Genesis 1–11

Kenneth Mathews’s 2022 CSC volume is a genuine and worthwhile revision of his respected 1996 NAC commentary, though readers should expect a substantially reorganised and updated edition rather than fundamentally new exegesis. The total work is only modestly longer—approximately five per cent in the supplied texts—but the old, exceptionally lengthy introduction has been reduced by nearly half, with its extensive treatments of interpretation history, Pentateuchal criticism, ancient Near Eastern literature, creation and science, the image of God, the human soul, civilisation, patriarchal life spans, and the flood revised and redistributed into ten convenient excurses at the end. This gives the book a much clearer progression and allows readers to follow the exposition without repeatedly being diverted into lengthy technical discussions. Mathews retains the commentary’s central convictions: Genesis is a coherent literary-theological composition with a Mosaic core, genuine historical referents, and an indispensable place within the Pentateuch, Israel’s history, and the Christian canon. The revised introduction, however, articulates this position more carefully, acknowledging that Genesis is anonymous, that Moses may have compiled earlier written sources, and that later retrospective explanations may have updated the text, while adding substantial discussions of divine authorship, theological interpretation, canonical meaning, the interpreting community of faith, and meanings extending beyond the human author’s conscious awareness. Much of the verse-by-verse exposition remains recognisably the same, sometimes almost paragraph for paragraph, but it has been extensively edited for readability, recast more often in Mathews’s personal voice, updated for the CSB, supplemented with newer scholarship and occasional new illustrations, and modernised in its language concerning humanity. The creation-and-science material is much broader than before, now surveying young-earth, old-earth, evolutionary-creation, and intelligent-design approaches, engaging genetics and the historical-Adam debate, while still firmly affirming purposeful creation, the special creation of humanity, and Adam and Eve as humanity’s first ancestors. Mathews also retains his complementarian conclusions but presents them more cautiously, emphasising women’s equal dignity, partnership, and value and explicitly distinguishing role from rank. Some apologetic sections remain overly polemical or scientifically dated, and owners of the NAC will encounter considerable repetition; nevertheless, the CSC is clearly the preferable edition—better organised, more readable, more hermeneutically self-conscious, more attentive to contemporary questions, and still exegetically substantial, theologically conservative, Christ-centred, and highly useful for pastors, teachers, and serious students.

Mathews’ exceptionally detailed discussion of the biblical text handles disputed passages with sensitivity. His high view of Scripture is reflected throughout his discussion. An important work for pastors to consult. [Full Review]

Originally released over twenty-five years ago as part of the New American Commentary series (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1996), Mathews has reworked his esteemed commentary for a new generation. ... The Christian Standard Commentary (CSC) aims to “embody an ‘ancient-modern’ approach” (p. ix). This involves bringing together careful exegesis, theological insight, and rigorous scholasticism alongside practical relevance and application to the “building up of Christ’s church and the Great Commission to which all are called” (p. xii). One may say that this commentary has thoroughly succeeded! ... many preachers, pastors, Christian ministry leaders, Bible college and seminary students, and (one hopes!) invested laypeople will find this commentary a helpful resource at multiple levels, particularly those unfamiliar with the first edition. [Full Review]