Luke

There is lots to love about this commentary, but I have not found it as helpful as many other Song of Songs commentaries (I bought it for the Song of Solomon, not for Ecclesiastes). To it's merit, the introductory articles had some of the better treatments of the history of interpretation (literal vs spiritual), and a more nuanced and, I believe, healthy approach to dealing with such questions (thinking about parable as much as allegory). However his love triangle approach (Shepherd, King Solomon and Woman) feels stretched and somewhat artificial. Also, there are a few points in the commentary where it feels he goes far beyond the text to argue for positions that are hard to be grounded in the Song itself. I know it is an application commentary, but still the bridging to modern contexts lacks the clear steps needed to make his (sometimes quite strong) points.

I really enjoyed the Song of Songs section of the work. Though quite short, it had great insights into structure, how to approach reading poetry, comment on the rich picture of love depicted and it connection to the rest of the Old Testament, particularly the wisdom literature and Genesis 2. I recommend it.

I have loved dipping into this commentary over a number of years, both for personal devotion and to prepare sermons. Reading a great mind like Calvin forces you to consider the text and its teaching quite differently as time after time he has fantastic insights and answers questions you weren’t even asking. A short commentary, well translated and well worth the read.

As a pastor and preacher of a small local church I found this to be a thorough and fairly readable commentary with a lot of technical depth. And I could access it even though my ability in the Greek is quite rudimentary (though those better trained in sure would get more out of it). Mounce defends Pauline authorship unapologetically but with detailed review of criticisms, which is his standard approach. He surveys a diversity of scholarly positions whilst also presenting his own persuasion. He sometimes could be clearer in his own assessment of the various arguments, but on the whole very helpful. My main use for this commentary was to explore grammar and vocabulary details for more complicated verses and to see the breath of positions in some more difficult passages.

It is a brilliant commentary, full of detail, rigour, beauty and insight. I have read this devotionally and am so grateful to Stott's brilliant work!