Best Commentaries

Glynn’s book is primarily bibliographic lists laid out in categories. He covers a huge range of topics including not only the expected biblical commentaries, but also background and introductory works, theological and historical surveys, and even software and websites. In the biblical commentaries area, he separates volumes into either exegetical or expositional and then notes where they fit on a scale from liberal/critical to evangelical/conservative. For each list he bolds the 2-3 works he recommends. However, unlike the other survey works (Carson, Longman), Glynn offers no comments on the books except on occasion a few words to note things like the millennial perspective of the author of a Revelation commentary.

This system allows Glynn’s work to cover more categories and books than anyone else. The only downside is that a reader will not necessarily know why Glynn recommended a particular work since it is not designed as an annotated bibliography. That said, Glynn is always a helpful starting place for finding works on just about any subject.

Sadly, Glynn passed away shortly after the publication of the 10th edition of his work. The next edition is being edited by professors from Dallas Seminary.