The Epistle to the Galatians
The Epistle to the Galatians
Technical
Evangelical

The Epistle to the Galatians

in New International Greek Testament Commentary

by F. F. Bruce

4.68 Rank Score: 7.5 from 14 reviews, 9 featured collections, and 42 user libraries
Pages 325
Publisher Eerdmans
Published 8/24/1982
ISBN-13 9780802823878

Paul's letter to the churches of Galatia was for many years a document of special interest and study for renowned New Testament scholar F. F. Bruce. This excellent volume in theNew International Greek Testament Commentary series contains Bruce's mature work on that important early epistle.

Through phrase-by-phrase exegesis of the Greek text, consistent awareness of the historical and geographical context, and balanced dialogue with scores of other scholars, Bruce successfully bridges the hermeneutical gap and makes the text of Galatians come alive for both scholars and students. Based on careful historical-critical-linguistic exegesis yet primarily theological in character, this commentary places special emphasis throughout onPaul's insistence on justification before God by faith apart from works of the law, and onPaul's presentation of the Spirit as the principle of the new life in Christ.

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Zach Olson Zach Olson June 29, 2022
Bruce is quite balanced in his approach to Galatians. I still view Harmon's as the best, but this is a great aid.
G Ware G Ware May 6, 2015
This is classic F.F. Bruce. It is reliable exegesis and linguistic analysis from a scholar trusted by seemingly everyone under the broad umbrella of evangelicalism (and probably even most outside that umbrella too!). The only drawback is its publication date. Because it was published as the New Perspective was only embryonic, Bruce interacts with NPP ideas in only a few places and not in great detail. He takes a fairly traditional route on many of the tricky bits in Galatians- a South Galatia location, and early date, an objective genitive reading of pistis Christou Iesou, and he takes a moderate reading of 3:13 and atonement. Bruce did however make some waves in this volume with his egalitarianism which he explores in regard to 3:28. But overall, this is an excellent volume, and with Longenecker, the best option for a technical commentary on Galatians.
I do think F.F. Bruce's NIGTC is one of the better commentaries out there. It's getting dated, especially given the New Perspective on Paul that Bruce doesn't spend a lot of time interacting with, since it was pretty much brand new during the final years he was working on this volume. Bruce tends to be stronger on historical and language, especially on smaller details, and weaker on theology and broader structure. (Carson gives two examples of weaker areas: law/grace and old/new covenants.) Bruce defends the traditional Protestant approach that the New Perspective responds to, even if he doesn't spend a lot of time tackling the claims of particular proponents of the NPP. He argues for an early date and a South Galatian location, and he gives one of the most convincing accounts I've seen of how Galatians and Acts fit together, defending the historicity of both. Complementarians will be annoyed at his insistence on egalitarianism in Gal 3:28, which even a good number of egalitarians recognize as being about gospel equality rather than about what the implications of gospel equality are in marriage and in church governance. Most of the commentary isn't so ideologically-driven, however, and this is currently the first place I look on this book. I'm just not as inclined to look in only one place as I might be on other books. [Full Review]
The NIGTC series is a technical commentary series requiring knowledge of Greek to use fully. Bruce's commentary in the series is a very helpful contribution for those who wish to dig deeper into the original text of Paul's letter. [Full Review]
John Glynn John Glynn September 20, 2008
Jim Rosscup Jim Rosscup September 20, 2008