Bibles Bible Studies Books

Vaughan Roberts has done a great service to the Body of Christ by providing a simplification of Graeme Goldsworthy's approach to biblical theology. This would be a great read for those who are reading through the Bible in 90 Days or even in a year.

Unfortunately the best dispensational books are presently being written by Reformed Amillennialists! By that I mean this great fly-over of the whole Bible suffers from "replacement theology" that equates the Church with Israel and sees no future for national Israel in God's Big Picture.

Thus, the books suffers from not accurately dealing with Revelation 20 and the literal, complete fulfillment of the covenant promises to Isreal as a nation.

That being said the book is still a great overview of God's Big Picture! I just wish current "progressive dispensationalists" would write a simlar book.

Vaughan Roberts has done us a great service. Read it, but balance its amillienial, replacement theology with a future for Israel and you will have HD clarity of God's Big Picture!

This book provided a wonderful overview of the entire bible in one book. Not an indepth study, but it was fun to read about the bible, all 66 books in one volume. It also helped in understanding how they all fit together and that the central theme is God's redemptive plan for mankind.

Roberts is clear and concise. He works off of Goldsworthy's Gospel and Kingdom, but seeks to make it more accessible. He traces the storyline of the bible with the pattern of the kingdom, the perished k, the promised k, the partial k, the prophesied k, the present k, the proclaimed k, and the perfected k.

Having read 5 various books on this subject of the Kingdom of God, Mr. Roberts book was the most organized, structured, illustrated and understandable. It became the foundation for my own series on the Kingdom. A great first book since it lays the foundation necessary for understanding the more in depth books such as: Announcing the Kingdom and According to Plan.

For anyone interested to know how the 66 books of the Bible fit together to point towards salvation in Christ, this is a great tool to use.

I have enjoyed every one of Joan Chittister's books that I have read. However this one truly spoke to my heart. I have only recently realized how important community is in my spiritual life. This books explains what I could never put into words myself regarding the special friendships of women. I have given it as gifts to five of my very special friends.

I gave a copy of this book to everyone in a group of women friends I have when we all went away for a weekend. We had fun reading about the friendship of the women of the Bible and why they are important in todays context, however we all wish that each story was much longer, more indepth and more detailed. Nice read for a weekend.

You may know about the women in the Bible that are written about, but the author brings you up to date with your own personal life...also a good discussion for small groups or a friend...another Chittister winner.

This small book is packed with information about the women in the Bible and how each personifies as aspect of friendship. There is a chapter on Ruth, a chapter on Anne, and some women that have received very little attention. There are interesting thoughts about each of them and how they represent different aspects of friendship. I am enjoying it so much that I only allow myself a chapter at a time to read and ponder. I think this will be the book I give to women friends this year. This is a keeper.

In a day and age where individualism and self-sufficiency is prided as characteristics of success and power, a voice that reminds us of the true role and import of friendship needs to be heard - and Joan Chittister offers one such voice. Using women biblical figures as a springboard and chapter mastheads, Chittister develops a short reflection on what the true meaning of friendship is and how is should be cultivated today.

From a refreshingly feminine perspective, Chittister approaches the topic of true friendship from the projected experience of the women for whom each chapter is named. While in no way a scholarly or academic work (most observed in the lack of authoritative scripture references, scholarly endnotes/footnotes or exegetical analysis of implicit scriptural references - although she does list the biblical passages at the end of the book where each woman could be found mentioned in scripture), this book is a wonderful meditative tool for one's own reflection on friendship.

In the spirit of full-disclosure, I should note that I am a male in religious life (in contrast to the author, a female in religious life, and the audience which appears to be primarily women). This perhaps limits my ability to fully appreciate the impact this work has on a female reader. I can attest to the fact that two very close women friends have read and recommended this book to me and they have found great solace and inspiration from it. I enjoyed it very much and it has allowed me to reflect on both friendship and women in the Bible in new ways.

Liz Curtis Higgs' Bad Girls of the Bible series is second to none, and in my opinion the audio is even better than the book, because Liz is the reader. She's an accomplished speaker and the injections of humor are so well done. I also enjoyed the audio of "Bad Girls of the Bible" although it was abridged, and I hope Liz will eventually do an audiobook of "Really Bad Girls of the Bible."
Liz brings these women to life and shows that although they and we are separated by many centuries, we're quite a bit alike. There's much we modern-day women can learn from those ancient girls and their trials and tribulations, and in the process, we can strengthen our own relationship with God.

This was my first Bad Girls of the Bible book to read. I must say it wasn't what I expected. I learned a lot more about the women of the Bible than I knew which means Liz does good research. I have taught for 40 plus years children and my teaching would have been different had I had all the background information and was able to compare it to today.
I especially loved the way she brought it to how modern women today would be like those of old. I loved the fact that God can love flawed women and men as far as that goes. Because you learn also of the flaws of the men of God too. You learn they weren't perfect but yet God loved them.
However Leah and Rachel left me wondering why God blessed Leah more than Rachel - an answer that still plagues me.
As a Bible teacher, Liz has left me hungering to research and learn more about these women. It seems most all Bible teaching at church is focused at men and on men in the Bible. The women are left unseen and even men could profit from understanding the women of the Bible. After all it might help them relate to their wives.

This is my favorite Bad Girls book so far! It is more applicable to real life for me.

Excellent book! It was very encouraging to see how even the "best girls" in the bible made mistakes, overcame them, and how God loved them and helped them through their mistakes. Loved it!

I always get a lot out of Higgs' materials. Her wit and wisdom (thru her own Bad Girl experience) never fail to show me new ways to grow in my faith.

Along with Moo, get this commentary! Schreiner is so solid and scholarly. I also have his work on 1,2Peter and Jude in the NAC. This NT scholar is so good.

His approach to scholarship reminds me of Dr. Moo. Both are really good. Schreiner does his own translation, and for me that is what makes this commentary so outstanding. If you appreciate adeptness in NT Greek, you'll appreciate this volume. But at the same time, Schreiner makes this simple enough for the person who doesn't understand NT Greek to get by.

This should be in every pastor's and anyone who's looking for the best work on Romans collection. Get this one!

This is a very good commentary on Romans. It is very well written and is clear and easy to understand. Great Reference material that can be used for years to come.

As someone who has done extensive work in Romans and is NOT a Calvinist, I have found Schreiner's volume to be the best all around commentary on Romans (not the best commentary on any book, however, as that would go to Schnackenberg's 3 volumes on John). He covers what you need to teach and to preach through the book.

While knowing Greek will certainly help one follow the author's arguments, he makes it easy enough to move past difficult material and get to the heart of the matter. Moo has a tendency to list multiple options and then pick one when it is unnecessary to list all the options due to a choice being obvious or else he does not list options at all when the choice is difficult. Schreiner avoids that problem by correctly majoring on the majors and minoring on the minors (with the exception of some issues at the end of Romans 8).

For Schreiner, this is certainly a step above his previous work and is much more readable than his book on Paul. The only Romans commentary I would rank ahead of this one is the incredible two volumes in the ICC by Cranfield, which is certainly not a series for those who do not know their languages.

Schreiner's Commentary is an excellent work when studying the book of Romans. Amazingly, he manages to retain a contemporary edge on such a difficult book of the Bible. His technical prowess comes forward as he examines significant words in the Greek and helps the reader to explore for the correct understanding. This work coupled with Douglas Moo's commentary on Romans are powerful technical resources for any pastor or theology student.

Schreiner's work is one of the most celebrated commentaries on Romans today. Schreiner's interaction with the Greek text and scholars alike is quite impressive. The author shows familiarity with Second temple literature as well. The work reflects the author's best achievement (See his theology of of paul, Paul, Apostle of God's glory in Christ). This is a commentary that seeks to be faithful to Scripture and ultimately celebrates the glory, majesty and excellency of Christ in the book of Romans.

`The Book of the Acts, Revised' in `The New International Commentary on the New Testament' series, written by F. F. (Frederick Fyvie) Bruce, is an excellent addition to this series, and a worthy follow-up to Joel Green's commentary on `The Gospel of Luke' in the same series. I once made two mistaken statements about this series, commonly abbreviated as NICNT. The first is that the editors tend to commission relatively junior scholars to do their commentaries, often as revisions of their doctoral dissertations. The second is that the series uses the relatively old `American Standard Version' translation of 1901. Both Professors Green and Bruce are distinctly senior, highly qualified commentators, both of whom contribute their own translations. As I always use the NRSV as a primary translation, I look forward to a commentator's own personal translation, based on a deep knowledge of the particular scripture. And, Professor Bruce has a deeper knowledge than most, as he finished a commentary on the Greek text of Acts before doing this commentary.
The separate commentary on the Greek has a salutary effect on the current work, as it separates out all the tedious philological and text critical findings for those who are primarily interested in such things. That leaves only professor Bruce's commentary on the literary, historical, and theological matters we find in Luke's Acts.
Acts does not have quite as many interpretational difficulties as Luke's Gospel. Therefore, some commentators' approach, such as the more recent work by Darrell Bock, tends to obscure the relatively cleaner text by discussing many different interpretations, including many from this volume. Like many of the commentators in `The New Interpreter's Bible (NIB)', Bruce focuses on a clean and illuminating organization of the text, with excellent material for applying the text to modern church and pastoral questions. Unlike the NIB, Bruce has excellent references to Hebrew sources, primarily the Mishnah. If fact, it was Bruce's commentary which pushed me to finally get a copy of the Mishnah as an aid to understanding references to Jewish practice in both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.
It may not count for much in many reviewers' evaluations, but I also find the design of the NICNT volumes' typesetting to be superior to many other series, especially to the Word Biblical Commentary volumes. It does little good to have excellent material if aging eyes find it difficult to read it.
Like Green's commentary, I would suggest Bruce's volume over many others, with the one caveat that it is at least ten (10) years older than several important new commentaries, such as the Anchor Bible contribution by Joseph Fitzmyer and at least five (5) years older than Luke Timothy Johnson's Sacra Pagina volume, and both are important and useful for the lay or pastoral user. So, I strongly recommend this volume, used together with Fitzmyer's volume or some other recent commentary. For those reviewers who do not find much new, I sympathize with their observation, but suggest that this is more evidence for the fact that this is a very good first (but not only) commentary on Acts for the pastoral or lay user.

Overall, this commentary is rather well done. Bruce does an excellent job at providing an insightful commentary, and has a very strong command of the history, geography, and culture of Palestine and Rome, and the persons mentioned in the book of Acts.

It is especially interesting to see that Bruce seems to be rather Pentecostal in his interpretation of the outpouring of the Spirit passages. However, he avoids popular phrases such as "the baptism of the Holy Spirit" and "initial evidence" and the like. He also shows that he seems rather open to such a modern phenomenon, citing the biography of Sundar Singh, who was a missionary in India claiming to have had a Damascus like experience where he saw Christ.

However, some of the commentary seems a little lacking. The last 10-15 chapters of the commentary seem a lot skimpier than the earlier parts. Perhaps because there is not as much controversy with these parts, or who knows, maybe Bruce was under some sort of deadline. This is the main reason I don't rate this commentary 5 stars.

F.F. Bruce is a great scholar and many of his commentaries have held the attention of many pastors and laymen to this day. No matter what your view is of his conclusions, his exegesis is almost always a force to be reckoned with.

Moderate/conservative and reformed in his roots, this commentary wins five stars because of it's valuable sholarship. I would also recommend Acts commentaries by I. Marshall Howard (Tyndale) and Richard Longenecker (Expositor's) if you are looking for exegesis and sholarly contribution... if you want "application" and "light devotional" material there are plenty of others to choose from (that are generally mediocre in terms of interpreting and explaining the meaning of the text).

A word of caution to the traditional "charismatic": You may not agree with all he has to say about the traditional "baptism of the Spirit" proof text passages... I still recommend reading it so that you may be challenged to interpret Acts again.

The late Dr. F.F. Bruce was a well respected biblical scholar and his commentaries and books have greatly benefited the Church of Christ. It is no different than with this work on the Book of Acts.

This book falls in line with the rest of the New International Commentary on the New Testament edited by Gordon Fee. The NIC is a solid evangelical commentary on the New Testament with the differing opinions stated in the works (see Revelation for example). Dr. Bruce has gone to great lengths to point out the differences among evangelicals in Acts. The commentary itself is full of Greek word studies, historical and geographical points, maps, and solid exegesis of every passage in Acts.

My only drawback with this work on Acts as well as the other works of the NICNT is that they are not laid out in expository outlines. It would be helpful if every section was given an expository outline to help the reader when moving through the sections of the Scriptures that the authors are working through. For a better expository outline see the commentaries of John MacArthur or John Phillips.

I don't want to write a lengthy review, but I do want you to know that this is a very well written commentary. I thought that I truly understood the book of Acts. After all, I've read the book of Acts over twenty times in my lifetime, but now I truly believe that I was missing about 60% of what Luke is trying to show his audience. With the help of F.F Bruce you will begin to see how from the beginning of the church God intended to bring the gospel to Jews and Gentiles and how he seamlessly brought that about. It also becomes very clear that the Apostles vigorously stressed the diety of Christ from Peter's very first sermon in Acts chapter two. You'll be able to understand, and appreciate how James ended up being the leader of the church in Jerusalem despite the fact that Peter was the undisputed leader early on.

I don't want to drone on, but this is an excellant commentary. Of all the commentaries that I've read, and I've read a fair number, this is my favorite. You'll probably read it cover to cover. I did.

Fabulous read, couldn't put it down.For fans of the Bible Answerman Radio show-this book reiterates common themes heard on the show:his coined term E2-Exegetical Eschatology-L.I.G.H.T.S.:using proper principles to read the Bible for all its worth,equiping oneself in Biblical discernment so as not to fall for tabloid sensationalistic end times prophecies du jour-critiques of a type of dispensationalism-where emphasis is put on a chosen race due to ethinicity not of belief & relationship to God(especially a retort to the Left Behind Series)..A brief background history of the atmosphere for 1stc. Christians,Patmos,the Roman Emperors etc.True Israel/False Israel, the True Bride of Christ/The Prostituted Bride of Christ, gematria/ 666 etc. It encourages believers to put the emphasis back on the Savior instead of on fear of the endtimes.

This book is a must read for every Christian. Hank hits the nail on the head when it comes to "reading the Bible for all its worth" and for anyone who is interested in what the book of Revelation is really communicating. Hank makes a clear and concise presentation of what it is that most Christians believe about the end times controversy and why they beleive it. He also clearly demonstrates the problem with dispensationalism and why "prophetic" preachers are missing the mark. I wish every Christian would open their eyes to this issue so that sound fundemental teaching within the church would return on the end times controversy. No other explaination of the book of Revelation makes sense. Thanks Hank for your dedication, time and for standing for TRUTH in a world where people will believe anything.

In general, I agree with Hanegraaff's biblical exegesis. However, he is in serious need of a better editor. This book's content is good, but it's HIGHLY repetitive. Basically, if you read the first 50 to 100 pages, you've got the gist of his argument. The rest just repeats itself - same examples over and over...and over. For this reason alone, I won't be able to recommend this book to people.

Another weakness of this volume is that the author doesn't present a coherent model for interpreting Scripture. Rather than organizing the content around the theme of poking holes in traditional dispensationalism, he would have been better served putting for the positive case for his position. How does his view deal with the hard passages? What is his view on the millennium? etc. Unless you're a trained theologian or a highly well read lay person, you won't have the foggiest idea what the author is talking about about half the time.

The best strength of the volume was the author's square confrontation of the misguided efforts of Christian Zionism to rebuild the Temple and the horrible human rights violations we have supported against the Palestinians. Christians ought to be deeply troubled by these issues. Sadly, many evangelicals are not.

I really wanted this book to be good. Seriously. I want to find an entry-level book to recommend to friends that will introduce them to these important ideas. But this ain't it...

I have been brought up in churches that have a traditional dispensationalist view point on eschatology. I have always had questions about it and some of the areas of scripture that we would cover didn't seem to line up with the dispensational view. As of right now I am just currently reading through revelation with commentaries that provide different view points and reading books by authors with different view points. Therefore, right now I do not prefer one eschatological view over another.
That being said, this book was not very helpful in having a better or deeper understanding of eschatology. Hank Hanegraaff focuses more on dismanteling dispensationalism, rather than building a model of his own. Now I know some who have commented on this book have mentioned how Hanegraaff teaches one "How" to think rather than "What" to think. I think it is a great concept but I don't really think that is what Hanegraaff does in this book. It is ALWAYS much easier to poke holes in a theory than to construct one of your own and expose it to the same scrutiny and criticism.
After reading the Apocalypse Code I walked away with far more questions than answers. Even the statements and small conclusions that Hanegraaff states in his book are not well thought out or well supported. He doesn't get deep into anyone topic.
Bottom line, he attacked an argument without ever establishing his own. This book was not very helpful for me in having a better understanding of eschatology. Again he makes some interesting claims but does not provide nearly enough support for them and never puts them together in the form of a model so that the reader can see how they flow together. My feeling is that there are probably other books out there that make similar claims as those make by Hanegraaff but do a better job of laying them out in a model where the reader can see the details and have more questions answered.
I felt as if I was reading an introduction to the book the entire way through the book. It left me with a sense as if the book never really began.

If Hanky would spend as much time on scripture as he does on attacking his enemy and Israel, then this could be a great book. But , alas it is just another exercise in spiritual egotism and boasting.

As it is the individual's decision/choice to believe so it is the individual's decision to decide to pray for direction in their purpose in life. KJV Titus 2:3-5 gives guidance on qualities to develop and references ."keepers at home" as well as ."obedient to their own husbands, that the Word of God be not blasphemed." The words ..."keepers at home" means exactly that: keepers at home. A fantastic example would be Mrs. Norman Vincent Peale's career right alongside her husband. In very fact the author of this book is fulfilling a career choice of both home and ministry. Regardless of our "status" (married, divorced or never-been-married and don't want to be) and regardless if we work outside the home history has proven we'll probably always be the primary keepers of the home: whether we work outside of the home or in it is not necessarily the issue. And the overwhelming majority of women work in and outside of the home through need and/or choice. Yet still, most of the time, we definitely are the keepers of the home. What about women with no choice but to be employed outside the home? What about a woman gifted with the potential and need to become a physician? When ..."obedient to their own husbands" and "blasphemy" are mentioned it is important to recall and emphasize actual Biblical text directly expessing the role the husband is to fulfill: the key to accuracy is are you being obedient to someone who is fulfilling their own contract as is suggested Biblically that husbands fulfill? Bible Study is crucial to reaching accurate conclusions to base your life-decisions upon. Please, make your ultimate choices based on actual Biblical scriptures within all aspects of their context, go to crosswalk.com and use their Bible Tools to easily look up subjects and/or specific verses.

My husband bought me this book at one of Steve Farrar's (Mary's husband) seminars. My husband and I highly recommend all of the books by this amazing Christian couple. It's hard to form a biblically based identity in today's world. In a society where all lifestyles are accepted, there's no good guidance on how to raise a Christian family. This book was hard to put down--it explains how our society has evolved into what it is today. It reminds us where we came from and gives suggestions about how we can reclaim our Christian heritage. Some of Mary's ideas will be hard to accept by people who don't want to hear the truth, but everything she says is right from the Bible and right from her heart. It's a great resource for Christian women.

I won't be vague, like the first two chapters of this book. This author tells women they should be in submission to their husbands, which she calls voluntarily placing oneself under the control of one's husband, so that men can do the work God has chosen them to do, which is to lead the family in all matters spiritual and work-related. This book also insinuates that if you do not choose to lead such a life that you are either a lesbian or a witch or are doomed to commit suicide. After describing how little value and importance the home has in today's world, the author then tells women that that is where they should be. She warns how dangerous it is for women to gather and discuss, or God forbid, question scripture! I can't imagine why any mentally healthy individual would be interested in reading, let alone living, the ideas this book espouses. Use your God-given intellect and reject this author's premise of the subjection of women. Surely God does not intend for anyone to be enslaved in thought or deed.

I seriously doubt that reviewer "Penelope" has actually read this book. It's ideals, which are biblically sound and expositional, are the antithesis of the militant feminist movement. A movement which has proven to be an overwhelming failure.

This excellent book includes a practical history of militant feminism and an examination of authentic womanhood according to Scripture.

And, to borrow from the previous reviewer, it educated me on the lies of the the feminist movement, the most destructive lie being this:

"You can have it all"
No, you can't. No one can. You must choose.

I highly recommend this book for two reasons.
-The research done is scholarly and thorough throughout
-The scriptures used are in context and doctrinally sound

The first half is an excellent history of the feminist movement from a Christian perspective. The second half is priamarily a study of the principles of biblical womanhood found in Titus 2 and other scriptures.
This book affirmed my desire to remain in the home with my children despite the sacrifices.
It educated me on the lies of the the feminist movement that I hear almost daily- the most destructive lie being this:

"You can have it all"
No, you can't. You have to make choices.

-by Scarlett Clay

Alter, Robert. "The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary", W.W, Norton, 2004.

A Beautiful Edition

Amos Lassen

I am always on the lookout for new editions and new commentaries of "The Five Books of Moses". The beauty of the books is that they can be read and reread and each time new ideas can be found. Alter gives us a faithful English translation of the books and every translation is a commentary in its own right. Alter is one of the leading, if not the leading, Hebrew translator at work today and what he gives us here is both thoughtful and fascinating. He looks more at Biblical themes and poetics rather than a strict historical translation giving new life to the words on the page. Rather than translate the Torah as a historical document, he works with it as a piece of literature and his final translation is stunning. The commentary and background information show the intricacies of the Hebrew language. Alter manages to give a perfect balance between the original language of the Torah and the detail that he provides in the English language. The text is lively as are the footnotes which tell a great deal about the Mosaic text. Alter gives great detail as he describes the origins of many Hebrew words and explains their usage in the context of the Torah text as well as pointing out how rabbinical scholars view the words. This gives the reader a chance to see the text from both a modern perspective alongside a traditional view.
Alter considers the major views of "The Five Books" (Yahwist, Elohist, Deuternomic and Priestly) but also goes to Jewish and Christian scholarship in the commentaries and introductions he provides and sometimes takes issues with leading theories providing the reader with new food for thought. Alter is seen throughout the text with his many footnotes of explanations and we never lose sight that this is his translation and commentary. He, however, never forces his thoughts on the reader and even though I felt he was looking over my shoulder as I read, I never once found him to be intrusive. In fact, I kind of look at him as an old friend and mentor who is there to answer my many questions. His psychological observations, however, at times, seem a tad speculative but, on the other hand, he does show the humanity of the characters and rather then being just names on a page, they come to life.
I am particularly fond of Alter's approach to the book of "Genesis" as he gives the state of the human before the patriarchal rise of the Israelites and then he looks at the patriarchs as human. "Genesis" of late has taken a major role in the world because of what the Christian world calls "original sin" but when we read the first book in context with the other four, we realize that the entire Pentateuch is merely the background for Moses, the protagonist of almost the entire Torah. He becomes the mouthpiece of G-d and it is from his lips that we receive both the wrath of the Supreme Being as well as the law. The Torah, without Moses, would not have much to say.
It is astounding when we see that the ratio of law to narrative is four to one and reading about the law is perhaps the most difficult aspect of "The Five Books". There is a great deal of repetition but Alter shows that this is necessary to stress the importance of Mosaic Law.
The modern age that we live in is one of extreme arrogance and as we become more and more modern, it becomes more and more difficult to get past the diversities of culture and religion. Many dismiss the Torah as being hard to understand and merely a representation of an ancient culture that has little bearing on life today. The difficulty of the philosophy and the tremendous amount of repetition seem to underlie the mentality of modern man but a study of "The Five Books of Moses" allows for thoughtful questioning and a better understanding of issues about modern Israel. But we must also not forget that the Pentateuch is not an end all but merely one of the building blocks of all of the Hebrew scriptures and in order to gain a full understanding of what we have, further study is needed. Nevertheless, Robert Alter is a fine place to start.

If you want a primarily literary guide to the Torah, this book is certainly well done. And for non-Jews and nonbelievers who want nothing more, this is probably pretty good.

If you want something more historically minded, this book occasionally has some good points- but I think Richard Elliot Friedman's commentary and the Conservative movement's Etz Chaim are better.

If you want a week-by-week guide to the Torah portion, this book does not compare favorably with any of the religiously-oriented Chumashes (the Hertz Chumash, the also-Orthodox Artscroll, or their Reform and Conservative competitors); it simply doesn't tell you very much about the Judaism that evolved from the Torah. But to be fair, it doesn't try to.

This is not a comment on the substance of Dr Alter's translation. I opened it today for comparative study; I own three other versions of The Five Books. To my dismay, I find no Parashat-Named Headings,none; merely Chapter Headings,and Bk Chapt.#s at the top of each page. I sought refuge in the index. There is no index! I have read many reviews and comments of this work and none, not one, mentioned this glaring omission. For a layman as myself I find this book too tedius to bother with,other than when I go to another version for the missing information. It is beyond my comprehension how this highly praised book by a masterful author could be published without the norms I have mentioned.

I've been using this text as part of a Bible Study I conduct. The commentary is primarily a translator's. What I mean by that is that it's not mainly a theological commentary, but one which seeks to understand the Hebrew text and explain how the translator sees the text. I like that insofar as what I'm looking for is an attempt at an accurate translation rather than as someone promoting his own theological agenda. If you're looking for theological interpretations, then this commentary would be of limited interest. The primary goal is to render an accurate literary translation of the Hebrew and to offer some archeological/ancient cultural commentary. I can see this text useful regardless of whether it's used by Jews or Christians.

Not a completely new translation. Not a language study. Torah nicely written with recommendable commentary. Hebrew is much more picturesque and alive than any translation I have ever seen. Although MANY liberties are taken, the translation is more picturesque and more accurate to the actual meaning (very opinionated) than others. The translation is easy to like.

I love this little book and use it so often. I even bought another one for my best friend!

I keep this little book on my desk for quick reference - when I need a prayer or someone calls me with a challenge in life, it is such a blessing to be able to answer with scripture.

Eugene Peterson has done a wonderful job of locating and organizing the promises of the Bible. A quick way to find solace and help when needed or to be reminded of the things God promises to us.

The Message paraphrase is really good for young people. This little book is a great value, cost effective. I have the opportunity to mentor through the largest non profit in Michigan dealing with teenage girls in distress www.vistamaria.org. The Message Promise Book has been helpful in that commitment.

What I especially liked is the ease of this little book, and its conciseness, right to the point. I have gifted it a couple of times. This book is a great tool.

The Message Promise Book is a collection of God's promises given to Christians taken from the Message. (The Message is a recent translation of the Bible into today's language.) The promises were organized into topics so you could find what you needed to hear quickly. I found this selection of God's promises to be wonderfully encouraging and easy to understand. I bought one for myself and later bought another copy which made a great gift.

Learned a lot of information concerning the Bible. Easy to read and understand. Great addition for all that teach Biblical courses.

The book is well organized, highly researched, and well written, but very boring! It simply analyzes biblical literature to death and makes many of the not so interesting and not so well written parts of the Bible out to be much more than they really are. It's a bit like trying to make the phone book out to be a great piece of literature. It isn't. It is a good source of information and that's all. The Bible has some nice literary parts to it to be sure, but the author stretches the value of much of the literature in the Bible. Her focus on the mundane, was tedious, and left much to be desired. I would have much rather had her be less detailed and cover the more interesting and valid aspects of Biblical literature rather than trying to make even Geneologies and redundant historical accounts out to be more interesting than they really are. Frankly, many of the stories in the Bible are really not that well written and to try and make it seem as though they are is just delusion

I taught Hermeneutics, a course on how to study the Bible, for 13 years at S.C.S.E. I read "Words of Delight" (when it was still a two volume work) six years into my work with the school and found that it fit the bill for what I wanted to accomplish with my students.

The book is divided into four parts treating Biblical Narrative first. Part two focuses on Biblical Poetry; Part Three on Other Biblical Literary Forms and Part Four, The New Testament. Some books treat the Bible as nothing more than literature. But if you are looking for a book that helps you to appreciate the literary aspects of the Bible while at the same time addressing it as the Word of God, this book is for you.

Frankly, I am surprised that someone else hasn't already written a glowing report of this book for Amazon. I recommend it to every Bible student. It is the single-most useful book I have read on the subject. (I would also recommend a work Dr. Ryken co edited, "Dictionary of Biblical Imagery" and "The Complete Literary Guide to the Bible," and a book he co-authored with Jim Wilhoit, "Effective Bible Teaching.")

Oh, why don't I just come right out and say it, "If Leland Ryken's name is associated with it, get it.