Commentary on Isaiah
I'm going to be starting a study on Isaiah in the new year, and was wondering if you have any recommendations for commentaries. What I'm looking for is something that gives cultural background and insights into the Hebrew text (preferably written in a way that someone who doesn't know Hebrew would understand). My preference is a commentary that is not heavy on application, but gives contextual information written in a way a layperson could understand. Any thoughts?
Comments
- Continental Commentary Series: Isaiah 1–12
- Continental Commentary Series: Isaiah 13–27
- Continental Commentary Series: Isaiah 28–39
- Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 24: Isaiah 1-33
- Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 25: Isaiah 34-66 (Revised Edition)
- Continental Commentary Series: Isaiah 1–12
- Continental Commentary Series: Isaiah 13–27
- Continental Commentary Series: Isaiah 28–39
- A History of Israel, 3rd ed. $34.95
- Hebrew History (3 vols.) $64.95
- The Hebrew Bible: A Socio-Literary Introduction $45.00
- Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Old Testament (5 vols.) $199.95
The best commentary on Isaiah I've read is the one by Edward J. Young The Book of Isaiah 3 Volumes
Excellent commentary!
DAL
I'm going to be starting a study on Isaiah in the new year, and was wondering if you have any recommendations for commentaries.
I am not sure if this is of any help, you may have already come across it:
It's the Logos Product Guide for all things Isaiah.
http://www.bestcommentaries.com/isaiah/
is also helpful, it does say it indicates what is available in Logos format. What is useful, besides a community based rating, is that it gives an indication of whether the commentary is at a level of Technical, Pastoral, Devotional or Special Study.
Maybe if you can given an indication of whether you are purely doing personal study, preparing a sermon series or writing a paper etc it will be able to help those who are best equipped to give more specific recommendations to better serve you.
I am not sure if this is of any help, you may have already come across it:
It's the Logos Product Guide for all things Isaiah.
http://www.bestcommentaries.com/isaiah/
is also helpful, it does say it indicates what is available in Logos format. What is useful, besides a community based rating, is that it gives an indication of whether the commentary is at a level of Technical, Pastoral, Devotional or Special Study.
Maybe if you can given an indication of whether you are purely doing personal study, preparing a sermon series or writing a paper etc it will be able to help those who are best equipped to give more specific recommendations to better serve you.
That is very helpful - thank you! 
I've been looking at Young's commentary - that one caught my eye earlier.
This is just personal study - the class I'm a part of will be spending 2012 studying Isaiah. We focus on inductive study, so we tend to focus primarily on the text and move on to the commentaries to complement our study, gain extra insights, and check our own understanding. While I am currently not planning on leading the study, I do like to purchase resources with leading studies in mind as that is a possibility in the future.
I am not sure if this is of any help, you may have already come across it:
great link Andrew... now I've got to check the links for other books!
I am not sure if this is of any help, you may have already come across it:
great link Andrew... now I've got to check the links for other books!
Looking at product page, noticed Tyndale Commentaries (49 vols.) not mentioned:
For years, community bidding had => Barnes' Notes on the Old and New Testaments (26 vols.)
More recently, another community pricing resource shipped => The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (58 vols.)
Keep Smiling [:)]
bestcommentaries.com ranks John Oswalt's commentary on Isaiah in the NICOT as the best by far. They rank nobody else within 5 points of him on their scale. That is significant.
In my opinion that is the truth. It is a tremendous work from a great scholar. I am probably biased because John Oswalt was one of my professors in seminary. I have never known anyone who combined such scholarship with genuine deep spirituality and piety.
By all means get your hands on Oswalt's two volumes on Isaiah. I may be a little biased on this one, but I am a lot right on it.
"In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley
By all means get your hands on Oswalt's two volumes on Isaiah. I may be a little biased on this one, but I am a lot right on it.
Oswalt is excellent, if rather meaty. He's less dogmatic than Young, and also less stodgy, but demands more from the reader. Yet he's also available in the NIV Application series, which is much more accessible and applied. Unfortunately both his commentaries are only available in sets.
http://www.logos.com/product/5461/niv-application-commentary-old-testament-prophets
http://www.logos.com/product/5185/the-new-international-commentary-on-the-old-and-new-testament
Here are two screenshots for comparison. The first shows Oswalt's NICOT on the right, and Young on the left. The second shows two pages from Oswalt's NIVAC. The format from that commentary is to split comment into three sections, so you need to see an extract from each section for a true comparison.
This is my personal Faithlife account. On 1 March 2022, I started working for Faithlife, and have a new 'official' user account. Posts on this account shouldn't be taken as official Faithlife views!
I'm going to be starting a study on Isaiah in the new year, and was wondering if you have any recommendations for commentaries. What I'm looking for is something that gives cultural background and insights into the Hebrew text (preferably written in a way that someone who doesn't know Hebrew would understand). My preference is a commentary that is not heavy on application, but gives contextual information written in a way a layperson could understand. Any thoughts?
Here are a few you might want to look at:
חַפְּשׂוּ בַּתּוֹרָה הֵיטֵב וְאַל תִּסְתַּמְּכוּ עַל דְּבָרַי
RMC ... there's is NO WAY that you can not use all the Logos resources profitably. Which scholar ever started out 'scholarly'? I say this as a compliment. Granted ... money can often be a challenge!
LOL Thanks Denise [:)]
Looking at product page, noticed Tyndale Commentaries (49 vols.) not mentioned:
For years, community bidding had => Barnes' Notes on the Old and New Testaments (26 vols.)
More recently, another community pricing resource shipped => The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (58 vols.)
Keep Smiling
Thank you - screenshots are so helpful I appreciate this! I missed out on the Cambridge Bible when it was on CP - Didn't raise my bid in time [:(] Live and learn!
Has anyone used:
Barry, John D. The Resurrected Servant in Isaiah. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010.
I picked it up when it was in pre-pub, but I have not yet read it. Here is a random screenshot:
This looks right up my alley - I'll definitely be looking more into this! Thank you [:)]
Here are a few you might want to look at:
Thank you [:)] I think the last one might be too pricey for me at this point, especially since it only covers about a third of Isaiah, but I'll look into it!
Another thought - maybe there's something out there that's not specifically a commentary on Isaiah, but instead gives insight into the culture of Israel/ Judah during the reigns of Hezekiah, Uzziah, etc. that would give insight into the context in which Isaiah was written. I'm wondering if there is anything similar to http://www.logos.com/product/5339/jesus-in-context-background-readings-for-gospel-study, but for the time period that Isaiah is writing to/ about.
Another thought - maybe there's something out there that's not specifically a commentary on Isaiah, but instead gives insight into the culture of Israel/ Judah during the reigns of Hezekiah, Uzziah, etc. that would give insight into the context in which Isaiah was written. I'm wondering if there is anything similar to http://www.logos.com/product/5339/jesus-in-context-background-readings-for-gospel-study, but for the time period that Isaiah is writing to/ about.
Hello RMC,
I haven't been able to locate any resource in Logos similar to what was done for the gospels, but I would recommend that you acquire a general History of ancient Israel. I have complied a few works from the Logos catalog that may(or may not) be of interest to your pursuit(Note the following are listed in order according to price not importance) :
I hope others more knowledgeable than I will also attempt to answer this query of yours.
חַפְּשׂוּ בַּתּוֹרָה הֵיטֵב וְאַל תִּסְתַּמְּכוּ עַל דְּבָרַי
The are several, but this one .... Young's is excellent
http://www.logos.com/product/3637/the-book-of-isaiah
Then there is Motyer
http://www.logos.com/product/601/the-prophecy-of-isaiah
NAC, Cornerstone, and WBC
CTS Commentary Recommendations:
http://www.covenantseminary.edu/academics/library/guides/commentaries-isaiah/
Yours In Christ
I wouldn't trust Young to take out the garbage. His introduction was so annoying that I was tempted to throw it against the wall. I would suggest Sweeny's work on Is 1-39 in the FOTL series.
george
gfsomsel
יְמֵי־שְׁנוֹתֵינוּ בָהֶם שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה וְאִם בִּגְבוּרֹת שְׁמוֹנִים שָׁנָה וְרָהְבָּם עָמָל וָאָוֶן
It's not a commentary but I just picked up Encountering the Book of Isaiah, part of the Encountering Biblical Studies collection. It written by Bryan E Beyer. Love to hear some input from the scholars on it, others in the series have been a nice addition to study and use in our Bible College.
Logos 10 - OpenSuse Tumbleweed, Windows 11, Android 16 & Android 14
Do you not like Young because he doesn't present Isaiah from a "Millennial" "Pre-millennial" point of view? I agree with others who like Young he's great and won't feed you lies like other premillennial/millennial liars do. Just face it Millennialism and premillennialism are just 2 dangerous -isms that will get your soul damned in hell for ever.
You haven't been paying attention. I'm not a premillennialist. I'm amillenial. I don't like Young because he's an idiot.
george
gfsomsel
יְמֵי־שְׁנוֹתֵינוּ בָהֶם שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה וְאִם בִּגְבוּרֹת שְׁמוֹנִים שָׁנָה וְרָהְבָּם עָמָל וָאָוֶן
You might have a point here. I hold a premillennial view AND I am a liar.
EDIT: I forgot to post the commentary that I thought is good. Though it is brief, I think the Bible Knowledge Commentary is pretty good on Isaiah. But then again I am pretty bias. [;)] EBC is good too.
As Mathison states:
Edward J. Young was one of the founding faculty at Westminster Theological Seminary and taught Old Testament there for many years. His massive three-volume commentary on Isaiah is something of a modern classic among Reformed students of Scripture. It has been replaced in the NICOT series by the fine work of Oswalt, but it should not be relegated to the dust bin. There is much of value in these volumes.
Yours In Christ