NIV Application Commentaries

NIV Application Commentaries are on sale at $7.99. I only realised as I put a couple in my wishlist yesterday and today saw they had been reduced.

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Mark Barnes

That's a great price. Here's a link:

https://www.logos.com/products/search?q=title%3A%22niv+application+commentary%22&start=0&sort=pricelo&pageSize=60

They're not all $7.99, but many of them are.

Graham Criddle

Thanks for pointing this out - very interesting and welcome[Y]

Joseph Turner

Wow, that is a great deal. I needed five volumes, and now I have them!

David Paul

I will be a scab and break my Zondervan boycott for this. I had some other things I was planning on getting tomorrow, but this will take precedence.

SteveHD

Thanks for pointing this out.

RyanB

This is one of my favorite commentary series. What a great price! Much cheaper than what I paid for them.

SteveHD

I did buy them earlier and had the price appear to change in my cart. But if you hit your back arrow and return to the cart they will probably all show the discount. So do not give up, in the end I did get all 42 at the correct sale price.

DAL

I got all 42 volumes for 335 and change. Now that's what I call a super deal; especially, coming from Zondervan!

DAL

Erik

I got all 42 volumes for 335 and change. Now that's what I call a super deal; especially, coming from Zondervan!

DAL

Did you get that deal today? That is a fantastic deal.

I paid $785 a year ago. I'm simultaneously happy for everyone that's getting this deal and disappointed that I paid too much apparently. I guess I need to adopt and stick to a rule that I won't ever buy anything again that isn't at least 50% discounted.

GaoLu

I just picked up a dozen and am pleased as punch. Everything worked just fine.

Mark Barnes

I paid $785 a year ago. I'm simultaneously happy for everyone that's getting this deal and disappointed that I paid too much apparently. I guess I need to adopt and stick to a rule that I won't ever buy anything again that isn't at least 50% discounted.

The problem is that you never know what's going to be discounted in the future. It's very rare to get this kind of deal, and if you stuck to that rule, you'll miss out on a lot. (FWIW, I already had all 42 volumes, so missed out on the bargain, too.)

Erik

I paid $785 a year ago. I'm simultaneously happy for everyone that's getting this deal and disappointed that I paid too much apparently. I guess I need to adopt and stick to a rule that I won't ever buy anything again that isn't at least 50% discounted.

The problem is that you never know what's going to be discounted in the future. It's very rare to get this kind of deal, and if you stuck to that rule, you'll miss out on a lot. (FWIW, I already had all 42 volumes, so missed out on the bargain, too.)

I hear you Mark. I've been able to get in on some good deals in the past that more than make up for the difference I paid for NIVAC. Too bad this couldn't have been a deal on the EBC rev. [:)]

Dave Moser

This is great to hear for a lot of people. I already picked up the worthwhile volumes in the 2.99 Kindle sales they did in the last year so I won't be grabbing anything else.

This series varies widely in quality so it's in your best interest to check the commentary surveys (OT, NT) to find out which volumes you actually want. Those two books have saved me a lot of money and pointed me to excellent resources I wouldn't have otherwise seen.

Frank Sauer

Here's another option to check out the ratings of the individual volumes for those who may not want the entire set.

http://bestcommentaries.com/topseries/

This is great to hear for a lot of people. I already picked up the worthwhile volumes in the 2.99 Kindle sales they did in the last year so I won't be grabbing anything else.

This series varies widely in quality so it's in your best interest to check the commentary surveys (OT, NT) to find out which volumes you actually want. Those two books have saved me a lot of money and pointed me to excellent resources I wouldn't have otherwise seen.

Michael

Based on Best Commentaries I have Exodus, Ezekiel, Ecclesiastes, and 2 Peter/Jude in my cart. Any other volumes highly recommended? I'm having a tough time finding reviews that go through each book.

I have NICOT/NICNT, NAC, Pillars, NIGTC, and the Tyndale set if that matters. Some of the BECNT and WBC volumes are also on my radar, but I'm not pulling the trigger until they go on sale.

Erik

Based on Best Commentaries I have Exodus, Ezekiel, Ecclesiastes, and 2 Peter/Jude in my cart. Any other volumes highly recommended? I'm having a tough time finding reviews that go through each book.

I have NICOT/NICNT, NAC, Pillars, NIGTC, and the Tyndale set if that matters. Some of the BECNT and WBC volumes are also on my radar, but I'm not pulling the trigger until they go on sale.

One's opinion of course will be colored by their theological bent and intended purpose. Personally I think the NIVAC is one of the better Evangelical pastoral/devotional commentaries and wouldn't want to be without any of them. I think I've stated this before, but I use them nearly daily for study/devotional purposes and often find value for academic work.

If I were only limited to a few, in addition to the one's you've noted, I would want Walton's Genesis, Gane's Numbers, Hubbard's Joshua, Wilson's Psalms, Jobes' Esther, Wilkins' Matthew, Block's Luke, Blomberg's 1 Corinthians, Hafemann's 2 Corinthians, and Garland's Colossians.

It's interesting that D.A. Carson states in his NT Commentary Survey that he generally doesn't care for the NIVAC (pg. 99), but he seems to recommend quite a few of them despite his general misgivings.

Tremper Longman has a very high opinion of the OT NIVAC vols. He gives the entire OT set 5-stars.

Mike Childs

Personally, I love 1 and 2 Samuel by Bill T. Arnold in this series.

Rick Ausdahl

Personally, I love 1 and 2 Samuel by Bill T. Arnold in this series.

Michael, do you also have the NAC commentary on 1 and 2 Samuel? If so, I'm wondering how you would compare the NAC and NIVAC.

Anyone else with a comparison, please also feel free to comment.

abondservant

Personally, I love 1 and 2 Samuel by Bill T. Arnold in this series.

Michael, do you also have the NAC commentary on 1 and 2 Samuel? If so, I'm wondering how you would compare the NAC and NIVAC.

Anyone else with a comparison, please also feel free to comment.

I. THE LORD RAISES UP SAMUEL AND DEPOSES THE HOUSE OF ELI (1:1–7:17)

This introductory section of Samuel forms a semantically seamless narrative link with the conclusion of the Book of Judges, the book that immediately precedes 1 Samuel in the Hebrew Bible.1 Judges ends with stories of spiritual ineptitude among the Levites (cf. Judg 17:1–18:31), sexual misconduct in Shiloh (Judg 21:15–24), and Levitical involvement in tragic military encounters (Judg 19:29–20:48); 1 Samuel opens with all three: spiritually dull Eli and his corrupt sons operate the Shiloh sanctuary contrary to the Torah guidelines (2:12–17); Hophni and Phinehas abuse the women serving at the Tent of Meeting (2:22); and ultimately, Eli’s sons die in a catastrophic battle with the Philistines (4:10–11). The Book of Judges concludes with a collection of stories that portray Levites guiding the tribes of Israel into sin—idolatry and fratricide. Samuel opens with sinful Levitical activity—forcing Israelite worshipers to offer unacceptable sacrificial portions to the Lord and playing a role in Israel’s disastrous loss to the Philistines.
The opening seven chapters of 1 Samuel trace the rise of Samuel and the downfall of the house of Eli. In portraying the life of Samuel, the narrator—surprisingly—begins by focusing on Hannah, a married woman who was struggling with a divinely ordained condition of barrenness. The woman’s struggle ends when, in response to a faith-filled vow, the Lord enables her to give birth to Samuel, a child who is given to God for a lifetime of service as a Nazirite. Samuel’s youth and adulthood prove to be as marvelous as his birth; while still a child he becomes Israel’s greatest judge, providing justice and deliverance from the Philistines, Israel’s most strident enemy at this juncture in history.
The second narrative prong of this section provides details of the tragic downfall of Israel’s most powerful priestly family in that day, the house of Eli. Their destruction comes from the Lord, the result of sinful conduct while administrating over Israel’s holiest shrine. As portrayed by the biblical writer, God used the occasion of a military encounter with the Philistines to bring deadly judgment on the Elides. As a result of the priests’ sin, Israel was bereft of its leading priests and temporarily lost possession of the ark, the visible throne of God. Yet all was not lost; the Lord used this circumstance to humiliate the Philistine god Dagon and thus reaffirm to Israel and the world that his greatness could not be diminished either by a decadent priesthood or a menacing foreign power.
Two vital offices in Israel are highlighted in the opening section of Samuel, those of priest and prophet. On the one hand, the priesthood is portrayed as being in decline. Neglectful Eli, himself too old to participate actively in the priestly activities (cf. Num 8:23–26), allows the sanctuary ritual to run amok and his sons’ abuses to go unchecked. On the other hand, the office of prophet is elevated to a height not reached since the days of Moses,2 as Samuel boldly declares the counsel of God from his youth onward.
Key events related to the fulfillment of three Torah prophecies are presented in this section of Samuel. Narrative incidents in this passage relate to the elevation of the Eleazarite line to priestly preeminence (cf. Num 25:6–13), the selection of the site where the Lord would cause his name to dwell (cf. Deut 12:5, 11, 21; 14:23–24; 16:2, 6, 11; 26:2), and the appearance of the prophet who would be like Moses (cf. Deut 18:15).
The Eli stories bring to the surface a narrative thread stretching from Exodus through 2 Kings that portrays the emergence of the Zadokites from the family line of Eleazar ben Aaron to priestly preeminence in Israel.3 In anticipation of the Zadokites’ selection as the sole legitimate priestly line in Jerusalem (cf. 1 Kgs 2:26–27, 35), the house of Eli (primary representative of the family line of Ithamar ben Aaron) is prophetically disqualified from continuing service.
The theme of the divine selection of Jerusalem as the site where the Lord’s name would dwell is intertwined with the theme of the ascent of the Eleazarite line. Just as the fall of the House of Eli was a necessary precursor to the emergence of the Zadokites, so Shiloh’s loss of status (cf. Ps 78:60; Jer 7:13–14) was an essential precursor to the rise of Jerusalem. Jerusalem’s selection as the site for the Lord’s central sanctuary later will be interpreted by the narrator as the Lord’s will (1 Kgs 11:13, 32, 36), even as the selection of the Zadokites was (1 Sam 2:35–36).
The Samuel stories portray him as the long-anticipated prophet who would be like Moses (Deut 18:15).4 Fascinating similarities exist between the portrayal of Samuel and Moses in the narrative accounts. Both had remarkable childhoods, being nurtured in their earliest years by mothers of faith (cf. Exod 2:1–2, 9; 1 Sam 1:20, 28) but raised during their formative years in environments other than their own homes (cf. Exod 2:10; 1 Sam 1:24–25). Both disavowed the corrupt elements of the environments in which they were raised (cf. Exod 2:11–12; Heb 11:25; 1 Sam 2:22–26). Both received their initial revelations from the Lord in the presence of an object that was burning but not consumed (Exod 3:3–10; 1 Sam 3:3–14). In both cases, the Lord’s revelatory message was preceded by a double mention of the prophet’s name (cf. Exod 3:4; 1 Sam 3:10). The two share the distinction of being the only prophets in Genesis-2 Kings to be called “faithful” (Hb. neʾĕmān; Num 12:7; 1 Sam 3:20). Both were commanded by the Lord to pronounce judgment against the leaders of the sinful regimes that oppressed Israel during the initial phase of their prophetic careers (cf. Exod 7:14–18; 1 Sam 3:11–18). Both killed an enemy of Israel with their own hands and immediately thereafter went into a period of self-imposed exile (cf. Exod 3:12–15; 1 Sam 15:33). Both wrote down regulations (mišpātîm) that were deposited before the Lord and used to guide the nation (Lev 26:46; Deut 31:9; 1 Sam 10:25). Both functioned as judges (cf. Exod 18:13; 1 Sam 7:6, 15–16), and both were prophets (cf. Deut 18:15; 34:10; 1 Sam 3:20). Both built altars to the Lord (cf. Exod 17:15; 24:4; 1 Sam 7:17). Neither was ever called a priest, yet both were recorded as performing activities associated with the priesthood (cf. Lev 8:14–29; 1 Sam 7:9). Both functioned as transition figures, being responsible for major course changes in Israelite history. Though both had two sons (cf. Exod 18:2–3; 1 Sam 8:2; 1 Chr 6:28; 23:15), neither had offspring who were remembered as playing a significant role in later Israel. Instead, at the Lord’s behest both set apart nonfamily members who led Israel to possess through conquest land the Lord promised to Abraham’s descendants (cf. Deut 34:9; 1 Sam 16:13).5
The sharp contrast between the decadence and incompetence of the genealogically designated spiritual leaders and the capable service of the Lord’s true prophet in this section mirrors the experiences of Israel throughout its history and recorded in passages found elsewhere in Scripture (Jer 20:1–6; Amos 7:10–17). The events portrayed in these chapters are reminiscent of the Torah contrast between a decadent priesthood and a strong prophet—exemplified in Aaron and his sons (cf. Exod 32:1–5, 25; Lev 10:1–2) and Moses (cf. Deut 34:10–12).
Theologically, one of the central truths discernible in this passage is that everyone—even Levitical judges—must be subject to the requirements of the Torah. Judges, like kings of later generations who failed to follow the dictates of the Torah, would be judged and condemned, and their work would be destroyed. The judgment on the house of Eli is the judgment on all Israelite leadership that would fail in its commitment to obey the Lord’s revealed will.
A second key theological insight discernible in these chapters is that the Lord uses socially powerless individuals possessing profound faith in him (in this case a barren woman) to overturn and transform the social order. The Lord uses that which is not to negate that which is (cf. 1 Cor 1:28).
A third major theological affirmation is that Yahweh’s kingship is absolute and extends to all lands and peoples. His power is not limited by national boundaries, nor is it diminished by Israel’s failures. As exemplified in his dealings with the Philistines and their god Dagon, Yahweh exercises unchallenged dominion over all peoples and all gods.
Consistent with his role as sovereign, the Lord is portrayed as the stern enforcer of the Sinai covenant. When Israel fails to live up to divinely mandated obligations, the Lord brings judgment to bear. Furthermore, he reserves the right to carry out personally the Torah commands that Israel fails to execute. Within these chapters he shatters a detestable idol in the Promised Land (cf. Exod 23:24; 34:13; Deut 12:3).
Obedience to the Lord in fulfilling vows brings blessing both for the individual who fulfills them as well as for society as a whole. Hannah made a vow to God. By obediently fulfilling her vow, she built a family for herself and gave birth to a servant of giant proportions in the history of Israel.

Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 57–61.

Matt Hamrick

Scored the entire set for $335.58. This sat on my wishlist over $900 for a very long time. This deal was to big to pass up.

DAL

My advice to those who are still hesitating is: Get it! and if you don't like it return it, but as it is right now the price is cheaper for the entire old and New Testament set than just the New Testament alone at regular price. Don't pass up this great opportunity you will regret it -- heck, even those who bought it more expensive before the sale regret not waiting a little bit longer for such a great deal to come along. Sale ends May 9th!

DAL

Ronald Quick

You'll all be happy to know that I've talked my wife into letting me get the commentaries - of course that's all in my mind. Now I just have to actually talk to her about it.