Jump to content

Hermeneia, NIGTC and Exegetical Summary


Λύχνις Δαν

Recommended Posts

Hi ya,

 

I know option three does not currently exist in Acc and I've opened a different thread on that.

 

But, how do these compare ? Hermeneia looks fantastic (particular interesting is the extra-biblical content) but its generally lower, or un-, ranked on bestcommentaries whereas NIGTC does pretty well in some volumes. The exegetical summary is unranked. My guess is that such a detailed dissection of the text at the grammatical level is not as popular and something a little more digestible, but perhaps it's something else. In any case as I am quite happy to suffer the odd case of indigestion I am wondering how these three commentaries compare in their treatment of the detail of the original language text, and background contextual information. I have watched the Dr J. podcast on the Hermeneia which was helpful but as he himself pointed out a 10 minute or so podcast hardly does more than scratch the surface of such a work.

 

All such queries are necessarily vague at the outset - sorry about that. If it helps I am studying Hebrews and given how well regarded Ellingworth's NIGTC Hebrews is (oh and the fact that it's on sale) I am interested. My primary concern is with the original language.

 

Any thoughts or comments gratefully received.

 

thx

D

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Short, non-nuanced, top-of-mind answer: While, of course, it depends and varies from volume-to-volume, I've generally found the NIGTC volumes more helpful in getting into Greek. That Hebrews volume is excellent and France's Mark volume is magnificent. What I've used of Dunn on Colossians/Philemon is also really good. And Nolland's Matthew is underrated.

 

The Exegetical Summaries are basically a summary of what each major commentary says, clause-by-clause, phrase-by-phrase. It's actually a good starting point before delving into a bunch of individual commentaries on a passage or book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanx Abram. Hmmm....A few mores days to consider stuff. Do you have or use Hermeneia ? I'm thinking there I might seek out a volume or two to look at in person so to speak and in any case there is no immediate rush. NIGTC I can probably get Ellingworth and see how I like it.

 

Thx

D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In Hermeneia, Bovon on Luke or Jewett on Romans are both good. Some of the older volumes were written by leaders in the field at the time they were written. I still refer to Conzelman on Acts (in fact, more so than I refer to the replacement volume from Pervo). There is much good in Hermeneia.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In Hermeneia, Bovon on Luke or Jewett on Romans are both good. Some of the older volumes were written by leaders in the field at the time they were written. I still refer to Conzelman on Acts (in fact, more so than I refer to the replacement volume from Pervo). There is much good in Hermeneia.

 

Good to know. I'll look further into it certainly.

 

Thx

D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hermeneia looks fantastic (particular interesting is the extra-biblical content) but its generally lower, or un-, ranked on bestcommentaries whereas NIGTC does pretty well in some volumes. The exegetical summary is unranked.

 

While bestcommentaries.com may be one good resource to consider when exploring biblical commentaries (its list of forthcoming and unreleased commentaries is particularly helpful), I think it's important to contextualize its rankings in terms of its background and contributors. The majority of its "site reviewers" are essentially anonymous; while its "featured reviewers" include several notable convervative scholars and journals, mainline or liberal biblical scholarship seems to be largely unrepresented. I make these points not to condemn the site in any way, but only to suggest that in this sort of context it's not especially surprising to see a strongly critical, less theological series such as Hermeneia receiving lower rankings. In contrast, if you polled biblical studies faculty of mainline seminaries such as Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Duke, Vanderbilt, and Perkins School of Theology (SMU), I would expect to see Hermeneia, AYBC, and OTL/NTL at the top, over series such as NAC or TOTC/TNTC.

 

With those things in mind, Hermeneia is an outstanding series, especially if you're interested in matters related to the original languages, historical and cultural context, and textual criticism (where it is easily the best series that I've ever used, with AYBC a distant second). I don't own the Accordance module, but I've used many of the print volumes, including John Collins on Daniel, Adela Collins on Mark, Francois Bovon on Luke, Robert Jewett on Romans, Harry Attridge on Hebrews, and Carolyn Osiek on the Shephed of Hermas. All of them were excellent.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well put, Matthew. To add to your list, Luz's Matthew 1-7 is pretty great.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well put, Matthew. To add to your list, Luz's Matthew 1-7 is pretty great.

Absolutely! Even many of the older volumes, such as Martin Dibelius on James (the first edition of which appeared in 1921) have retained a lot of scholarly and exegetical value.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Matthew

 

Thx. That makes sense to me.

As they can only be had as set in Acc it's good to know they are generally of high quality.

 

Thx

D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Since HERMENEIA is on sale for this week, I wanted to contribute saying that it is the most precious commentary I own.


It opens my eyes to new ideas and possibility. Often I dont like them, or I consider them wrong, but nevertheless they stretch my understanding of the Bible.



I like a lot some books of the set, and I love when they tell you the history of the interpretation of some passages i.e. parables.


Love it love it love it


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Prof Shalom Paul's AMOS is a masterpiece. I don't know much about the other OT volumes. Looks kind of expensive though, and it's not a complete set of Hebrew Bible volumes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...