James McKeown

James McKeown is a Northern Irish Old Testament scholar of the contemporary evangelical tradition, committed to careful exegesis and confessional faith.

He has contributed significantly through commentaries on Genesis and Ruth, along with teaching and research in Hebrew narrative and theology. His work pays close attention to literary structure, historical context, and theological coherence, helping readers grasp the message of the text within the wider canon.

McKeown is valued for measured judgement and steady exposition. He combines scholarly precision with pastoral awareness, offering guidance that serves both the academy and the local church without sacrificing doctrinal seriousness.

Theological Perspective: Broadly Evangelical

James McKeown

James McKeown is a Northern Irish Old Testament scholar of the contemporary evangelical tradition, committed to careful exegesis and confessional faith.

He has contributed significantly through commentaries on Genesis and Ruth, along with teaching and research in Hebrew narrative and theology. His work pays close attention to literary structure, historical context, and theological coherence, helping readers grasp the message of the text within the wider canon.

McKeown is valued for measured judgement and steady exposition. He combines scholarly precision with pastoral awareness, offering guidance that serves both the academy and the local church without sacrificing doctrinal seriousness.

Theological Perspective: Broadly Evangelical

James McKeown

James McKeown

James McKeown is a Northern Irish Old Testament scholar of the contemporary evangelical tradition, committed to careful exegesis and confessional faith.

He has contributed significantly through commentaries on Genesis and Ruth, along with teaching and research in Hebrew narrative and theology. His work pays close attention to literary structure, historical context, and theological coherence, helping readers grasp the message of the text within the wider canon.

McKeown is valued for measured judgement and steady exposition. He combines scholarly precision with pastoral awareness, offering guidance that serves both the academy and the local church without sacrificing doctrinal seriousness.

Theological Perspective: Broadly Evangelical

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Ruth

Mid-levelBusy pastorsStrong recommendation
8.1
Author: James McKeown
Series: Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary
Type: Exegetical (Technical)
Publisher: Eerdmans
Theological Perspective: Broadly Evangelical
Resource Type: Commentary

Summary

Ruth is short, but it is not small. It is a carefully told story of loss and loyalty, providence and kindness, and the quiet faithfulness of God in ordinary life. In the Two Horizons approach, this volume aims to keep the story intact while also drawing out the theological weight that Ruth carries within the canon. We found that combination particularly fitting here, because Ruth can be sentimentalised, and it can also be flattened into mere moral example. This series encourages a richer reading.

The commentary helps us notice the narrative craft, the movement from famine to fullness, from emptiness to restoration, and the way the book uses repeated words and scenes to show the Lord at work. It pays attention to the social and covenant context, so that actions like gleaning, redemption, and covenant loyalty are understood as more than cultural colour. They are part of how Scripture teaches us about God and His people.

We also appreciated the canonical sensitivity. Ruth sits in a dark period, and its light matters. It pushes hope forward, showing that the Lord is preserving a line and a people, even when the wider story looks bleak. The theology is not forced, it grows naturally from the way the narrative is told.

Strengths

We value the way the commentary resists sentimental preaching. Ruth is tender, but it is also realistic about grief, hunger, risk, and vulnerability. A commentary that helps us preach both the gentleness and the grit is a gift to the church.

The volume also helps us see the moral beauty of covenant loyalty without turning the book into a mere lesson in niceness. Kindness in Ruth is costly and faithful, shaped by the fear of the Lord. That framework guards application from becoming thin.

We also appreciated the theological reflection on providence. Ruth does not present miracles, it presents ordinary events that are guided by an extraordinary God. The commentary encourages preaching that strengthens confidence in the Lord who works through daily faithfulness and hidden arrangements.

Limitations

Because Ruth is brief, some pastors may want more help with sermon shaping than a volume like this always provides. The Two Horizons style can give rich theological insight, but it may not always translate into immediate preaching outlines.

In a book that naturally invites Christward connection, readers may want more direct help with how to preach fulfilment responsibly. The commentary supports canonical reading, but the preacher still needs to make the gospel connection with clarity and restraint.

How We Would Use It

We would use this volume to plan a short series and to protect our preaching from two common errors, sentimentality and moralism. It can help us preach Ruth as a story of the Lord who keeps covenant love, sustains the vulnerable, and provides redemption within His people.

To test it quickly, we would read its treatment of Ruth and Boaz meeting in the field. We would ask whether it explains the scene in context, whether it draws out theological meaning without speculation, and whether it equips us to apply the text with both tenderness and truth.

We would also pair it with a practical preaching aid for illustration and pastoral application, especially if the congregation includes many who are walking through grief. Ruth demands both careful interpretation and gentle shepherding.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend this volume as a thoughtful companion for preaching Ruth, especially for pastors who want to keep the story intact while drawing out its theological depth. It is a strong help for reading Ruth with reverence, realism, and hope.

Genesis

AdvancedBusy pastorsUseful supplement
7.9
Author: James McKeown
Series: Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary
Type: Exegetical (Technical)
Publisher: Eerdmans
Theological Perspective: Broadly Evangelical
Resource Type: Commentary

Summary

Genesis is the book of beginnings, not only for the world, but for the people of God and the shape of biblical faith. This volume sits within the Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary, so it aims to do more than explain the text, it seeks to bring exegesis and theology into a single act of listening. We are helped to keep our feet in the narrative while also tracing the doctrinal weight that presses out from it.

We found the commentary most useful when it slows us down enough to read Genesis as crafted Scripture, not as a set of detached episodes. The early chapters are handled with attention to their inner logic and their theological claim. From there, the patriarchal narratives are treated as a sustained story of promise, faith, and providence, rather than as moralised portraits. The result is a reading that invites preachers to preach the text as covenant history that reveals the living God.

The work also encourages us to keep the whole book in view. Genesis is not merely a preface to the rest of the Bible, it is already a theological world, with themes of creation, blessing, curse, seed, land, and family that echo through Scripture. We appreciated the way the volume repeatedly returns to those threads, then helps us ask how they shape preaching that is both faithful to Genesis and alert to the wider canon.

Strengths

We value the way the commentary keeps the narrative moving. Genesis can tempt us into over focusing on details while losing the flow of the story. Here, the big turns of the book are kept in front of us, so the preacher can see where a passage sits in the larger argument, and why it matters.

There is also a welcome insistence that theology must arise from the text. The best parts of the volume model a steady movement from literary and contextual observation into doctrinal reflection. That is particularly helpful in Genesis, where the foundational themes can become slogans if they are not anchored to the actual scenes, speeches, and patterns of the narrative.

Pastorally, the commentary tends to encourage patience. It helps us sit with unresolved tensions, such as the persistence of sin after judgement, the mixture of faith and fear in the patriarchs, and the often hidden providence of God. That tone serves preaching well because Genesis does not rush to tidy endings, it teaches the church to trust the God who keeps His promises across generations.

Limitations

This style of commentary can require time. It is less suited to last minute sermon preparation and more suited to careful planning, because it asks the reader to engage both the text and the theological questions that emerge from it.

At points, readers may wish for a more direct line into sermon shaping. The theological reflection is often stimulating, but it may need translation into simpler, more immediate preaching language. We also found that some discussions can feel dense, so a busy pastor may need to use it selectively rather than cover to cover.

How We Would Use It

We would use this volume early in a preaching series, when we are building our map of Genesis and deciding what to emphasise across the whole book. It can help us see the narrative arcs and the theological load bearing beams, which makes weekly work steadier and less reactive.

For a quick test of a section, we would read the commentary on one paragraph we know well, then ask whether it clarifies the flow of thought, whether it keeps the passage in its immediate context, and whether the theological conclusions feel text driven rather than imported. If those three tests are met, we can lean on it with confidence.

We would also pair it with a more streamlined preaching commentary when time is tight. Let this series do the deep work of conceptual clarity, then let a more concise resource assist with structure and application.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend this as a serious companion for preaching Genesis, especially for pastors who want their theology to be built from careful reading of the narrative. It will reward those who read slowly and think hard, and it can help keep sermons both text faithful and theologically substantial.