Known as "Meyer's Commentary," the Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (21 vols.) is considered one of the best New Testament commentaries published in English in the early nineteenth century. Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer, a German Protestant with a gift for languages, published the first commentary in this collection in 1832 at the age of thirty-two. It would be a lifelong project, one he worked on concurrently with a busy pastorate and raising a family.
Known to have an encyclopedic memory and an appetite for buying books, it was not uncommon for Meyer to be reading his contemporaries in his native German, but also in English, Dutch, and French—languages that came as natural to him as Greek, Latin, and even Gothic. For over forty years Meyer balanced working on new additions to the commentary collection while also updating those already published with multiple, serious revisions. Before passing the baton to a few of his trusted peers to finish the NT, Meyer had completed sixteen volumes.
The Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (21 vols.) includes the sixteen volumes by Meyer, two by Gottlieb Lünemann, three by Joh. Ed. Huther, and the final work on the Revelation of John by Friedrich Düsterdieck. Each book of the Bible is amply introduced, including biographical information about the authors, authorship controversies, information about the times of its composition, its intended audience, and more. Each volume focuses on the Greek text, and Meyer uses and discusses an abundance of sources and authors to illustrate meaning derived from the text. Meyer also likes to include important bibliographic material which was integral to his studies and research.
