The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah

I’m a pastor in a non-denominational church and recently preached through Jonah. I had the opportunity to use a number of commentaries, which are listed below. I wanted to take a moment and share my experience with these resources because bestcommentaries.com has been so incredibly helpful for me. I hope my insights can guide you as well! Here are the commentaries, ranked in order of preference (which ones I would recommend purchasing first) and organized into three tiers. I also hope others will follow my example and share their experiences, too. - - - Must-Buys JoAnna Hoyt (EEC) James Bruckner (NIVAC) Joyce Baldwin (McComiskey Set) James D. Nogalski (NICOT) Bryan Estelle (GAOT) - - - Almost Must Buys Leslie Allen (NICOT) Daniel Timmer (NSBT) O. Palmer Robertson O. Palmer Robertson Douglas Stuart (WBC) - - - Potential Must-Buys Gordon Keddie (WCS) Kevin Youngblood (ZECOT) Alexander, Baker, Waltke (TOTC) Sinclair Ferguson - - -

An insightful and well-researched work. While this is often a more technical series, Allen’s volume is accessible to a larger portion of readers. He considers various dating approaches to Joel, but ultimately deems it a post-exilic work. [Full Review]

Lofty verbosity. No.

A solid, reliable, and readable commentary. Less focused on linguistics and textual criticism, but focused on exegesis of the text as it stands, so very much focused at pastors and teachers.

I have already mentioned Allen's commentary in a couple of previous posts. It is a slightly technical work, but it should be accessible to most pastors and laymen. [Full Review]

I have already mentioned Allen's commentary in my post on Joel. It is a slightly technical work, but it should be accessible to most pastors and laymen. [Full Review]

In terms of technicality, Allen's commentary on Joel falls somewhere in the middle. The NICOT series is thorough, but it remains generally accessible to most readers. In his section on Joel, Allen offers a helpful survey of the various arguments for different dates. Like Dillard, he ultimately decides in favor of an early post-exilic date. On the interpretation of chapter 1, Allen agrees with the majority view, taking the description literally. Overall, a helpful commentary. [Full Review]

Careful and informed exegesis with an attempt to locate texts against possible historical background. Evangelical. [Full Review]

Careful and informed exegesis with an attempt to locate texts against possible historical background. Evangelical. [Full Review]

Careful and informed exegesis with an attempt to locate texts against possible historical background. Evangelical. [Full Review]

Careful and informed exegesis with an attempt to locate texts against possible historical background. Evangelical. [Full Review]