Eerdmans Critical Commentary Series (ECC) (4 vols.)

Sometimes regarded as trivial because of its brevity, the letter to Philemon remains valuable both for its insight into the social setting of the New Testament and for its reiteration of a central component of the gospel—brotherly love. Barth and Blanke’s commentary is unique for its exhaustive study of the ancient world at the time Philemon was written. They examine the institution of slavery in Paul’s day, drawing on secular sources from Greece and Rome and from Christian writers of the time. The references to slavery found in Ephesians, Colossians, and 1Timothy are also compared and contrasted with Paul’s words in Philemon.

The verse-by-verse commentary focuses on important themes in Pauline theology, including love, faith and faithfulness, church unity, providence, free will, and human responsibility. Barth makes his exposition even more useful by surveying the history of the interpretation of Philemon, from the patristic age to modern liberation theologians. The product of Barth’s lifelong research, which was completed by Helmut Blanke after Barth’s death, will surely become the standard work on Philemon.

This commentary on Timothy was the culminating work of Jerome Quinn who died before he was able to finish it. William Wacker aptly took up the reins and completed this monumental task. Quinn provides a fresh, readable translation of the two letters to Timothy, along with notes and a verse-by-verse commentary. The authors show that, in addressing such contemporary topics as church leadership, the roles of women, the use of wealth, heterodoxy, worship, and ethics, these Pauline letters remain highly relevant to church life today.

In his most ambitious undertaking, the late Samuel Terrien brings together a lifetime of scholarship on the Psalms. The commentary’s clear and insightful introduction considers these important subjects on the Psalms: their longevity and ecumenicity; their Near Eastern background; the Hebrew text and ancient versions; their music; their strophic structure; their literary genre; their theology; and their relation to the New Testament. Terrien elucidates the theological significance of these collected poems by putting readers in touch with the formal versatility and religious passion of the psalmists themselves. While he consistently engages in scientific exegesis before drawing theological conclusions, Terrien is careful to allow full expression to the theological and, especially, the doxological voice of these unmatched spiritual songs. The result is a commentary that provides a link between the archaic language of Psalms and the intellectual demands of modern thinking and spirituality.

Throughout his exposition Terrien shows great respect for the scribal testimony of the Jewish tradition, especially the consonants of the Masoretic text. He similarly displays great care in finding the most accurate meaning for Hebrew words of obscure origin, thus creating a meticulously reliable translation of Psalms. He also draws on many fruitful gains of structural analysis in discerning the strophic divisions within the Hebrew text. Often he finds unity of composition where earlier critics denied it. And for readers interested in specific aspects of translation and interpretation, Terrien has appended bibliographical lists of modern works on each psalm.