Am I missing something? Are there two unrelated commentary sets under the title, "The Bible Speaks Today?"
are you referring to the commentary and the themes sets? Yes, they are different. If that not what you are referring to, can you be a bit more specific?
There's the original series, and some of the volumes have revised editions.
There is also (confusingly) a monograph series (not commentaries) with the series name "The Bible Speaks Today: Bible Themes Series"
To add to Rosie's comment, I believe the revised editions have simply been revised with updated illustrations rather than new authors or new "commentary".
Here's a excerpt from the original edition of the volume on the Sermon on the Mount:
1. The pagan way of prayer
Do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, he says (7). The Greek verb battalogeō is unique not only in biblical literature but elsewhere as well; no other use of the word is known beyond quotations of this verse. So nobody knows for certain either its derivation or its meaning. Some (like Erasmus) ‘suppose the word to be derived from Battus, a king of Cyrene, who is said to have stuttered (so Herodotus); others from Battus, an author of tedious and wordy poems’.1 But this is a bit far-fetched. Most regard it as an onomatopoeic expression, the sound of the word indicating its meaning. Thus battarizō meant to stammer; and any foreigner whose speech sounded to Greek ears like the interminable repetition of the syllable ‘bar’ was called barbaros, a barbarian. Battalogeō is perhaps similar. William Tyndale was the first translator to choose ‘babble’ as an equivalent English onomatopoeia, and NEB has taken it up: ‘Do not go babbling on like the heathen.’
The familiar AV rendering, ‘Use not vain repetitions,’ is therefore misleading, unless it is clear that the emphasis is on ‘vain’ rather than on ‘repetitions’. Jesus cannot be prohibiting all repetition, for he repeated himself in prayer, notably in Gethsemane when ‘he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words’.2 Perseverance and even importunity in prayer are commended by him also; rather is he condemning verbosity, especially in those who ‘speak without thinking’.3 So RSV’s ‘heap up empty phrases’ is helpful. The word describes any and every prayer which is all words and no meaning, all lips and no mind or heart. Battalogia is explained in the same verse (7) as polulogia, ‘much speaking’, that is, a torrent of mechanical and mindless words.
How are we to apply our Lord’s prohibition today? It is certainly applicable to the prayer wheel, and even more to prayer flags by which the wind conveniently does the ‘praying’. I think we must apply it also to Transcendental Meditation, for Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has himself expressed regret at his misleading choice of the word ‘meditation’. True meditation involves the conscious use of the mind, but Transcendental Meditation is a simple and essentially mechanical technique for the relaxing of both body and mind. Instead of stimulating thought, it is designed to bring a person to a state of complete stillness and inactivity.
John R. W. Stott and John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7): Christian Counter-Culture, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 143–144.
And here's one from the revised edition:
Do not keep on babbling like pagans, he says (7). The Greek verb battalogeō is unique not only in biblical literature but elsewhere as well; no other use of the word is known beyond quotations of this verse. So nobody knows for certain either its derivation or its meaning. Most regard it as an onomatopoeic expression, the sound of the word indicating its meaning. Thus battarizō meant to stammer; and any foreigner whose speech sounded to Greek ears like the interminable repetition of the syllable ‘bar’ was called barbaros, a barbarian. Battalogeō is perhaps similar. William Tyndale was the first translator to choose ‘babble’ as an equivalent English onomatopoeia.
Jesus cannot be prohibiting all repetition, for he repeated himself in prayer, notably in Gethsemane when he ‘went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing’.1 Perseverance and even insistence in prayer are commended by him; what he actually does is to condemn verbosity, especially in those who ‘speak without thinking’. The word describes any and every prayer which is all words and no meaning, all lips and no mind or heart. Battalogia is explained in the same verse (7) as polulogia, many words, that is, a torrent of mechanical and mindless speech.
How are we to apply our Lord’s prohibition today? It is certainly applicable to the prayer wheel, and even more to prayer flags by which the wind conveniently does the ‘praying’. I think we must apply it also to those forms of meditation which are essentially mechanical techniques for the relaxing of both body and mind. Instead of stimulating thought, these are designed to bring a person to a state of complete stillness and inactivity.
1 Matt. 26:44.
John Stott, ed., The Message of the Sermon on the Mount: Christian Counter-Culture, Revised Edition., The Bible Speaks Today (London: IVP, 2020), 120–121.
There is a significant amount of updating, including the Bible version being quoted. Details no longer considered important (Battus, King of Cyrene) have been eliminated and references to people like Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and activities such as Transcendental Meditation have been generalized.
I prefer the revision in the cases I've compared them and so when available those are the versions I use. I believe only the Gospels of Mark and John, and the Sermon on the Mount have been revised. (At least those are the only ones I have).
There's the original series, and some of the volumes have revised editions. There is also (confusingly) a monograph series (not commentaries) with the series name "The Bible Speaks Today: Bible Themes Series"
That clears it up. It looks like the Themes Series is a companion to the commentary set, which is what I have. Not sure if the Theme Series would add much. Both are from IVP so that makes it more confusing, to me anyway.
Does anyone have both? If so, what is your opinion?
That clears it up. It looks like the Themes Series is a companion to the commentary set, which is what I have. Not sure if the Theme Series would add much. Both are from IVP so that makes it more confusing, to me anyway. Does anyone have both? If so, what is your opinion?
Completely different approach, and by different authors. Organized by theme rather than by book/chapter.
I would say it's totally different material.
There's no look inside feature on the Logos website, but you can see inside on Amazon and get a feel for them.
I've got a number of the the theme series and they serve as a good introduction to whatever topic they are covering. I've only purchased them individually as required though, and will keep doing that unless I can get them all on sale.
