Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary

Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary from Eerdmans aims to keep exegesis and theology in the same conversation. Under the guidance of Craig G. Bartholomew and J. Gordon McConville, the series encourages readers to hear each book on its own terms, then to trace its theological weight with care.

We find the strongest entries combine close reading with a steady sense of the canon. The series often helps preachers move from text to doctrine without rushing past the details.

The tone is usually measured and constructive. It seeks to serve the church by taking scholarship seriously while still pressing toward faithful proclamation.

Publisher: Eerdmans

Series Editor: Craig G. Bartholomew; J. Gordon McConville

Series: Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary

A thoughtful Old Testament series that often repays slow reading, best when you want theology built directly from careful exegesis.

Level: Advanced Perspective: Broadly Evangelical Best for: Pastors-in-training, Advanced students / scholars Priority: Strong recommendation Overall score: 8.3

Strengths

We appreciate the deliberate effort to integrate exegesis and theology rather than treating them as separate stages. When the series is at its best, it models how to read an Old Testament book with literary sensitivity and theological seriousness.

The writing often rewards preachers preparing to teach whole books. It can sharpen the sermon outline by clarifying argument flow, key themes, and theological tensions.

We also value the refusal to flatten the Old Testament into quick moral lessons. The stronger volumes tend to keep the text in view and let the theology rise from it.

Limitations & Cautions

The approach can feel heavy for week by week sermon preparation. Some volumes can be dense, and the theological discussion may require patience before it yields clear preaching pay off.

Quality can vary by volume. At points the theological reflection may feel more exploratory than settled, which will not suit every pulpit context.

Pastors wanting concise homiletical help may find the series less direct than more pastor facing commentaries.

How to Use This Series

We suggest using this series when you have time to think, perhaps at the start of a preaching series or during midweek study. Read the introduction and any sections on method first so you know what the author is aiming to do.

To test a volume quickly, skim the treatment of a familiar passage and ask three questions. Does it explain the text clearly, does it handle the whole chapter context, and does it draw theological conclusions that fit the book.

Pair it with a more streamlined commentary for sermon crafting. Let Two Horizons do the deep work of conceptual clarity, then translate that into simpler preaching language.

Standout Volumes

Without naming individual titles, the volumes that often stand out in a series like this are those where the author keeps a tight grip on the structure of the biblical book and writes theology with restraint. When literary analysis, historical context, and canonical reflection are held together, the result can be unusually fruitful for preaching.

We have found the most helpful entries are those that regularly return to the flow of the argument, then gather themes in a way that supports exposition rather than distracting from it.

Weaker or Less Helpful Volumes

Quality can vary by volume. The weaker entries in series like this tend to lose contact with the passage by leaning too quickly into thematic discussion, or by spending long stretches on debates that do not clarify the text.

We suggest watching for whether the commentary keeps answering the question, what does this verse do in this paragraph. If that line of thought fades, the volume may be less dependable for sermon work, even if it remains interesting.

Series in Context

Compared with more preacher oriented series, this tends to be less immediately homiletical and more deliberately theological. It will usually offer more sustained reflection than a brief expositional series, but it may ask more time from the reader.

Alongside major academic sets, it often feels more church directed in intent, even when the level remains demanding. We find it most helpful when you want theology that is accountable to the text, not simply appended at the end.

Reset

Judges

AdvancedBusy pastorsUseful supplement
7.8
Author: David J.H. Beldman
Series: Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary
Type: Exegetical (Technical)
Publisher: Eerdmans
Theological Perspective: Broadly Evangelical
Resource Type: Commentary

Summary

Judges is a dark book, and it is meant to be. It exposes what happens when the people of God live without faithful leadership and without wholehearted obedience to the Lord. This Two Horizons volume tries to read Judges in a way that respects its literary craft and its theological shock. We found that combination helpful because Judges can be mishandled in two directions, either turned into heroic moral lessons or avoided because of its ugliness. This commentary aims to do neither.

The book is structured around repeated cycles of sin, oppression, cry, and deliverance, but the story does not stay on the surface. The cycles worsen. The judges become increasingly compromised. The nation slides toward chaos. We appreciated that the volume keeps that spiral in view, because it shapes how we preach. Judges is not mainly a collection of inspiring biographies, it is a warning and a lament, and it prepares us to long for a true king.

The Two Horizons approach also invites theological reflection that is accountable to the text. It encourages us to ask what Judges reveals about the patience and holiness of God, about the consequences of idolatry, and about the need for covenant faithfulness that cannot be sustained by occasional bursts of reform. That is hard medicine, but it is good for the church.

Strengths

We value the way the commentary helps us read the book as deliberately shaped narrative. Judges is not random. Scenes are arranged to produce theological impact, and repeated phrases are used to show decline. When a commentary keeps those signals visible, it helps the preacher handle the text with integrity.

The theological reflection is also often fruitful. It draws attention to the moral logic of idolatry, to the destructive patterns of compromise, and to the way the Lord both disciplines and rescues. That can create preaching that is searching without becoming merely negative, because the book still displays mercy, even as it exposes sin.

We also appreciated the help for preaching the hardest chapters. A good commentary will not make them easy, but it will keep us from sensationalism. It will help us speak of sin as sin, while still holding out the hope that God saves His people despite their ruin.

Limitations

Judges is emotionally and pastorally demanding, and the commentary reflects that. Some sections can feel weighty and may require the preacher to choose carefully what to bring to the pulpit and what to handle in teaching settings or conversation.

The Two Horizons method can also require extra synthesis. It provides strong interpretive insight, but it does not always translate directly into sermon structure. Pastors may need to work harder to turn analysis into a clear preaching shape.

How We Would Use It

We would use this volume to set the tone for a Judges series. The first need is to help the congregation understand why the book is in the Bible and what it is meant to do to us. This commentary can help us preach Judges as covenant warning and as preparation for godly kingship.

To test its usefulness quickly, we would read its handling of a familiar judge story and a difficult late chapter. We would ask whether it keeps the narrative in context, whether it avoids moralising, and whether it offers theological clarity that strengthens gospel preaching rather than replacing it.

We would also pair it with pastoral resources that assist with application and care, because Judges will surface real pain and confusion in a congregation. A preacher needs both interpretive help and pastoral wisdom as he leads people through the darkness.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend this volume for pastors who want to preach Judges faithfully, with literary attentiveness and theological seriousness. It will help you resist shallow readings and will support preaching that is honest about sin while still pointing toward the need for a true and righteous king.

Joshua

AdvancedBusy pastorsUseful supplement
7.8
Author: J. Gordon McConville
Series: Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary
Type: Exegetical (Technical)
Publisher: Eerdmans
Theological Perspective: Broadly Evangelical
Resource Type: Commentary

Summary

Joshua demands careful handling. It narrates conquest, land, and covenant, and it raises ethical questions that can unsettle hearers and preachers alike. In the Two Horizons pattern, this volume aims to keep the text in front of us while also equipping us to think theologically about what Joshua is doing within the story of Scripture. We appreciated that the approach is not merely explanatory, it is also formative, teaching the preacher how to read a difficult book with reverence and clarity.

The commentary helps us see Joshua as more than military history. The land is not a random setting, it is covenant gift, tied to promise and obedience. The narrative repeatedly draws attention to the faithfulness of God, the seriousness of idolatry, and the need for wholehearted devotion. When the volume is at its best, it shows how those themes are embedded in the structure of the book, from the commissioning of Joshua to the covenant renewal scenes.

We also found the work attentive to the moral and pastoral pressures of preaching Joshua. Instead of avoiding hard texts, it encourages responsible reading, asking how the book frames judgement, mercy, and the holiness of God. That does not remove all difficulty, but it helps the pastor speak truthfully, neither softening the Bible nor weaponising it.

Strengths

We value the steady insistence on context. Joshua is often preached in fragments, with isolated heroes and lessons. This commentary pushes us to keep the whole storyline in view, so that courage, leadership, and obedience are seen as covenant realities under the Word of God, not as generic virtues.

The theological reflection is often useful because it asks the right questions. What does it mean for the Lord to give rest, and how does that theme develop. How does the book portray the danger of compromise, and why are small acts of unfaithfulness treated as serious. Those lines of thought can shape a preaching series with a coherent centre.

We also appreciated the attention to worship and Word. The narrative does not only tell us what Israel did, it shows how God speaks, commands, warns, and promises. A commentary that keeps that dynamic visible is a gift for expository preaching.

Limitations

Some pastors will want a more direct path from the text to sermon structure. The Two Horizons method often gives building blocks, but it does not always hand you a ready outline. That is not a flaw, but it does mean you must do more synthesis work yourself.

Because Joshua raises large ethical and theological questions, some discussion can feel weighty for week by week sermon preparation. You may need to decide which debates to engage in the pulpit and which to reserve for teaching settings or private study.

How We Would Use It

We would use this volume to plan a series, especially to identify the major movements of the book and the recurring theological themes. It can help set the direction for the whole run of sermons, so that each week serves the larger purpose.

To test the commentary quickly, we would read its handling of a hard passage and ask whether it keeps the passage rooted in its narrative context, whether it honours the holiness of God without becoming harsh, and whether it helps us speak to the congregation with both truth and tenderness. If those marks are present, it is safe to rely on it.

We would also pair it with a more practical preaching aid for illustration and application. Let this series sharpen our reading and theological posture, then let other tools assist with delivery and pastoral connection.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend this volume for pastors who want to preach Joshua with careful exegesis and responsible theological reflection. It will not do all the sermon work for you, but it will help you handle the book with seriousness and confidence.

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.