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NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARIES: MATTHEW—ACTS

One of the important tasks of every Christian generation is its responsibility to critically engage the Scriptures on both an exegetical and theological level. Ultimately, this critical engagement is of great importance and should result in the Scripture's embodiment within the community of faith. 
There are a number of fine commentary resources available today that seek to accomplish this task.  During the 2000-01 academic year, we will provide a four-part series discussing the best and more recent contributions to evangelical commentary on the NT writings.

Among the more extensive commentaries now available on the Gospel of Matthew, many students and pastors will want to turn first to the most recent: C.S. Keener’s A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (Wm.B. Eerdmans, 1999). Keener’s work is marked by his special interest in the socio-historical contexts of the First Evangelist and his first-century audience, combined with pericope-by-pericope suggestions regarding the nature of Matthew’s exhortations to his predominately Jewish Christian audience. The result is a widely accessible commentary that is genuinely helpful in illuminating the message of Matthew.

For students with Greek, I should also mention the massive International Critical Commentary (ICC) by W.D. Davies and D.C. Allison Jr. (3 vols.; T. & T. Clark, 1988-97). Davies and Allison are well-known for their dexterity with Jewish literature of the Second Temple Period, and they bring this specialized knowledge to bear on numerous interpretive conundrums within the Gospel and illuminate many well-known texts in fresh ways as well. Although less than one-half the size of the ICC, the Word Biblical Commentary (WBC) on Matthew (2 vols.; Word, 1993-95), by D.A. Hagner, is the first place to turn for exhaustive bibliography on the First Gospel, and his study is now even more accessible in CD-ROM format (along with the rest of the WBC). Otherwise, Hagner’s interpretive interests parallel those of Davies and Allison in terms of historical orientation and Jewish background. This is a historical-critical commentary with a primary emphasis on unveiling “what the text meant in its original setting” (xl).

Recent years have seen the production of a virtual cornucopia of monographs and special studies on the Gospel of Mark, but the list of available commentaries for pastors and students—that is commentaries that reach exegetical decisions on the basis of the Greek text, provide full notes and bibliography for further reading, and engage in ongoing dialogue with alternative viewpoints—is rather thin. T.C. Oden and C.A. Hall have edited the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture for the Second Gospel (InterVarsity, 1998), and this will provide an invaluable resource for locating one’s own reading of Mark within the early tradition of interpretation. Unfortunately, the single best commentary on Mark was never completed, due to the untimely death of its author, R.A. Guelich; his contribution in the WBC on Mark 1:1-8:26 (Word, 1989) continues to model close attention to exegetical detail in concert with literary and theological sensitivities. For the “half” of the Gospel of Mark that it covers, Guelich’s commentary has no rival. For a full-length commentary, we may turn to R.H. Gundry’s Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross (Wm.B. Eerdmans, 1993), who finds here “...a straightforward apology for the Cross, for the shameful way in which the object of Christian faith and subject of Christian proclamation died, and hence for Jesus as the Crucified One” (1). Gundry is guided by careful attention to the text of the Gospel, set within the historical context of other similar texts.
 The situation with the Gospel of Luke is far more interesting, with a treasure trove of commentaries available to the student and pastor. Representing a more traditional approach are two massive commentaries, the most recent by D.L. Bock in the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (2 vols.; Baker, 1994/96). Of the terms Bock uses to label his work, “historical” and “exegetical” are especially appropriate, and here Bock refers to his interests in form-, tradition-, source-, historical-, and redaction criticism, his attention to text criticism, and his interest in questions of grammar and overall structure. The Word Biblical Commentary on Luke, by J. Nolland (Word, 1989-93), appears in 3 volumes, but Nolland’s 1200+ pages cannot compete with Bock’s 2000+ in terms of detail. Hence, although the format of the WBC guarantees an outstanding bibliography for further study, Bock’s commentary serves more the encyclopedic role, gathering together in one place the major views of scholars on questions large and small in Lukan study. Neither Bock nor Nolland are particularly strong in terms of theological issues, and neither engages in socio-cultural or narrative considerations relevant to study of the Third Gospel.

A useful counterbalance to Bock and Nolland is L.T. Johnson’s contribution on Luke in the Sacra Pagina series (Liturgical, 1991). Johnson is especially helpful on literary-theological questions. The commentary on Luke in the New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT; Wm.B. Eerdmans, 1997), by J.B. Green, brings together socio-cultural and narrative concerns so as to allow an extended engagement with Luke’s literary art and with Luke’s theology, ethics, and spirituality. As with the NICNT more generally, Green’s volume locates work with the Greek text and interaction with other scholars in the footnotes so as to make the text of the commentary itself as accessible as possible.

For theological exposition of the Gospel of John, the work of H. Ridderbos in The Gospel of John: A Theological Commentary (Wm.B. Eerdmans, 1997) is an easy first choice. Ridderbos prefers to explore the significance of the gospel message as found in the Fourth Gospel “as the Christian Church adopted it,” rather than to engage in the range of historical-critical concerns that have occupied most other commentaries; the result is a highly readable and useful study to be appreciated by preacher and student alike. Students of the Gospel of John will also want to have the work of G.R. Beasley-Murray in the WBC (2d. ed.; Word, 1999) close at hand. An accomplished NT scholar, Beasley-Murray was first and always a preacher—a perspective that pervades this work.

On the Acts of the Apostles, students will want to be aware of the 2 volumes in the ICC recently authored by C.K. Barrett (T. & T. Clark, 1994/98), the major strengths of which are philological, historical, and grammatical. Barrett’s bias against the narrative and theological integrity of Acts is countered in two interesting and recent contributions. The first is L.T. Johnson’s companion to his commentary on Luke. Also published in the Sacra Pagina series (Liturgical, 1992), Johnson’s work on Acts is worth consulting not only for its literary acumen but also for the way it elucidates the text of Acts within the sociohistorical context of Roman antiquity. Less full but highly creative and stimulating is the work of F.S. Spencer in the series Readings (Sheffield Academic Press, 1997). Finally, B. Witherington III has provided a socio-rhetorical commentary on Acts which assesses important questions in current scholarship on Acts and serves as an instructive companion to readers of Acts (Wm.B. Eerdmans, 1998).

By Joel B. Green, John Wesley Fellow and Elder in the UMC, author of The Theology of the Gospel of Luke (Cambridge University Press, 1995).