The Gospel According to Saint Mark

Hooker’s commentary is an outstanding example of concise scholarship that remains genuinely original. Rather than becoming preoccupied with hypothetical pre-Markan sources, she concentrates on the finished Gospel and asks how its structure, repetition, irony, scriptural echoes and characterization communicate Mark’s theology, while maintaining an appropriately cautious stance toward both historical scepticism and overly elaborate literary readings. She frequently offers distinctive interpretations: her discussion of Elijah and Moses at the transfiguration, her reassessment of the relationship between Mark 10:45 and Isaiah 53, and her reading of the return to Galilee as forgiveness and renewed discipleship are particularly stimulating. I would not accept every conclusion—her minimizing of Isaiah 53 behind Mark 10:45 is one example—but her arguments are almost always worth engaging. Remarkably economical for the amount of insight it contains, Hooker is one of the best complementary commentaries to read alongside a larger technical work.

 

And, I really like Morna Hooker's commentary on Mark; Professor Hooker can write a commentary and just keep her readers in the text and not become aware of how much she knows -- and she knows this stuff very well. Her commentary is a steal [Full Review]