Pastor's Bookshelf: Matthew

Ben Witherington's Matthew commentary in the Smyth & Helwys series is pretty good. I used it for a paper it found it helpful. I've heard Carson's is good, but knowing Carson, it's probably more of a "Pontificatary" rather than a "commentary."

Scot,
The best commentary I've used, esp. in relation to preaching preparation, is easily Craig Keener's! His bold sub-headings could easily be your major teachings points in each sermon.

Mike, I thought of putting Keener's commentary up there. Two points: I prefer a commentary that organizes the thoughts by the author's thoughts instead of how that text can be used. Second, when Keener's points are not yours, then his commentary is diminished. Still, I have to agree with you: it is very useful.

And I admit to listing commentaries that are more exegesis focused than sermon focused.

I would hope that folk would give a close look to Dale Bruner's recently revised Matthew commentary, published by Eerdmans.

I've found Fredrick Dale Bruners commentary on Matthews to be a great aid in the classroom AND in the pulpit. It's 2 volumes and put out by Eerdmans, though not in one of their series. Though it is no longer in print in hardback, I would highly recommend it. I believe a similar commentary on John is due this or next year.

-jeremy

I think my comment got lost in no-man's-land. Anyway, I agree that Bruner's commentary does impose a bit of a thematic frame to Matthew, but I've found it useful in the classroom and pulpit. It's 2 volumes from Eerdmans, though not in one of their series. I would highly recommend it. A similar style commentary on John is due this or next year, I believe...

-jeremy

Bruner is on the top of my list.

I found Craig Blomberg's commentary (NAC series) very useful.

One thing about Matthew -- a lot of commentators try to find a way to weasel out of the Sermon on the Mount (e.g., it only applied to Jews under the law, or it will be the ethic of the Messianic kingdom). Blomberg's handling of it is both serious and sensitive.

I second the mention of Hauerwas' Brazos commentary. Although it's annoying sometimes because he is always on the soapbox for his perspective, there are some real gems in it.

I'm going to begin a series on commentaries for pastors, teachers, and those who want to study the New Testament.

So is the plan to work through the entire NT (she asks with hopeful anticipation)?

Here's a suggestion for pastors of churches large enough to make it feasible - consider a library with some selection of these kinds of resources available. Then when you encourage study for "growth" it is actually possible to follow through.

Good, I look forward to it.

Yes a church library. At least for those churches large enough to afford and use it. Does Willow have a library resource?

As a few others have mentioned, for theological as well as preaching/pastoral insight Hauerwas is great. When teaching through part of Matthew, I used it along side a more critical/exegetical commentary and found it very useful.

Willow has a nice library. Standard stuff. Lots of folks use it.

I brought it up of course because one of the largest barriers to study is money for the resources, pastors feel this pinch - and laypeople perhaps even more. It is also not exactly good stewardship of resources to have many books in a few houses seldom used.

Random thoughts.

How about Chad's question? Is the shorter version a good resource?

We just ordered the Bruner volume this week which I look forward to reading; I own Hagner and always use Davies/Allison when possible (I don't own it yet).

Great post, and I think this will be a really helpful series. Along this line, can any recommend some books on the Sermon on the Mount or a commentary that does an espcially good job with it? I recently memorized it and would like to study it further to help it sink it more...thanks!

I wish Gordon Fee had been one of my NT profs!

Davies and Allison in the ICC are fantastic. It's much easier to use than you would expect. I like the summaries that they have at the start of the section that covers the main points. It allows it to be used if you're in a hurry or just want a surface treatment (I teach children's sunday school and we have been going through sections of Matthew and I always refer to the commentary to do a quick check on the curriculum that we're using), and if you want to read to dig deeper the rest of the commentary awaits.

Craig Keener
Michael Green
Dick France

D.A. Carson (EBC)

Scot,

Two suggestions for your series. (Which I am really looking forward to!)

First, could you include how many volumes there are for each commentary you list? Knowing that Davies-Allison is 3 volumes and Hagner is 2 volumes whereas France is 1 volume would be extremely helpful for those of us on a small budget! (It might be helpful if you even just say in every list: "This is the one to get if you're on a tight budget.")

Also, could you include some further comments with your lists? Whether or not the commentary requires one have experience with NT Greek, whether a particular commentary is highly academic or highly pastoral (or some great combination of both!), etc.

Thanks in advance. As I said, I'm really looking forward to seeing this project take shape!

My current favorites are Keener and Bruner.

It's not an exegetical commentary by any stretch, but I think Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God taught me more about how to understand Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount than anything else I've ever read.

He gets to the heart of Jesus' teaching so beautifully. And as much as I love detailed exegetical commentaries, you often feel they miss the forest for the trees.