Commentaries and Study Bibles

Why has no one mentioned works from Jack Hyles or other great SWORD OF THE LORD works. Just kidding. Sorry I couldn't resist.

Study Bibles:

* MacArthur's NKJV

* Thompson Chain Reference

Commentaries:

One Vol:

* BELIEVERS BIBLE COMMENTARY. NKJV and endorsed by Wiersbe and MacArthur.

* MATTHEW HENRY

Separate Vol:

* MacArthur

* James Montgomery Boice

* Warren Wiersbe (has a knack at being concise).

 

I have found that the commentaries by John Phillips and M.R. De Haan have proven quite valuable to me in not only preparation for teaching Sunday School classes but also for my school studies, as well.

 

Even though the Vikings have not ruled for a long time and won't this year either, I'd have to agree with Dr. Bob. It amazes me how often MacArthur is spoken badly of in IFB circles, with little real substance. Don't pass up his writtings because of what someone else says. See for yourself.

Steve

 

I made the following list of my favorite commentaries as a listamania list on amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse/-/3BB4N39A376UV/ref=cm_lm_lists/103-7829588-5141450

 

I agree that MacArthur's stuff is top notch.

I just cracked up with that Jack Hyles's comment.

By the way, you Packer and Vikings fans are finally getting your prayers answered; you don't have to play the Bucs in your conference anymore.

 

What are your thoughts on:
WE Vines NT Commentaries
Wuest NT Commentaries
Vincent's
Robertson's WP
Adam Clarke
Albert Barnes
People's NT Commentaries
Jamieson-Faucet-Brown

The last 5 seem to be pretty much standard on many Bible study CD's.

 

The Key Word Study Bible would be good for a lay person. Although, I would not have it as my only study Bible. I like it not only for the word studies, but because the key words are underlined and I have to take notice of them.

I just purchased "Romans: Verse by Verse" by William R. Newell. I am not very far into it yet, but it seems to be really good. Newell also wrote the hymn "At Calvary". For writing a song that good, I thought I should at least see what he has to say about Romans.

BTW, you can get free access to John Gill's and Matthew Henry's commentaries at www.crosswalk.com in the Bible study section. Or at least you could the last time I checked.

 

Scott, I think you asked me about this in a PM and I am sorry I didn't get back with you. I don't have Wuest's and I probably woulnd't unless someone gave them to me or they were $3 for the set. I am not convinced that Wuest's handle on Greek was what it could have been and today I think there are a lot of sources that surpass him. However, I have never used him much and so others might have a different opinion of him.

I do have Barnes. It is good for application and the like. Not real deep but I usually glance at it in preparation.

 

Get A Thompson Chain Reference.
J. Vernon McGee Commentaries.

The two best thing I can think of for a new Believer. (Or anyone else for that matter)

 

I have the Ryrie, the New Geneva and an Open bible and the one I find myself using the most is the New Geneva although I am not really a fan of the single column format. Would like to get a MacArthur Study Bible sometime in the future.

Commentaries I really like the New American Commentary by Broadman and the New International Commentary of the New Testament by Eerdmans. That is what I have seen of them so far I don't have the whole set(s).

 

Is anyone familiar with The Baptist Study Bible edited by W. A. Criswell and Paige Patterson? It's NKJV published by Nelson. If so, any comments? (I believe that it was published under a different name some years back.)

 

Scott J asked:

What are your thoughts on:
WE Vines NT Commentaries

I assume this is the same Vine who published the Expository Dictionary of the New Testament, right? I've often found that to be a good resource (Greek for non-Greek-speaking people!), but I haven't used the commentary series at all.

I was briefly tempted to pick up the volume on Galatians since it was the only one for that epistle available off the shelf at the local Christian bookstore, but I opted to order in Timothy George (New American series) and Richard Longenecker (Word series) instead.

As far as the remainder of your list goes, I have only used:

Adam Clarke
Jamieson-Faucet-Brown

and have found much of value in both - JFB more than Clarke (his being a Wesleyan and all).

There are two good reasons (that I can think of) why older commentaries such as the above are so common on CDs. First, they are in the public domain; they can be reproduced freely and at little additional cost. Second, the work to digitize them has already been done; many of the lengthiest electronic commentaries, such as Gill's, are available through the efforts of Larry Pierce (author of the Online Bible). (While it's not illegal I do sometimes wonder about how ethical it is to simply take all the work he has done and repackage it as value-added material in your own product.)

Incidentally, for a thumbnail evaluation of some of these old commentaries, Spurgeon's lectures on Commenting and Commentaries are a good place to start.

 

I own this and have been very pleased with the notes. It doesn't have a very good interpretation of Romans 7 or Hebrews 6. If you can look past that though, it is excellent.

 

As many others have said, the John MacArthur Study Bible is absolutely the best.

I've grown SIGNIFICANTLY after using this Bible

 

I am using Zondervan's NIV Study Bible.
As for the commentary, I am using the Expositor's Bible Commentary.
How you guys feel about these?