John F. Evans - A Guide to Biblical Commentaries and Reference Works: 10th Edition

John F. Evans A Guide to Biblical Commentaries and Reference Works is an indispensable handbook for scholars, preachers, and serious students of the Bible.

C. Hassell Bullock, PhD, Franklin S. Dyrness Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies, Wheaton College

This exhaustive and practical volume is a tool that needs to be in the hands of every minister and biblical studies teacher.

Gary M. Burge, PhD, Professor of New Testament, Wheaton College

My New Testament seminary students need this book. This will be immensely helpful for their research on papers and for deciding which commentaries to buy for their future pastorates.

Robert Cara, PhD, Hugh and Sallie Reaves Professor of New Testament, Reformed Theological Seminary

It is exceptionally well done and far better than anything else I have seen! The introductory material is excellent. It seems to me to be something that will help a lot of students and pastors, and even professors!

Donald Hagner, PhD, George Eldon Ladd Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary

In this up-to-date resource for students, pastors, and academics, Evans exceeds what is available through other similar volumes and through the internet by virtue of his balanced and judicious annotations. I recommend it highly!

John Walton, PhD, Professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College

ZONDERVAN

A Guide to Biblical Commentaries and Reference Works

Copyright 2016 by John F. Evans

ePub Edition April 2016: ISBN 978-0-3105-2097-9

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Evans, John F. (John Frederick) author.

Title: A guide to biblical commentaries and reference works / John F. Evans.

Description: 10th edition. | Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015044266 | ISBN 9780310520962 (softcover)

Subjects: LCSH: Bible Commentaries Bibliography. | Bible Bibliography.

Classification: LCC Z7770 .E92 2016 BS482 | DDC 016.2207 dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015044266

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design: wdesigncompany.com

Cover image: masterfile.com

Interior design: Matthew Van Zomeren

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 /DHV/ 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

PROVERBS 17:6B

TO THE MEMORY OF MY GRANDFATHER

THE REV FREDERICK WALTER EVANS

AB, BD, AM, LLD, DD

MODERATOR OF THE 1946 GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH USA;

FAITHFUL MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL

FOR SEVENTY-TWO YEARS; 1880 1977

AND THE MEMORY OF MY FATHER

THE REV FREDERICK W. EVANS, JR.

BA, BD, MA, STM, DMIN

FAITHFUL MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL

FOR FORTY-FIVE YEARS; 1924 1992

~ SEQUAR, ETSI NON PASSIBUS EQUIS ~

I FOLLOW, THOUGH WITH UNEQUAL STEPS

PERHAPS THE READER WONDERS why I have undertaken this project. During my senior year at Covenant Seminary, three fellow students were occasionally asking me for advice about commentaries. Eventually, they suggested that I write up a guide to Old Testament commentaries. That guide was well received, and, as a big surprise to me, the OT Department decided to reproduce it for distribution to the students. There was a revision later that year (1989) after Professors Phil Long and Gerard Van Groningen read the paper and made suggestions for its improvement. When New Testament Professors George Knight and Karl Cooper mentioned that they would like to see a NT counterpart, I quickly demurred. After all, there were several NT bibliographies, and Dr. Knight had been giving out his own fine survey for several years. When another faculty member made the same request, I decided to attempt the NT analogue and was able to produce it while completing my course work for a second degree at Covenant.

A few years later (1993) I received several inquiries from friends and Covenant faculty about another revision and decided to make the effort. Revised editions were released in October 1993, June 1994, June 1995, June 1996, July 2001, January 2005, June 2009, and October 2010. I am gratified that, again, a revision has been requested and that Zondervan has taken on this project.

Some may also be curious about my qualifications. I offer no great erudition in OT or NT scholarship. What I do have is a longstanding interest in theological bibliography, the blessing of a substantial personal library (in part inherited from my father and grandfather), and a sincere desire to help others make full use of the study tools available today.

After seminary I was privileged to pastor Faith Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Morganton, NC for five years. I left the pastorate in 1996 to become a missionary lecturer in Africa and first served at the Theological College of Central Africa (Zambia), eventually as Academic Dean. More recently I have been on faculty at seminaries in Namibia and Kenya. The reader will detect both my pastoral and academic interests. I have often identified myself as evangelical, catholic, and Reformed (Nevin) in theology, as a churchman owning the heritage of all Christian history, and as being influenced by both Continental and British Calvinism.

No author profit was ever made on this guide through the first eight editions; I sought to be the readers servant for Jesuss sake (2 Cor 4:5). A portion of the author proceeds from the 9th and 10th editions is sent to the Scholarship Fund of Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology, one of the premier theological schools in English-speaking Africa, offering degrees from the bachelors level to the PhD. Recently I served as Head of the Biblical Studies Department at NEGST, a constituent school of Africa International University.

It is a joy to acknowledge and thank those who have encouraged me and supported this project over the past twenty-five years. First of all comes my loving family: my wife Elizabeth and our three grown children, Martyn, Beth, and Daniel. They have sacrificed a great deal over the years for me to have time with the books and are far more precious to me than all the vols. in the Cambridge University Library (over seven million at last count). Let me add to the list my mother and my brother Bill, for his example of fine theological scholarship and words of encouragement.

Also deserving thanks are past and present members of the Covenant Seminary faculty, staff, and administration, especially the Librarian, Rev. Jim Pakala, who gave assurances several times that the project was worth the effort. It is gratifying that the Covenant Bookstore managers kept the Guide in print through eight editions (1989 2009). Thank you, Hugh Collison and Nick Gleason. I was glad to work with Ed Eubanks Jr. of Doulos Resources in producing the 9th edition. Now it is a privilege to have the guide published by Zondervan, and I express my thanks for the late Verlyn Verbrugges assistance over the last two years, and to the editorial team, Nancy Erickson in particular.