Why Use Bible Commentaries?

Pastors and theological students have long prized commentaries. Charles Spurgeon called biblical commentators “a glorious army . . . whose acquaintance will be your delight and profit.” He remarked that Matthew Henry’s work should be “chained in the vestry for anybody and everybody to read” and considered John Trapp his “especial companion and treasure.”

While pastors today still read Henry, Calvin, and other classics from centuries past, numerous commentary series and stand-alone volumes published in recent years offer students of the Scriptures a wide range of options—and opinions. To adapt the words of the ancient Preacher, “Of making many commentaries there is no end.”

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The practice of commenting on important works goes back to ancient Athens and was advanced by literary scholars in Alexandria. Antiquity’s most prolific commentator, Didymus of Alexandria, wrote between 3,500 and 4,000 works. Early Christian commentators include Hippolytus of Rome (on Daniel) and Origen (on Matthew, John, and Romans) in the early third century.

Purpose of Commentaries

Most fundamentally, commentaries seek to explain the sense of a written work. In his work on The Iliad, Aristarchus of Samothrace tried “to explain Homer by Homer, to interpret him by himself.” In the biblical tradition, commentators take their cues from the Levites who “read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read” (Neh. 8:8, NIV).

Commentaries are written on texts that are important for a community of readers and require explanation due to factors such as historical distance, differences in language, and challenging subject matter. First-century Hellenistic readers sought commentaries to make sense of Homer and Aristotle. How much more necessary are good commentaries that help contemporary Christian readers understand the authoritative canonical texts written thousands of years ago in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

There are various sorts of biblical commentaries and series that reflect distinctive emphases. Some seek to illuminate the text’s historical-cultural context (e.g., The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary). Others help readers navigate its original language and syntax (e.g., Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament and Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament). Others review the text’s reception history (e.g., Hermeneia and Wiley Blackwell Bible Commentaries). Still others focus on the text’s contribution to biblical theology or its enduring theological and pastoral significance (e.g., Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary).

Some well-rounded series are particularly well suited to the needs of pastors and theological students, such as the Baker Exegetical Commentary, Pillar New Testament Commentary, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary, and New International Commentary.

Regardless of commentaries’ intended scope and audience, they share a common concern to orient readers to the text and clarify its meaning.

Limitations of Commentaries

G. K. Chesterton famously quipped, “Though St John the Evangelist saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creature so wild as one of his own commentators” (a sobering word as I write a commentary on the Apocalypse). It’s a daunting task to write a commentary (unless your name is Didymus), and many critics have chastised commentators for their deficiencies and limitations.

Good commentaries help contemporary Christian readers understand the authoritative canonical texts written thousands of years ago.

For example, Marita Mathijsen rehearses the “seven deadly sins” of commentary writing:

1. Assembling a hodgepodge of facts in search of comprehensiveness

2. Offering dictionary definitions for terms without really clarifying the text’s meaning

3. Including anecdotes and other information that’s interesting but not essential for understanding the text

4. Failing to explain terms, customs, institutions, and actions in their historical context

5. Proposing solutions to riddles that introduce further riddles (which she likens to the mythical Hydra that grows new heads after the first is cut off)

6. Presenting condensed textual explanations that include a dizzying maze of abbreviations and references to various other works

7. Presenting various lists, references, and facts in an arid style that doesn’t serve the reader

New Testament commentators may also go astray by treating the text in a fragmented, atomistic way that leads readers to miss the forest for the trees and by adopting new hermeneutical fads in their search for novelty or originality.

Essential Tool, Poor Substitute

Stated positively, a good commentary faithfully and lucidly explains the meaning of the biblical text in its literary and historical-cultural context. It doesn’t simply rehash the opinions of all who’ve gone before but offers fresh insights based on rigorous and careful examination of the text with awareness of the larger scholarly discussion.

Trusted commentaries are an essential part of a theological library, taking their place alongside standard lexicons, Bible dictionaries, and works of historical, systematic, biblical, and pastoral theology. While consulting commentaries is valuable, it’s a poor substitute for doing the hard work of carefully and prayerfully poring over the biblical text in its original language and in good translations.

As Johann Albrecht Bengel famously said, “Apply yourself wholly to the text; apply the text wholly to yourself.” Once pastors and theological students have reflected deeply on a text’s literary context, considered its flow of thought, and wrestled with its meaning and significance, they’re ready to receive the full benefits of wise, learned commentaries.