Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Scot McKnight reviews Joel Marcus' Mark Commentary

Over on Christianity Today's Books & Culture, Scot McKnight gives a glowing review Of Joel Marcus' second volume Mark commentary (Mark 8-16) in the Yale Anchor Bible Series.

First off, the review is splendid. McKnight is one of the finest writers going today. He makes me want to purchase this commentary RIGHT NOW! Secondly, he opens with a confession about his own struggles in writing a commentary. Apparently, he was originally slated to write the one for Matthew in the NICNT series, a void R.T. France more than admirably filled, in what is to my mind, the most interesting commentary I have had the privilege of working through. He since has completed the one for James in the aforementioned series, and I'm sure it will be well worth consulting when it is released next year.

Lastly, even though he praises Marcus' commentary, he still insists that Marcus' effort should be read in conjunction with Evans (WBC), France (NICGNT), and Stein (BECNT), among others, insisting that we need to listen to a 'cacophony of voices.' I like his suggestion as well to read commentaries in the order that they were published, so readers can get a feel for the advancements that have been made in the area of exegesis.

Do yourself a favor, take the time and read this review.

1 comment:

Sean said...

I'm so glad that I've found another advocate of reading commentaries in their publication order. This has bee a helpful exercise with my study of Philippians. I have not read all of them, but started with Vincent and am now working my way up to Reumann, and learning so much as the field develops and as scholarship advances. So thanks for that!