Bibles Bible Studies Books

This guide was an optional reading material for one of my BH classes. At first I wasn't sure what to make of this guide, how to use it and what's its usefulness is. But the more I read BHS and the more I use the masoretic notes and the critical apparatus, the more useful this little book is.

It covers verse divisions (soph pasuq, seder, etc.), special pointing, the Masora (it has brief notes on the Masoretes, Masora Finalis, Masora Marginalis -- both Mm and Mp, explanation of the critical apparatus and accents. In addition, there is an index of abbreviations and symbols in Mp and a useful list of Latin words used in BHS with English translations. For an interested reader, there is a pretty good bibliography so one can dig deeper if desired. I feel that for the price this is a good buy.

Book is useful, but the 4th Edition does not have a guide to the Latin abbreviations, which I find crucial to understanding the text notes. The 3rd Edition had a key, but for some reason the editors thought it was ok to take it out. It's been a long time since I've taken Latin. Hebrew is difficult enough. Hopefully the 5th Edition will include the much needed guide.

Reading the "Simplified Guide to The Hebrew Bible" has meant a world of a difference to me. I can now grasp the meaning of all the, until now, unintelligible notes in the margin. And it is very easy to read and understand. Thank you for a very fine help to understand the Old Testament.

If one is interested in decoding the minutia around the BHS text, then this book is an invaluable resource to have available.

Upon careful reading, I found the explanation of the accents in this volume to be adequate, especially when applied directly to individual verses in the BHS.

The "quick and dirty" of the stranger markings of BHS. For those not well-versed in Latin, German, or Aramaic, this little reference is quite handy. Scott does not bother with the history or evolution of the Tiberian Masorah or other markings, but rather simply gives what is necessary to successfully derive meaning from both the Masorah Magna and Masora Parva (but not the Masorah Finalis) as well as some of the accentation and other markings. The most useful feature of this reference work is its size - it's very small and slim, so much so that it may have a propensity to get lost frequently.

This volume provides an excellent overview of the major current scholarly approaches to the Bible. The contributions are written as introductions to these approaches, so the book is ideal for students, ministers, and anyone else interested in learning the questions scholars consider when studying the Bible. Each chapter includes not only a theoretical discussion of the method under consideration, but also concrete examples using specific biblical texts. Each chapter also includes suggested further reading for those who want to explore the methods more deeply. One of this volume's tremendous advantages is that it covers older "historical" methods and newer "literary" methods in a single volume, unlike some other compilations which highlight only one of these broad umbrellas. If you wanted a broad introduction to scholarly biblical interpretation but could only read one book on the subject, this would be one of your best choices.

Which type of Bible translation is better: formal equivalent (essentially literal) or functionally equivalent (used to be called dynamic equivalence)? That's what "How to Choose a Translation for All Its Worth" is about. It should be mentioned that Fee was on the translation committee for the TNIV (a functionally equivalent version). And I'll also mention that Fee is the author of many superb books, including the excellent volumes on 1 Corinthians and Philippians in the New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT) series.

"How to Choose a Translation for All Its Worth" comes out swinging as the first four pages of the book contain a series of endorsements by some of my most respected and beloved authors, including D.A. Carson, Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Bruce Waltke, Tremper Longmann III, and Daniel I. Block. With these endorsements, this book couldn't be bad, and it isn't. It's quite good and I really enjoyed reading it.

When you see the title of this book along with its subtitle ("A Guide to Understanding and Using Bible Versions"), you would think that the book is just a guide of the strengths and weaknesses of various Bible versions. But it is more.

Fee and Strauss have a preference. This preference is clearly stated in the conclusion to Chapter 8: "Biblical translation involves the transfer of the meaning of words originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek into functionally equivalent words in English." But you don't have to wait until Chapter 8 to learn that. From the beginning of the book they make their case for the superiority of functionally equivalent translations and, while I learned many things, I disagree with their preference.

I own approximately 30 Bible translations, from the KJV to the NCV, from the RV to the NLT. When I study I use many different ones. And the more I study, the more I like formal equivalent translations, and (in my opinion) the more I find that they are more accurate.

Case in point. I am currently reading the New American Commentary (NAC) on Judges by Daniel I. Block (who by the way is one of the endorsers of the book under review). It's interesting that the NAC series prints the NIV (a somewhat functionally equivalent translation, referred to as "mediating" in this book) in the commentaries, but the authors are free to comment on the NIV text and how accurate it is to the original languages. Time and again Block points out where the NIV translates incorrectly and he gives his own translation. When this happens, I look it up in the NASB and ESV and the vast majority of the time both match Block's translation.

If I was stranded on that proverbial island and could have only one Bible translation, it would be (in this order): the NASB, ESV, and NKJV. However, since I'm not on that island, after reading "How to Choose a Translation for All Its Worth," I went out and purchased a copy of the TNIV. Go figure.

This is an excellent book and I would have given it 5 stars if the title or subtitle accurately described the contents. I would suggest leaving the title as is but changing the subtitle to "The Case for Functionally Equivalent Bible Translations."

If you want the other side of the debate, you can try "Translating Truth; The Case for Essentially Literal Bible Translations" by Collins or "The Word of God in English" by Ryken.

I'm glad I only paid $1 for this at a book sale.

I picked this up expecting to it to enhance 30 years of Bible study as a lay person. However, I came away with an understanding of how to create a pseudo-intellectual attack on translations of the Bible that disagree with the author's personal morality; i.e. how to make study of the Bible even more divisive and partisan than it already has become in 21st century America.

I always give my books to a local charity to sell, even books I didn't particularly enjoy. I threw this one away.

Although the authors try to be objective, the fact of the matter is that they do not seem to realize what the most fundamental error of dynamic equivalence translational methodology is. The statement of "rendering the accurate meaning of the original language to the receptor language" sounds innocent enough, until you ask the question "So what is the accurate meaning in the original language?". The fact of the matter is that such "functional equivalence" translations MAY well lose the accurate meaning of the original texts as certain points because of their unknowing misinterpretation of the original texts, and thus such "functional equivalence" translations may in fact lose the accurate meaning of the original language; ironically out of an intent to render that accurate meaning in the receptor language.

An example can be seen for example in the removal of the word "sword" in Rom. 13:4 in versions such as the NLT. Therefore, if capital punishment is indeed intended to be taught in Rom. 13:4 in the original language texts by means of the word "sword", the NLT would not have accurately render the correct meaning of the original language.

In conclusion therefore, the "funtional euqivalence" translational methodology fails on all counts. It fails in preserving the exact words of Scripture as much as possible, and it even fails in its own stated aim of preserving the accurate meaning in certain passages of Scripture. The position taken by Fee and Strauss therefore is indefensible when seen in this light, and their defense of Dynamic Equivalence is therefore in error.

Rather than reading this book, why not read a better book on the issue of Bible translation by Leland Ryken?
The Word of God in English: Criteria for Excellence in Bible Translation

One of the most controversial topics in modern Protestant Christianity is Bible translations (i.e. those that are good and those not so good). For instance, some believe that one translation is better than another, even possibly more inspired. Others may not care. In this book, Fee and Strauss work well together as they explain the importance on translations and how a Christian can determine what defines a good translation. After all, if God's Word is living and active, reading it in an accurate form using today's language has got to be important. The writing in the book does get a little scholarly in some areas, as the writers use some specific wording and language jargon that can be a little confusing for those not versed in the subject. Hence, I would not recommend this book to most of my high school students because many of them would not find the presentation very interesting. Yet understanding more about the differences in translations is going to take a little work. I recommend mature Bible readers picking up this book to study the 157 pages so, the next time the topic of Bible translation comes up, they will be fully educated on the matter.

My wish would be that every Christian read this book, barring that at least every Minister and Pastor. I was blown away by its easy readability, concise detail of translation issues yet in-depth coverage of such a complicated topic! If only it were possible to give this gem 10 stars!

I read several years ago Pagels' "Beyond Belief," which is very helpful in understanding the so-called Gnostic Gospels. And this time too this book is very interesting; hence five stars. However, Judas of Iscariot remains still being the betrayer!
However the problems with these studies based on the archeologically old Christian documents are that (1) these documents were written well after the supposed year of Jesus' departure from this physical dimension, and (2) these documents may be very much distorted by the authors based on their beliefs. And because of these problems academic studies on Gnostic Gospels may continue for a long time to come for seeking the true story of Jesus. Is there any other way to know the true story? I think there is at least one way: psychical approach! Probably people interested in psychical research well know that the non-physical entity "Seth" talked about his controversial story of Jesus through the late American write-poet Jane Roberts (1929-1984) in his first book "Seth Speaks (1972)" in the last Session 591 of the book on 11 August 1971. Seth said to the effect that (a) Christ, the historical Jesus Christ, was not crucified, (b) He had no intention of dying in that manner; but others felt that to fulfill the prophecies in all ways, a crucifixion was a necessity, (c) the historical Jesus Christ did not take part in it, (d) There was a conspiracy in which Judas played a role, an attempt to make a martyr out of Christ; a deluded man who believed he was the Christ was chosen to be crucified. So in the Seth's story, the very Judas was the man who saved Jesus' life contrary to the canonical story of Judas being the meme of "Historical Betrayer." This may be a possible story as well, and I take the Seth's story because I believe the scientific study on "human reincarnation" by the late Prof. Ian Stevenson (1918-2007) as well as "the Great Memory" existing non-physically in other dimension as purported by F.W.H. Myers through the late Irish medium G. Cummins in the book "The Road to Immortality (1932)."
Maybe we can discover the true story of Jesus by the studies of academic people like Dr. Peagels, and also by psychical methods as well.

Pagels and King have produced a good translation of the Gospel of Judas, despite what some critics have said. One critic in particular has taken pains to cast aspersions on all translations of the Gospel of Judas, claiming that the text actually identifies Judas as a "demon" rather than a "spirit". Well, the original Coptic may have used the word "DAIMWN" rather than "PNEUMA", but that does not mean that Judas is supposed to be an evil spirit! Daimwn was a word that originally referred to "spirits" in a neutral way; for example, Socrates in his trial referred to the (benign) Daimwn that guided him to wisdom. The modern English word "demon" comes from the Greek Daimwn, but only where the Greek refers to an EVIL spirit (i.e. a kakodaimwn, or cacodemon).

That aside, this translation does seem pretty good. I took care to read the text of the Gospel first, and then the commentary, and I would advise all to do the same. My impression was that the text was clearly Gnostic. It is very similar to other Gnostic texts like the Gospel of Thomas and the Letter of Peter to Phillip. That is, a disciple or disciples are given secret teachings by Christ as to the true nature of the universe and of divine affairs - that the universe is a fake created by a mad god, and that penetration to the real universe can be achieved by true knowledge.

The fact that the disciple in question is Judas Iscariot does make this narrative rather unique.

The commentary by Elaine Pagels, in my opinion, downplays the Gnostic element of the Gospel of Judas by putting forward the thesis that the text is primarily to be read as a criticism of the cult of martyrs among Christians. To me, the martyrdom aspect of the Gospel is not very prominent compared with the revelations of the Gnostic universe. The Gospel should rather be seen as another example of a secret Gnostic revelation to a chosen disciple, albeit the one usually seen as the traitor.

The commentary also rambles on a bit. It is designed for the general reader, which makes it a bit too longwinded anyway. But Pagels also insists on comparing and contrasting the attitudes of the Gospel of Judas toward martyrs with every other non-canonical Christian work that mentions them. This, to me, wastes a good deal of space, though I always liked the Round Dance of the Cross.

On the up side, the discussions of Judas in the New Testament are interesting and informative, and the martyrdom aspect is indeed a part of the Gospel of Judas, even though I think Pagels harps on it far too much. On the whole, a fine translation of a newly discovered Gospel with some OK commentary.

What with all the 5 star ratings I see around this book, I wonder where your heads are... especially if you profess to be Christian. If not, then ignore what I say because it's to be expected.

What I see are false teachers, that have dredged up, and are spewing 2000 year old garbage in an attempt to turn people away from true gospel of Jesus Christ. But, that's what false teachers do... falsify information, distort truth, destroy faith, lie, and cause confusion.

Judas had full access to Jesus, night and day, for 3.5 years... then he betrayed the Son of God with a kiss, for 30 pieces of silver. He was a traitor! Nothing more, nothing less.

"The Gospel of Judas" was not written by Judas Iscariot... it was written abt 120 years after his death by another of the many false teachers trying to destroy Christianity at the time. It's not the archeological find of the century... it's a fake.

In Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity, Pagels and King explore the "Gospel of Judas" and the context in which it was written, to create a framework for the translation of the gospel in the second half of the book. Rather than ignore the gospel as heresy, they ask readers to consider the political forces at work. They argue that the gospel presents Judas not as a betrayer of Jesus, but as his greatest disciple. This challenges readers to reconsider traditional views of Judas, Jesus and the Church, perhaps even to forgive Judas and open their eyes to a larger view of Christianity.

Pagels and King explain that through the "Gospel of Judas" we can see that it is not the suffering of Jesus and the persecution of Christians that brings holiness. Rather, Christians must come to understand that Jesus did not die as a blood sacrifice but as a leader showing the way. The physical life is something to be overcome, not mourned.

Essentially, Pagels and King strive to overcome the bias with which we may approach the "Gospel of Judas." We must understand the context to see that the author is not simply trying to be inflammatory but reacting to the religious wars of his time. The book is very approachable, written for those who are not biblical scholars with a heavily annotated translation to help the reader in digestion of the gospel. Pagels and King offer a thorough explanation of the events leading to the gospel's conception as they explore other Christian works which lend support to its radical statements in the second section.

The Gospel of Judas is pretty interesting. The concept of a gospel of Judas takes some getting used to, and the content of this gospel is also best understood by someone with some understanding of writings such as those found at Nag Hammadi.

One must be somewhat dispassionate to read a text like this. Can you read with an open mind? Can you read what's there, and not "read into" the text your assumptions about Judas, your reactions to him?

I'm disappointed in Pagels and King's book, especially with the main body of the text, which Pagels wrote.

She misreads the text badly, and the impression she forms of it is not about the text but about her failure. If she just misread, it'd be only her problem, but then she miswrites, as though she would make her disease contageous by virtue of her authority as an expert on this sort of text.

When she misreads so many things and finds the text's author to be full of anger and rage, I have to wonder whether the anger and rage are located in the text or its author, or whether they are projected by Pagels, her own.

One example of her misreading concerns a vision that Judas has. In a vision he reports to Jesus, he sees the 12 disciples stoning him to death.

Pagels says the author of this gospel accuses the other disciples of stoning Judas. That's not what it says. It says Judas had a vision. It also says that when he reports his vision to Jesus, Jesus informs him that he has been deceived. Since there was additional content in the vision and there are holes in the text, we cannot be 100% sure that Jesus was saying that Judas was deceived in his belief that they would stone him, but it appears plausible.

In any event, this gospel does not say the disciples stoned him. Its author does not accuse them of stoning him, as Pagels says. She cites this as an example of the author's "anger." If the gospel doesn't say what she says it says, where is this "anger" to be found?

There are quite a few errors like this. If you get sucked into thinking this text says what Pagels says it says, you'll miss what it says. The blind lead the blind into the ditch.

The thought expressed in this gospel is subtle. Pagels' misinterpretation is crude. I think she has some sort of inner turmoil that's clouding her vision, as she projects all this anger and hate onto the author.

She stones him... and she misses. Badly.

This is sad. I liked "The Gnostic Paul." I've been disappointed with this book and with her "Beyond Belief."

In spite of these criticisms, I find about a fifth of the book's text to contain information worth reading. And the Gospel of Judas is good reading.

Just don't let her mislead you about what the text says. I'm reading this book through for a second time to pick up whatever things are worth keeping, and I'm seeing that she sometimes cites chapter and verse to back up her assertions about what the text says. When I read them, they do not say what she says they say.

The gospel author's thought is subtle. Her emotional reactions cause her to distort the meaning.

Sad.

The title of the book is accurate - as the author does an excellent job in showing us "How to Read Proverbs". I have taught Proverbs 1-9 at least three times in Sunday school classes and so I knew many of the things he had to say. But it is refreshing and assuring to hear someone say the same things I had discovered about Proverbs. He gave me good ideas on how I could improve my teaching on Proverbs. Much of the material can be used straight from this book when teaching Proverbs.

He shows that Proverbs sees life as a "Road" or a "Path" or a "Way". And how we should walk a "Straight Path" and not a "Crooked Path". Life is full of "Decisions", that point us in "Directions", which will ultimately end in "Destinations".

In the 3rd chapter, I think the author is in error on page 32 when he is speaking about the two Women. There he says, "Both have prepared a meal". I know that Wisdom has prepared her table and her food, but I do not see any preparation on the part of Folly. And I think that is the point of Proverb 9. Folly does NOT prepare, even though she makes the same invitation for the simple to come. Folly's only food is stolen, but she does not prepare it. I believe that is the point of Proverbs 9. God in His Wisdom is very well prepared and thought out. His plans are always for our good. It was in wisdom the He created the world. On the other hand, Folly makes no preparations - because she really does not care about her guests.

I liked his 4th chapter and how he showed that proverbs are Parallelisms, Parallelisms of Opposites, Better-Than Proverbs, Imagery and Secondary Devices. Some people can over do this stuff and ruin a Sunday school class. But this would really be good to share with people and he has great illustrations to show each category.

Chapter 5 - I think that this is one of the key chapters in his book. He successfully shows that proverbs are not "Law" with absolute results. Instead, proverbs are general principles that have to be taken in context of life. He gives excellent examples to show how he comes to this conclusion. He also gives excellent examples to show the absurdity of reading these proverbs the wrong way. This was a great chapter as he shows that some proverbs are lessons from Observations and Experience, some are Instruction Based on Tradition, some are Learning from Mistakes, but ultimately all are learning is from God's Revelation - the Fear of the Lord.

No offense, but I thought chapter 6 was boring and I did not care that other nations in Solomon's day had also used this genre. I don't know anyone in a Sunday school class who would care. To some this might be interesting, but thankfully this is only one chapter and he does not over do this.

Chapter 7 was excellent. I had never seen the book of Job and the book of Ecclesiastes in this light. He shows how these 2 books give balance or completion to the idea of the proverbs. Just when you think you understand a proverb, read Job or Ecclesiastes to get the whole picture. I learned a lot from this chapter not only about these 2 books of wisdom literature, but also how they give perspective on proverbs. Very good!

Chapter 8 was also very well done as he showed how the lives of Joseph and Daniel are great illustrations of the proverbs. Their lives are the proverbs with flesh and bone - not just proverbs in theory. Life does not always yield the immediate results we think we will have even when we obey the Lord.

Chapter 10 is very well done and gives a good example of how to look at the entire book of Proverbs and concentrate on just one theme at a time. We need to follow that one theme through the whole of Proverbs. From this approach you will see that one theme often has many aspects and is much more than you may first think. I find this chapter an example for us to use as we start our own study of the Proverbs.

Do not let the simplicity of this book fool you. He has done an excellent job in making it easy to read. It clearly shows you "How to Read Proverbs".

Aside from a little over-spiritualizing in the "Woman Wisdom or Folly" portion, I thought that the book was quite engaging and informative.

Positive:
- Easy to read
- Good structure
- Very helpful study questions and "for further reading" at the end of each chapter
- Good approach to the subject
- Compares Proverbs to Near Eastern wisdom texts to give background information of such kind, in such days in that region - amazing similarities!

Almost negative:
- The author uses the New Living Translation (NLT)
I must admit that I am a lover of the King James Version (KJV). But in such a book I would have expected a different version of the Bible. An example might illustrate my point:
Proverbs 8:14-15 NLT
"Common sense and success belong to me.
Insight and strength are mine.
Because of me, kings reign,
and rulers make just decrees."
Proverbs 8:14-15 KJV
"Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.
By me kings reign, and princes decree justice."
Proverbs 10:19 NLT
"Too much talk leads to sin.
Be sensible and keep your mouth shut."
Proverbs 10:19 KJV
"In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise."

Overall an excellent book, for beginners and advanced students of the Bible alike. The author took me several layers deeper into the Word of God - I enjoyed the ride!

Part II of Longman's little "How to Read" series, I think it is by far the best of the three (his Psalms intro is a close second). His exposition on the meaning of Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly was fantastic. His integration of other wisdom books was very helpful and militates against an isolated reading of Proverbs. And his interpretation that the woman in Proverbs 31 represents Jesus was genius. This book really motivates you to tackle Proverbs on your own and to really appreciate its artform. And you can't ask more from a intro book.

For a brief, nontechnical introduction to Proverbs, and wisdom literature in general, you will want this book. Longman discusses Proverbs in three sections: 1) General overview of Proverbs and wisdom; 2) How Proverbs fits into the overall theme of ancient wisdom (this includes the other wisdom books in the Bible and wisdom in other parts of the ancient world); and 3) Themes in Proverbs (money, love & marriage, wise and foolish words).

This book is not a verse by verse study of Proverbs. For that you will want a commentary, such as that by Dave Bland or Bruce Waltke (see my reviews). Instead, this book is an introduction to Proverbs and the nature of wisdom literature.

Chapter one is entitled "Why Read Proverbs?" Below are comments from that chapter:

"Wisdom is the skill of living." (P.14)

"Wisdom entails the ability to avoid problems, and the skill to handle them when they present themselves. Wisdom also includes the ability to interpret other people's speech and writing in order to react correctly to what they are saying to us." (Pp.14-15)

Proverbs is more about E.Q. (emotional quotient) than I.Q. (intelligent quotient). Proverbs uses stories of animals (Prov. 24-28). "These animals don't have a high I.Q., but the verses plainly describe a skill in living that is remarkable."

"People who have a high I.Q. know many facts; they can solve difficult mathematical equations. Their ability to reason and use logic is superior to others'. People with emotional intelligence have other abilities, including `self-control, zeal and persistence and the ability to motivate oneself ... to control impulse and delay gratification; to regulate one's moods and keep distress from swamping the ability to think...'" (Longman quotes from Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence). Biblical wisdom is closer to EQ than IQ. (P.15-16)

"Wisdom is a skill, a `knowing how': it is not raw intellect, a `knowing that.'" "Why read Proverbs, then? To gain wisdom, which is an ability to navigate life." (P.16)

You'll appreciate the insights Longman's book will give you to get a handle on wisdom in general and Proverbs in particular. I recommend it.

The distinguishing strength of the Navarre Bible series is the collection of explanatory commentary in the footnotes accompanying nearly every passage. The commentary includes the great "Church Fathers" from the early centuries, but also includes more modern findings of archeology and exegesis (without veering into the heretical or skeptical). The commentary is refreshingly objective about ambiguities without suggesting that those ambiguities create doubt about the divine origina and authority of scripture.

Excellent commentaries!
I'm a college student and find the whole collection of the Navarre Bible to be a must have, not only for people of my age, but any age group!!!! These commentaries give you a wonderful insight to understanding the Bible. Great for Bible studies or simple personal spiritual reading.

. . .a desperately needed resource for the serious Catholic Scripture student.

Now that the Navarre Bible New Testament project has been completed, the editors have turned their attention to the Old Testament. This volume "Pentateuch" is the first result of that effort.

The primary text is the Catholic version of the widely regarded "Revised Standard Version". Included as well is the New Latin Vulgate. Sandwiched between is excellent expository verse-by-verse commentary on the Scripture text. The commentary is taken from a conservative, tradition, yet scholarly Catholic perspective.

Very Highly Recommended

This text is currently being used for research and teaching in the Bible study on Genesis. It is invaluable in indepth discussion and explanations of the chapters we are studying in that it helps clarify questions and set our thoughts on the paths that the Church leads us on. I recommend it highly to anyone who is desiring light on their journey throughout the Pentateuch.

I am a pastor who uses commentaries in my sermon prep. I've found that Bock's stuff on Luke, and this volume in particular, as well as it's twin, encourage me with practical and technical information that is actually useful. For example, in the passage I just did for Palm Sunday, Bock does a great job of providing many worthwhile nuggets on Luke 19:28-40. I found some commentators wasting lots of space on issues like 'which part of the story was really spoken by Jesus' and things like that which are completely worthless for preaching...

Bock avoids all that stuff and goes to the meat of the issues at hand. For example, on the cross references he sometimes provides great insights as in when discussing Bethphage, one of the little towns Jesus was near when he sent his disciples to get the colt for him to ride on...that Bock points ut the Aramaic meaning of Bethphage, which was 'House of unripe figs'. The cross reference in the Greek text to the pronouncement of judgment on the fig tree earlier in Luke was augmented by this information. The clear allusion then is to the judgment pronounced on the Jews for being an unripe fig tree by Jesus as he passes through 'the house of unripe figs' just before his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem which ends up with his grief over Jerusalem's judgment for rejecting his kingship.
Bock has a lot of detail like this that I have not found as much of in most commentaries.

He also cued me in on the angaria concept without too much information so that I could see crucial points without wasting a lot of time on minutia. (Angaria was the custom of demanding citizens provide transportation...which may relate to the provision of the colt for Jesus triumphal entry).

This commentary is a wealth of very helpful information that is based on solid exegesis. His information provided also blends well with the sermon crafting process for those who are careful to use tried and true hermeneutical principles.

I have found that these two Luke commentaries (Baker Exegetical) are more helpful to me than even my NICNT on Luke...and I love that one as well.

A whole hearted recommendation here.

I'm preaching a series on Luke, and purchased this commentary after finding the other "must-haves" helpful, but repeatedly coming up short. Yes, Marshall is amazingly dense and heady. Yes, Fitzmyer is typically attentive to detail. Yes, Nolland has a lot to say. But like most reviewers of such books, as a pastor with only so much time, I'm looking for a book that will answer/help me think through my questions - or more importantly, the questions of my congregation.
Bock has written three commentaries on Luke. The massive (2,000+ pages!) BECNT volume is probably the "must-have" of the three (though his NIVAC is also very good), and the best commentary (at least for preaching) currently available on Luke. He deals with technical issues with great clarity, and offers some application thoughts (rare for a more technical series).
While we might still be waiting for that single commentary that is both deep and practical (Bruner's "Christbook/Churchbook" on Matthew comes to mind), in the meantime, a combination of Bock's BECNT and NIVAC will more than suffice.

This commentary provides the Pastor with yet another excellent pratical tool in helping to demonstrate the practicality of God's word to His people and the world around them. I love the series and have used it for years. This member of the collection continues the tradition of excellence established by the volumes previously published. I highly recommend it.

From what I hear, Darrell Bock's Baker commentary on Luke is an outstanding resource. Bock's knowledge of Luke-Acts shines here as well, along with his pastoral heart. In the theme of the IVP and NIV Application Commentary series, this focuses on application, though not as much as the NIVAC. Bock does a good job handling the individual pericopes of the gospel, with a strength on tracing major themes in Luke-Acts and showing the flow behind Luke's ordering of each event vs. the other Gospels. Although the NIV is used, Bock doesn't hesitate to use the NRSV or a literal rendering when necessary (e.g., "justified" in both 7:29 and 7:35, otherwise obscured in the NIV). Technical notes are generally resorted to footnotes.

I wish this edition were as in depth (only 390 pages for 24 chapters!), but it's still a good commentary for someone wanting to gain scholarly access to Luke and apply it to their lives.

I own Darrell Bock's 2-volume work on Luke with the Baker Exegetical Series. I found this commentary to be even more helpful. Bock displays an in-depth understanding of the Gospel of Luke. Not only does he present a sound exposition of the message of Luke, but he gives the reader excellent application for today. I own many of the volumes in the NIV Application Commentary. This one is one of the best in the series. You won't be disappointed with this commentary on Luke.

I am only a hundred pages or so in, and this is definately an above average commentator...

Based on the other review here, I feel compelled to offer (1) some comments on this installement in the NIV series, (2) and on the nature of the NIV series itself.

This commentary is excellent for its intended purpose. None of the commentaries in the NIV Application Commentary (NIVAC) Series is intended to be a bastion of exegetical detail. The NIVAC was intended to fill a gap in the commentary market; namely a commentary that busy pastors, beginning students and lay people could access. Accordingly, in each of the NIVAC, as in this volume on Matthew, follows three-fold pattern.

First, the author attempts to discern the original meaning; that is, what would a 1st century reader have understood the text to mean. Second, the author attempts to determine and describe the important cultural and historical difference between their (1st century world) and out 21st century world. Finally, the author suggests some specific applications in our lives today that derive from the section of text presently being dealt with.

The first two goals, original meaning and historical differences, are the real grunt work of exegesis. This is where the commentaries can be set apart. Some are far more detailed, and at times excruciatingly detailed than others. A commentary's intended audience will determine the level of detail that the author takes the reader. NIVAC is not really meant to inform scholars. It is an entry point for others less schooled or with less time. Therefore, it misses the point to say that it is "better" or "worse" than another commentary; better or worse at what?

This volume weighs in at around 1000 pages--not a lighweight! It does a fantastic job giving a brief sketch of the important issues and decisions that the reader of Matthew must make. It gives an unparralled insight into the ongoing discussion of Matthew's intended meaning that is accessible to those with less money, time, or training than those in academia. And finally, the volume does what many of the other NIVAC do so well: suggest real life applications for the text. Very few commentaries acutally do this...because most other commentaries weren't created with that goal in mind.

If you want a super detailed, painstaking look at Matt. that covers the Greek and all its possible variations, then see: either of the folloiwng: (1) W.D. Davies & D. C. Allison, Jr. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to St. Matthew (International Critical Commentary, rev.), 3 vols, about; or (2) Donald Hagner, Matthew (Word Biblical Commentary), 2 vols. Dallas: Word, 1993-95 Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1988-97.

If you want a medium level approach at Matt. using the English translation with some footnotes on the Greek text, then see (1) Craig Blomberg, Matthew (NAC). Nashville: Broadman, 1992; or (2) Craig Keener, A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. G.R.: Eerdmans, 1999.

If you want a good overview of the grunt work covered above with a speical emphasis on application to your life, then this volume on Matthew is an excellent choice.

I must admit that I'm not crazy about the NIV Application series format. I like the traditional verse by verse expositional commentary where you can consult it quickly simply by finding the verse you're studying. It's hard to do that with this series because it divides each section into Original Meaning, Bridging Horizons, and Contemporary Significance (which, by the way, will only seem contemporary if you live in the West).

But this volume is exceptional. Michael Wilkins has produced a sane and readable exposition of Matthew's Gospel. He has a great grasp of the background behind the text, and he helps to explain why Jesus says what He says in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). He also does a good job at identifying the stabbing truth behind each of the parables, and he does a good job at applying the text (better than most of the guys who wrote for this series).

You should get this book for your library if you are a preacher.

Although not quite as full of theological explanations for Greek/Hebrew grammar this commentary bridges the gap between the outstandingly exellent Keener and the BST Green. As usual the bridging and application for each chapter is what makes this a worthwhile commentary to have. For technical exegesis Keener is by far the best of the more recent offerings, but for this combined with a thorough application Leon Morris is also very good. Ranking third would be NIV Wilkins; France is good on exegesis not so good on application and so NIV Wilkins comes just above this.

We recently completed this study with a small group of 5 married couples. Everyone in the group agreed that this is one of the best studies we've done. We're planning to do another study from this series.

This is a fasinating book. It takes you on a wonderful jouerney of learning the scriptures that were removed from the bible. Great reading I highly reccomend this one.

Bart Herman, is a good scholar, and probably (for good reasons) anti-clerical: the christians church, seem to have distorted, modified, and destroyed most ancient texts and books (autodafe's) which did not fit their goals.
--
Related suggesting readings:
Edwards Gibbons ("Decline and fall of the roman empire"): suggested that there are little or no historical evidence of Romans persecutions of Christians. He rather suggest that this claim was a pretext... to persecute!

Thomas Jefferson: ("Writings of Thomas Jefferson") wrote much about the corruption of the church, albeit several of his friends were ecclesiastics!

Tyndale was burned at the stake in England, for doing a "too good translation of the bible": it made a mockery of the "Book of sins" that the english church created to generate revenues. Canondale, wrote from it a "less good translation of the Bible" which was a compromise with the king James and the archbishop of Canterburry.
So read the Tyndale Bible rather than the now classic KJB.

The Vatican could open its libraries to scholars: when it will do so it will mark a long era off corruption! Many of the books there are among the best, saved from the inquisition many autodafes!

The recently published (and carbon 14 dated) gospel of Judas, makes now a mockery the long time accusation of the Jews of deicide. Judas looks now (along with much vilified Mary Magdelain) as the closest and best friend of Christ.

A.G.

`Lost Scriptures' by leading biblical scholar and translator, Bart D. Ehrman, has a sensational and slightly misleading title for a relatively scholarly and `ordinary' book, as New Testament era scholarship goes. The misleading aspect of the title is that the ancient documents of which translations are presented herein are not `lost' and, with some important exceptions, have not been lost for quite some time, to those who study such things. Several of the documents here are from the Nag Hammadi cache of documents discovered in Egypt in the 1940s, most especially the `Gospel of Thomas'. Some other very early documents, such as the Didache, were recovered in the 1880s in a Turkish monastery library; however this and its companion documents were known well to the ancients, and were misplaced for a few centuries.
Some may be surprised to know that some of the documents herein have even been used as material in some famous popular novels and movies. One which comes to mind is `The Silver Chalice', starring Paul Newman in what may have been his very first (and quite forgettable) movie performance and Jack Palance as Simon Magus, a magician briefly mentioned in `The Acts of the Apostles', and the main character in `The Acts of Peter'.
Ehrman's greatest contribution with this book is to make these works easily available to a wide audience, and to have translated many of the works himself. In fact, a large number of these works are taken, with permission, directly from Ehrman's two volume translation of the `Apostolic Fathers' for the Loeb Classical Library. Since these two volumes cost over $40 and this paperback lists for less than $20, this is a real bargain, except that you don't get the original Greek text which, if you don't know Greek, doesn't do you much good anyway.
The subtitle, `Books that Did not Make It into the New Testament' gives the impression that somehow we are missing a lot of important stuff by this omission. The fact is that these works are really only interesting from an historical point of view, especially for our understanding of variant early Christian doctrines which, some may wish to have us believe, are `just as good' or `just as important' as the canonical works. My humble opinion is that most of the material in these works repeats, with less detail, doctrines in the canonical scriptures, and that concentration on the New Testament canon will cover much of the range of doctrines found in these works. It's just that some more extreme positions may be somewhat clearer in these works. For example, the Letter of Barnabas seems to reflect an extremely unfavorable take on Jewish piety and faithfulness to their God, suggesting that they rejected his covenant as far back as Moses return from Sinai. But, the interpretation there is not radically different than the opinions in Stephen's apology speech in Chapter 7 of `The Acts of the Apostles'.
If this book does anything, it will confirm that the canonical testaments really do give us a complete picture of all the very earliest writings, and the `winners' of the battles over orthodoxy in the first four centuries of the `common era' really did get it right.

Admittedly I am a conspiracy theorist by nature so given the depth of this book and the controversial (and somestimes contradictive) writings of these books I can understand the Vatican and Roman Catholic Churches reasoning for denying entry of some of these books into the King James Version of the Bible. However, I believe these books only help to DEEPEN my beliefs and BROADEN my understanding, NOT dis spell or deny them. As the good book says, "seek the truth and truth will find you."

The Greek Old Testament has a number of books not included in the Hebrew because Jews excluded them believing they were not divine. These books are referred to as Apocrypha and I have a Revised Standard Version (RSV) with these books. I've read them and its not hard to see why they were excluded but I was not aware the same thing happened in the New Testament. These books were excluded because the Catholic Church considered them not Christian. I was curious about what they may have said so I bought this book to find out and if you're like me I would definitely recommend it. Ehram notes in his General Introduction this book is just a reference for it contains the biblical books excluded from the New Testament in his book "Lost Christianities: The Battle For Scriptures And The Faiths We Never Knew" he goes into the history and the people that surrounded these non-canonical texts and what happened to them. I think Amazon allows you to buy both as a set I only bought this text because I was curious about what these texts said.

Ehram's book contains around 37 non-canonical scriptures and he includes an English translation of the texts where he can and some of these are his own work. A complete text is provided for: the gospel according to Thomas, Peter, Mary, Philip, and the gospel of the Saviour which is mostly untranslatable. He can't include the text for the books of the Gospel of Nazareans, Ebionites, Hebrews, Egyptians, and the Unknown gospel because its been lost but he compares and contrasts them with other books. I like how he doesn't judge the text he just tells us what they say and how they differ. The Secret Gospel of Mark is interesting because it seems to be additions to the standard gospel since there is two to three endings I was not surprised. There are many other books but you can see them all by using Amazon's "Search inside this book feature" although its for an older edition this book has the same books that are in that edition.

I was shocked and fascinated by this book. Its really exciting to be able to see what the first to second century Christians believed and how they perceived Christ. I thank Ephram for this book and in retrospect I am so glad I bought it. Out of all the books he includes in this volume I would have to say my favorite was the gospel according to Thomas I don't know why the Christian Church chose to exclude this book because I think it really should be in the Holy Bible. What I liked so much about Thomas' gospel is that it sort of summarizes the teachings of Jesus and I am disappointed now that I've read it that this text was left out of the Holy Bible.