Galatians

I have become a collector of commentaries ever since my seminary days in the 1990s. As such, I am only going to recommend the best overall commentary for each book of the Bible on this site. For Galatians, for the preacher/teacher, I would suggest George's commentary as a very solid starting point. It takes historical context into consideration, provides theological insight, and incorporates thoughts from some notable thinkers. I find it easier to draw practical applications from his commentary than a number of others in the NAC series, as well.

While Timothy George is primarily a church historian, he has written what the commentators on the commentaries agree is a wonderful work on Galatians. Carson says it is sui generis; I looked up the phrase and believe he means it as a compliment. Says Carson, “It is far richer than most substantial commentaries on Galatians in its survey of earlier treatments, not only from the Reformation period but also much earlier as well.” However, it is correspondingly weak when it comes to interacting with today’s major positions. Therefore, it is one a pastor will want to refer to, but only in conjunction with a few other contemporary works. [Full Review]

This commentary is a bit different than others in the NAC series in that George is a professor of Theology and Church History. As such, his commentary is a “work of theological exposition” (p. 13). This does not mean that there is no exegesis in the commentary. On the contrary, George’s theological reflections are solidly based on the text of Galatians. Even so, the commentary is rich with observations from classic Reformation and Puritan writers. [Full Review]

Timothy George's NAC is strongest on the theological message of the text, and he does a great job placing his discussion in the light of the history of commentary on Galatians. He's known as something of a Reformation historian, but his historical knowledge of church history as a whole comes out in this commentary. Unlike some critics of the New Perspective, he does treat their arguments explicitly at times, but he interacts a lot less with contemporary scholarship than most commentaries of this size would. In many ways this isn't a typical commentary, but I've found his comments helpful and a nice complement to a more traditional commentary. He is more concerned with the issues an expositor would care about than, say, Bruce or Longenecker. [Full Review]

Derek Thomas describes this commentary as "wonderful," and I concur. It is one of the better volumes in the NAC series and complements Ryken's work nicely. [Full Review]

This is an excellent commentary from a semi-technical/pastoral view point. With around 70 pages of introduction George is very detailed in the arguements for dating and destination. An excellent defense and representation of Bruce's South Galatian/pre-Jerusalem Council destination and dating. This commentary will prove very uselful to the pastor and serious student while still satisfying may scholars.

A wonderful commentary written by an accomplished church historian who shows himself an able biblical scholar.

Best Commentary on Galatians out there. Excellent for the serious student and pastor, while not highly technical George does deal with scholorly subjects very well.