Ephesians

Thielman brings his considerable understanding of Pauline theology and his exegetical skill together to produce an outstanding commentary. He makes a strong case that Ephesians is an authentic Pauline letter, and his verse-by-verse treatment also does an excellent job setting the text in its Graeco-Roman and Jewish context. [Full Review]

Thielman is incredibly rigorous with regard to the study of vocabulary and syntax (in Greek), and he has done a lot of research in the primary sources that underpin his analysis in these areas. At the same time, Thielman writes in a very accessible way. He consistently engages with scholars who have written about Ephesians throughout history (ie reception his history) and textual criticism matters. He is also especially strong on synthesis of the flow of the text and Ephesians’ use of the Old Testament. I do not know why this commentary is not more highly rated.

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Thielman is a widely-respected Pauline scholar in the Reformed tradition. His expertise is especially geared towards Paul’s theology of the Law and his use of the Old Testament. [Full Review]

The BECNT series is one of the most consistent commentary series available. Frank Thielman’s commentary on Ephesians is no exception. Prior to this commentary, Thielman had already done extensive work in Ephesians, writing the chapter on Ephesians for Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. This experience in Ephesians shines through, especially in Thielman’s grasp of Paul’s use of the OT (Paul likes using OT passages at crucial junctions in his letters)... [Full Review]

Excellent, evangelical commentary. [Full Review]

Thielman is well-known for his book Paul and the Law and a New Testament theology from Zondervan, but this is his first exegetical commentary. He deals with the problem of authorship in only a few pages, finding pseudonymity too unusual in the early Christian community to be a viable option. The commentary follows the user-friendly design of the Baker series, offering exegetical comments on the Greek text with transliteration. Compared to other volumes in the BENTC, Thielman’s commentary has more syntactical detail. I particularly appreciate his use of Greco-Roman sources, especially in the “Household Code” section of the letter. [Full Review]

Hands down THE BEST commentary on Ephesians out there. He takes into account all recent scholarship on the book of Ephesians (save for Arnold's work released the same year). He does a fantastic job of navigating each text without a bias toward one theological position. Does a very good job of discussing every topic in great detail yet keeps his wording plain and understandable. A very good working knowledge of Greek is required, however, because he discusses it often and it is essential to understand the language in order to understand many of his arguments and conclusions.

It is a fantastic commentary and I am really enjoying it. His section "The Circumstances that Prompted Ephesians" is outstanding. He gives sound suggestions while admitting that we cannot know for sure. Thielman's writing style is lucid and easy to follow. He manages to deal with technical problems while still writing clearly about it and not getting lost in the details. It reads more like a book than a commentary, which in this sense is a good thing. He is wise in his handling of Greek lexemes, as is shown by his sane and cautious handling of ανακαταλλασσω (p. 171, n. 28). As 4:1-6 is such a crucial passage in Ephesians, and a key one in my own research, I was delighted to see how well Thielman handled the text, bringing out its importance as a bridge between chs. 1-3 and 4-6 and showing how unity works on in the life of the church. Thielman deals judiciously with Greek semantics, grammar and syntax. Most of the time, he avoids overloading terms with extra meaning and keeps a clear head while dealing with various syntactical options (cf. 4:12-13). I give this commentary 4.5 out of 5 stars! [Full Review]