John P. Newman

A very well written commentary and extremely valuable commentary on Genesis. Bill Arnold packs a tremendous amount of insight into this slender volume. He tends to find significant details in the Biblical narrative that the lay reader would tend over look. These insights often illuminate the entire narrative. I found this commentary a pleasure to read. However, this commentary cannot stand on its own. Due to space constraints in this series, this commentary serves as an excellent compliment to a more comprehensive commentary such as Wenham or Hamilton. On the other hand, because of his keen insights, your Genesis library will not be complete without it.

I found this commentary to be among the least helpful of those I have consulted on the book of Genesis. If you are studying Genesis chapter 4 or beyond, Dr Walton will not provide much help. He spends 200 pages of a 700 page commentary on the first three chapters on Genesis. Many great insights in the first 200 pages. After that, the commentary is extremely uneven. The authors tends to discuss in detail pedantic issues of interest to him, but many times ignoring discussion that would be of interest to the lay reader. If you are looking for a commentary on Creation or the Garden, this is the commentary for you. If you are looking for a commentary on Genesis, I would look elsewhere.