# OT commentary



## SolaSaint (Aug 25, 2011)

​
HI ALL,

I am about to begin teaching Sunday School and I would like to know what you all think is the best OT commentary to use in preparing a lesson. I have Matthew Henry's on E-Sword and several stand alone commentaries on specific books of the OT. I am looking for a entire series or single commentary. I know this is a preaching forum, but I feel teaching is very similar to preaching. Thanks!

My Pastor uses the Expositors commentary series. Does anyone use or recommend this?


----------



## Hamalas (Aug 25, 2011)

Any particular book, or are you looking for a survey thing?


----------



## Andres (Aug 25, 2011)

This is the best single-volume book for background on the OT that I know of - An Introduction to the Old Testament by Tremper Longman III and Raymond Dillard 

What are you going to be teaching exactly? If you're teaching through specific books, then you'll most likely want to get individual commentaries for each book. For recommendations on those, check with Rev Keister.


----------



## SolaSaint (Aug 25, 2011)

Hamalas said:


> Any particular book, or are you looking for a survey thing?



Ben,

I'm looking for an in-depth study on each book of the OT. I have MacArthur's Commentaries for the NT, but he didn't do the OT. Something similar to Mac's commentaries would be good. Thanks


----------



## Andres (Aug 25, 2011)

SolaSaint said:


> I'm looking for an in-depth study on each book of the OT.



Then you will need individual commentaries for each book. If you truly plan to study/teach each book "in-depth" then you realize what a monumental task this will be. It would literally take decades to teach in-depth through every single OT book. So I assume you're going to take baby steps and teach one book at a time. Again, go for individual commentaries. I would even recommend finding out the best commentaries for each book, rather than going for one set.


----------



## Hamalas (Aug 25, 2011)

Andres said:


> SolaSaint said:
> 
> 
> > I'm looking for an in-depth study on each book of the OT.
> ...



I agree with Andres 100%! Longman's book would be a great overview, but after that you're just going to have to find the best commentary on each of the 39 books. That will get very pricy and time consuming so I would also recommend using things like CCEL where you can get Calvin, Henry, and many other free classic commentaries for your studies. If you have the money to go for print I'd ditto Andres recommendation to talk to Lane Kiester over at GreenBaggins.


----------



## greenbaggins (Aug 25, 2011)

Ben, I'm over here on the PB, too! ;-) I actually don't recommend Longman much anymore. I have the most recent edition of his book on commentary recommendations, and it's a bit disappointing. Some commentaries that I think are tremendous get pretty much panned or ignored by Longman, and some that he thinks are tremendous, I feel are over-rated (and the buddy system is probably working there, too). My recommendations are here.


----------



## Hamalas (Aug 25, 2011)

greenbaggins said:


> Ben, I'm over here on the PB, too! ;-) I actually don't recommend Longman much anymore. I have the most recent edition of his book on commentary recommendations, and it's a bit disappointing. Some commentaries that I think are tremendous get pretty much panned or ignored by Longman, and some that he thinks are tremendous, I feel are over-rated (and the buddy system is probably working there, too). My recommendations are here.



So sorry Rev. Keister! I've been a bit absent from the PB myself and I guess my memory slipped. So you wouldn't recommend this particular Longman volume? I understand the broader problems with his work (and the whole WTS debate) but I had heard that this book was OK. Congratulations on your new call by the way! You're in my prayers.


----------



## greenbaggins (Aug 25, 2011)

Hamalas said:


> greenbaggins said:
> 
> 
> > Ben, I'm over here on the PB, too! ;-) I actually don't recommend Longman much anymore. I have the most recent edition of his book on commentary recommendations, and it's a bit disappointing. Some commentaries that I think are tremendous get pretty much panned or ignored by Longman, and some that he thinks are tremendous, I feel are over-rated (and the buddy system is probably working there, too). My recommendations are here.
> ...



Well, it's one slant among several. His arrogance in recommending his own volumes is in very sharp contrast to the companion volume, written by D.A. Carson. Longman says things like, "Well, you can guess my feelings about this volume. I wouldn't have written it if I didn't like it!" Whereas Carson says something humorously self-deprecating like "Carson's work is rather more difficult for me to assess." Longman despises systematic theology, as well, which makes him rate excellently ST-conscious volumes much lower. He doesn't seem to know anything about Dale Ralph Davis, one of the very best living OT commentators (never even mentioned, and it's not as if his books were difficult to come by). He rates the ultra-liberal Collins commentary on Daniel (in the Hermeneia series) with 5 stars. I read it, and it was almost completely worthless for preaching. Of course, I don't always disagree with his assessments of commentaries. But I find I disagree with him quite often.


----------



## Jack K (Aug 25, 2011)

greenbaggins said:


> Hamalas said:
> 
> 
> > greenbaggins said:
> ...



Okay, now I'm confused too. Are you just saying you don't recommend Longman's review of commentaries, or are you saying that now you cannot recommend the OT intro book he wrote years ago with Ray Dillard either? I've considered the OT intro book to be enormously helpful, but I'm open to learning.


----------



## greenbaggins (Aug 25, 2011)

Jack K said:


> greenbaggins said:
> 
> 
> > Hamalas said:
> ...



I like the Dillard/Longman intro, and have found it very helpful. I was talking about Longman's commentary recommendation book. With Longman, it's hit or miss. His good books: Song of Songs commentary, Proverbs commentary, Intro/Dillard, Daniel commentary. HIs not-so-good books: Commentary recommendation book, and his Ecclesiastes commentary (which is one of the very worst I have read).


----------



## Hamalas (Aug 25, 2011)

On something of a side note Rev. Keister, (Admins. feel free to make this a new thread) how useful have you found Meredith Kline's work for OT studies?


----------



## fredtgreco (Aug 25, 2011)

For an overview with emphasis on preparing for sermons or Sunday school, I would recommend the single volume New Bible Commentary (Amazon.com: New Bible Commentary (9780830814428): Gordon J. Wenham, J. Alec Motyer, Donald A. Carson, R. T. France: Books) or the Bible Speaks Today (Bible Speaks Today | Best Commentaries - Reviews, Ratings, and Prices) series.


----------



## greenbaggins (Aug 25, 2011)

Hamalas said:


> On something of a side note Rev. Keister, (Admins. feel free to make this a new thread) how useful have you found Meredith Kline's work for OT studies?



I have found two books of Kline extremely valuable in sermon preparation: Kingdom Prologue, and Glory in Our Midst. Kline's great strength is in seeing biblical theological connections all over the Bible. No one can agree with all his conclusions, of course, but he is an extremely stimulating thinker.


----------



## jwithnell (Aug 25, 2011)

I have just started The Five Books of Moses and have found it particularly engaging for material that could be really dry. Robert Alter is really trying to hold onto the literary cadences and forms and explains them as he goes along. I always find it disturbing to read someone who is not reformed in his perspective regarding the doctrine of scripture. (I always have a sense that there is a constant appraisal of God's word.) However, this work is enabling me to get at some of the original Hebrew language and style that would otherwise be totally inaccessible. As an example, Atler retains all the "brothers" from the account of Cain and Abel that are dropped or combined by sentence structure in other translations. Read this way, you have the punch of both the relationship that is ruptured and an indictment for the crime stated over and over. (Though he does depart from the Masoretic text to include the brothers going out to the field -- a phrase used in a number of other texts. By including it, you find out how the brothers got _to_ the field and catch the possibility of the crime being premeditated.)

Ben it's great to see you around!


----------

