Utumishi Blog

On the one hand:

Commentaries are works of men. When you read a commentary, you are simply reading what some man said about the text, that may or may not help in your study. If you forget that, you suffer the risk of confusion, error and lack of independence. “Second only to the fault of not doing adequate study is that of introducing into one’s preparation too soon the secondary resources. When used at the proper time they are indispensable, but if too early opened, they take over. They suppress and intimidate the preacher. After all, who is going to venture a thought or an interpretation when at the very same desk are six internationally known Bible scholars?” (Fred B. Craddock, Preaching, p. 106). You should not let commentators dictate to you what the text means. While commentators may help you see the text in accurate perspective, it is your task to conclude what the text is saying. (Warren Berkleys, ‘On the use of Bible commentaries’, Expository Files)

On the other hand, commentaries may be the works of godly, Spirit-filled men who have laboured hard at the text, are intimately familiar with the particular book, the Bible as a whole and with the original languages. The Spirit has given no single individual perfect, full illumination of the truth – no-one has every insight into the depths of the Word – but instead he has poured out his varied grace on the church corporately over the course of the last 2000 years. Hermeneutics, as many have noted, should be a communal/corporate/church activity. So to ignore (where it is avialble) the help of our brothers, near or far, living or dead, is a great waste of the Spirit’s work in the church and a form of pride.

The question is, how do you know which are the godly, Spirit-filled, helpful commentaries and which are the unhelpful ones? While reviews of commentaries should be treated with the same caution as commentaries themselves (fallible works of men), they can be really useful in pointing you away from the worst and towards the most tried and tested. Some useful sites:

• Best Commentaries – Great format site packed with helpful content and links. Compiles reviews from various sources and ranks commentaries for each Bible book. Carson’s commentary on John comes out top and that is a brilliant commentary so that bodes well for the rest of the recommendations! Their top 2 commentaries for each Bible book.
• D. A. Carson, New Testament Commentary Survery – Highly respected resource from a godly Bible scholar. Partial view on Google books here. And his list of best buys for each Bible book is here.
• The Good Book Company commentary list – A reliable list from people I know and trust. This one has the advantage that it is pitched at the ‘non-technical’ level. They are serious commentaries by serious scholars but you won’t need to know any Greek or Hebrew.
• Desiring God commentary list.
• Keith Mathison (Reformation Bible College) list of top 5 commentaries for each Bible book.