Jacob M.

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.

I typically really enjoy Longman's works but I found his Daniel commentary to be lamentably brief concerning some of the more difficult passages. The NIVAC doesn't excel in an in-depth exegetical analysis (intentionally so), and it definitely seems to hurt this particular installment in the series. Overall, Longman provides a good defense for an early date and and adequately covers the text, but neglects an in-depth look required by some harder passages.

I found this commentary to be most useful concerning the first 12 Chs. of Genesis. Walton brings incredibly helpful insight on how to engage Genesis as the original readers would have engaged with it. I don't think I've ever had a commentary so helpful in gaining a proper framework what I was reading. Admittedly, the commentary becomes much more brief in its insight after Ch. 12, but this may be due to the format of the NIVAC more than anything. Either way, I was extremely pleased with this purchase, and the first few chapters are worth the price alone.

I've been teaching the book of Daniel to students for 3 years now. And having read both Longman's and Miller's commentaries as well, I have to say that I enjoyed Steinmann's interpretation of the historical view the most (Like Longman and Miller, Steinmann holds to the historical 6th century interpretation of Daniel). I was impressed by the literary analysis available at the beginning of each chapter along with the amount of historical and archeological consideration. On a self-edification level, I even appreciated the sections spent after each chapter harmonizing the Lutheran confessions with Scripture (being a non-Lutheran myself), but they are easily skipped if you don't care for the extra content. Overall, for a historical view of Daniel, this would easily be my go-to recommendation, and I hope to add it to my own shelves soon.