The Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon (2nd ed.)

Moo’s revised PNTC is now the commentary I would most readily recommend as the best single current all-round working volume on Colossians and Philemon. The second edition incorporates another fifteen years of scholarship while retaining the basic judgments of the first, and Moo’s characteristic strength is careful adjudication rather than the pursuit of novelty for its own sake. He recognizes the substantial Jewish component in the Colossian problem without forcing all the evidence into a single Jewish-mystical reconstruction, handles the Christ hymn with appropriate caution about hypothetical earlier forms, and consistently keeps the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ at the centre of the letter. His Philemon is especially good: Moo allows that Paul does not straightforwardly command emancipation, yet concludes that legal freedom probably belongs to what Paul ultimately hopes Philemon will grant Onesimus. The commentary’s originality lies less in one spectacular thesis than in its exceptionally independent and reliable judgments. Current, comprehensive, theologically serious and consistently useful.

Doug Moo’s excellent commentary represents an optimal blend of exegetical competence, theological insight, and careful handling of interpretational issues. As is typical with all Moo publishes, he writes clearly and engagingly. Tabb notes that Moo’s lengthy introductions to both letters provide “a very thorough defense of Pauline authorship” and helpful proposals for the situation behind Philemon. [Full Review]