Best Commentaries sale: Great Idea, thanks, Faithlife!

hey, what a fun promotion, thank you! I see I own most, save for some Anchor Yale and NIV Application, will be considering a few of those, glad for that! I'm looking at adding to my Raymond Brown/Johannine volumes, and a couple others.

Everybody, Note: EBC Matthew (DA Carson) is the "old" version, not the updated one. I'm guessing that is likely the one "top rated" because the other is too new to qualify? Seems it would have made the cut, though.

Was hoping for Koester's Anchor/Yale Revelation commentary, but, though "top rated" in a sense, likely too new to make the cut...sadly. Patiently waiting on that one, for months now....:D

Dan

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Kevin A Lewis

What a brilliant idea - only problem is I already have most. Sigh

On a side note - If anyone sees any content problems on BestCommentaries - let me know - I can do something about that.

Shalom

Friedrich

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977037#Comment_977037

On a side note - If anyone sees any content problems on BestCommentaries - let me know - I can do something about that.

Not exactly sure to what you are referring, but when I went to the site and typed "Revelation" in the search box, several/most thumbnails seemed broken.

Jesse Blevins

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977044#Comment_977044

Will someone build a collection for these books? I would like to be able to search them first when doing exegetical study.

Chi Shun Cheung

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977049#Comment_977049

Logos, why is the BECNT (Baker Series) never on sale??!!!

It was not on the March Madness, and is not on this either when so many volumes are clearly in the top 5 at bestcommentaries.

John D Hudgins Jr

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977056#Comment_977056

The Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Wisdom and Psalms
has three in the top five as well. I will be waiting on these to go on sale someday hopefully!!!

Rayner

Please could somebody provide a link for this sale? I'm seeing some of the Anchor Yale volumes, but only when individually searching for them. I don't think they're yet appearing under the "sale" filter.

Mark Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977070#Comment_977070

https://www.logos.com/commentary-sale

Mark Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977073#Comment_977073

I'll add my thanks to FL for one of the best sales I think they've ever put together.

I picked up Child's epic commentary on Exodus. I'll be looking at some others, but am grateful i do have many already. 50% off is a great price for individual volumes.

Why no Baker Exegetical? Probably licensing/publisher permission. I'm sure FL would like to offer them. The volume(s) on Luke, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Peter (among others) are top notch.

Rayner

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977073#Comment_977073

https://www.logos.com/commentary-sale

Many thanks! Now to choose...

Veli Voipio

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977075#Comment_977075

I had two in my wish list. Thanks, logos!

When going through the list, looks like I have most of the best exegetical ones already.

Everett Headley

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977092#Comment_977092

Anyone see an expiration on the sale?

GaoLu

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977074#Comment_977074

Wish we had this long ago, but boy am I happy to see it now! I have most that I want, but will pick up a couple. A few years ago I would have bought the whole kit and caboodle.

Mark Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977074#Comment_977074

Could you expound a bit more on what makes this commentary worth the investment?

What Childs did with his Exodus commentary that was new in its time was to add sections that no other critical commentary included. These include a section that looks beyond the Old Testament context of the passage and examines the New Testament use of the text, a survey the history of interpretation (history of exegesis) of the text, and a section of theological reflection on the passage. His was a model of commentary writing, and others have followed his pattern to one extent or another since it was released.

Because Childs championed the canonical approach to interpreting scripture, his commentary, as a critical commentary should, deals with the literary and history of tradition questions, but he does not turn the commentary over to these issues. He evenhandedly deals with critical questions, but focuses on the text in its final form (The Old Testament Context he calls it). Some critical commentaries as you probably know are content to debate literary origins, adduce parallels to other ANE texts, or limit their discussion to form, literary, and historical matters, basically neglecting the meaning of the text. Childs does not do this. The text has meaning to the church in his mind, and that meaning must be brought out.

Today, other commentaries surpass Childs in some ways, which is why he is not at #1. However, I doubt you'll find a commentary on Exodus that adds all the features that Childs introduced, so it is still a valuable volume to own. I've had it in hardback for years, and am now glad to have it in Logos format.

I have not read or used his Isaiah commentary so cannot compare them.

Avi

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977173#Comment_977173

Thank you Faithlife! That's a great sale! [:D]

RRD

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977176#Comment_977176

Thank you Faithlife! That's a great sale!

Agree! [Y][Y]

Friedrich

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977173#Comment_977173

Could you expound a bit more on what makes this commentary worth the investment?

I have not read or used his Isaiah commentary so cannot compare them.

insightful, Mark, thank you.

Steven New

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977177#Comment_977177

I would love some suggestions of the best commentaries for each book in this sale. I would love to pick up a few for Old Testament and New Testament.

I would love something that presented all the different views and positions well and presents a fair discourse.

Chi Shun Cheung

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977189#Comment_977189

Steven,

Here are some of commentaries that are generally considered the best for the specific book, and some of the best written commentaries in general:

For the OT:

Genesis: WBC by Gordon Wenham

Proverbs: NICOT by Bruce Waltke

Isaiah: NICOT John Oswalt (Though J. A. Motyer is great as well)

For the NT:

Matthew: EBC by D. A. Carson

John: Pillar by D. A. Carson

Romans: NICNT by Douglas Moo

1 Corinthians: NICNT by Gordon Fee

Pastoral Epistles: WBC William D. Mounce

Kevin A Lewis

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977044#Comment_977044

Thanks for the response - I was thinking about the factual information. What you mention is more a website technical issue - however I have passed this on to the webmaster.

I hope to have feedback soon.

Thanks for your interest.

Regards Kevin

Steven New

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977194#Comment_977194

Thanks for the information Chi Shun Cheung. This is exactly what I need. I have to be selective of my commentaries because I am a student on a budget.

Francis

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977218#Comment_977218

Happy for others. Another great sale that I must, alas, let pass by me. No mon.

Mattillo

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977194#Comment_977194

I was hoping to complete my Ralph Davis collection but only his 2 Kings is in the top and not 1 Kings. I wonder how best commentaries can only rate half as in the top 5. Oh well

Chi Shun Cheung

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977314#Comment_977314

Haha, I though exactly the same

Simon’s Brother

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977314#Comment_977314

It is unfortunate Logos did not offer both volumes in the sale. The 1 Kings volume is the 7th highest ranked title on best commentaries for 1 & 2 Kings. It is understandable they get a different ranking as they are separate pieces of writing published 3 years apart. As separate works they have been reviewed separately and hence received different scores.

https://www.bestcommentaries.com/1-2-kings/

The scoring system on best commentaries works as follows; (source: https://www.bestcommentaries.com/about/)

Scoring Method

A numerical rating can never fully capture the value of a work. It is only included here as a guide to help students of the Scriptures know where to start.

The scoring algorithm is currently under development. Here are some of the criteria:

Average rating - ratings from users and journals are the starting point.
Total number of reviews - the more reviews a book receives and the more reviews submitted by a reviewer, the weight of those reviews will increase.
Internal modifier - for some reviewers, a behind-the-scenes modifier may be added that will give their reviews more or less weight. The reason for this is to be able to give more weight to credible academic sources that may not have many reviews.
Libraries - libraries are curated lists of books and being included in a library increases a book's overall rating

Right now the algorithm looks something like this:

score = (weighted average) + (# of times in a library / 10) + (# of overall reviews / 10).

The highest rated commentary in the entire database is currently Carson, Donald A. The Gospel According to John. PNTC. Eerdmans, 1990. with a computed score of 15.01. This score is converted to a 100 and then all other commentaries are averaged down from this work on a scale of 60-100.

Everett Headley

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977321#Comment_977321

When does this sale end?

Paul Caneparo

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977594#Comment_977594

When does this sale end?

End of May.

GaoLu

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977598#Comment_977598

That gives me a few more days to sit and stew and wait for my boat to come in. Problem with sitting is that the size of the purchase inevitably increases.

Bill Anderson

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977314#Comment_977314

I was hoping to complete my Ralph Davis collection but only his 2 Kings is in the top and not 1 Kings. I wonder how best commentaries can only rate half as in the top 5. Oh well

With dynamic pricing, it made more sense for me to buy the Reformed Commentary Bundle which included Ralph Davis' commentaries than to buy them from the best commentaries sale. The bundle included 1 Kings as well.

Paul

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977321#Comment_977321

Bestcommentaries.com score biases against newer commentaries, such as ZECNT and Story of God Commentary by Zondervan. This is especially problematic if the commentary was published within the last five years.

Simon’s Brother

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977666#Comment_977666

Bestcommentaries.com score biases against newer commentaries, such as ZECNT and Story of God Commentary by Zondervan. This is especially problematic if the commentary was published within the last five years.

All scoring systems that are subjective will have a bias of some sort. Thankful the sale and thankful for the Best Commentaries site despite the flaws in both that have been discussed in this thread.

Newer commentaries might miss out on this sale ( and a deserved ranking) but hopefully we will see them come up in another sale in the future and that Zondervan will participate with individual volumes of their commentaires along with Baker allowing BECNT individual volumes to be part of a future sale.

David Thomas

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977074#Comment_977074

Why no Baker Exegetical? Probably licensing/publisher permission. I'm sure FL would like to offer them. The volume(s) on Luke, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Peter (among others) are top notch.

I'm thinking (hoping) June would be a great month for Baker to be the Publisher of the Month [H][:D] But then August (back to school) would be a good time for Baker Academic and give my wallet a chance to catch up after a GREAT March Madness sale (prompted me to enter my first Logos payment plan ever), followed by this PHENOMENAL sale. An August Baker sale would surely help my dynamic pricing for a base package when L8 comes out [:P]

David Thomas

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977218#Comment_977218

Thanks for the information Chi Shun Cheung. This is exactly what I need. I have to be selective of my commentaries because I am a student on a budget.

As a student have you applied for academic discount? https://www.logos.com/academic-discount and the free academic basic library?https://www.logos.com/academic-basic

Also, check with your professors - some of mine REALLY prefer Technical Commentaries (see the check box for technical)

Darrell Tan

Just want to add my thanks to FL for this comprehensive offer!

Andrew Biddinger

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977947#Comment_977947

Such a great idea. Now, I just need a $20 off $100 coupon.

Steven New

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977738#Comment_977738

David, Thanks for the advice. I am looking into all my options.

I have been going to school at DTS, and they have a student package for Logos, but I am switching schools to SWBTS because I need a fully online degree since I live overseas.

I have been looking that the Logos 7 sales, and it is a big investment, but I can have similar benefits to what DTS provides, but I personally own them, not the school. If I do that I will probably go the Base Silver package route. However, I am also curious about the release of Logos 8. I am trying to decide if it will be better to wait for that, and if there will be a decent sell for those buying it when it is released.

I have looked at Faithlife connect, and honestly, since my library is small, it seems like a possible direction to go, however, $19.99 a month is a huge investment, and I don't care for some of the bonuses like faithlife TV. Honestly if they had a simple $8.99 start and then let you spend $5.00 more to get different upgrades, I would more than likely bite. If I could spend $19.99 and get the library from plus or even standard I would consider it. However I don't care for anything from Faithlife TV or the mobile Ed Courses.

They just really need an al carte subscription plan. 8.99 base. Library upgrade/TV upgrade/Mobile Ed Bonuses start at $4.99.

David Thomas

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/978167#Comment_978167

David, Thanks for the advice. I am looking into all my options.

I have been going to school at DTS, and they have a student package for Logos, but I am switching schools to SWBTS because I need a fully online degree since I live overseas.

Steven,

FWIW, the hint to check the "technical" box at BestCommentaries came from the Director of Distance Learning at MBTS. I tried to get the administration at MBTS to do a curated Logos Library like the one done for DTS. Doing my doctorate at Midwestern, I have found less than half my required texts available in Logos. However, the ebooks.Faithlife editions have provided MANY more of the Broadman/Holman texts (that I am able to read/notate/search in Logos).

Mark Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/978167#Comment_978167

However, I am also curious about the release of Logos 8.

There is nothing official being said about this, but we can be pretty sure the release will be in the fall of this year, based on the maturity of L7 and the normal upgrade cycle we've seen with Logos.

If you can wait to buy a base package, it might be good to wait (although the current discount is substantial). There will be new, and hopefully, better libraries for sale with the release of L8. The L7 libraries are miserably short on decent commentaries, and I hope FL will find a way to improve on them for L8.

With FL Connect you'll get an additional 5% discount on base packages, plus you won't need to buy the feature set as long as you stay subscribed. On a $1,000 library that extra 5% will save you $50 which is about 1/2 year subscription to FL Connect.

Kevin A Lewis

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/977044#Comment_977044

Not exactly sure to what you are referring, but when I went to the site and typed "Revelation" in the search box, several/most thumbnails seemed broken.

Hi all

This problem on BestCommentaries should now be fixed - due to the efforts of the webmaster.

Shalom

Friedrich

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/978681#Comment_978681

Not exactly sure to what you are referring, but when I went to the site and typed "Revelation" in the search box, several/most thumbnails seemed broken.

Hi all

This problem on BestCommentaries should now be fixed - due to the efforts of the webmaster.

Shalom

Many thanks to you . . . and the webmaster! [:)]