Colossians, Philemon

Schreiner describes Garland’s commentary as “a fine exposition for pastors.” It’s one of the superior volumes in the NIVAC series, a helpful tool for preachers who want to ground the application sections of their sermons in the text. [Full Review]

As is to be expected of his work in general, Garland offers a richly rewarding study of Colossians with a view towards personal spiritual formation and application today. [Full Review]

A good, useful, pastoral level commentary. Nothing groundbreaking, but a worthwhile resource to have.

The NIV Application Commentary set is known for being a little bit uneven, with some volumes being far superior to others. However, Garland’s is regarded as one of the best in the series. Because this series invests heavily in application, the pastor or general reader may find this focus its most helpful addition to the volumes above. [Full Review]

I really like the concept of the NIV Application Series, I just find that too often, the individual commentaries are not as well executed as I hope. This is not the case with David Garland's commentary on Philemon. I am a big fan of Garland's commentary on 2 Corinthians so I had high expectations for this commentary, and he delivered. This commentary has two major contributions, first, Garland poignantly draws out, moreso than the other commentators I read, the corporate dimension of the letter, that Paul, by including the entire house church in the correspondence, is expressing his belief that living the Christian life is a community endeavor. The other helpful aspect of Garland's commentary was his lengthy section on slavery. Even though it runs the danger of making it seem like slavery is the main point of the letter, in this series, I think it is appropriate to deal with it at length, which he does in the appropriate section, 'Bridging Contexts.' It's a very helpful introduction geared towards the lay person which will help them understand what slavery was like in the Roman empire. I do think at times, though, that Garland does push his conclusions a bit far related to the issue of slavery and perhaps pushes the text further than we can actually go. I also would say his sections on the 'Original Meaning' are just adequate, and the lay person should supplement this commentary with the work of N.T. Wright and the pastor should pair it with Moo's commentary. Even with that said, Garland bridges the gap between the ancient context to ours magnificently, so I feel that I can highly recommend this commentary to readers of all levels, 4.5 stars out of 5. [Full Review]

The NIV Application Commentary series is a mixed bag. Some are better than others. David Garland's commentary on Colossians and Philemon is one of the commentaries in this series that should not be passed by. Garland offers great insight into the text and its contemporary application. It should be of great help to busy pastors. [Full Review]

This commentary disappointed me some. Garland's commentary on 2 Corinthians is one of the best I have read and I really looked forward to using this one. It fell short of my expectations, however. With that said, it is not a bad commentary. Indeed I found myself agreeing with his approach to Colossians and his insights. He uses Wright as a major source but I found just using Wright's commentary a better option. I think the format of this book somewhat hindered this commentary. But of course, the format will be useful perhaps to pastors and Bible study leaders looking for application help. So, though I just gave this commentary 4, I can see that for some it may be a good first choice.

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