Holman OT and NT Commentry set

[TCanji]

Would the respective owners of the Holman OT/NT Commentary set graciously speak up and share some words of appreciation regarding this commentary set, pros and cons, how does it stack against the similar multi-volume commentaries such as REBC, Tyndale, BST.

 

It would really be a shame to miss this set at such a great current sale price at $ 99.90.

However my resources are limited and I'll greatly appreciate your input.

 

Wishing you all a very happy purchase this Christmas season !

 

Thank you in advance for your time and words of wisdom.

Edited December 28, 2016 by Tomi

[Paul Meiklejohn]

I have a full range of commentaries.  But for my sermon prep. this is my first go to commentary.  The sheer amount of commentary and application is truly outstanding.  I have included some abridged passages from John 1:1ff:

If you are a preacher, I'd strongly recommend this.  At $99 sale price,  I'd call it outstanding value.

 

Paul.

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 II. COMMENTARY

The Lamb of God

 

  MAIN IDEA: Jesus Christ is the heart and core of the gospel. Christianity is not a philosophy of life; it centers in a person who is the core of everything Christians believe.

 

A. Revelation of the Lamb (1:1–5)

 

  SUPPORTING IDEA: Like his heavenly Father, Jesus reveals eternality, personality, deity, creativity, life, and light.

 

1:1–2. Some interpreters have translated the opening phrase of this Gospel, “Before there was a beginning, the Word had been.” Indeed, the familiar repetition of Genesis 1:1 almost looks as if John wrote a Gospel of two beginnings—a creation account that parallels physical birth and spiritual rebirth. But it is important to notice that we are dealing with two beginnings, not creations. The central focus of this verse is eternality. Like his heavenly Father, Jesus always was and therefore existed at the beginning of time.

It is interesting that John should call Jesus the Word rather than some other name to introduce his book—interesting, but not surprising since the Jews often referred to God in such terminology. The doctrine at stake here is the deity of Christ. Jesus is God, and John wanted to make that point immediately. In fact, this prologue (vv. 1–18) begins and ends with a strong statement of this doctrine.

The term Word (logos) would have been familiar to the Greeks as well. Their understanding centered on ultimate reason or the rationale of the universe rather than the personal God revealed to Abraham and his descendents. John claimed that the God of creation, the ultimate mind of the universe, had taken on human form; he had become incarnate.

The Bible allows no place for atheism and no room for doubt about how God has spoken—through the Word. Before there was a beginning, the Word had been coequal with God throughout all eternity. But what did the apostle mean by with God? The Greek word is pros which literally means “toward,” implying a face-to-face relationship. John would have neither atheism nor unitarianism. He told us later in his Gospel that the Godhead consists of a trinity, but here in verse 1 we learn plurality.

...

 

PRINCIPLES  

 

• Jesus Christ is God in human flesh.

• Jesus Christ is the foremost revelation of the Father.

• Jesus Christ is God’s provision for our sin.

• Jesus Christ is our teacher and king.

 

 

APPLICATIONS  

 

• Be sure people understand you are only a messenger, not the message itself.

• Understand the theology of the Lamb.

• Make sure you treat others with grace and truth.

• Be ready to follow Jesus anywhere.

 

 

IV. LIFE APPLICATION

Sparrows in Winter

 

Paul Harvey tells about a raw winter night on which a farmer heard a thumping sound against the kitchen door. He went to a window and watched as tiny, shivering sparrows, attracted to the warmth inside, beat in vain against the glass storm door.

The farmer bundled up and trudged through fresh snow to open the barn for the struggling birds. He turned on the lights, tossed some hay in a corner, and sprinkled a trail of saltine crackers to direct them to the barn. But the sparrows hid in the darkness, afraid of him.

He tried various tactics: circling behind the birds to drive them toward the barn, tossing crumbs in the air toward them, retreating to his house to see if they would flutter into the barn on their own. Nothing worked. He had terrified them; the birds could not understand that he was trying to help them.

He withdrew to his house and watched the doomed sparrows through a window. As he stared, a thought hit him like lightning from a clear blue sky: If only I could become a bird—one of them—just for a moment, then I would not frighten them so. I could show them the way to warmth and safety. At the same  [Vol 4: Jn, p. 21]  moment, another thought dawned on him: He had grasped the whole principle of the incarnation.

A man’s becoming a bird is nothing compared to God’s becoming a man. The concept of a sovereign being as big as the universe confining himself to a human body is too much for some people to believe (cited in Swindoll, The Tardy Oxcart, pp. 294–95).

We began this chapter by quoting a few lines by Charles Wesley. The text first appeared in 1739 and was altered numerous times before it took its present form in George Whitefield’s Collection of Hymns for Social Worship in 1753. The hymn tune was adapted from the second movement of Felix Mendelsshon’s Festgesang, Opus 68, composed in 1840. This magnificent combination of text and tune provides not only a Christmas hymn but an exercise in New Testament doctrine every time we sing it. The message of John’s first chapter fills homes and churches every December with the songs of the people of the Lamb.

 

V. PRAYER  

 

Father, thank you for Jesus our Creator and Savior. May his life and light shine through us, even though the darkness around us may not understand it. Amen.

 

VI. DEEPER DISCOVERIES  

 

A. Word (1:1–3)

 

Appearing some 330 times in the New Testament, the word logos is familiar to many people who have never studied Greek. John used it no fewer than sixty-five times in his writings, forty of those found in this Gospel. The noun refers to a message or pronouncement, either oral or written. John used it to refer to the Old Testament, or the words of Jesus, or to Jesus himself. Henry Blackaby spells it out: “Thus, the primary use of logos is to denote divine revelation in some form or another. John used the term in its most exalted sense when he personified logos to refer to Christ. The Logos eternally existed as God (the Son) and with God (the Father)—He was in fact the Creator (John 1:1–3)—but He became a human being (v. 14), Jesus of Nazareth, so that He could reveal the Father and His will for humanity (v. 18)” (Blackaby, p. 2).

[TCanji]

Paul,

 

Thank you for your input.

 

Yes, I'm a pastor and it may proof to be a helpful tool for me as well.

Could you please compare it with Preaching the Word Commentary, that is if you have / own it?

 

Thanks.

[kpang808]

I will second Paul and say I enjoy and value this set 

[Daniel Francis]

It is a very good application based commentary that I would happily recommend to anyone. It is a good value and while a bit more conservative than I usually go for contains a wealth of useful insights, outlines and examples.

 

-dan

[Paul Meiklejohn]

Preach the Word, although from the same conservative background has a very different approach. It is more or less a set of very well prepared sermons.  I still rate PtW because of his rich content, but at $500, I'd say Holman would be the obvious choice if 'you have limited resources'.  I agree with Dan that both modules lack some of the scholarly detail that you will find in the more academical works like NICOT/NT or WORD biblical, which I have learned to appreciate more and more.

[TCanji]

Thank you all for your valuable feedback!

[Michael Hunt]

+1 for the Holman Commentary. I was surprised at how much I used it having only purchased it as part of a collection that I wanted mainly for its other tools. Preaching the Word is a great resource I would recommend as well and the Holman Commentary would only compliment it.

 

I think a Pastor can never have two many pastoral/homelitical commentary series.

[TCanji]

+1 for the Holman Commentary. I was surprised at how much I used it having only purchased it as part of a collection that I wanted mainly for its other tools. Preaching the Word is a great resource I would recommend as well and the Holman Commentary would only compliment it.

 

I think a Pastor can never have two many pastoral/homelitical commentary series.

 

Michael, nicely said ... never too many ... yet carefully handpicked .

Appreciate your encouragement and vote for the Holman.

Thanks.