The New Testament Commentary Guide: A Brief Handbook for Students and Pastors

by Nijay K. Gupta

An indispensable map to the often intimidating world of biblical commentaries.
For many beginning students of the New Testament, looking for a commentary seems like a simple identify the book you're studying, search for a commentary, and pick one. However, the reality is far from simple. With new commentaries being published every year on every book of the Bible, the student of Scripture can quickly become overwhelmed with an inexhaustible amount of resources. What is the student to do?
In this short, accessible resource, Nijay Gupta helps beginning Bible students understand the various available commentaries--their strengths, unique contributions, and ultimately, how to use them. Through The New Testament Commentary Guide , readers will understand how to incorporate commentaries into their learning and be enriched in their study of the Bible.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies

136 pages, Paperback

Published October 7, 2020

About the author

Nijay K. Gupta is Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary. He has written or edited more than twenty books and has published dozens of academic articles. He is an award-winning researcher and a member of the Society of New Testament Studies.

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very helpful commentary referral resource from a moderate evangelical perspective (as compared with conservative and reformed as one will find in New Testament Commentary Survey, D.A Carson's similar work) while not ignoring other perspectives (every major commentary series is represented).

Gupta is especially keen to promote volumes from women and non-white scholars. It is obvious that Gupta likes Keener, McKnight, Garland, Fee, Timothy Johnson and Dunn (as do I!), reflecting his moderate evangelical background. He is very aware of British scholarship and many "hidden gems" along the way.

Perhaps the biggest snub is Thomas Schreiner's "Romans" in the BECNT, which is sure to invoke the ire of many a Southern Baptist! One error was that he ascribes the BST Hebrews volume to the influential Catholic scholar Raymond Brown, when a different Raymond Brown wrote it!

My only criticism is that dates of when commentaries were published is not provided, which seems like a glaring omission. Other than that, this is an exceptional volume to be highly recommended to every student and pastor. I hope it gets updated and expanded for years to come!

[Jimmy Reagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always enjoyed these books that help us by ranking the best commentaries among the nearly endless options available. Here Nijay Gupta throws his hat in the ring and offers up his choices. Of necessity, this type book is going to work best for you the better you line up with the one doing the ranking.

To be sure, I don’t align with Gupta as much as others with similar offerings. I simply wouldn’t choose many of his top choices and am baffled by some of his omissions. If you were a bit less conservative than me, he would likely fall right in line for you. I also feel his selections are more apropos for scholars than pastors though he attempts to offer advise to both.

The best value here for me is at the margins. I like to have a few works outside my box, and he offers real help in making those selections. A few recommendations he provided were totally off my radar and gave me a few good ideas for future selections.

If all such books were of the same stripe, you really couldn’t find much value in multiple authors recommending. It’s where disagreements arise that having a few of these type books on hand could help you.

I like the format more than the selections. That style of presentation makes a clearer case for what he’s suggesting than many such formats.

Commentaries cost a fortune, so some evaluations are needed. Let this title be one such evaluation.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

[CLane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nijay Gupta perpetuates his prolific publishing production of 2019-20 with The New Testament Commentary Guide: A Brief Handbook for Students and Pastors. In this handbook, Gupta offers students, pastors, and laypeople, alike, a welcomed, accessible resource for entering and navigating the landscape of New Testament commentaries. As an author, Gupta has proven himself to be well equipped for the task of such a work, demonstrating sensitivity to linguistic and theological discussions (Cf. Worship that Makes Sense to Paul: A New Approach to the Theology and Ethics of Paul's Cultic Metaphors; Paul and the Language of Faith; Reading Philippians: A Theological Introduction), an understanding of the broad discussions in NT scholarship (Cf. A Beginner's Guide to NT Studies; The State of NT Studies), and proficiency in commentary writing (Cf. the third appendix of this book which lists the five commentaries authored or co-authored by Gupta, not the least of which is his 1-2 Thessalonians volume in the Zondervan Critical Introductions to the New Testament series).

The contents of this work are straightforward and a glance at its table of contents (see attached picture) will allow prospective readers a good idea as to what they might expect. Gupta begins the work with a handful of brief, introductory discussions surrounding commentaries, the genre, and how one might orient themselves to the various forms a commentary might take. Much of this information is aimed at those who might be new to utilizing commentaries, but comments/discussions which seem to be less frequently found in introductions to the genre are also present, e.g., the use of commentaries in one's devotional life or the juxtaposition of commentaries and study bibles.

The remaining portion of the book's first section is dedicated to introducing the reader to strategically selected commentary series. These overviews are economical, providing the reader with each series' editor(s), approximately a paragraph describing what one might expect of a given series, and, in short order, they lastly inform the reader as to the series’ "Level" (i.e. "technical," "semi-technical," "non-technical"), "Theological Orientation" (e.g. "confessional," "mainline," "liberal," "broadly evangelical," "conservative evangelical," etc.), "Methods" (e.g. "literary," "theological," "historical," "close analysis of the Greek text," "historical-critical," etc.), "Pricing," and any brief notes that Gupta feels would be helpful to orient the reader to the series.
The second section, comprising the majority of this handbook, is where Gupta provides his personal recommendations for each NT book. Gupta's various commentary recommendations are listed under one of the following four categories, each described at the outset of the section: "Technical," "Semi-Technical," "Non-Technical," and "Hidden Gems." At the end of this section, Gupta includes a helpful list of commentaries authored by women and BIPOC,* though, without commenting on any of the individual volumes–some of which appear elsewhere in the work while others appear only here. This latter section, save the last sub-section concerning diversity among commentary authorship, is reproduced in the first appendix in an abridged fashion. In the last two Appendices, respectively, Gupta lists his recommendations for a few French and German commentary series as well as commentators, and, lastly, a list of the commentaries Gupta, himself, has authored is accompanied by brief descriptions.

Overall, Gupta has compiled lists that should prove beneficial to any reader, whether it be for a layperson orientating themselves to this niche genre, a scholar searching for commentaries outside of their scope of specialty, or anyone in between. The work is succinct–120 pages in all–and feels more user friendly than Carson's New Testament Commentary Survey. In fact, along with the latter work by Carson, Gupta points the reader to other helpful works and websites to reference when approaching commentaries and, at times, situates his own book amongst these few resources (36, 114). For instance, concerning Carson, Gupta writes, "Carson has a career’s experience and knowledge behind his work, which is valuable, but I often disagree with him on assessments of various commentaries" (36). Thus, there is ample reason to give Gupta’s Guide its due voice alongside Carson’s Survey or the other recommended resources.

Aside from its user-friendly format and concision, this book is also to be commended for an underlying emphasis that introduces its more uninitiated audience to the advantage of availing oneself of various perspectives and interpretive approaches. To offer one instance of the former point, i.e. other perspectives:

"You might naturally pick a series or author to read because you agree with their work. That’s normal and fine. But it is important to read commentary writers who are outside of your preferred tradition. They will see things in a different way and open your eyes to different aspects of interpretation. This is true also when it comes to reading commentaries written by authors who live in Africa, Asia, or Latin America (see the section in this book on commentaries by women and people of color). The perspective of another person, especially outside of your culture, can illuminate your interpretation of Scripture" (5).

The reader should note that one potential limitation of a work of this nature is the scope inherent in the project, which Gupta not only alludes to in the title but acknowledges within (40). The present, apparent focus on modern commentary series (cf. 9) necessarily leads to the omission of some authors, works, and/or series which do not fall within these parameters. The unfortunate result is that the readership who is less familiar with the breadth of available commentaries might remain unaware of some helpful and important works. Gupta's recommendations for works on Romans serves as an example. In one instance, readers may be left unaware of series consisting of non-contemporary commentaries such as those penned by Calvin or those found in the Fathers of the Church series. Alternatively, the non-inclusion of works not found in series means that there was no mention of Luther’s, Käsemann's, or Karl Barth's commentaries on Romans nor Daniel Patte's Romans: Three Exegetical Interpretations and the History of Receptions. To be fair, Käsemann (though not his Romans commentary) is listed in Gupta's Appendix of German commentators and Patte's work is still awaiting two further volumes for the completion of this trilogy. Though considering the commentary recommendations for Romans as the representative example is surely working with a skewed sample, it suffices to make a more general point. So, let the reader heed Gupta's explicit statement that his intent is not to be comprehensive (cf. p.40); in a project where such comprehensiveness is an unfair expectation, let the present opinion be proposed (and read!) with a healthy dose of understanding and charity. Despite this limitation, this remains a great reference to have on hand.

Gupta's The New Testament Commentary Guide: A Brief Handbook for Students and Pastors is a resource recommended to all. Between the generous list of commentary series treated in the first section and the "cheat sheets" that allow the reader to see which volumes Gupta recommends for each NT book as well as those volumes authored by women and BIPOC in the second section, this volume is a worthwhile investment, costing a mere fraction of a single commentary volume.

Note: I received a review copy of this book for free, but a positive review was neither requested nor required.

*Similar lists may be found at https://www.bestcommentaries.com/libr... & https://www.bestcommentaries.com/libr... HT James P. Davies (@JamiePDavies; https://twitter.com/JamiePDavies/stat...). Note that Lidija Novakovic's Philippians & two John volumes in the Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament Series should be added to all of the lists under discussion (Cf. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/cruxsol...).

[Logan Carrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This resource is a fantastic tool for any pastor, student, or Christian desiring to learn more about commentary use. I feel like it is an essential tool from a renowned New Testament scholar who has much to offer biblical scholarship. If you have a tough time knowing which commentaries are worth looking at, this is the perfect resource. My only negative thing to say is I am disappointed there is not yet a similar resource for Old Testament commentaries. I hope Lexham Press is working on that!
*The publisher gave me a free copy of the book and did not require me to write a positive review

[Marc Axelrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gupta categorizes commentaries as either technical, semi technical, or non-technical, and he has a category of hidden gems where he recommends commentaries that are either hard to find or books that are not strictly classified as commentary, but worth tracking down if you can get them.

He tries to recommend one commentary in each category, but I think sometimes he recommends more than one.

He’s a big fan of Craig Keener, David Garland, F.F Bruce, R.T France, Luke Timothy Johnson and Scott McKnight. These are wonderful scholars. A couple of them have been promoted into glory.

Gupta seems to have a preference for Pauline commentators who teach the new perspective on Paul as opposed to the traditional reformed/Lutheran position on Paul, so he really likes James Dunn. But thankfully, he does not ignore important commentaries from Reformed scholars. Or liberal scholars for that matter.

Occasionally Gupta recommends a commentary that I would not have recommended myself, such as Joel Green on the Gospel of Luke, Attridge on Hebrews, Brown on John (he doesn’t recommend commentaries before 1980, and yet he recommends Brown from the 1960s as his first choice), Keener on Acts (it’s amazing, but it is 4 volumes and costs almost $150, what about Schnabel?), Dunn on Romans, Gaventa on 1,2 Thessalonians, Achtemeier on 1 Peter, Green on 1 Peter)

Generally speaking, except with the recommendation for Joel Green on Luke, I think Gupta did a very good job with his recommendations on commentaries for the Gospels.

I appreciated the closing section on commentators who are women or people of color.

This is a very good book to have in the library.

[Thomas Creedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting short book, though with some interesting omissions. Echoing the fact it's written by a scholar, it leans towards the post-grad end of 'students' and the more theologically educated end of 'pastors' - but as a guide to the larger series it's quite useful.

I hope to see a second edition which rounds out the mid-level (E.g. Tyndale, CCF, KEL, ESVEC) and explains the oft-ignored-but-occasionaly-excellent exposition/preaching commentaries (E.g. BST, PTW, NTFE, etc).

[Alex Connell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm no expert on the subject, which is why I grabbed this little book. Gupta does a great job of explaining what he likes and finds valuable about various commentaries and sets of commentaries. I appreciated many of his notes, specifically though paying attention to authorship question on some of the epistles.

And I was able to add a number of new commentaries to my "to get" list. This is a helpful volume for both students and pastors (of which I am both).

[Matthew C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief guide to some of the most helpful NT commentaries, delineated into three categories (technical, semi-technical, and non-technical). I would have appreciated some more depth, but as a quick reference it will help guide future purchases.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent guide to buying and reading biblical commentaries.

[Colby McAnally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful for the Bible student seeking to get a handle on the sea of commentaries at their disposal. Offers something different, both in perspective and in content, from Carson’s earlier work. Would recommend using both Carson and Gupta concurrently in evaluating commentaries for purchase.