Thursday, May 04, 2006

Commentary on Matthew is Now Out!

Just to give you an FYI, my new Matthew commentary is now out. In it I have tried to present a consistent reading of this Gospel in light of Jewish wisdom literature, with some interesting results for Matthean Christology and ethics. If Jesus indeed presented himself as God's Wisdom come in the flesh then we can indeed speak of a 'Christology of and from Jesus' himself, even in the Synoptics.

The commentaries in this series all come complete with a DVD with all kinds of extra materials and info, and with numerous art images, pictures and charts.


I will be interested to see what you think. Hope you like it.

13 comments:

Marc Axelrod said...

I'm looking forward to buying it in the next few weeks.

Right now, if I could only have one commentary on each book of the NT, my list would probably look like this:

Matthew - Davies and Allison - Hagner and Nolland are close behind.
Mark - Gundry
Luke - Bock's two volume set - nothing else comes close
John - updated Morris by a hair over Carson - Pink has some good thoughts when he is not over in allegory city
Acts - Witherington, with Marshall hidden in my coat.
Romans - Moo (I would also try to hide Stott in my coat pocket)
1 Corinthians - Thiselton
2 Corinthians - Garland
Galatians - Witherington
Ephesians - Hoehner, (with Lincoln on my hard drive)
Philippians - OBrien or Fee, I'll take OBrien
Colossians - OBrien again
1 and 2 Thessalonians - I like Morris on these epistles, but he is getting dated, I'll take Green.
Pastoral Epistles - Marshall or Mounce, I'll take Marshall
Hebrews - Lane or Koester, I guess I would take Lane
James - Moo - no one else is close
1 Peter - Elliot
2 Peter, Jude - Has anyone surpassed Bauckham yet? Schreiner maybe, but I'll stay with Richard for now.
Epistles of John - I'll stay with Marshall, but I'm waiting for Carson.
Revelation - Another tough one. Hard to pass up Beale and Osborne, but as far as accuracy of interpretation, Mounce is best - ooh this is tough. I'll go with Beale only because it is thick with learning and I know Mounce.


Marc Axelrod

Glen Alan Woods said...

I am excited to learn of this resource. Do all the volumes in the series offer DVD addons? I have been reading your blog for about a month. Thank you for your ministry. I am learning much through your writings and I look forward to accessing your commentary as well.

Blessings,

Glen Woods

Ross said...

Hi Ben

I have been looking forward to it for some time! I think the idea of a DVD addon is brilliant! I will enjoy seeing how it works.

Blessings and thanks

Christopher said...

Just out of curiousity who did your DVD? Did you choose all the stuff that went on it? In general I guess I'm just wondering how that works, I get writing a book, but putting together a DVD seems kind of surreal to me.
Peace,
Chris

Ben Witherington said...

Yes, every volume in this commentary series has a CD-Rom disk with it. It is put together by the publisher, not me, which is Smyth and Helwys. I haven't looked yet, but I am assuming that it includes maps, charts, painting etc.

Ben

masonbooth said...

Dr. Witherington,

i was looking on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and ChristianBooks.com and i have not been able to find your commentary. any idea where i can get a copy?


thanks,

mason

MWC said...

You can find it here:

http://www.helwys.com/commentary/index.html

I don't recognize many of the other commentary authors at this site. Any that would be recommended, Dr. Witherington?

Ben Witherington said...

Hi Mason:

If you type in my name on Amazon under the heading of books, it will come right up. Of the other volumes in the series I think you will find Reddish, Talbert, and Bruegemann all interesting if not always conservative.

Blessings,

Ben

David A Booth said...

Ben,

Congratulations! I look forward to reading it.

This is an interesting and attractive format for non-technical commentaries. I have particularly enjoyed Tony Cartledge's commentary on 1&2 Samuel.

May your commentary have many readers.

David

David A Booth said...

For those of you who have never checked out the Smyth & Helwys website, they offer detailed explanations of the commentaries and usually allow you to download the introduction and first chapter of the book.

This can be a nice way of wetting your appetite. By all means, do purchase Dr. Witherington's commentary.

The publisher's website is: http://www.helwys.com/

David

Michael Kruse said...

First I have to finish your commentary on Revelation. Only one treat at a time.

Ben Witherington said...

Are Baptist Evangelicals? Well there's a good question. I suppose the answer is it depends on which Baptist we are talking about. Some are so independent it would be hard to put them into any slot. If you are judging by whose in the Evangelical Theological Society, there are certainly some Baptists there. Some Baptists are ecumenical, some are more sectarian (you know the old joke about how there is a hermetically sealed off quadrant in heaven for Southern Baptists since they don't know anyone else is there). In short, one description does not fit all Baptists. I have been blessed to lecture at various Baptist seminaries and Universities and am speaking at the SBC Convention in June on the Da Vinci Code. I have found them to be good a gracious hosts.

Blessings,

Ben

Marc Axelrod said...

Kata:
If it's ok to post a reply on Dr. Witherington's blog, then let me say that I have great respect for all of the guys you have mentioned, and now I will list my favorite non-evangelical NT commentaries

Matthew - uh, Davies and Allison, Luz is close behind
Mark - Joel Marcus
Luke - probably Joseph Fitzmyer's two volume set
John - It's old, but R.E Brown's two volume commentary on John is awesome, much better than Barrett IMHO.
Acts - Barrett's two volume commentary is my choice here.
Romans - Looking forward to Jewett, but for now, I am happy with Cranfield.
1 Corinthians - Raymond Collins or CK Barrett, I'll take Collins.
2 Corinthians - Margaret Thrall would be my first choice here.
Galatians - I'll go with Luhrmann
Ephesians - Ernest Best is the best by a mile.
Philippians - Bonnie Thurston - very helpful to the preacher.
Colossians - Dunn
1,2 Thessalonians - Malherbe is terrific!
1 and 2 Timothy - Quinn and Wacker or LT Johnson - I'll take QUinn and Wacker
Titus - Quinn
Philemon - Markus Barth
Hebrews - Harold Attridge is brilliant!
James - If I take Perkins, I also get several other commentaries, so I will go with Perkins, who is helpful to the preacher
1 Peter - Achtemeier as a replacement for Elliot, but if you say yes, I will keep Elliot.
2 Peter, Jude - I'll take Senior
Epistles of John - Strecker is my top choice.
Revelation - I'll go with Aune because it is a massive work of learning.

Marc