When preaching on a passage I attempt to use a canon of commentaries.
I’ve discussed this idea before, but in brief I want to make sure I’ve given myself a manageable amount of material to read to prepare my message while also covering four different types of commentary. It would be wonderful to have time to sit and sift through multiple voices but rarely am I able to do so.
I developed the idea of the ‘canon’ to aid me in buying different commentaries. Previously I would be reading 2-4 heavyweight historical-grammatical commentaries and finding that unless the passage was particularly contentious, they covered similar ground and one of them was clearer and more incisive than the others. Over a series I’d drift towards mostly reading that one.
My four categories, which can often be covered in 3 books, are:
Historical-Grammatical: the classic evangelical commentary that is interested in translation, what words mean, and historical reconstruction. Unless it’s a difficult to translate or contentious section of scripture, the historical side of things is more useful here. I’ve generally found that the most heavyweight commentary I can get my hands on is going to be the most useful for preaching. I read one of them. I read a second if it’s a complex passage, I know its contentious or I personally disagree on first reading with the commentary. I only read that difficult section in the second (or a third, if required).
Literary-Theological: it’s harder to find good ones, but this is a commentary that is attuned to theology, the rule of faith, and the literary features of the text. Sometimes for a good literary commentary you need to go far outside of evangelical scholarship (think Adele Berlin on Lamentations), though hopefully that is changing. Some historical-grammatical commentaries are attuned to one or both of these emphases, but you’ll need to read it to see. I want here a commentary that is helping me engage in theological reflection rather than one that tells me what to think, and one that notices patterns in the text and connections in the Bible. If you can find a commentary attuned to biblical theology that’s ideal but they’re like gold dust. Sometimes this category is best served by books on biblical theology rather than commentaries.
Pastoral: these are ten-a-penny and tend to be at a more popular level. I’m looking for something to look at after I’ve written an outline to see how someone else applied the text to the reader and the sorts of illustrations they used. Occasionally I’ll borrow something, mostly it just helps me think through the direction I was going in or ask the ‘do I have a story like that that’s my own’ question.
Ancient: I try to read something written more than a hundred years ago. Often my theological box is ticked by reading the fathers. I quite like the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series, which works like a commonplace pulling quotes from different church fathers.
That’s my system, it’s imperfect—mostly because it’s not always easy to find the right commentaries on each book of the Bible—but I wondered if some examples of what I’ve found recently helpful might be of interest to some readers:
Joshua
David Firth, Joshua, EBTC. Historical-Grammatical but well attuned to literary features
Richard S. Hess, Joshua, Tyndale. My second check on questions of history and grammar.
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1–2 Samuel, ACCS. Ancient and theological, lots of typology.
Phil Moore, Straight to the Heart of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth. Pastoral. Good on application and illustrations.
I’ve also consulted theological books on the Canaanite ‘genocide’ and on rest for messages which swung slightly more topical throughout the preaching series.
2 Corinthians
(for a semi-topical series on giving in chapters 8-9)
David E. Garland, 2 Corinthians, New American Commentary. My historical-grammatical go to on 2 Corinthians.
1–2 Corinthians, ACCS. Ancient and theological.
Dane Ortlund, Ministry in the New Realm, New Testament Theology. Theological, not a commentary but useful in certain sections
Paul Barnett, The Message of 2 Corinthians, BST. Pastoral, by a master expositor.
Ruth
(for church bible study rather than preaching)
Peter Lau, The Book of Ruth, NICOT. Historical-grammatical. I also like the older NICOT that this replaced by Robert Hubbard.
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1–2 Samuel, ACCS. Ancient and theological.
David Atkinson, The Message of Ruth, BST. Pastoral.
If an attempt on my part to make recommendations for each book of the Bible would be of interest to readers, do let me know; there would be some gaps in books I’ve not preached or done any work in.
Of course, when preaching a topical series, you can’t build a canon in the same way, you want key texts on the topic and then some source commentaries on the books the passages are based from. This is harder when you’re trying to build up your theological library within a budget.
I’ve been building my commentary library for years. It’s an expensive endeavour. I’m now in the privileged position that my church gives me a budget to use for this year by year, but if preaching the word is likely to be part of your life long-term, the earlier you can start on this endeavour the better it’ll be. The serious commentaries aren’t cheap, and it isn’t worth skimping and buying the cheap stuff. It was a significant cost to us as a newly married couple to buy a few serious commentaries each year. It was worthwhile.
Photo by Rafael Garcin on Unsplash
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