Gordon Fee, NICNT and March Madness

Gordon Fee has 3 NICNT books on sale but the Revised Edition of The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The First Epistle to the Corinthians is not. The older 1987 version is on sale. I would buy the newer one if it was on sale but probably not the older unless someone convinces me it is better. Anyone want to convince me I should buy the old one? Which one comes in the full sets or do they both?

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Daniel Liu

The following information is old version information:

This award-winning commentary on 1 Corinthians by Gordon D. Fee has been lauded as the best study now available of Paul’s exciting and theologically rich first letter to the Corinthians.

Writing primarily for pastors, teachers, and students, Fee offers a readable exposition of 1 Corinthians that clearly describes the meaning of Paul’s ideas and their larger theological relevance. The more scholarly dimension of the work, including Fee’s considerable interaction with other commentators, is found in the footnotes.

Several features make this commentary unique. First, Fee takes great care to establish the all-important historical/literary context of this letter by including numerous sectional introductions that reconstruct the historical background and trace the flow of Paul’s argument. Fee is also concerned to exegete the whole book from a consistent perspective as to the historical situation. Second, Fee’s expertise in textual criticism has led him to discuss every exegetically significant variant, some at considerable length. Third, Fee concludes almost every paragraph with some observations about application—illustrating his deep concern that the Word of God be a living word for today.

The following is new version information:

This landmark commentary, originally published in 1987, has been lauded as the best study available of Paul’s theologically rich first letter to the Corinthians. Writing primarily for pastors, teachers, and students, Gordon Fee offers a readable exposition of 1 Corinthians that clearly describes the meaning of Paul’s ideas and their larger theological relevance.

Fee’s revised edition is based on the improved, updated (2011) edition of the NIV, and it takes into account the considerable scholarship on 1 Corinthians over the past twenty-five years. Fee has also eliminated “chapter and verse” language—totally foreign to Paul’s first-century letter—relegating the necessary numbers for “finding things” to parentheses.

Steve Farson

Can mention I have both versions of Fee's 1 Corinthians NICNT. I've compared both versions extensively because of a 1st Corinthians class I had last autumn. There is little that is different. A word here and there, slight expansion here and there. I wasn't impressed with the diffs. I wouldn't say the older version is better, but it is essentially the same imo.

Clifford B. Kvidahl

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/712810#Comment_712810

Can mention I have both versions of Fee's 1 Corinthians NICNT. I've compared both versions extensively because of a 1st Corinthians class I had last autumn. There is little that is different. A word here and there, slight expansion here and there. I wasn't impressed with the diffs. I wouldn't say the older version is better, but it is essentially the same imo.

I would agree with Steve. One of the big differences is that Fee is glad that the NIV2011 was available and he adopted it for the revised edition.

If you have a chance to get Fee at a good price, then get Fee. His work is always a mix of academic rigor and pastoral passion. In my opinion there is no finer commentary writer alive.

Cliff

David Paul

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/712816#Comment_712816

NIV2011 is one issue, but apparently Fee had an epiphany of sorts regarding the inclusion of chapters and verses in the Bible--he decided they were "foreign", "imposed", and generally "bad". He apparently speaks about this in this book, which I don't own because its Zondervan and I don't buy Zondervan. I did watch an interview with him on Youtube where he did a run-down of this subject (Chapter/Verse=Bad) in reference to the aforementioned book. He advocated books with paragraphs instead. The only problem with this "solution"???

Paragraphs are just as foreign as chapters and verses. Neither can be found in the oldest extant papyri. There was a forum thread about a month or so ago where some folks were lamenting NASB's lack of modern paragraphs. That strikes me as ironically humorous, because in my estimation, the NASB does a far more laudible job of presenting the Bible's text than most of the English versions I'm familiar with. Especially in the Tanakh, the NASB reflects the original poetic sense of Hebrew parallelism. Paragraphs would butcher this aspect of the original text.

Anyway, getting to quote NIV2011 and ignore Ch./Vs. seem to be the most "compelling" reasons to go for the newer version.

Steve Farson

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/712816#Comment_712816

.....

If you have a chance to get Fee at a good price, then get Fee. His work is always a mix of academic rigor and pastoral passion. In my opinion there is no finer commentary writer alive.

Cliff

Yes... would agree Fee has few, if any peers as a commentary writer.

Erik

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/712810#Comment_712810

Can mention I have both versions of Fee's 1 Corinthians NICNT. I've compared both versions extensively because of a 1st Corinthians class I had last autumn. There is little that is different. A word here and there, slight expansion here and there. I wasn't impressed with the diffs. I wouldn't say the older version is better, but it is essentially the same imo.

Thanks for this! I had asked about this very thing about a week ago in another thread. I'm trying to decide if it's worth $52 to upgrade to the 2nd. Ed. It sounds like maybe not...