Summary
We find Woods’s work on Numbers in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries series a steady guide for understanding what the text says and what it means. It keeps the main line of the book clear, while still slowing down over the points that often trip us up in preaching and teaching.
The best of this kind of commentary is its balance. We are given enough orientation to read Numbers responsibly, then we are brought back to the passage itself, section by section, with an eye on the theological stakes and the shape of the argument.
Why Should I Own This Commentary?
We should own this volume when we need a clear mid level guide that is both teachable and usable. It supports our movement from careful exegesis toward proclamation, and it helps us avoid both thin readings and needless complexity.
We especially appreciate the way it highlights recurring themes and repeated words, helping us preach paragraphs rather than isolated phrases. It also tends to keep application tethered to the text, which is a gift when Numbers is familiar and we are tempted toward shortcuts.
In practice, it sits well alongside a more technical commentary. We can do our heavier lifting elsewhere when needed, then return here for clarity, theological orientation, and a steady sense of what we should say to the church from Numbers.
Closing Recommendation
We recommend this as a strong mid level commentary for preaching and teaching Numbers. It will not answer every specialist question, but it consistently helps us handle the text with integrity and bring its truth to bear on the people entrusted to us.
As pastoral next steps, we can visit the Bible Book Overview, browse Top Recommendations, and use the Reformed Commentary Index to build a wiser working library.
Edward J. Woods
Edward J. Woods is a contemporary Bible teacher writing from a broadly evangelical tradition, with a gift for making Deuteronomy’s pastoral force clear to ordinary readers.
Deuteronomy is not simply a law code but Moses’s preached covenant appeal, calling a redeemed people to love the Lord with whole heart obedience. Woods helps readers follow the book’s movement, showing how doctrine, worship, and daily life are bound together, and how the repeated call to remember guards the church from drifting into forgetfulness and compromise.
He is valued for clarity, steady focus on the text’s main line, and application that aims at covenant faithfulness rather than moralism. Recommended titles include Deuteronomy in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, his teaching resources on the Pentateuch, and his writing that brings the storyline of redemption into view from Moses to Christ.
Theological Perspective: Broadly Evangelical