First Last

I absolutely love the NAC series, but House's commentary on First and Second Kings was poor. He failed to deliver and did not fail to disappoint. I am stunned by how high this commentary is rated and by how many people recommend it. Every time I turned to it, I felt I had wasted my time.

This volume, especially the introductory material, was the most helpful mid-level commentary I have had the privilege of reading. Not overwhelming, yet not simplistic. The 45 pages of intro unlock the entire book for the reader, showing the Divine purpose for even the nine chapters of genealogies that the reader might have otherwise thought dry.

Cooper's commentary is helpful, readable, and powerful.

When it comes to some authors, you read everything you can get your hands on that they wrote. F. F. Bruce is one of those authors. He is worthy of the time spent reading. Bruce is very concise...probably too concise. This volume is only 228 pages, making it the shortest volume of the entire NT series. A. T. Lincoln's commentary on Ephesians in the same series is 592 pages. So, Bruce gives you less than a half the page count for two books than Lincoln gives you for one. You might feel the need for more after you read this volume, but what you did read was insightful.

F. F. Bruce did well to write his own commentary on Ephesians and to exclude Simpson's in this first work. D. A. Carson said of Simpson's contribution, "the whole the work is an erudite disappointment. His vocabulary is impressive, but not much else is." To that, I heartily agree. It has to be the worst commentary I own on Ephesians. Much better to buy Bruce's work in the NICNT series on Colossians, Philemon, and Ephesians.