Colossians

This was a joy to use preaching through Colossians. If you could only have one commentary on Colossians, Arnold might be the one you get (although I think I slightly prefer Moo). This is an excellent and exhaustive work on Colossians that reminded me of Hoehner's work on Ephesians. An 800 page commentary on Colossians is simply a lot for a book only 4 chapters long. Much of that comes in Arnold's introduction (the commentary on the text itself begins on pg. 253) which I simply didn't have time to read all of. There's many highlights I could mention, but I'll just say a few: 1) His excursus on "filling up the afflictions of Christ" (Col. 1:24) was very helpful. I agree/was convinced by his view of seeing Paul functioning in the role of Christ, the Suffering Servant (Isa. 53, cf. Acts 13:47 and Isa. 49:6). 2) Also a great excursus on the "elemental spirits" (Col. 2:8, 20). I believe they are demonic spirits as does Arnold. 3) Also really helpful work on Col. 2 with the "worship of angels" and the other odd words and phrases in Col. 2. Simply put, we don't really know what was going on in Colossae. But contra Dunn, it doesn't seem to just be Judaism. Arnold does extensive work here showing the pagan/syncretistic practices that seemed to be taking place. In all, highly recommended for Colossians. I've already learned: Don't get tons of commentaries on a book. In my opinion, get the top 3 or maybe 4 and stick with those. You just don't need to waste time in sermon prep going through commentaries that usually end up saying what you already discovered in your own exegesis.

This is an excellent commentary on the Book of Colossians. High level of scholarship combined with clear and engaging writing. There is rich background material that illuminates the historical and cultural context. There are many excursus throughout the volume that provide extra attention and detail to challenging texts. Probably one of the authors strongest areas of expert is the religious and cultural practice of magic and pagan ritual throughout the mediterranean world, especially as it relates to divination, attaining knowledge, casting curses, and attracting good fortune. Highly recommended.

This is an erudite, massive commentary in spades. Mark it down as far less tedious than we might often label commentaries on this scale... He wrote the most prolific section on the archaeology of the area that I have ever, and I read to the end! ... This is an outstanding commentary. Its scholarship is impeccable while what the rest of are after is here if you will invest just a bit of time. I don’t think you’ll regret it. [Full Review]