Introduction, Commentaries

The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible itself, but there are many commentaries that can be helpful. In Lectures to His Students," Charles H. Spurgeon tells them, I hope that none of you are such wiseacres as think you can expound the Word of God without referring to those who have expounded God’s Word before you. If you are, I pray remain so. You are not worth converting." Everyone is worth converting. His next statement is specially encouraging to us to seek the help of the Holy Spirit to profit from what God's Spirit has revealed to others in good commentaries. "It is strange to me that some brethren can think so highly of what the Spirit of God has revealed to them and, at the same time, think so lightly of what the Holy Spirit has revealed to others."

One Volume Commentaries

The advantage of one-volume commentaries is that we can quickly find out what is said about a passage of scripture. The disadvantage is that the comments are so brief that you will usually want additional help. The following brief comments are my own unless the source is given.

"The Believer’s Bible Commentary" by William MacDonald is 2389 pages with 71 pages of supplements and has been edited by Art Farstad, published by Thomas Nelson Publishers. Of all the one volume commentaries, I would recommend it as the most useful to any assembly believer.

"Commentary on the Whole Bible" by Matthew Henry is 1986 pages and published by Zondervan. This is the best one volume commentary from a devotional standpoint. It is an abridgment of his 5 volumes. Since there is so much profitable literature on the Bible today, it is best, spiritually and financially, to only get the abridged one volume. Matthew Henry only finished to the end of Acts.

The following four one-volume commentaries are among Wilbur M. Smith’s recommendations for the first 100 books for a Bible student’s library. (The revised version of Wilbur M. Smith’s Profitable Bible Study of 227 pages was published by W. A. Wilde Company in 1951.) He had 33,000 volumes of his own and he made a statement especially significant coming from him, "Today, there are so many good books on the Bible that no one man in a lifetime could read them all, so read the best." He is especially helpful in letting us know the best books.

"The New Testament for English Readers" by Henry Alford is 1942 pages, published by Moody Press. Wilbur M. Smith says Alford’s earlier work, The Greek Testament in four volumes, contains fuller notes than The New Testament for English Readers, but all that is valuable in the earlier work is to be found in the later one. There are rich thoughts and deep insights. The late William Warke read this book from cover to cover.

"Synthetic Bible Studies" by James M. Gray is 340 pages, published by Fleming H. Revell Company. The contents are indicated by the subtitle, "Containing an Outline Study of Every Book of the Bible with Suggestions for Sermons, Addresses, and Bible Expositions."

"Living Messages of the Books of the Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan is 1067 pages, published by Fleming H. Revell. Wilbur M. Smith says that he shows how the central theme of each book is developed and applied and then he applies the teaching of that book in a very practical, powerful, and penetrating way.

"The Companion Bible" by E. W. Bullinger is published by Oxford. Wilbur Smith only recommends it for the 198 appendices as the only thing worth consulting. "In those appendices of the last 227 pages, valuable material will be found which is not easily available in any other volume that I know of. It is the fruit of a lifetime of exhaustive study of the Holy Scriptures" (Wilbur M. Smith).

Other one volume commentaries that are useful:

"Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible" by Arno C. Gaebelein is 1237 pages, published by Loizeaux Brothers. There is devotional warmth and insights to the Word of God. It was originally published in 9 volumes.

"Explore the Book" by J. Sidlow Baxter is 1754 pages of suggestive insights, published by Zondervan. It was originally published in six volumes.

"The Students Commentary on the Holy Scriptures" by George Williams is 1058 pages, published by Kregel Publications. It is comprehensive, spiritual, and stimulating but he is wrong about baptism, likely because of leaning to ultradispensationalism. This commentary was later revised by Charles R. Wood in 1970.

The following books vary in value because there are multiple authors in each one:

"The New Bible Commentary: Revised" edited by Donald Guthrie is 1310 pages, published by Eerdman s Publishing Company.

"A Commentary Critical, Experimental, and Practical on the Old and New Testaments" by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown is 1591 pages, published by Zondervan. It was originally 6 volumes. It is not overly technical. Spurgeon wrote "It contains so great a variety of information that, if a man had no other exposition, he would find himself at no great loss if he possessed this and used it diligently." It is also available in 3 volumes. Dr. Robert G. Lee says, "It is the best commentary on the whole Bible I have ever known."

"The Wycliffe Bible Conunentary" edited by Charles F. Pfeiffer and Everett F. Harrison is 1525 pages, published by Moody Press.

"The New Layman’s Bible Commentary" edited by G. C. D. Howley, F. F. Bruce, and H. L. Ellison is 1712 pages published by Zondervan. Its value is limited by its modified evangelical approach.

Commentary Sets

Any commentaries written by several contributors varies in value, some sets more than others.

"What the Bible Teaches," For any Bible student, I heartily recommend these 11 volumes of exposition and practical application on all 27 books of the New Testament, edited by T. Wilson and K Stapley and published by John Ritchie.

"The Collected Writings of W. F. Vine" I highly recommend these 5 volumes, published by Gospel Tract Publishers. With a thorough knowledge of the Greek text, Mr. Vine wrote for English readers on 14 epistles and the Gospel of John. He also wrote on Isaiah and a number of subjects. Cyril J. Barber recommended "Christ’s Eternal Sonship" and "The First and The Last."

"New Testament Word Studies" by John Albert Bengel has 925 pages in Volume 1 and 980 pages in Volume 2 (originally published as "The Gnomon of the New Testament"). The Greek word "Gnomon" means a pointer. Bengel did not want his books to be exhaustive, but rather to point the way, so he gave pithy hints instead of long comments. It is highly recommended by reliable scholars.

"Commentaries on the New Testament Books" by Charles Rosenbury Erdman in 17 volumes, published by The Westminster Press. This set is not as thorough as "What the Bible Teaches", but it is also less technical.

"The Bible Knowledge Commentary" by Dallas Seminary Faculty is edited by John F Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck and published by Victor Books. The Old Testament volume has 1589 pages and the New Testament volume has 991 pages. They believe the same as the assemblies do regarding dispensational teaching and prophecy. Cyril J. Barber in his 3 volume set, "The Minister’s Library" (in which he comments on thousands of books), published by Moody Press, says, "It is a fine condensation of Biblical information."

"The Synopsis of the Books of the Bible" by John N. Darby in 6 volumes, published by Stow Hill Bible & Tract Depot is the most useful of all the 34 volumes of his works. I have gotten help from them, but I must confess that there have been times when I could wish that he were with me so I could ask him just what he meant.

"The Numerical Bible" by F. W. Grant in 3 volumes on the N.T. is published by Loizeaux Brothers. There are also 4 volumes on the O.T. which only cover from Genesis to II Samuel, Psalms, and Ezekiel.

"Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament" by Merrill F. Unger is published by Moody Press. Volume 1 has 1132 pages for Genesis to Song of Solomon. Volume 2 for the rest of the Old Testament is about the same number of pages. He himself is a scholar but he chose not to write for scholars, unlike Keil and Delitzch in their complete set on the Old Testament books. Unger wrote for average Christians and also for serious students.

"Tyndale New Testament Commentaries" was originally edited by R. V. G. Tasker and published in 20 volumes by Eerdmans Publishing Company. In the general preface is this comment by Leon Morris, "They avoid the extremes of being unduly technical or unhelpfully brief." They enable the non-technical Christian to understand the New Testament more fully and clearly. Some of the volumes are being replaced under the editorship of Leon Morris.

"Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries" in 28 volumes are edited by D. J. Wiseman and published by Inter-Varsity Press. This set has the same aim as the New Testament series. "A few writers manifest a slight adherence to the higher critical documentary theories. This minimizes their value and usefulness" (Cyril J. Barber) to the average Christian. I Chronicles by Martin J. Selman has the most thorough introduction of 45 books consulted on I Chronicles.

"The Expositor’s Bible Commentary" in 12 volumes is edited by Frank E. Gaebelein and published by Zondervan, covering all the books of the Bible. This set gives Bible students a scholarly tool for the exposition of scripture.

"Expositions of Holy Scriptures" is in 11 volumes by Alexander Maclaren and published by Eerdmans Publishing Company. This set does not cover every verse and chapter of the Bible, but Wilbur M. Smith writes, "Will there ever again be such a combination of spiritual insight, of scholarship, of passion, of style, of keen intellectual power?"

"New Testament Commentary" by Win. Hendricksen and Simon Kistemaker is published by Baker Book House. (Since Mr. Hendricksen died, Simon Kistemaker has taken his place very ably). When 2 Corinthians and Revelation are finished there will be 15 volumes. Hendricksen is Amillennial, but thorough and scholarly. He has written with simplicity and the text is well applied in a practical way. Cyril J. Barber recommends highly most of the volumes, though he says that he finds Matthew pedantic.

"Interpretation of the New Testament" in 14 volumes by Richard C. H. Lenski is published by Augsburg Publishing House. He is Lutheran, Armenian, Amillennial, and strongly conservative. He has very helpful background material. Most of the time he is helpful in his exposition. His commentary is Warren Wiersbe’s favorite. Cyril J. Barber writes, Lenski manifests a rigidity in handling the original texts that at times mars his treatment; however, his strengths far outweigh his weaknesses."