James Chaisson

The College Press NIV commentary on James and Jude by Gary Halloway is a very nice commentary. The commentary is very useful for the preacher as well as the average Christian. This commentary is not very technical but is well done. Greek words that are mentioned are presented in the Greek as well as transliterated. After each section there is also a “Section Summary and Application” which contains devotional thoughts and possible applications. These sections are not very large and so the commentary is not, in my opinion a devotional commentary but a middle of the road one. Not overly simplistic but also not overly technical.

When the Holman New Testament Commentary set came out I had high hopes but after purchasing Matthew, Mark, and Revelation I found it was not quite what I had hoped for. The Holman New Testament Commentary on Matthew, Mark, and Revelation are more of a devotional type commentary although they say it is for “Pastors, teachers, Sunday school leaders and others…” I found the information to be more useful for the Christian looking for a devotional read but the preacher may not find much help in these volumes. If you are looking for something to help you understand the text of scripture then you would do better to pick up a different commentary but if on the other hand you want a devotional commentary you might want to pick this one up.