Comparing commentaries

Can anyone offer some insights into how the following commentary series compare:

Anchor
Hermeneia / CC
ICC
Black's
Tyndale's

And if anyone has had time to look into the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, please add that as well.

Or if you think you have better suggestions, please feel free to motivate why. I'm not very familiar with American commentaries, and I'm a long way from the nearest theological library, so I can't check much out for myself for the moment. And it seems I have to make up my mind at least about Hermeneia/CC very quickly.

I want solid scholarship, sensitive to the Jewish background and what is otherwise known about the early Church. I've done Greek and Hebrew (though they're both rather rusty...). I prefer getting the tools and making up my own mind, but if there is a clear bias, it should at least not be directly anti-catholic. And I don't need sermons; I'd rather have lots of angles and fresh ideas.

(No need to bring up the ACCS, the Catena Aurea, the JPS, or the Jewish NT Commentary. Those are all already on my list.)

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

Jerry M

You can get some idea by starting here.

Commenatary Series Rankings / BestCommentaries.com / Bible Commentary reviews, ratings, and prices

Rick

Another good place to start is the Logos commentary product guide located here: http://www.logos.com/commentaries/multivolume

fgh

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/176363#Comment_176363

Thanks. The Logos page I've already looked at. I'll check the other one out tomorrow. Right now it's 02.48 AM over here, and I'm off to bed!

Damian McGrath

fgh,

Are there any particular books of the bible in which you are interested? NT or OT?

Each of the series has its own particular strengths and weaknesses.

Anchor, Hermeneia, and ICC are the more technical of the commentaries. They also, generally speaking wrt the NT, will offer more information regarding the cultural context (Hellenistic parallels, Jewish background, etc.).

Black's and Tyndale are much less technical and much briefer. Black's are more critical. Tyndale is, broadly speaking, evangelical.

I have elsewhere highly praised Luz' commentaries on Matthew in the Hermeneia series. They truly stand out because Luz offers not only the requisite information on OT and other Jewish background but also offers for each perciope a section on the "History of Influence" oin which he will trace the way in which the passage was appropriated in the early church, middle ages, reformation, and onward.

This thread had some input from various users on different series: http://community.logos.com/forums/t/12771.aspx.

Carson's NT commentary survey is worth considering both in terms of his input on various series and on individual books: http://www.logos.com/ebooks/details/NTCOMMSURV

Mark Smith

And it seems I have to make up my mind at least about Hermeneia/CC very quickly.

I believe Logos still offers a 30 day money back period during which you can evaluate whether a whole library or an individual volume is what you want. It sounds like you (and others) are in a situation where this might be of help in making the decision. You can verify this with a call to Logos sales, unless someone can give us a link to confirm this policy.

I am sure Logos would prefer not to have lots of people do this, but they do want happy customers. So consider this as an option to get a good price and have a the data to make a better decision.

BTW: I don't believe the special pricing will disappear on October 1. The exact cut-off hasn't been given. Here's what was officially stated:

"To celebrate the new collections we are offering an incredible
limited-time sale. We dramatically discounted the price so it would fit
within the budgets of many more students and pastors who haven’t been
able to afford it at the full price. Remember, this discount is only
temporary; it’s not the new permanent price for these commentaries." http://community.logos.com/forums/t/23022.aspx?PageIndex=4

nicky crane

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/176376#Comment_176376

I study the Bible with the Greek and Hebrew text. My top commentary is the UBS translators Handbook series, backed up by Tyndale and cornerstone. UBS goes into the meanings of the words in the original. Hermeneia and ICC are more technical than I need, and I don't know the others. None of these sermonises!

Sam Henderson

"I want solid scholarship, sensitive to the Jewish background and what is otherwise known about the early Church. I've done Greek and Hebrew (though they're both rather rusty...). I prefer getting the tools and making up my own mind, but if there is a clear bias, it should at least not be directly anti-catholic. And I don't need sermons; I'd rather have lots of angles and fresh ideas."

I speak only for the new testament volumes that I've personally used, but your paragraph quoted above sounds like a ready-made job desciption for the Anchor Bible series. It has a significant scattering of influential Catholic voices (Fitzmyer, Johnson, Brown - to name a few that I'm familiar with), it could make a claim to being the scholarly gold standard (allowing for the usual uneveness inherent to all commentary sets) but doesn't take short cuts based on assumed reader-knowledge (at the the risk of some verbosity). If I were a Catholic I would have chosen that one - and I truly regret not following through with it when there was the opportunity to get it at a great pre-pub price. But the problem now is the cost! - especially with the deal being offered on Hermeneia as of October 1.

nicky crane

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/176419#Comment_176419

incidentally, having just upgraded to Scholars, I've discovered Wuest's Words studies in NT. Other word studies or word pictures resources which came with the base package are also useful.

Matthew C Jones

Can anyone offer some insights into how the following commentary series compare:

Anchor

Hermeneia / CC

ICC

Black's

Tyndale's

I don't have Black's or ICC (yet).
Short opinions of the rest:
Hermeneia (very technical, thought provoking, good with Bible backgrounds, and Lutheran)
Anchor (wide ranging, liberal, literary consideration, covers apocryphal books, includes Catholic, Jewish and Protestant writers)
Tyndale (refreshingly evangelical theology, good for class preparation, light on the academic side)

I am wondering why Word Biblical Commentary http://www.logos.com/products/details/3671 did not make your short list. It is affordable and strikes a good balance among all the various approaches. WBC is quite technical, heavily delves into the linguistics, and still lends itself well to sermon preparation.

If you hope to get several on your list grab Hermeneia/CC while it is on sale. If you will only buy one, keep asking people you trust in your church or seminary for advice.

I want solid scholarship, sensitive to the Jewish
background and what is otherwise known about the early Church

Check out this resource: A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica (4 Vols.) http://www.logos.com/products/details/5912

Mark Barnes

From your description of yourself, it seems that Hermeneia or Anchor would be what you're looking for (and Hermeneia is obviously much cheaper now), if by 'solid scholarship' you want something written at an academic level. If, on the other hand you mean 'grounded in solid scholarship, but written at
lay-level', then Black's would suit you in style and has some excellent volumes (e.g.
Barrett on 1 Corinthians).

ICC would also suit you, but more than half the volumes are 19th century ones due for replacement, so it offers significantly lower value.

Tyndale is an excellent series generally written by top-class scholars, but focusses more on theology and exegesis than on background. It's a similar level to Black's.

I'm not very familiar with American commentaries,

Only Anchor is American! Hermeneia is published in the States, but almost entirely written by Europeans, as is CC. Black's, Tyndale and ICC are are all UK series.

MJ. Smith

Can anyone offer some insights into how the following commentary series compare:

Anchor

Hermeneia / CC

ICC

Black's

Tyndale's

And if anyone has had time to look into the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, please add that as well.

My perspective as a Catholic:

Hermeneia is my favorite commentary overall because it's strengths are technical and historical - theology is less frequent and usually thoughtful not dogmatic.

Anchor is my second favorite - my beef with it is the variation between volumes - some are superb, others marginal.

Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture is closer to a devotional commentary but certainly more meaty than Zanchettin's Devotional Commentary out of The Word Among Us. I would more enthusiastic, I'm sure, if I hadn't bought The Orthodox Bible Study Companion at the same time. They are very similar - with the Orthodox being my preferred commentary by a small margin. Actually, my favorite is The Chrysostom Bible Commentary by Tarazi which addresses fewer topics in more detail. This all boils down to - all three are useful, only one is in Logos.

The one commentary that I'd recommend that you have not mentioned in Reading the New Testament http://www.logos.com/products/details/3498 This is a series that I had in book format - at a significant effort to find all the volumes. This series is high on my list because it does an excellent job of showing how a book's structure adds to its meaning.

fgh

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/176437#Comment_176437

Thanks for all your replies! I guess this is where I ought to learn how to make 'real' quotes, but I don't have the time to figure it out right now, so I'll just do it the old-fashioned way...

Damian "Are there any particular books of the bible in which you are interested?"

For the moment, no. Right now this is about me wanting, at some point, to buy a more advanced complete commentary set than those in OLL/Scholar's (or perhaps one OT and another NT). Or, more precisely, it's about making sure that when I do find time to research this more thoroughly, I don't end up deciding that Hermeneia/CC are the ones I want most, and I really should have bought them now...

Though of course I have favorite books (Isaiah, Psalms, John, Romans and Hebrews, e g), and I'm about to start some work on the Jewishness of the NT and the 'Christianness' (why can't I think of a correct word?) of the OT, which will certainly include quite a bit of work on Matthew, so thanks for the tip on Luz!

The only reason I included Tyndale was that I happened to see an Accordance video the other week, when I researched the softwares, that showed 3 commentaries' comments on some passage, and, as I remember it, Tyndale's happened to say something intelligent.

Thanks for the links, as well! So ICC quotes without translation? I think I must probably work on my Greek, and especially my Hebrew, before dealing with that…

Mark A I know, but it doesn't seem fair to order it unless I'm at least reasonably sure I want it.

Sam "But the problem now is the cost!"

Exactly! (And, by the way, I'm not formally Catholic, but High Church Lutheran, though theologically I'm essentially Catholic.)

Matthew "I am wondering why Word Biblical Commentary … did not make your short list"

Because, like I said, I am not very familiar with American/foreign commentary series. I own Anchor's on John, Black's on Romans and 1 Cor., and New Century on Psalms. The rest are all Swedish. But thanks for the tip; I'll look into it.

"keep asking people you trust in your church or seminary for advice"

This is Sweden, not the US… [:)] I doubt that anyone in church besides the priest has ever even seen a bible commentary. And if they have, well, again it will be Swedish commentaries. And, as I said, I'm a long way from any university (and almost 20 years out of it, so I don't have any contacts anymore).

"Check out this resource"

I should have mentioned Lightfoot as well in the parenthesis. I actually bought that one with the base package, since it was shipping while I was finalizing my order.

Mark "Only Anchor is American!"

Well, I guess that kind of proves my point… -- though not in the way I intended! [:)] I actually did some theology in the UK, but not Biblical Studies.

MJ Thanks, especially for the input on the less well-known commentaries! I'll have a look at them.

Seems I really should check Hermeneia out. Maybe take a middle way and buy the NT but not the OT for now? I guess I'd better start reading that very long Hermeneia thread once I've posted this.

With all these resources shipping within a few days, I don't have time to check out the program and base packages that I bought! I'm really beginning to think I should have booked the Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library as well when I was at it, but I was too busy checking out the base packages and trying to get answers to my questions to have time to look at it properly — and now it's up $50! [:(]

tom

The two commentary sets that I always look at are Hermeneia and Word when I need "solid scholarship."

Matthew C Jones

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/176916#Comment_176916

The two commentary sets that I always look at are Hermeneia and Word when I need "solid scholarship."

That would be an excellent combination. Not cheap, but worth it. There are a couple sets published by Zondervan that could replace Hermeneia but the costs will be about the same. With the inclusion of the Continental Commentaries series, the sale price on Hermeneia really tips the scale. (edit: I have no problem with the Zondervan works. I figure the original poster is more familiar with Hermeneia. That is all.)
I've been thinking; I already have the 43 vol Hermeneia CD. Since the Continental Commentary series is $599.99 alone and $598 with the 44 vol Hermeneia package. I could do a little self-talk here and make a good argument for buying the new package. It is an awesome "Buy one, Get one FREE" deal. The resale value of the original 43 vol Hermeneia (sans Continental Commentaries) is obviously greatly reduced in light of the present pricing so it could make a nice gift to an impoverished seminarian. Now if only I had the extra $598 [:)] .

Peter Jonas

By your self-description you won't regret buying Hermeneia. In my judgment the Anchor Bible commentaries are still a better buy in the traditionalbook format because there is a wider variation in quality from author to author. Some are awesome (Ray Brown, Louis Martyn) -- others not so much.

Peter Jonas

David Rudel

Or if you think you have better suggestions, please feel free to motivate why. I'm not very familiar with American commentaries, and I'm a long way from the nearest theological library, so I can't check much out for myself for the moment. And it seems I have to make up my mind at least about Hermeneia/CC very quickly.

Definitely go with WBC.

David Rudel

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/176362#Comment_176362

You can get some idea by starting here.

Commenatary Series Rankings / BestCommentaries.com / Bible Commentary reviews, ratings, and prices

Unfortunately, the rankings on BestCommentaries.com are rather skewed by an over-abundance of evangelical reviewers. The top-ranked books are almost all from an evangelical perspective.

Evan Boardman

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/490422#Comment_490422

David, before commenting on a link you might want to look at the date. She was looking for this info 3yrs ago.[:)]

David Ames

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/490425#Comment_490425

She was looking for this info 3yrs ago.

Yes, BUT there are others that are asking the same questions on the same topic.