Many users categorize their commentaries for ease of use, but if you're not familiar with your commentaries it can sometimes be difficult to know which categories to use. I keep a list on my Logos Tutorial site, but I thought some people might find it more easily if it was here. (If you're not sure why this might be useful, my tutorial video on the Library explains, starting at around 14:20).
(If you find this post in a few months time there'll always be an up-to-date version of this list at http://www.logos4training.com/documents/suggested-commentary-tags/ which should include most if not all new releases.)
Of course, I realise that everyone will have slightly different opinions as to what categories should be used, and which commentaries go in each category - but this is only a guide. If you disagree, that's fine!
Typically, technical commentaries will be detailed, fairly academic,
and emphasise aspects of language and grammar (often using
untransliterated Greek and Hebrew). They’ll frequently discuss several
possible interpretations of a passage, weighing the different views.
They’ll concentrate almost exclusively on what the text would have meant
to the original readers, and won’t be concerned about contemporary
application.
Intermediate Commentaries
Typically, intermediate commentaries will discuss the meaning of the
Bible text, in a serious but not overly-academic way. They’re likely to
transliterate Greek and Hebrew. They may acknowledge different
interpretations of a passage, but probably only in footnotes. They’ll be
some application for the contemporary church, but that’s unlikely to be
a main emphasis.
Typically, expository commentaries will discuss the meaning of the
Bible text at a fairly simple level. They’ll be simple to read, with
plenty of application and illustrations — a bit like a printed sermon.
They’ll be hardly any footnotes, and hardly any Greek and Hebrew.
Historical Commentaries in my collection are commentaries that are
Medieval or older. Normally they’ll have been written by the men we now
call the Church Fathers.
Background Commentaries don’t commentate on the overall meaning of a
passage, but provide insights from the historical and cultural
background wherever that’s appropriate.
