RECOMMENDED LIST OF EVANGELICAL …

1 Dr. J. Paul Tanner Old Testament I OT commentaries viii RECOMMENDED LIST OF EVANGELICAL commentaries ON THE OLD TESTAMENT Compiled by J. Paul Tanner, ThM, PhD June 25, 2017 I. RECOMMENDED TWO-VOLUME SET: Walvoord, John F.; and Zuck, Roy B. eds. The bible Knowledge Commentary. 2 vols. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983, 1985. Most one-volume commentaries are too brief to be of any significant help. This two-volume set, however, is a gold-mine of information and commentary. It was written by the faculty of Dallas Seminary, and is based on the NIV text. This is RECOMMENDED as a first purchase. This is also available on CD-Rom (also available with Logos bible software).

2 II. MULTI-VOLUME SET: A. The Expositor s bible Commentary If you have already purchased the 2 volume bible Knowledge Commentary, I would recommend that your next acquisition be the Expositor's bible Commentary set. This is an excellent series written by a team of evangelicals. In fact, several of the OT commentaries I recommend in Part III are from this series. The work is of uneven quality, but overall quite helpful. The format is to divide each book into literary units, provide commentary on that unit, and relegate technical notes to the end of each session. Based on the NIV. A revised edition has more recently been released, edited by Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland (2008-2012). Some of the books in the newer version are better, but in a few cases the older ones are better ( , Jeremiah and Daniel). Gaebelein, Frank E.

3 , gen. ed. The Expositor's bible Commentary. 12 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1979 1992. Longman, Tremper III; and David E. Garland. The Expositor's bible Commentary. Rev. ed. 13 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 2006-2012. B. The EVANGELICAL Exegetical Commentary This is a new commentary set that is being produced in electronic format by Logos bible Software. This is a projected 44 volume set, and all the contributors are committed evangelicals ( , Ronald Youngblood and Walter Kaiser). Many of them are faculty members or graduates of Dallas Seminary. This looks to be one of the best sets to come out from an EVANGELICAL perspective. For further information, see I have the privilege of authoring the commentary on the Book of Daniel. Dr. J. Paul Tanner Old Testament I OT commentaries ix III.

4 commentaries ON INDIVIDUAL BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT Although there are numerous commentaries on each book of the bible , each one has advantages and disadvantages. Some are stronger in technical detail, some with overall synthesis, some with theological interpretation, etc. My choices reflect what I feel would be a good English exposition (not too technical), with priority given to EVANGELICAL commentaries and especially those written from a premillennial viewpoint. In most cases, I have tried to pick out the one best over-all commentary for each book. Where I have listed two or more for one book, the symbol ** indicates first choice and * a second choice. Genesis Hamilton, Victor P. The Book of Genesis. 2 vols. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1990. Matthews, Kenneth A.

5 Genesis 1 11:26. The New American Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001. Matthews, Kenneth A. Genesis 11:27 50:26. The New American Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005. Mortenson, Terry; and Thane H. Ury, ed. Coming to Grips with Genesis; Biblical Authority and the Age of the Earth. Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2008. [Although not a commentary per se, this is an essential book for rightly understanding the creation and flood accounts]. **Ross, Allen P. Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988. Sailhamer, John H. Genesis. In The Expositor s bible Commentary. Rev ed. Vol. 1: Genesis-Leviticus. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 2008. Waltke, Bruce K. Genesis, A Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001. *Wenham, Gordon J. Genesis. 2 vols. Word Biblical Commentary.

6 Waco, TX: Word Books, Publisher, 1987, 1994. Exodus Garrett, Duane A. A Commentary on Exodus. Kregel Academic, 2012. Kaiser, Walter C. "Exodus." In The Expositor s bible Commentary. Rev ed. Vol. 1: Genesis-Leviticus. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 2008. *Hamilton, Victor P. Exodus, An Exegetical Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011. **Stuart, Douglas. Exodus. The New American Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2006. Leviticus Hartley, John E. Leviticus. Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas, TX: Word Books, Publisher, 1992. [More technical, but a wealth of information]. Hess, Richard S. In The Expositor s bible Commentary. Rev ed. Vol. 1: Genesis-Leviticus. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 2008. **Rooker, Mark F. Leviticus. The New American Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000. Dr. J. Paul Tanner Old Testament I OT commentaries x *Ross, Allen P.

7 Holiness to the LORD: A Guide to the Exposition of the Book of Leviticus. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002. Wenham, Gordon J. The Book of Leviticus. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. 1979. Numbers **Allen, Ronald B. "Numbers." In The Expositor s bible Commentary. Rev ed. Vol. 2: Numbers- ruth . Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 2012. Ashley, Timothy R. The Book of Numbers. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. 1993. *Cole, R. Dennis. Numbers. The New American Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000. Harrison, R. K. Numbers. Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary. Chicago: Moody Press, 1990. Deuteronomy *Craigie, P. C. The Book of Deuteronomy. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub.

8 Co. 1976. Grisanti, Michael A. Deuteronomy. In The Expositor s bible Commentary. Rev ed. Vol. 2: Numbers- ruth . Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 2012. **Merrill, Eugene H. Deuteronomy. The New American Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994. Christensen, Duane L. Deuteronomy 1:1 21:9. Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 6A. 2nd ed. Dallas, TX: Word Books, Publisher, 2001. Although Christensen does adopt some of the views of critical scholarship, nevertheless his commentary on Deuteronomy strikes a good balance between exposition and comments on the Hebrew text (and various other text critical matters). Very helpful, and a good interaction with the current state of scholarship. Christensen, Duane L. Deuteronomy 21:10 34:12. Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 6B. Dallas, TX: Word Books, Publisher, 2001. Joshua Hess, Richard. Joshua. Tyndale Old Testament commentaries .

9 Inter-varsity Press, 1996. **Howard, David M. Joshua. The New American Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1998. [High view of Scripture and very up-to-date discussions; rev. in JETS, June 2000]. Campbell, Donald. "Joshua." In The bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985. [Very insightful and applicational]. *Woudstra, Marten H. The Book of Joshua. NICOT. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1981. judges Block, Daniel I. judges - ruth . The New American Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998. Dr. J. Paul Tanner Old Testament I OT commentaries xi Bods, Mark J. judges . In The Expositor s bible Commentary.

10 Rev ed. Vol. 2: Numbers- ruth . Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 2012. *Chisholm, Robert B., Jr. A Commentary on judges and ruth . Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2013. [DTS Prof. Good commentary, and also helpful for preaching]. Tanner, J. Paul. "The Gideon Narrative as the Focal Point of judges ," Bibliotheca Sacra 149:594 (Apr-Jun 1992): 146-61. [Helpful for an overview of the structure and design of the book, as well as the centrality of the Gideon Narrative to the author s concerns]. **Webb, Barry G. The Book of judges . New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2012. Wolf, Herbert. " judges ." In The Expositor's bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein. Vol. 3: Deuteronomy 2 Samuel. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1992. ruth *Block, Daniel I. [See under judges above]. Bush, Frederic. ruth , Esther. Word Biblical Commentary.