Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the NT: Letters of John / February 11, 2014

For more information see this article and this 2-part review.

In her commentary on John’s letters, Karen H. Jobes writes to bridge the distance between academic biblical studies and pastors, students, and laypeople who are looking for an in-depth treatment of the issues raised by these New Testament books. She approaches the three letters of John as part of the corpus that includes John’s gospel, while rejecting an elaborate redactional history of that gospel that implicates the letters. Jobes treats three major themes of the letters under the larger rubric of who has the authority to interpret the true significance of Jesus, an issue that is pressing in our religiously pluralistic society today with its many voices claiming truth about God.

About the Series:
The Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament is a modern commentary series designed to help pastors and Bible teachers understand the biblical text in its original environment. Each of the contributing evangelical scholars carefully consider factors such as grammatical detail, literary context, rhetorical flow, theological nuance, and historical setting in their interpretation. While primarily designed for those with a basic knowledge of biblical Greek, this series is accessible for all who want to understand and teach the New Testament.

Each passage is organized into the following sections:

• Literary Context: Explains how each passage functions within the book
• Main Idea: Summarizes the central message of the passage
• Translation in Graphic Layout: Presents a translation through a diagram that helps readers visualize the flow of thought within the text
• Exegetical Outline: Gives the overall structure of the passage
• Explanation of the Text: Provides interpretive insights into the background and meaning of the text
• Theology in Application: Discusses how the message of the text fits within the book itself and in a broader biblical-theological context, suggesting applications for the church today

You may also be interested in the 11-volume NT set, the 3-volume OT set, or other ZEC individual modules.

For even more information, see this article.