As I'm getting ready to run an honours level course on 1 Corinthians, I've had good fun checking out some commentaries on them. I am quite impressed with Richard B. Hay's volume in the Interpretation series. In particular, it has a good mix of exegetical comment and also practical application. Hay's notes on the Last Supper are worth the price of the book itself. I'd place this under Thiselton as the number two commentary on 1 Corinthians. If you're teaching or preaching through 1 Corinthians make sure you at least check out Hays on this NT epistle. Some of his comments could easily constitute points for your sermon!
I am currently reading through Craig Keener in the NCBC series also but will have to wait before I render a verdict on its utility for teaching and preaching. I've also used Wolfgang Schrage a little, but I need to improve my German and gain access to it again before really grappling with his approach to 1 Corinthians. I found Richard Horsley a bit disappointing, but I still go back to Gordon Fee (NICNT) for his excellent treatment of the letter. Sadly, I have not used Ben Witherington much and do not know how good his volume is or is not.
Any other commentaries on 1 Corinthians that you have found useful?
6 comments:
I used Witherington's commentary as a textbook in a college course I taught on the Corinthian correspondence. It was fairly accessible for the students. Being in series it is, it does focus on specific social issues that lend themselves to college course discussion.
I've heard excellent things from a reliable source about Philip Hughes' precursor to Fee in the NICNT series, though I haven't worked through it myself.
Garland's Baker commentary was excellent. Perhaps a little uneven, but all in all, one of my favourites. Thiselton's remains the best, in my opinion. It's a book I would think of adding to my 'If I had to chose one book for a desert Island' list ...
I second Chris' opinion. Garland is my favorite by far.
I'm currently preaching through 1 Co. and I found Horsely was fairly useless. Though it's not a commentary, Michael Gorman wrote a book called "Cruciformity: Paul's Narrative Spirituality of the Cross" which I found really helpful in understanding the theology of 1 Co.
Garland and Gorman are two of my favorite writers. I think the NIVAC is a great series; Hafemann on 2 Cor is useful and I imagine Blomberg on 1 Cor would be as well. I can't imagine anything being more useful than your top two, though, esp Hays, which I will almost surely assign as a text if I ever teach Paul.
Post a Comment