The Gospel according to John

The best commentary on john

Though published three decades ago, Carson’s commentary on John’s Gospel remains a treasured resource for pastors and students. Schreiner says it’s “the first choice for pastors, exegetically and theologically rich.” It blends top-notch scholarship with reverence, intellectual rigor with spiritual warmth. The hefty, eighty-page introduction covers issues like the book’s authorship, structure, and evangelistic purpose, and it includes a rich discussion of the Gospel’s theological emphases. Carson also gives sage advice on preaching from John. Tabb writes, “Throughout, the commentary is marked by clear, straightforward, penetrating exposition of the text.” [Full Review]

The best commentary on John.

Thorough exegesis and thoroughly enjoyable, top quality work.

Great resource. Carson tackles difficult doctrines and passages in detail, and yet this is still an easy book to read. Highly recommended.

This is the near-unanimous choice of those who have written commentaries on the commentaries. Keith Mathison says, “This commentary shows Carson’s usual exegetical care and insight. It is an example of conservative evangelical scholarship at its best. Very highly recommended to any who want to understand better the Gospel of John.” Several experts point to its readability, suggesting that it is suitable for every audience–scholars, pastors and laypersons. [Full Review]

This is a remarkably useful commentary on John for exegetical details. Carson states in the introduction that he does not intend to interact with all of the scholarship on John, but rather “a small representative part of the massive secondary literature on John.” In the body of the commentary he treats the Greek text well both in terms of lexical and syntactical issues. All Greek words are transliterated so the non-Greek reader will have no problem reading the commentary. Footnotes are rare, sources are cited in-text. Carson is best when he is comparing several options for understanding a text. In the end, it is always very clear what his view is! Of the five commentaries listed here, Carson is in the most likely to draw implications for systematic theology. [Full Review]

Excellent and engaging commentary. Carson has a unique ability to clearly articulate very difficult doctrines and texts and make them accessible to the everyday layman. Does not deal with the Greek in very much depth but does delve into it on occasion when it is necessary. Overall a great commentary.

Excellent commentary, I just finished going through it while reading the Gospel of John. Probably the best commentary I have read on this Gospel. There was a handful of passages I would have liked more depth on or dealt with differently, but overall a great resource.

This is by far the best commentary on John currently available. As one would expect from Carson, this commentary is both technically helpful, yet frequently pastorally insightful. Carson is aware of Morris's work, and often eclipses him. A more helpful commentary could hardly be hoped for if one is aiming at thoroughgoing expository teaching/preaching.

An outstanding commentary that does just about everything an evangelical student or teacher of the Bible could possibly want from a commentary on John. He incisively gets to the meaning of the text, and is quite willing to devote space to interacting with the views of other commentators, meaning there is never a dull moment. [Full Review]

I mentioned in my review of Newbigen's commentary on John, that I would often consult commentaries and feel they were still a bit dry and missing something of the text. Carson's was one of those commentaries I consulted. But, that said, this is still a great commentary and needed in its own right. Though I am glad I found Newbigen to supplement this, I am glad to have this to learn from and consult. It is still a 5 star commentary. I hesitate to give a rankings on best John commentaries since there are still so many great commentaries on John which I have not seen. But I am grateful to have Carson on my shelf.

DA Carson, a student of B. Lindars (another John scholar), built his commentary on John in interaction with the text and those who had gone before him [Full Review]

The best!

Carson does an amazing job in this commentary on John. If you can only own one commentary on John, this is the one to get. He is not overly technical, but still manages a great deal of depth.

D.A. Carson's PNTC is easily my favorite commentary on John. I consider Carson to be one of the most balanced theological interpreters of scripture. Those more skeptical might just think that's because I tend to agree with him, but I think it's because we've independently arrived at similar enough views that I happen to think he's just gotten it right much of the time. This is clearly a favorite among most evangelicals. Carson operates at an academically sophisticated enough level that serious research ought to interact with him far more than actually happens. He defends traditional Johannine authorship as the most likely explanation of the data we have without insisting on it as a point of orthodoxy. His theological perspective is mainstream evangelical and broadly Reformed. [Full Review]

Despite recent competition, I still think Carson is the best “I’ve only got one” book for John. Clear with characteristic Carson meticulousness. Kostenberger (BECNT, 2005) is good on survey, but not as engaging. Blomberg (IVP, 2002) is worth a look.

To date, the Pillar New Testament Commentaries have been consistently excellent. They are all thorough and readable, a rare combination in commentaries. I believe the consistent excellency of the series is largely due to the fact that D.A. Carson is the general editor. His own contribution on the Gospel of John set the bar very high for the other contributors. This commentary shows Carson's usual exegetical care and insight. It is an example of conservative evangelical scholarship at its best. Very highly recommended to any who want to understand better the Gospel of John. [Full Review]

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