Daniel

This is a quality and concise commentary. If I were to recommend one commentary for the late date view of Daniel, this would be it. Although it is relatively short in length and brief in explanation, Seow does a great job of fairly and succinctly summing up views of each matter while adding his own incredibly insightful thoughts. While I don't agree with Seow's conclusion on the date of Daniel, I learned a lot from this commentary.

reliable and theologically suggestive

With his new commentary on Daniel, respected Old Testament professor C. L. Seow of Princeton Theological Seminary has contributed a sagacious new addition to the Westminster Bible Companion series, a series intended as a learned resource for use in such ministry contexts as leading advanced Bible study groups and preparing text-based sermons. Seow has thoroughly researched and judiciously presented this work, honing it for its intended audiences. The volume will certainly make Daniels enigmas more intelligible and its riches more accessible to communities of faith. In keeping with the format of the WBC series, the commentary presents the NRSV text of Daniel in meaningful units, followed by explanations and interpretations. Much to his credit, Seow is fair-minded, taking note of approaches to Daniel that differ from his own, even mentioning classical views on the book from time to time. His own interpretive choice is consistently a standard, historical-critical stance, however, that aims to explain the book in terms of its original historical context. He carefully outlines the critical argument that the book doubtless reached its completed form in the tyrannous reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the period before 164 B.C.E. [Full Review]

This commentary forms part of the Westminster Bible Companion series. Its stated objective is to assist pastor s and students in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume presents the text under discussion, explains the biblical book in its original historical context, and explores the texts significance for faithful living today. These books are an ideal resource for preparing a text-based sermon and for use in advanced Bible study groups (b ack of the book). In addition, the series foreword states that it is i ntended to help the laity of the church read the Bible more clearly and intelligently (xi). Choon Leong Seow, the Henry Snyder Gehman Professor of Old Testament Language and Literature at Princeton Theological Seminary, is no stranger to writing biblical commentaries. In recent years he has produced the Anchor Bible volume on Ecclesiastes and contributed the 1 and 2 Kings commentary to The New Interpreters Bible. He has also written on linguistic issues pertaining to biblical Hebrew and Aramaic. The commentarys format is to present first the NRSV translation of the chapter followed by an introduction and a historical and theological analysis of its literary units, rather than providing a strict verse-by-verse interpretation. [Full Review]