Joshua, Judges, Ruth

New International Biblical Commentary

by J. Gordon Harris, Michael S. Moore

The authors of this commentary take a canonical-historical approach to the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, three books that are diverse, yet share the common historical context of the tribal settlement of Canaan. They examine Joshua, Judges, and Ruth as narratives with dynamic theological messages about the dynamic relationship between God’s people and the powerful God who gives land and provides deliverers for the people. "The three commentaries in this volume will be of great help to laypeople, busy students, and pastors looking for simple, clear expositions of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth. They offer many valuable insights into individual passages as well as the overall messages of these books. The authors are informed biblical scholars who do not clutter their work with technical discussions only distantly related to the text's meaning. Their goal—of clarifying the original meaning of these important (yet often-neglected) books for today's readers-is admirably accomplished."
—David M Howard Jr., professor of Old Testament, Bethel Theological Seminary

Genres: Biblical Studies

398 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1995

Reviews

[David]

This is a solid commentary. It shouldn't be the only one you have, but I found it useful. It is definitely short and each passage only gets a few pages. Only the most pertinent issues get discussed. The volume is more pastoral and devotional than technical. I thought it was a helpful balance to some of my more technical commentaries.

[Ryan Rench]

I always read this one first, primarily because that's how it arrived in my flow of study. I like it equally with NAC, although this one probably nudges out NAC as my favorite because it is a touch more thorough (although I may only be saying that because I always read it first. Who knows?)

As with every commentary or book I read, I'll find my disagreements all throughout, but I enjoyed the history and other exegetical background info about Joshua, and this commentary never shied away from any tough subject. It dealt with every verse, and I appreciate that.

While Davis is still my favorite, this one easily earned a solid 4 stars.

[David Zimmerman]

Helpful, but not the best resource I found for any of the books it covers.