Recommended Commentaries IN ADDITION to the SDA Commentary?
This query probably really belongs to the General section but it does require familiarity with the SDA Commentary and SDAs!
I am just setting my wife up with Logos as a birthday present. More useful than flowers 8-) .
A retired school teacher, she is a very conscientious SS Teacher & this directs her needs; specifically for commentaries in order
1) to test her thoughts against after studying the scripture in the context of the lesson and also
2) to see other views on the meaning of the text especially where not obvious - even if only to disagree with them!
What commentaries can you suggest that complement the SDA commentary?
We are frugal in our lifestyle & we can hence afford a small range of commentary sets (NT & NT/OT) at a reasonable price level (but I see NICOT & NICNT as being very overkill!!).
I have not decided on a base package for her yet but as she is slightly dyslexic, most of the monograph volumes are not really useful to her as she reads books rather slowly. She prefers to spend her available non-bible reading study time in using commentaries and bible background material to make the most of the time available to her.
Like myself, she has no training in Greek/Hebrew (but will love the reverse interlinear) but she can happily cope with divergent interpretations. One would class her as an NIV person rather than KJV but not aggressively so.
I would love to see LOGOS make inroads into our church with many lay people and see my query as being more generally useful.
Comments
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I am not SDA nor familiar with what an SDA individual would find useful. However, you mention nicot/nt whenever this has come up in the past people are quick to mention the IVP reference set (which I have and use), and the tyndale commentaries (which I don't own). As a student with academic discount, I don't see the prices you would see, however with my discount both could be acquired for around 300$ (together).
Also you can always browse http://bestcommentaries.com for an idea of which commentaries are highly regarded in general.L2 lvl4 (...) WORDsearch, all the way through L10,
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Hi, these are some less expensive commentaries that I recommend to my theology students here at Montemorelos, for whom value for money is a key criterion:
https://www.logos.com/product/9500/andrews-study-bible
https://www.logos.com/product/8593/tyndale-commentaries
https://www.logos.com/product/5457/the-expositors-bible-commentary (or the updated version if you can afford it - the price is x3 for the updated edition: https://www.logos.com/product/20185/expositors-bible-commentary-revised-edition)
The Andrews Study Bible is of course very short and selective, since it's notes in a study bible and not a full commentary series, but it's a must-have for an SDA. The Tyndale and Expositor's Commentary are good Evangelical commentaries of fairly short length that is great to consult along with personal Bible study or if preparing for a small group study or sabbath school class. For many years these were the two commentary series I used all the time when preparing sermons.
If money is not hindrance, the NICOT/NICNT series is probably the single best commentary series available. Quite conservative generally. Written for pastors and scholars, but lay people should be able to follow along fairly well also:
https://www.logos.com/product/23989/the-new-international-commentary-on-the-old-and-new-testament0 -
John, here are the recommendations I give to my theology students at Montemorelos, for whom value for money is often a key criterion:
https://www.logos.com/product/9500/andrews-study-bible
The Andrews Study Bible is short and selective in the comments (since it is just a study Bible), but it's a must-have for any SDA.https://www.logos.com/product/8593/tyndale-commentaries
https://www.logos.com/product/5457/the-expositors-bible-commentary (or if you can afford the updated edition at 3x the cost: https://www.logos.com/product/20185/expositors-bible-commentary-revised-edition)
These two commentary series are conservative (quite close to Adventist positions) and quite to the point. I wish they could be part of an SDA silver or gold package. I used these all the time when I started out as a pastor, when preparing sermons or sabbath school classes.You mentioned the NICOT/NICNT series as overkill. It might be overkill from a financial standpoint, but if you inherit a fortune one day the content in that series is absolutely great..
What about some good bible dictionaries? They can be quite useful when preparing small groups and sabbath school lessons as well. My recommendation is the InterVarsity series - quite conservative and close to Adventism:
https://www.logos.com/product/37742/the-ivp-bible-dictionary-series
We need more serious sabbath school teachers who actually prepare and dig into the Word of God. You wife does an important work!0 -
Hi John,
As with Abondservant, I am not SDA. However, I would echo Abondservant's advice regarding the IVP Reference set and the Tyndale Commentaries, both of which constitute excellent value for money. I would further suggest that you give consideration to the original Expositor's Bible Commentary which is very reasonably priced (and is worth picking up for the introductory articles and the treatment of Matthew's Gospel alone).
Finally, I wonder if the New American Commentary set might meet your needs. It is somewhat more expensive than Tyndale or Expositor's, but is well regarded and reasonably even in terms of quality (although every series has high and low points). However, should the New American Commentary set appeal, you may want to look again at the SDA Silver Package as this base package contains the NAC and plenty more to boot (and at only a slightly higher cost).
Blessings,
[:D]
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John have you looked at these? Of course the free Faithlife Study Bible is an excellent resource.
https://www.logos.com/products/search?q=ivp+bible+background The first two would make a wonderful starter in the series.
https://www.logos.com/product/8588/the-essential-ivp-reference-collection-version-3 referred to by Abondservant and Andy.
Mission: To serve God as He desires.
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John, sorry for my double posting above. It did not get published immediately because it contained to many links to logos.com (triggers necessary moderating), which I didn't know, and so I posted it again.
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Thanks for all your thoughts guys.
I was really attracted to the original Expositors but when I compared some of the comments around some of the volumes I was impressed by the expansion of some comments in the new compared to the old version. In particular Luke 14:26 (that was one text in last Saturdays bible study. For price, the old version is unbeatable! What a shame they abandoned the first volume in revising it.
I was interested about how people felt the SDA commentary fitted in with others on the market not wanting to get too much repetition. I think I will go for the Tyndale + an Expositors version. I had been thinking of the IVP reference set but not thought of the IVP dictionary set. I will have a look at that.I like the NAC especially as it is nearly complete (I hope Logos is working on 1 Corinthians although it is very recent). I am thinking about the silber for that though for my purposes many of the resources will not be used.
Thanks again ....
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Lots of good advice from obviously well-informed Logos users. Bible Knowledge Commentary in all 3 BPs is a solid basic commentary, and New American Commentary in Silver is just superb, along with the other suggestions. Keep in mind that Faithlife Study Bible, although not a commentary, is a fabulous resource--the largest study Bible in the world (would be 5 feet high if printed on paper) and is constantly getting updated. And of course Andrews Study Bible (again not a commentary but full of succinct wisdom, and it's in all 3 BPs).
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I have the SDA commentary(expanded) and find it very useful and quite frankly a must have. However, I find myself using the Tyndale commentary very frequently. I think they complement each other.[:D] I just upgrated to the SDA bronze today and choose not to go for the Silver because I prefer the KJV base commentaries and the commentary in the SDA silver,The New American Commentary is base off the NIV.
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I just updrated to the SDA bronze today and choose not to go for the Silver because I prefer the KJV base commentaries and the commentary in the SDA silver,The New American Commentary is base off the NIV.
And there is me grumbling because the SDA base sets do NOT have the NIV & NIV reverse interlinear!!
Yes I agree about the SDA commentary. I was pleasantly surprised when I compared it with many of the other commentaries.Martin... My wife currently takes the paper version of the Andrew Study bible to church as an easily accessible reference tool if a bit heavy in her bag. I still expect that the be her first port of call on her tablet.
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any rough timeline for which quarter we can expect the sda base packages to be delivered?
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I was told today by sales that these will be ready tomorrow. No joke.
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I agree with Martin that the New American Commentary is a very good commentary series, but get it as part of a package (like Silver). The value for money is not as great when buying it as stand-alone. NAC is perhaps slightly better in the OT than in the NT (opposite of the Word Bible Commentary), but it is always worth consulting early on.
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There's no release date set for the SDA BPs--we just know it will be soon. They are selling well.
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Good advice from Professor Vetne!
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I have heard of a new set of SDA commentaries being prepared...
Anyway to have them also in Logos on pre-pub would be nice!For example, Evangelical Exegetical Commentary was done like this. First pre-pub, then when the first books were published it was full priced.
You would pay for the whole collection, and have the update any time they were published.
I do not know though how they plan to publish the new set of SDA commentaries (one by one? or the whole set once?)
But I would love to have it on logos
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I do not know though how they plan to publish the new set of SDA commentaries (one by one? or the whole set once?)
But I would love to have it on logos
Count me in.
I am hoping that they will send Logos the file when they send it to the printers. 12 volumes is costly to ship internationally. Added to the fact that I have little space on the bookshelf, and have to be home to use it. Who wants to carry around 12 or more volumes with them. Gas is expensive.
Mission: To serve God as He desires.
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I am hoping that they will send Logos the file when they send it to the printers. 12 volumes is costly to ship internationally. Added to the fact that I have little space on the bookshelf, and have to be home to use it. Who wants to carry around 12 or more volumes with them. Gas is expensive.
Agreed on every point!! The driving factor with me to invest in Logos was largely was a need to downsize (and see our walls again!).
Books look lovely on shelves and feel great in your hands but are not very practicable when moving around. Being able to sit in church and browse through meters and meters of shelves of books on my tablet to check something out during the Sabbath School or sermon is so great.
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