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Book Review – CBC Hosea (Richard Patterson)
Mar 1st
Introduction
Hosea was sent with a message of God’s undying love for his people, as well as a declaration of his unwavering standards. He portrays Israel as an unfaithful wife, as a harlot. They were covenant breakers, and their only hope lay in God’s redeeming love. Patterson also uses the introduction to explain some of the textual difficulties with the book of Hosea – there are many places where the correct translation is uncertain.
Commentary
For an overview of the format of this series, see my review of the volume on Malachi. I’ll just pick out a few points of interest. Patterson favours the view that Hosea married a woman with promiscuous tendencies – i.e. her adultery came later. Many of Patterson’s commentary sections are very New Testament focused – he is keen to show connections to the gospel and the Christian life.
Patterson shows how Israel’s infectious flirtation with Baal had spread everywhere, and though he must judge their waywardness, his love never fails. In one interesting hint about his end times theology, Patterson interprets the nation of Israel as still living in the “many days” of Hos 3:3-5 – they are back in their land, but without king, temple or sacrificial system. However, he is also quick to mention that the New Testament identifies Jesus as the promised heir to the throne.
His comments on Hos 6:1-3 are helpful in explaining the biblical significance of the “third day”. The subject of the end times again comes up in Hos 10:8, where Patterson ties it in with the teaching of Revelation on an end times tribulation.
Overall, this is another good introductory level commentary. It strikes a nice balance between illuminating the meaning of the text, and suggesting theological and practical applications.
Book Review – CBC Malachi (Andrew Hill)
Feb 14th
Introduction
Malachi writes to a tough audience – they are disillusioned, cynical, callous, dishonest, apathetic, doubting, sceptical, wicked. In their minds, God had failed his people. But he brings a simple message to them “I have always loved you”. Hill provides a very helpful timeline fitting together the post-exilic characters of Zerubbabel, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Esther, Ezra and Nehemiah. Hill’s analysis of the structure of Malachi is that it falls into a series of “disputations”.
Commentary
The format of the CBC series is as follows:
- A section (usually around half a chapter) of Scripture from the New Living Translation (NLT) version
- Some “Notes”, mainly explaining the meaning and background of key words or phrases. There are usually one or two notes per verse.
- A “Commentary” section which seeks to explain the overall message of the section, often with an emphasis on showing how it fits with similar teaching in other books of the Bible. Sometimes it focuses in on a single key concept found in the section, rather than trying to cover everything in the passage.
Each section of commentary concludes with a paragraph or two of application, such as key lessons on marriage from Mal 2:10-16, or how to live in the light of the Lord’s coming on Mal 3:13-4:3. He shows how the concept of “covenant” is important to Malachi (four covenants are mentioned: Abrahamic, Levite, marriage and Mosaic). In the section on Mal 1:6-2:9 he adds his voice to Robert Webber’s appeal that the modern church needs “worship education” – teaching on the history and theology of worship. It would be interesting to read Webber’s "Worship Old and New” to see exactly what his “nine proposals” are.
As with the others in this series, this serves as a helpful Bible study aid for those wanting to go deeper on the minor prophets. It gives you enough information to understand what is going on without getting bogged down in the fine points of exegesis. The commentary section may not always address the questions you might bring to the text, but is a profitable guide for exploring the theological themes raised throughout the book.
Book Review – CBC Zechariah (Andrew Hill)
Feb 10th
Introduction
Zechariah is one of the longer minor prophets, and despite being easy to date, offers a number of challenges to commentators due to the variety of hermeneutical approaches that could be taken to the visions and “proto-apocalyptic” material. Hill briefly describes four options (preterist, futurist, historicist and idealist), and in the commentary he (very) briefly summarises what the preterist and futurist interpretations of the passage in question are. He hints that he views many of these prophecies as having a dual fulfilment.
The introduction is slightly longer than some others in this series, allowing Hill to discuss the relationship of chapters 9-11 and 12-14 to the rest of the book. Hill considers it entirely plausible that they were written by Zechariah at a later stage of his life.
Zechariah and Haggai were prophesying in the same period, and while Haggai exhorted the people to rebuild the temple, Zechariah’s focus was on a call to repentance and spiritual renewal. His central theme is encouragement although the book also includes rebuke and exhortation. Zechariah’s theological concerns include right relationship with God, covenant renewal, social justice, restoration of divine presence and the enabling of the Spirit. Zechariah portrays God as a covenant-making and a covenant-keeping God.
Commentary
As promised in the introduction, Hill does not lay out a variety of possible interpretations of the visions in the first section of the book. Space would not permit it in a commentary series of this type in any case. Instead, he focuses on explaining the meaning of the Biblical text, and highlighting the key theological truths that come out of the passage. The brief sentences at the end of each section outlining the preterist and futurist views tend to leave you with more questions than answers.
In Zechariah the translation choices of the NLT often require a little more explanation in the commentary. For example, “I am jealous … with great jealousy” in Zech 1:14 is translated as “My love is passionate and strong”, or in Zech 1:6 the NLT smoothes over an ambiguity concerning who is speaking, which more literal translations such as the ESV retain. But the NLT does make the reader’s job a lot easier, particularly when dealing with the vivid imagery found in Zechariah.
In several places, Hill highlights messianic titles (e.g. ‘servant’, ‘branch’) and pictures (e.g. priest, king, shepherd), and shows the way in which Jesus fulfils them (at least partially) in his first advent and (eventually completely) in his second advent.
In the latter part of Zechariah (chapters 9 onwards), the centre of gravity shifts slightly, with the ‘Notes’ section more detailed, and the ‘Commentary’ section being used to pick out key theological or application points. So for example, the commentary section for chapter 12 only really touches on Zech 12:1 and Zech 12:10. Over the course of the book, these theological reflections manage to cover a broad range of topics, and do a good job of showing how Zechariah builds on the prophetic hope held forth by Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
Conclusion
Overall I found this a helpful guide to Zechariah’s message. One of the big strengths of the Cornerstone series is the attention to finding links with the message of other books, both in the Old and New Testaments. Hill may not have explained everything in Zechariah, but he has taken us a step in the right direction by connecting the main points of the prophet’s message with the big picture of the whole Bible’s teaching.
Book Review – CBC Haggai (Andrew Hill)
Jan 28th
Introduction
One nice feature of Haggai’s ministry is that it can be precisely dated and located in Israel’s history. Haggai was a herald sounding a wake-up call to a community that was spiritually asleep. In particular he wanted to stir them up to rebuild the temple. He emphasised the abiding presence of God’s Spirit. Some key themes of Haggai include:
- A call to reprioritize community life
- Reiteration of promises of blessing and restoration
- Ritual purity for priests and people – they are to be holy
- The prominence of the Davidic line
Commentary
As with all the commentaries in this series, the authors explain the meaning of a section, and then move to some quick, theological reflection, often linking in other parts of Scripture. So for example, Hill offers helpful comments on putting the significance of the temple into its proper place. He highlights how Haggai makes regular use of the name “Lord of Heaven’s Armies” for God.
On the second chapter, Hill shows how Haggai draws on themes from Ezekiel and Jeremiah’s prophecies in previous times, and overturns Jeremiah’s curse on the Davidic line (Jer 22:24-30), rekindling the messianic hopes that had been dashed by the Babylonian exile. He points out that though the second temple did not outstrip the glory of Solomon’s temple in terms of architectural magnificence, the real glory consists of God’s presence in and amongst his people.
Overall, this has been one of my favourite commentaries in this volume so far. Hill has made effective use of the short space available to make this a good companion to those wanting to do a brief study of Haggai.
Book Review – CBC Zephaniah (Richard Patterson)
Jan 26th
Introduction
Patterson identifies the Day of the Lord as the primary theme of Zephaniah. He dates it early in Josiah’s reign, at a time where there was much syncretism. Zephaniah writes not just to inform people about God’s future program, but to exhort them to surrender to God, to repent and seek him.
Commentary
On Zeph 1, Patterson explains that “the Day of the Lord” refers to that time when, for his glory and in accordance with his purposes, God intervenes in human affairs to execute judgment against sin and/or deliver his people. The people of Judah were behaving like pagans. Patterson sees a partial fulfilment of these prophecies in Jerusalem’s fall in 586BC, with other elements being fulfilled in various historical epochs (e.g. A.D. 70). Patterson draws out a challenge for Christians not to sit idly by as a lost world heads towards the day of the Lord.
Zeph 2 includes themes of a godly remnant, of judgment and hope, the seriousness of sin and the sovereignty of God. Much of the fault for the nations disobedience could be accounted to the leadership’s failure to encourage the fear of the Lord (Zeph 3:1-7).
Zeph 3:8-20 is a passage of hope for the remnant – God will deem his people’s punishment completed and bring them happiness as their ultimate good. I was somewhat surprised, and a little disappointed, to note that Patterson passes over Zeph 3:17 with barely any comment – a curious omission considering this is one of the most cherished verses in the Bible. Indeed, his comments on this section are more focused on the “divine shepherd”, but he fails to explain which verse(s) in particular he finds this motif in.
This is, I suppose, both a strength and weakness of the CBC series. It is brief enough to be useful to those without the time or inclination to engage with every exegetical option, and can be relied upon to provide some pertinent observations on the contemporary relevance of the major themes of the passage. However, its brevity means that several potentially fruitful theological avenues will inevitably be left unexplored.
Book Review – CBC Habakkuk (Richard Patterson)
Jan 22nd
Introduction
We know very little about Habakkuk. Patterson assumes a pre-exilic date, most likely during the reigns of either Josiah or Manasseh. The central theme of the book is faith, and we see how, despite how Habakkuk felt about the injustice he saw, he brought his doubts and perplexities to God in prayer and came to a place of trust.
Commentary
The “notes” sections serve as a way of highlighting exegetical issues, particularly the meaning of individual key words. Patterson feels free to disagree with the NLT translation. The “commentary” on each section always moves from summarising the meaning of the passage to drawing out a significant theological theme and discussing it in the light of other related Biblical passages.
A good example would be how he handles Hab 2:4, where he first explores the meaning of the verse in Habakkuk, explaining faithfulness as having both an active (truthfulness) and a passive (trustworthiness) sense. He then goes on to show how the different ways in which it is used in the New Testament (Rom 1:17 and Heb 10:35-39), as well as pointing out the way it references Gen 15:6.
because the believer is one in whom God’s righteous character has been reproduced, he can be expected to conduct himself in a manner consistent with his renewed being. … a genuinely righteous person will live out the faith in faithful activity
Patterson also highlights the different names that Habakkuk uses for God throughout the book, and how they mirror his journey from doubt to a confident faith that meant he could trust in the Lord through the coming hour of judgment and rejoice no matter what may happen.
Conclusion
These CBC commentaries serve as good companions to a Bible study, allowing you to get a good understanding of the meaning of the text as well as seeing how they fit into a wider theological picture. They help you to break out of the trap of just focusing on the famous verses, and getting a better grasp of the message of the whole book. Whilst the exegetical notes aren’t exhaustive, they are fairly thorough, meaning that you would only need to go for a more technical commentary if you were doing more in-depth study on the book.
Book Review – CBC Nahum (Richard Patterson)
Jan 19th
This is another commentary contained within Volume 10 of the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary. See my review of Andrew Hill’s Commentary on Micah for my thoughts on the layout of this commentary series.
Introduction
Nahum’s main message is the impending doom of wicked Nineveh. We know very little of who Nahum is, but Patterson tentatively places him at a time when Israel were reduced to Assyrian vassalage during the reign of evil king Manasseh. Despite the predicament they find themselves in, Nahum believes in God who is still sovereign over the nations, and faithful to his covenant promises. Nahum portrays God as the “divine warrior”, who subdues nature and his enemies, while protecting his own people.
Commentary
On Nahum 1, a strong emphasis is placed on God’s sovereignty over the nations, his omnipotence and his justice. Nahum chapters 2 and 3 are focused more on the destruction of Nineveh. A lot of translation notes are provided explaining the difficulties determining the exact meaning of many of the verses. The included NLT translation smoothes over most of these difficulties. Enough historical and geographical information is given to help make sense of much of the imagery, including some historical details on the savage brutality and treachery of the Assyrian empire.
Despite the bleakness of much of Nahum’s prophecy, Patterson does manage to find some fruitful avenues for application including reflections on the justice of God and sovereignty of God, as well as the need to work to transform the evil within our society. As with the other volumes in this series, he willingly draws on other parts of the Bible to help shed light on the message of Nahum.
Conclusion
I appreciated the way this brief commentary helped me get a solid understanding of Nahum’s main message and put it into some sort of historical context. The way he ties in themes from Nahum with other Biblical passages is also very helpful for those who, like me, have always found Nahum a difficult book to “get anything out of”.
Book Review – CBC Micah (Andrew Hill)
Jan 12th
Cornerstone Biblical Commentary Series
The Cornerstone Biblical Commentary series is relatively new, but already over half the volumes have been published. Eventually there will be 12 volumes covering the Old Testament, and eight covering the New. Most of the contributors have written more technical commentaries on the same or related books, but this series is aimed at the pastor and layperson. Each commentary features the text of the New Living Translation in full.
Each section of Scripture is then followed by a few pages of “notes”, often explaining the meaning or significance of a single word or phrase. After that follows the “commentary” itself, which consists mainly of a summary of the main emphasis of the passage in question. The commentators have a conviction of the unity of the Bible and that the whole of Scripture is God’s word, so often in this section, teaching from other parts of the Bible will be brought in to help clarify various themes.
The commentary on Micah is contained in Volume 10, which consists of commentaries on each of the 12 minor prophets, some authored by Andrew Hill, and the others by Richard Patterson. This 650 page volume represents a cost-effective way to get hold of a basic commentary on each of the minor prophets. Rather than waiting until I have read all 12 commentaries, I will review each of them as and when I finish them.
Introduction to Micah
The brief introduction covers all the bases of introducing us to when and where Micah prophesied, what the political situation was, and what little we know of Micah from the rest of Scripture. Assyria was emerging as a super-power at the time, and Hill sees the book of Micah as essentially a collection of prophetic sermons. He sees a recurring structure to the book of several pronouncements of doom, each followed up by a brief message of hope. The doom is judgement, and the hope is restoration, but the main character in both cases is Yahweh, the covenant God who jealously guards his relationship with his special possession, Israel, and will tolerate no idolatry.
Commentary
In some ways the New Living Translation itself functions as a commentary, with the translators feeling free to insert some explanatory phrases. For example, Micah 1:5 in the ESV reads:
All this is for the transgression of Jacob
and for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob?
Is it not Samaria?
And what is the high place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
while the NLT makes this of it:
And why is this happening?
Because of the rebellion of Israel—
yes, the sins of the whole nation.
Who is to blame for Israel’s rebellion?
Samaria, its capital city!
Where is the center of idolatry in Judah?
In Jerusalem, its capital!
The translators help us out by turning Jacob into Israel, and explaining that Samaria here is a capital city, not a region. In fact, throughout the commentary I noticed many places in which the NLT helps you out with its translation. While I do prefer a more literal translation generally, it is in Old Testament prophetic books like Micah that the strengths of the NLT really shine through, as they often require a lot of background information to fully appreciate the meaning.
Micah 1:10-15 contains several puns on the names of various towns, so Hill has included a very clever poem by Peterson, which changes the names of the towns to make the puns work in English. It brings a lot of clarity to what otherwise would seem like an arbitrary list of places and comments.
As he moves through each section of the prophecy, Hill will often pick out a theme for application or theological reflection, such as covetousness in Micah 2:1-5, and the concept of a remnant in Micah 2:12-13. These effectively function as hints for preachers for ways they could apply the message of Micah to their congregations.
Both in the “notes” (for exegesis) and “commentary” (for exposition) sections, Hill often draws on the insights of other commentators. The notes section usually give an even covering of the text, picking up on words and phrases from most verses, but the commentary section is not always so thorough. For example, commenting on Micah 3, Hill chooses to use all the space for a discussion of the revelation of the Trinity in the Old Testament, prompted by the mention of the Spirit in Micah 3:8.
He detects a liturgical hymn in chapter 7, and explains the difference between a lamentation (an expression of grief over a calamity that cannot be reversed), and a lament (an appeal to God’s compassion for the purpose of changing a desperate situation for the better), and shows how an appreciation of the various elements of the lament tradition would be beneficial for us today.
Conclusion
Like many of the Old Testament prophetic books, Micah is known mainly for a couple of ‘famous’ verses (Micah 6:8 and Micah 5:2). Hill’s commentary provides an accessible way to get a bigger picture of Micah’s message. The NLT translation helps the reader to see the flow and cohesiveness of the prophecy in a way that many readers would miss in a more literal translation.
The “notes” section might be skipped over by some readers, as it may seem like a disjointed collection of exegetical trivia, but on the other hand, for those studying a passage, it provides a lot of useful information.
The “commentary” section, on the other hand, gives a helpful overview of the main message of Micah as well as some good practical application and theological reflection, and could provide a useful starting point for preparing a sermon, although given the limited space, will not necessarily address all the questions you might bring to the text.
I’m looking forward to reading several of the other commentaries in this volume, as I think it strikes a nice balance, and has been a good companion to my daily reading of Scripture.
Book Review – CBC Joel (Richard Patterson)
Mar 4th
Posted by Mark Heath in Book Reviews
No comments
Introduction
The primary theme of Joel is the day of the Lord, with a secondary theme of repentance. Patterson tentatively leans towards a pre-exilic date.
Commentary
God’s people had become obsessed with the pursuit of pleasure, and times of ease had resulted in spiritual and moral lethargy. Their spiritual service had degenerated into meaningless theology. Into this context, Joel urged people to follow his example in fasting and pleading with God. Patterson understands Joel 1 as a literal locust invasion which Joel takes as a harbinger of the day of the Lord.
As with other commentaries in the series, the teaching of Joel is connected to the rest of the Bible, and Patterson has a strong emphasis on the importance of a consistent personal prayer life, and stresses the need for regular confession of sin.
On the prophecy of the outpoured Spirit (Joel 2:28-32), Patterson sees Joel’s prophecy as being fulfilled in four stages – Pentecost, the Preset Age, the End of the Age and the Second Advent. He focuses on explaining the prophetic significance of the three major feasts Passover, Pentecost and Shelters.
On Joel 3:1-8 he lists some of the historical defeats that the nations warned of judgement suffered. He also, as in his Hosea commentary, draws out some end times implications without managing to fully nail his colours to the mast. He hints at a belief in an end times battle near Jerusalem, and talks about “Zion theology” which is “integral to NT eschatology”. Probably the limited space available and the desire of the editors not to favour one end times view above the others explains the lack of clarity.