1 Corinthians: A Shorter Exegetical and Pastoral Commentary

Thiselton’s shorter commentary deserves 5/5 not because it reproduces the massive NIGTC in miniature but because it reworks a lifetime of study into a substantially more usable exegetical and pastoral form. Thiselton deliberately prioritises stating his own judgments and showing how the text bears upon church and Christian life rather than surveying every scholarly alternative. The result is particularly strong where his combination of social history, hermeneutics and pastoral judgment matters most: lawsuits and social power, the Lord’s Supper, idol food, charismatic gifts, gender questions and resurrection. His handling of 14:34–35, for example, preserves the public prophetic role of women in chapter 11 while locating the restriction in a particular problem involving the testing of prophecy rather than a universal prohibition of women’s speech. Readers wanting Thiselton’s mature conclusions without the enormous scholarly apparatus of the NIGTC may actually find this the more useful volume.

Built on the more extensive exegetical work from his NIGTC volume (see below), Thiselton engages the context and syntax of Paul’s epistle section by section and provides fresh sections of exposition (not found in the larger work). He shows how 1 Corinthians addresses competition and consumerism in our contemporary church context. [Full Review]

As both a distillation of, and companion to (or even alternative to!) his NIGTC, this is a superb book. As a commentary on 1 Corinthians for pastors, preachers and Bible study leaders, it's probably going to be the one I recommend the most. Warm hearted, careful, and clear - it's an excellent example of how to write a commentary.

This is the best commentary for application suggestions available. It should be purchased ahead of Blomberg’s NIVAC and even the new ZECNT, because Thiselton is the more reliable interpreter of 1 Corinthians. This means that his applications will more likely be based upon solid interpretation of the text than the others.

[Full Review]

Tyndale Theological Seminary Badhoevedorp, The Netherlands Anthony Thiselton’s massive commentary (over 1,400 pages) on 1 Corinthians was published in late 2000. This volume has been a landmark publication in 1 Corinthians studies. Besides being recognized as a definitive commentary on this Pauline epistle, it is also one of the finest recent New Testament commentaries. Due to the encouragement of others, Thiselton has now written a shorter and more pastoral 1 Corinthians commentary, one that is approximately one fourth the size of his previous one. Instead of being technical and exhaustive, this shorter exegetical and pastoral commentary reads easily and is accessible to a wide range of people. This commentary, however, is not merely a shortened version, according to Thiselton (xiii). It adds pastoral reflection to the many issues found within the epistle. It was also written more than five years after his previous commentary and thus represents his further mature reflection on 1 Corinthians. In short, it is fair to say that it is sufficiently different from his previous work on 1 Corinthians as well as smaller than it. There are a number of highlights to this volume. One of these is his short and easily readable introduction. Many times commentaries, even smaller ones, are overloaded with too many details in their introductions. [Full Review]