Colossians, Philemon
in Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament
Pages
608
Publisher
Baker Academic
Published
4/16/2019
ISBN-13
9780801026676
In this addition to the award-winning BECNT series, leading New Testament scholar and bestselling author G. K. Beale offers a substantive evangelical commentary on Colossians and Philemon. With extensive research and thoughtful chapter-by-chapter exegesis, Beale leads readers through all aspects of Colossians and Philemon--sociological, historical, and theological--to help them better understand the meaning and relevance of these biblical books.
As with all BECNT volumes, this commentary features the author's detailed interaction with the Greek text and an acclaimed, user-friendly design. It admirably achieves the dual aims of the series--academic sophistication with pastoral sensitivity and accessibility--making it a useful tool for pastors, church leaders, students, and teachers.
Collections
This book appears in the following featured collections.
- Basic Library Booklist by Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary
- Recommended New Testament Commentaries for Evangelical Pastors by Thomas R. Schreiner
- TGC: Scholarly Commentaries by The Gospel Coalition
Reviews
DavidH
August 10, 2026
August 10, 2026
Beale makes a distinctive contribution by reading Colossians with sustained attention to Old Testament echoes, temple theology and the relationship between first creation and new creation. His most original proposal is the cumulative temple reading of the letter: Christ is the climactic locus of God’s fullness, believers participate in that fullness in him, and the opponents’ visionary “entering” in 2:18 is interpreted against a false heavenly-temple experience that contrasts with the true temple reality already possessed in Christ. His treatment of 1:15–20 is similarly rich, presenting Christ’s resurrection as the inauguration of new creation and relating cosmic reconciliation to God’s recreation of all things. Beale occasionally finds more scriptural allusive significance than the text can securely demonstrate, so individual proposals need testing rather than simply accepting. But even where one disagrees, the commentary repeatedly opens productive interpretive possibilities while providing substantial grammatical and theological exegesis. One of the most distinctive modern commentaries on Colossians and an excellent complement to Moo or Dunn.
The Gospel Coalition
June 1, 2024
June 1, 2024
Beale’s commentary is careful and thorough. Mathison says, “It should be the go-to commentary of first choice in every pastor and teacher’s library.” The volume’s strengths are its treatment of Paul’s flow of thought, and its focus on the apostle’s use of the Old Testament allusions.
[Full Review]
The Gospel Coalition
June 1, 2024
June 1, 2024
Beale’s commentary is careful and thorough. Mathison says, “It should be the go-to commentary of first choice in every pastor and teacher’s library.” The volume’s strengths are its treatment of Paul’s flow of thought, and its focus on the apostle’s use of the Old Testament allusions.
[Full Review]
Nijay K. Gupta
September 13, 2019
September 13, 2019
Beale is most well-known as a scholar of the book of Revelation, but has written thematically on biblical theology, and has published other Pauline commentaries. What he brings to the study of Colossians is his extensive knowledge of early Jewish and Christian eschatology.
[Full Review]