on the NRSV includes entries from the Mercer Dictionary of the Bible. It also has a volume to the The Deuterocanonical / Apocryphal books of the Old Testament. Currently, I can’t find any word on whether an eighth volume on the general epistles and revelation will be released.

 

 

 

image Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament

Written by professors at Lutheran who are also ordained, the Augsburg series is designed to be used by pastors, students, and laypeople, as it is not overly technical, but still fairly in depth.

This series is also available in Logos Libronix.



imageLange’s Commentary on the Holy Scriptures

“This 19th century commentary has served as a standard reference for more than a century. The original work was edited by Peter Lange in Germany (1864-1880). Phillip Schaff supervised the English translation and contributed substantially to the American edition, which runs to some 14,000+ pages. Many early reviewers regarded Schaff’s edition with his additional material as superior to the original.”

This series is also available in Logos Libronix.


imageEpworth Commentary Series

A series with relatively recent publication dates (1995-2007) from a Methodist publisher. Unfortunately there is very littler information about this series available online.






image Spirit-Filled Life New Testament Commentary Series

This series was edited by Jack Hayford, but unfortunately it did not sell well enough for Thomas Nelson to order more than the initial 4 volumes.

“A new commentary series for the Charismatic and Pentecostal faiths. Each of these authors has been hand picked by Dr. Jack Hayford. These men and women represent the finest in conservative evangelical Spirit-filled scholarship in North America. But all have written in a way that can be understood by the average reader.”

 

 

imageCollege Press NIV Commentary

“Years ago a movement was begun with the dream of uniting all Christians on the basis of a common purpose (world evangelism) under a common authority, the Word of God. The College Press NIV Commentary Series is a serious effort to join the scholarship of two branches of this unity movement so as to speak with one voice concerning the Word of God. Our desire is to provide a resource for your study of the Old Testament that will benefit you whether you are preparing a Bible School lesson, a sermon, a college course or your own personal devotions.”

This series is also available in Logos Libronix.

 

imageUBS Handbooks

“The UBS Handbooks are detailed commentaries providing exegetical, historical, cultural, and linguistic information on the books of the Bible. They are prepared primarily to assist Bible translators but are also helpful for others who wish to study, reflect on and communicate the Scriptures. Although the commentaries are based on the original biblical languages, it is not necessary to know these languages to benefit from the commentaries.”

This series is also available in Logos Libronix.

 

imageSIL Exegetical Summaries

“Since no single commentary provides all the answers needed for translation, exegesis, and interpretation, the Exegetical Summaries Series serves as a valuable supplement. The books in the Exegetical Summaries Series survey the scope of everything written about every phrase in nearly every book in the New Testament, along with two books in the Old Testament, giving you the tools you need to compare commentaries and lexicons and identify instances of both scholarly consensus and disagreement.”

This series is also available in Logos Libronix (prepub).

Sep 21 2008

Derek Thomas’ “The Essential Commentaries for a Preacher’s Library”

by John Dyer

reviewerprofileimage

Derek Thomas, Professor of Systematic and Practical Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary,  and John Tweeddale published the 2nd edition of The Essential Commentaries for a Preacher’s Library in 2006. Thomas and Tweeddale have generously allow their “Recommended” books to be included in BestCommentaries.com. From my review of their work:

For each book of the Bible, Thomas categorizes books into “Recommended” (usually 2-4 books), “Consider” (as many as 20) and “Books to be considered for sermon preparation” (another 10-20).

The book is very user-friendly and well laid out. Unlike Glynn who only bolds recommended works, Thomas’ annotations are helpful. The comments are not as lengthy or thorough as Carson, Longman, or Rosscup, but the emphasis on older commentaries and commentaries useful for preaching and the fact that this work covers the entire Bible plus some theological works makes this inexpensive book very valuable and unique.

Their work is one of the least expensive and most useful commentary reference books available. We are extremely glad to have their thoughts included on the site.

Here are links to their information

Sep 10 2008

Links to Westminster Bookstore

by John Dyer

For all you Reformed folks out there (and anyone who wants to buy from an awesome Christian book store), I've added links to Westminster Bookstore. The "Best of Best Commentaries" page, now looks like this:

image

Notice the red Westminster icon (as well as the blue Logos icon) noting where the book is available.

Sep 7 2008

The difficulty of predicting future publications

by John Dyer

There are supposedly 100s of forthcoming commentaries in various series by various authors, but the accuracy of this somewhat dubious. Authors often commit to projects they cannot complete due to a variety of circumstances.

An example is the Word Biblical Commentary on 1 Corinthians. It has an ISBN number (084990238X), but there are conflicting reports as to who is actually writing it and when:

So, various sites list at least four different authors,and even the publisher doesn't seem to be sure. A close personal correspondent of Dr. Clarke says that he is in fact working on it and is surprised that Thomas Nelson and Linda Belleville still have outdated information. For now, I have both Clarke and Belville listed to cover the bases, but hopefully there will be some clarity down the line.