The Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew
Technical
Evangelical

The Gospel of Matthew

in New International Greek Testament Commentary

by John Nolland

4.75 Rank Score: 6.51 from 12 reviews, 4 featured collections, and 20 user libraries
Pages 1579
Publisher Eerdmans
Published 2005
ISBN-13 9780802823892

Having devoted the past ten years of his life to research for this major new work, John Nolland gives us a commentary on the Gospel of Matthew that engages with a notable range of Matthean scholarship and offers fresh interpretations of the dominant Gospel in the history of the church.

Without neglecting the Gospel's sources or historical background, Nolland places his central focus on the content and method of Matthew's story. His work explores Matthew's narrative technique and the inner logic of the unfolding text, giving full weight to the Jewish character of the book and its differences from Mark's presentation of parallel material. While finding it unlikely that the apostle Matthew himself composed the book, Nolland does argue that Matthew's Gospel reflects the historical ministry of Jesus with considerable accuracy, and he brings to the table new evidence for an early date of composition.

Including accurate translations based on the latest Greek text, detailed verse-by-verse comments, thorough bibliographies for each section, and an array of insightful critical approaches, Nolland's Gospel of Matthew will stimulate students, preachers, and scholars seeking to understand more fully Matthew's presentation of the gospel narrative.

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G Ware G Ware April 18, 2020
This commentary is precisely what you would anticipate from John Nolland, and from the NIGTC series. Keenly focused on analysis of the Greek text, with significant attention paid to synoptic comparison. Highly technical, well formatted, and reliable.
Joel B. Green Joel B. Green October 21, 2015
For insightful engagement and critical detail, students with Greek may turn to John Nolland’s up-to-date study for the New International Greek Text Commentary (NIGTC; Eerdmans, 2005). Nolland exhibits an impressive sensitivity to the nuances of the Matthean narrative that will repay careful reading of his commentary. [Full Review]
Abram K-J Abram K-J February 18, 2014
It's not perfect (I found the constant synoptic comparisons and the wooden original translation a bit much), but other than that, there's not much to dislike about this commentary. Thoroughly researched, sensitive presentation of the evidence, theological depth at nearly every turn. An amazing achievement, and--together with France in the NICNT series--one of the first places to go for exegesis in Matthew. The introduction alone is worth the purchase price. Read my full (more detailed) review at the link. [Full Review]
Phillip J. Long Phillip J. Long May 22, 2012
This commentary is on the Greek text of Matthew and is another magisterial commentary. For Nolland, Matthew is based on Mark and Q and was composed before the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, although he does not think that the apostle Matthew is the author of the final form of the book. The body of the commentary includes brief bibliographies for pericopes, comments on text critical issues, and phrase-by-phrase comments. Greek is normally translated so that a reader without Greek can use the commentary without too much difficulty. It is the style of the NIGTC commentary series to use a smaller type for detailed which may be less important, although I find these sections excellent. Nolland does an excellent job setting the words of Jesus into a Second Temple Period background, his footnotes contain copious references to the literature of the first century. [Full Review]
Scot McKnight Scot McKnight April 20, 2009
Finally, one can read each of the above and still gain insights from John Nolland [Full Review]
John Glynn John Glynn September 20, 2008
Unnatributed-d Unnatributed-d May 26, 2008
D. A. Carson D. A. Carson May 26, 2008
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago Chicago, Illinois Noland describes his major interest in his commentary as “the story Matthew has to tell and how he tells it” (xvii). Using an eclectic approach and concentrating on redaction criticism and literary criticism, Noland focuses his interest on the text before us, with less attention to what lies behind the text, although using some source criticism or form-critical analysis of the traditions in the commentary proper. So what comes out of Noland’s approach? He argues in his introduction that the author is an unknown Christian, a conservative editor of his sources (Mark, the “Q” tradition) who uses them to construct a unified text. Other sources include oral tradition, larger blocks of material (eschatological discourse, passion narrative), smaller units of linked material, and so forth. Such materials also served as a constraint on Matthew’s editorial work, which means that Matthew is a trustworthy reporter. Noland’s discussion of sources, date, and editorial principles makes clear the conservative historical interpretation of his work. Noland dates Matthew early, before 70 C.E. (14–17), holding that a later dating presupposes a post-70 date for Mark. [Full Review]
Chelmsford, Massachusetts John Nolland, academic dean and lecturer in New Testament studies at Trinity College, Bristol, England, has contributed previously to the field of Gospel commentaries with a three-volume work on Luke (Word Biblical Commentary, 1989–93). The present, lengthy commentary on the Greek text of Matthew for the New International Greek Testament Commentary (NIGTC) represents a decade of work. Nolland notes in the preface that his central concern in this commentary is with the story Matthew has to tell and how he tells it. Nolland’s approach to Matthew is “broadly speaking” redaction-critical: he views Matthew as a careful and fairly conservative editor of sources, but one who has integrated his material into a well-considered and unified whole. Following preliminary matters (foreword, prefaces, abbreviations, and general bibliography [vii–xcviii]), Nolland provides readers with an introduction (1–62), a detailed commentary proper (65–1271), a lengthy bibliographical appendix of works prior to 1980 (1273–1468), and various indices (1469–1481): subjects, modern authors, biblical and ancient sources, and key Greek words. [Full Review]