New Interpreter's Bible

We recognise the New Interpreter’s Bible as a major multi volume reference set designed for ministers, teachers, and serious church readers. It aims to combine exegesis, theological reflection, and preaching helps in a single place.

The series draws on a wide range of contributors, and that breadth brings both strength and risk. At its best it offers clear summaries of scholarship and thoughtful connections to church life. At its weakest it can reflect uncertain convictions about Scripture and the supernatural.

Because it includes distinct editorial roles across the canon, it is often best treated as a library tool rather than a single voice. We can use it to consult perspectives and background, while keeping more confessional commentaries as our primary guides for preaching.

Publisher: Abingdon Press

Series Editor: Leander E. Keck

Series: New Interpreter's Bible

A substantial reference set with useful essays and exposition, but its mixed theological register calls for careful discernment.

Level: Mid-level Perspective: Non-Evangelical / Critical Best for: Pastors-in-training, Advanced students / scholars Priority: Use with caution Overall score: 5.4

Strengths

We often gain from the range of contributors, especially when a writer is both academically responsible and pastorally aware. The series can provide clear orientation to a book, key themes, and major interpretive options.

It can also be helpful for tracking how passages have been read across time and how they connect to preaching and teaching settings. That can spark fruitful angles, even when we refine the conclusions.

Where the exposition is careful, it offers a steady guide to structure and meaning, helping us avoid isolated proof texting and encouraging a more contextual reading.

Limitations & Cautions

Because the contributor pool is broad, theological reliability is not consistent. Some volumes will serve a confessional reader well, others will press critical conclusions in ways that sit uneasily with evangelical convictions.

The practical sections can also vary. At times they offer genuine help for preaching, but at other times they can feel generic, or shaped more by contemporary concerns than by the pressure of the text.

We also need to watch how the series speaks about biblical authority and redemptive fulfilment. Without discernment, it can cool the temperature of proclamation.

How to Use This Series

We recommend using this set as a consultative resource, especially for orientation, background, and alternative readings that we want to assess. It is rarely the best single commentary to lead sermon preparation.

Test a section quickly by checking how it handles context, the argument of the passage, and claims about authorship and history. Then ask whether the theological conclusions arise from the text, or whether they are imposed from outside.

Where it is strong, extract what clarifies structure and meaning, then complete the work with a more confessionally aligned commentary that keeps Christ and the authority of Scripture central in the final sermon shape.

Standout Volumes

In a set like this, standout volumes tend to come from contributors who combine clear exposition with genuine pastoral usefulness. They explain the passage plainly, respect context, and then offer applications that feel earned rather than forced.

Often the best entries also include introductions that orient the reader quickly, giving structure, key themes, and interpretive priorities that can serve sermon planning, especially when we read them alongside more theologically focused guides.

Weaker or Less Helpful Volumes

Quality can vary by volume. The weaker entries tend to be those where critical claims dominate the whole approach, leaving the reader with uncertainty about the text as the word of God.

We can often spot this early if the exposition repeatedly sidelines the final form of the text, or if theological conclusions treat core biblical claims as tentative. In those cases, use the material for background and debate only, and let a more confessional commentary set the direction for preaching.

Series in Context

Compared with the Interpretation series, it is often broader in scope and more reference like, with substantial essays and practical helps.

Compared with NICOT and NICNT, it is usually less unified in theological posture and more dependent on the strengths of individual contributors.

If we want dependable confessional exposition, NICOT and NICNT often lead. If we want a wide angle library tool to consult, New Interpreter's Bible can be a useful supplement.

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Ezekiel

AdvancedAdvanced students / scholarsUse with caution
5.2
Author: Katheryn Pfisterer Darr
Bible Book: Ezekiel
Series: New Interpreter's Bible
Type: Academic
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Theological Perspective: Non-Evangelical / Critical
Resource Type: Commentary

Summary

This commentary presents Ezekiel as a prophetic book of intense imagery, priestly concern, and uncompromising proclamation. The author engages historical setting, literary shape, and the symbolism of visions and sign acts. There is sustained attention to themes of holiness, judgement, and restoration, and the commentary aims to help readers understand Ezekiel on its own terms within the world of exile. It is academically driven and does not seek to provide a confessional reading oriented toward Christ.

Strengths

Ezekiel overwhelms many readers, and this volume offers steady guidance through its strange and powerful scenes. The author is often good at explaining what the imagery is doing rhetorically, how particular visions confront idolatry and false security, and how the book builds its case that the Lord will vindicate his name. The treatment of priestly themes and the logic of holiness is also useful, since Ezekiel cannot be read well without those categories. Readers will find help in tracking structural markers, transitions, and recurring phrases that tie the book together. The later chapters, with their visions of renewal, are handled with careful attention to the hope that emerges after judgement.

Limitations

The main limitation for evangelical use is the interpretive posture. Critical debate can sometimes dictate the reading, and the theological synthesis can remain within a horizon that does not treat the whole canon as a unified witness. That matters in Ezekiel, where themes of shepherding, new heart, new spirit, and temple presence naturally invite canonical and christological development. The commentary may describe these themes well, but it tends not to press them toward fulfilment in Christ and the new covenant realities proclaimed in the New Testament. Pastors will also find limited direct help for moving from exegesis to proclamation and application, especially when preaching symbolic visions with pastoral clarity.

How We Would Use It

Use this as a secondary resource for clarifying imagery and for understanding the priestly and rhetorical logic of the book. It can help you avoid shallow allegory and keep you tethered to the text. But pair it with a commentary that treats Ezekiel within the flow of biblical theology. Keep the new covenant promises and the Shepherd theme close, and let the fulfilment in Christ shape your preaching aims. In teaching settings, this is best for advanced students who can evaluate method as well as content.

Closing Recommendation

A serious academic guide that can illuminate difficult passages, especially in imagery and structure, but it is not a safe primary companion for Christian proclamation. Consult it with discernment.

Lamentations

AdvancedAdvanced students / scholarsUse with caution
5.7
Author: Kathleen M. O'Connor
Bible Book: Lamentations
Series: New Interpreter's Bible
Type: Academic
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Theological Perspective: Non-Evangelical / Critical
Resource Type: Commentary

Summary

This commentary reads Lamentations as disciplined poetry of grief, shaped for communal memory and honest prayer in the aftermath of catastrophe. The author attends closely to acrostic form, imagery, and the theological tensions that run through the book, including protest, confession, and fragile hope. The work is academically informed and pastorally alert to suffering, though it does not operate within a confessional, redemptive historical framework.

Strengths

The greatest strength is the sustained attention to the voice of lament. Lamentations is often mishandled in preaching, either softened into generic sadness or pressed into quick resolution. This commentary refuses both. It shows how the poems give words to disorientation, shame, anger, and loss, and it traces how the book holds together honest complaint and the reality of the Lord as Judge. The literary comments are often excellent. Readers are helped to see patterns of repetition, the intensifying images, and the way the acrostic structure both constrains and carries emotion. Pastors can learn from the care given to language and to the moral seriousness of grief under judgement.

Limitations

The limitations lie in theological framing and endpoint. The commentary can treat the canonical placement and the wider biblical storyline as secondary to historical and literary analysis. For Christian preaching, the absence of a clear movement toward restoration in the Lord, and ultimately toward Christ, will need to be supplied from elsewhere. There is also a risk that the book is read primarily as a human text of trauma rather than as Scripture that speaks with divine authority and purpose. The pastoral sensitivity is welcome, but it can sometimes be detached from the covenantal categories that make sense of judgement, repentance, and hope.

How We Would Use It

Use this as a resource for learning how to handle lament faithfully and patiently. It can help you preach and teach Lamentations without rushing the congregation past grief. It will also help with the poetic craft of the book and with the emotional and moral realism of the text. But keep a canonical compass in hand. Let the covenant context, the promises of restoration, and the gospel pattern of suffering and hope guide your conclusions. For pastoral ministry, this volume can be a tool for shaping language and tone, but it should not be your theological anchor.

Closing Recommendation

A valuable companion for the poetry and pastoral realism of lament, but it requires a stronger biblical theological frame for Christian proclamation. Worth consulting, with discernment.

Jeremiah

AdvancedAdvanced students / scholarsUse with caution
5.1
Author: Patrick D. Miller Jr.
Bible Book: Jeremiah
Series: New Interpreter's Bible
Type: Academic
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Theological Perspective: Non-Evangelical / Critical
Resource Type: Commentary

Summary

This commentary approaches Jeremiah as a complex prophetic book shaped by long history, rich in poetry, narrative, and theological dispute. The author seeks to clarify the movement of the book, explain major themes such as covenant unfaithfulness and divine judgement, and illuminate the rhetorical force of Jeremiah as both warning and lament. It is an academic work, conscious of historical setting and scholarly debate, and it aims more to interpret Jeremiah within Israel than to offer a Christian theological reading from Jeremiah to Christ.

Strengths

Readers will appreciate the effort to keep the book in view. Jeremiah is not easy to handle, and the commentary often helps by identifying recurring patterns, shifts in voice, and the way judgement and hope interweave. Discussion of lament, complaint, and prophetic suffering can be especially valuable, since Jeremiah gives language to faithful grief under covenant discipline. The author is also attentive to the moral and spiritual weight of the text, especially where Jeremiah exposes false confidence, hollow worship, and political idolatry. Background discussion is used to anchor interpretation, and the writing can be lucid when explaining how a passage functions in its immediate context.

Limitations

The limitation again is the controlling interpretive posture. Critical questions about sources and editing can dominate the discussion, and the commentary may be less confident in presenting Jeremiah as a coherent prophetic witness aimed at the redemptive purposes of the Lord across the canon. For pastors, this matters because Jeremiah is regularly used in the New Testament to describe new covenant realities, and those lines of connection are not given the prominence they deserve. Where the book should press toward the hope of a transformed people under a faithful Shepherd, the commentary can keep conclusions more tentative than is pastorally useful. It also provides limited direct help on moving from exegesis to proclamation and application.

How We Would Use It

Use this when you need help untangling the structure of a section or when you want to see a careful academic account of rhetorical and historical issues. It can also help you preach Jeremiah with greater honesty about grief, judgement, and the cost of faithful ministry. But you should pair it with a commentary that reads Jeremiah within the whole storyline of Scripture. Keep the new covenant promises close, and let Jeremiah 31, and the wider canonical development, shape your sermon aims. This volume can serve as a conversation partner, not as your primary theological guide.

Closing Recommendation

A thoughtful academic resource with useful observations on structure and theme, but it needs a firm canonical and gospel frame supplied from elsewhere. Consult with caution and with clear theological priorities.

Isaiah 40-66

AdvancedAdvanced students / scholarsUse with caution
5.4
Author: Christopher R. Seitz
Bible Book: Isaiah
Series: New Interpreter's Bible
Type: Academic
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Theological Perspective: Non-Evangelical / Critical
Resource Type: Commentary

Summary

This volume treats Isaiah 40 to 66 with sustained attention to structure, rhetoric, and theological themes, while also engaging the scholarly questions surrounding authorship, setting, and the shaping of the text. The author frequently highlights how the material develops hope after judgement, speaking comfort to exiles and setting out a vision of the Lord as the unrivalled Redeemer. Readers should expect a serious academic commentary that aims to explain the text as literature and as religious proclamation within Israel, rather than a confessional guide designed for pulpit and parish.

Strengths

The exposition is often strong on the movement of argument and imagery. Key passages are traced with sensitivity to repetition, contrast, and the way motifs gather force over time. The sustained emphasis on the Lord as Creator and Saviour can help readers see why these chapters have carried such weight in the church, even if the commentary does not foreground that reception. Where the Servant songs arise, the author provides careful literary analysis, notes major interpretive options, and points out the tensions and surprises that make these poems so compelling. The work is also helpful for understanding the rhetoric of consolation, the polemic against idols, and the renewed summons to trust the Lord alone.

Limitations

For evangelical and Reformed readers, the limitations again sit in method and endpoint. The commentary tends to treat critical hypotheses as a controlling horizon, and it can be hesitant to read the text as a unified prophetic witness that finds its fulfilment in Christ. Canonical connections may be acknowledged but not pursued with confidence, and messianic readings can be treated mainly as later developments rather than as the goal of the prophetic message. That means pastors will need to do extra work to move from textual analysis to gospel proclamation. There is also a risk that readers, especially those newer to critical study, absorb sceptical conclusions without recognising how much depends on prior commitments about Scripture.

How We Would Use It

Use this for close study of difficult poetry and for help tracking themes across extended sections. It can sharpen your reading of metaphor and structure, and it can expose interpretive questions you might otherwise miss. Treat it as one voice in the room, not the final word. Pair it with a commentary that reads Isaiah within the whole canon, and keep the New Testament use of Isaiah close to hand, particularly where Isaiah 40 to 66 shapes the language of the gospel and the identity of the Servant. For teaching contexts, this is best reserved for advanced students who can weigh arguments and assumptions.

Closing Recommendation

A serious academic treatment with many fine literary observations, but it is not a safe primary guide for Christian proclamation. Consult it selectively and with clear theological boundaries.

Isaiah 1-39

AdvancedAdvanced students / scholarsUse with caution
5.1
Author: Gene M. Tucker
Bible Book: Isaiah
Series: New Interpreter's Bible
Type: Academic
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Theological Perspective: Non-Evangelical / Critical
Resource Type: Commentary

Summary

This volume offers a substantial critical reading of Isaiah 1 to 39, attending closely to historical setting, literary shape, and the complex compositional questions that surround the book. The author works carefully through major units, pauses to map themes such as judgement and hope, and frequently notes how the text functions within the life of Israel and the larger Ancient Near Eastern world. The result is a resource that can help advanced readers see interpretive options and scholarly debates in clearer focus. It is not written as a homiletical companion, and it does not aim to model a confessional approach to prophecy or to the unity of Scripture.

Strengths

The strongest contribution is the steady attention to context. Large sections are handled with a sense for flow and rhetoric rather than with atomised comments. Readers will find help with the texture of the poetry, repeated motifs, and the ways the early chapters set a theological and moral horizon for what follows. Engagement with scholarly literature is consistent, and the notes frequently clarify why a disputed reading matters for the argument of a passage. When the author slows down, the exposition can be genuinely illuminating, especially where Isaiah presses the issues of true worship, social injustice, and the hollowness of mere religious performance. The treatment of historical background is generally clear, and it can prevent anachronistic readings that flatten the prophetic message into vague moralism.

Limitations

The chief limitation for evangelical and Reformed use is the controlling set of assumptions. Critical reconstructions and compositional theories are often treated as the default frame, which can lead to a reading that separates the text from its canonical function and from the promises that the New Testament receives as fulfilled in Christ. The volume is more confident in analysing sources, strata, and redaction than in tracing a coherent prophetic message that culminates in the Servant and the King. That does not mean it never offers theological insight, but the theology is often bracketed behind historical questions, and the result can feel thin for preaching. There is also limited guidance on how to move from exegesis to proclamation, and pastors may find that the material needs careful sifting to avoid importing sceptical conclusions into the pulpit.

How We Would Use It

Use this as a secondary academic consultation when a passage raises historical or literary questions that you want to understand before making a clear interpretive judgement. It can also help when you want to see how a non confessional reading handles a difficult text, so you can sharpen your own reasoning and anticipate objections. For sermon work, pair it with a more confessionally aligned commentary, and keep your priorities fixed: the argument of the passage, the place of Isaiah within the book, and the canonical trajectory that reaches Christ. If you use it in teaching, it may serve best for advanced students who can weigh method and presuppositions rather than absorb them uncritically.

Closing Recommendation

A weighty critical resource that repays careful consultation, especially for background and literary observation, but it requires discernment at every stage. It is best treated as a tool to test and refine your exegesis rather than as a guide for theological synthesis or proclamation.

1 Kings

AdvancedAdvanced students / scholarsUse with caution
5.8
Author: Choon-Leong Seow
Bible Book: 1 Kings
Series: New Interpreter's Bible
Type: Academic
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Theological Perspective: Non-Evangelical / Critical
Resource Type: Commentary

Summary

This volume offers a substantial academic treatment of 1 Kings within a wider multi author project. It works hard at literary shape, historical questions, and theological themes as they emerge from the final form of the text. The writing assumes the reader is comfortable with technical discussion and with the critical conversation that often stands behind modern Old Testament scholarship. Used carefully, it can sharpen observation, widen the range of interpretive options, and supply a large amount of background orientation for preaching preparation.

Strengths

The first strength is breadth. The commentary regularly moves between close reading, larger narrative movement, and thematic threads that run through the book. It does not treat the chapters as isolated units, and it often helps the reader see how the story is being told, not only what is being told. A second strength is its attention to the hard questions raised by 1 Kings. That includes matters of sources and composition, the interplay between history and theology, and the way royal narratives are framed to instruct the people of God. Even when you disagree with conclusions, the discussion can clarify what is at stake and why the text has been read in different ways.

A third strength is the steady provision of interpretive detail. Where the narrative turns on a phrase, an image, or a repeated pattern, the notes often slow down and draw attention to the internal signals. There is real value here for advanced students who want to learn how to read carefully, especially when they are tempted either to rush to application or to flatten the literary texture. Finally, the volume can be useful for building teaching notes. It gathers many observations in one place and, at times, frames theological questions that can help a preacher move from exposition to proclamation with more awareness of tensions in the text.

Limitations

The central limitation is the controlling posture of the scholarship. The work is shaped by critical assumptions that do not always sit comfortably with a confessionally Reformed approach to Scripture. At points, the commentary may present hypothetical reconstructions with a confidence that outpaces the evidence available to the reader. There can also be a tendency to speak of the text primarily as a product of development, which may reduce the sense of a unified divine address. That does not make the work useless, but it does require discernment.

A second limitation is pastoral distance. The commentary is not written to serve the preacher directly, so the movement from text to church is often left implicit. Readers looking for spiritual warmth, Christ centred synthesis, or homiletical guidance will need other tools. The volume can also be dense in places. It rewards slow reading, but it is not the quickest aid when sermon time is tight.

How We Would Use It

We would use this as a secondary voice at the desk. It is most helpful after an initial round of exegesis in the text itself, when you want to check whether you have missed narrative cues, patterns, or interpretive problems. We would mine it for observations and for awareness of debated points, then test everything against the immediate context and the book level flow. For sermon work, it pairs best with a more overtly theological and pastoral commentary that will help you locate the passage within the storyline of redemption and the life of the church.

Closing Recommendation

If you are an advanced student or a pastor who enjoys careful academic reading, this can be a worthwhile supplement. It can deepen your grasp of the literary craft of 1 Kings and alert you to interpretive challenges that the text raises. Use it with caution, keep Scripture in the driving seat, and let it serve your reading rather than govern it.

Song Of Songs

AdvancedAdvanced students / scholarsUse with caution
5.6
Author: Retina J. Weems
Bible Book: Song Of Songs
Series: New Interpreter's Bible
Type: Academic
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Theological Perspective: Non-Evangelical / Critical
Resource Type: Commentary

Summary

This commentary treats Song Of Songs as rich poetry that explores desire, beauty, and relationship through layered imagery. It is academic in style and engages critical perspectives, making it best suited to advanced readers. It can help with poetic reading and with interpretive options, though it is not written from a confessionally evangelical stance and should be used with careful theological discernment.

Strengths

The commentary can help readers slow down and read the poetry well. Song Of Songs depends on metaphor, repetition, and voice, and the notes often highlight these features. For teaching, that can be valuable, since many readers either rush past the poetry or force it into a simplistic scheme. The work also engages a range of interpretive approaches and helps the reader understand why the Song has been read in different ways across history.

Another strength is attention to cultural and literary context. The Song sits within the wisdom and poetic tradition, and the commentary can help clarify imagery and patterns that are otherwise unfamiliar. It can also help advanced students think carefully about genre and about how poetry communicates meaning indirectly.

Finally, the volume can provide language and categories for discussing the Song responsibly in a church teaching setting, especially when pastors want to avoid both embarrassment and reductionism.

Limitations

The main limitation is theological and canonical distance. The commentary may not be shaped by a Reformed doctrine of Scripture or by a Christ centred reading of the canon. Song Of Songs raises real questions about how to preach it faithfully, and this work will not naturally supply a gospel driven homiletical path. Another limitation is that critical discussion can at times dominate and may leave the preacher without clear guidance on what should be proclaimed and how.

Pastoral usefulness is therefore limited. The commentary can inform understanding, but it will not provide the steady pastoral judgement needed for preaching sensitive material to a congregation.

How We Would Use It

We would use it as a resource for poetic observation and for awareness of interpretive debates, especially when preparing a teaching series or a seminar. We would pair it with confessionally faithful resources that handle the Song within the covenant storyline and that help the preacher move toward Christ and the church with clarity and purity.

Closing Recommendation

For advanced students, this is a useful scholarly supplement on Song Of Songs, particularly for poetic reading and interpretive options. Use with caution, and let Scripture and sound biblical theology govern how the book is taught in the church.

Ecclesiastes

AdvancedAdvanced students / scholarsUse with caution
5.7
Author: W. Sibley Towner
Bible Book: Ecclesiastes
Series: New Interpreter's Bible
Type: Academic
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Theological Perspective: Non-Evangelical / Critical
Resource Type: Commentary

Summary

This commentary approaches Ecclesiastes as a sophisticated wisdom text that probes the limits of human striving and the ambiguities of life under the sun. It is academic in tone, engages critical scholarship, and is aimed at advanced readers. It can help the student track argument flow, key images, and theological tensions, though it will not provide a confessional framework for preaching.

Strengths

The commentary is helpful for following Ecclesiastes as argument rather than as a set of bleak slogans. It often traces how themes develop, how repeated refrains function, and how the book uses observation to unsettle false confidence. This can be particularly useful for preachers, because Ecclesiastes demands careful handling to avoid either cynicism or shallow optimism. The notes also attend to literary features, including irony and rhetorical shifts, which can help readers respect the book’s distinctive voice.

Another strength is engagement with interpretive debates. Ecclesiastes raises questions about meaning, fear of God, and the place of enjoyment in a fallen world. The commentary often maps options and helps the reader see what different conclusions imply. For advanced students, this can sharpen judgement and prevent simplistic readings.

The volume can also provide background orientation and clarification of key terms and images. That is useful when you need to teach the book carefully and responsibly, especially in contexts where listeners may struggle with its realism.

Limitations

The main limitation is theological posture. The commentary may treat the book primarily as a human voice within a tradition, rather than as divine speech for the church. A Reformed preacher will want to read Ecclesiastes within a doctrine of Scripture, within the fall, and within the hope of redemption. This commentary may not naturally supply that framework. It also does not strongly pursue Christ centred fulfilment. The preacher must do the canonical work of showing how the longings and limits exposed by Ecclesiastes drive us to Christ.

It is also not a pastoral guide. It offers analysis and observation more than shepherding counsel. Pastors will want additional resources for application and for speaking hope with realism.

How We Would Use It

We would use it as a second or third voice to check structure, clarify argument, and engage interpretive questions. We would keep Scripture central and resist speculative reconstructions. For preaching, we would pair it with confessionally faithful wisdom theology and with biblical theological resources that connect Ecclesiastes to the gospel and the new creation.

Closing Recommendation

For advanced readers, this is a useful academic supplement on Ecclesiastes, especially for argument flow and literary observation. Use with caution, and ensure your final teaching is governed by a robust doctrine of Scripture and a clear gospel horizon.

Proverbs

AdvancedAdvanced students / scholarsUse with caution
5.7
Author: Raymond C. Van Leeuwen
Bible Book: Proverbs
Series: New Interpreter's Bible
Type: Academic
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Theological Perspective: Non-Evangelical / Critical
Resource Type: Commentary

Summary

This volume provides an academic commentary on Proverbs, engaging genre, structure, and interpretive questions within the wider wisdom tradition. It is aimed at advanced readers and frequently interacts with critical scholarship. It can be valuable for sharpening understanding of wisdom literature and for avoiding simplistic moralising, though it is not designed as a direct preaching guide.

Strengths

The commentary helps the reader see Proverbs as more than isolated sayings. It attends to larger sections, thematic clusters, and the framing function of the opening chapters. This can be particularly helpful for teaching, since it encourages a reading shaped by the book’s own theological and pedagogical aims. Another strength is careful engagement with wisdom categories, such as fear of the Lord, the shaping of character, and the relationship between observation and moral formation.

There is also useful attention to interpretive nuance. Proverbs often requires careful thought about general truth statements, context, and the difference between wisdom and promise. The commentary can help readers avoid forcing the text into an unhelpful absolute form. It may also offer background orientation to ancient wisdom parallels, which can help advanced students locate Proverbs within its wider world.

Finally, the commentary can supply many observations that assist sermon preparation, especially when you need help explaining imagery, rhetorical contrasts, or the function of a proverb within its surrounding collection.

Limitations

The limitations centre on theological posture and proclamation. The work does not consistently frame Proverbs within a robust doctrine of Scripture or within a Christ centred canonical theology. A Reformed preacher will want to ensure that wisdom is preached as covenant wisdom, grounded in the fear of the Lord and fulfilled in Christ, the wisdom of God. This commentary may not naturally press in that direction. There can also be a tendency in critical discussion to focus on development and sources in ways that do not always serve preaching.

It is also not a warm pastoral tool. The commentary is analytical and will often leave the preacher to do the work of application and heart address.

How We Would Use It

We would use it as a secondary aid when teaching Proverbs, especially for structure, background, and interpretive caution. We would pair it with a more explicitly theological resource and with careful biblical theological reflection that keeps Christ and the covenant storyline central. We would also keep the immediate literary unit in view, rather than treating proverbs as detached slogans.

Closing Recommendation

For advanced students, this is a useful academic supplement on Proverbs. It offers many clarifying observations and can guard against shallow readings. Use with caution, and ensure confessionally faithful wisdom theology shapes your final teaching.

Psalms

AdvancedAdvanced students / scholarsUse with caution
5.8
Author: J. Clinton McCann Jr.
Bible Book: Psalms
Series: New Interpreter's Bible
Type: Academic
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Theological Perspective: Non-Evangelical / Critical
Resource Type: Commentary

Summary

This commentary offers an academically oriented engagement with the Psalms, focusing on form, function, and theological themes as they appear in the canonical collection. It is written for advanced readers and interacts with critical scholarship. It can offer many helpful observations about structure and genre, while requiring discernment for those committed to a confessional approach to Scripture.

Strengths

A key strength is its attention to the diversity of the Psalter. The commentary often helps the reader identify genres, rhetorical moves, and the way different psalms function in worship and community life. It can be helpful for teaching, because it pushes beyond treating the Psalms as a flat collection of inspirational lines. It also often notes patterns of repetition and thematic clustering, which can support preaching through selected groups of psalms or through larger sections of the book.

Another strength is its engagement with interpretive questions. The Psalms invite discussion about authorship traditions, editorial shaping, and the relationship between individual psalms and the larger canon. The commentary can help you understand what different scholarly claims imply and where the debates sit. For advanced students, this can sharpen critical thinking and guard against naive readings.

The volume also provides many textual and structural observations that can support sermon preparation, especially when you need help in outlining the movement of a psalm, identifying the central petition or praise, and explaining key images.

Limitations

The limitations lie in theological posture and preaching focus. The commentary is not designed to drive Christ centred proclamation, so it may not help the preacher connect the Psalms to Christ and to the new covenant in a way that is both faithful and pastorally satisfying. A Reformed reader will want to keep the Psalms within the canonical storyline and to read them as the prayers of the Messiah and his people. This commentary may not share that instinct.

There is also the risk that critical frameworks can shape conclusions too strongly. At times, discussion of development and editorial theory can dominate. Pastors may find this less directly useful for weekly preaching, though it can still inform background understanding.

How We Would Use It

We would use it to check genre, structure, and interpretive questions, especially when working on a difficult psalm or teaching a course on the Psalter. We would pair it with more confessionally faithful resources that offer stronger Christ centred synthesis and clearer pastoral application. We would also keep the immediate psalm context and the wider Psalter context central, rather than allowing speculative reconstructions to steer the reading.

Closing Recommendation

For advanced students, this is a useful scholarly supplement on the Psalms, particularly for form and structure. Use with caution, and ensure that the church’s reading of the Psalms in Christ governs the final shape of your preaching and teaching.