No one familiar with the Bible needs to be told that it is a truly remarkable work. But it takes help to understand this ancient collection of diverse forms of literature written by different people across many centuries. The Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible (ECB) is the finest single-volume Bible handbook available.

Written by world-class Bible scholars, the ECB encapsulates in nontechnical language the best of modern scholarship on the sixty-six biblical books plus the Apocrypha. The only one-volume Bible commentary to cover all the texts (even including 1 Enoch) regarded by one or more Christian churches as canonical, the ECB provides reader-friendly treatments and succinct summaries of each section of the text that will be valuable to scholars, students, and general readers alike.

The primary objective of this work is to clarify the meaning of each section of the Bible. Rather than attempting a verse-by-verse analysis (virtually impossible in a one-volume work), the ECB focuses on principal units of meaning—narrative, parable, prophetic oracle, section of argument, and so on—highlighting their interconnectedness with the rest of the biblical text. The volume also addresses and answers major issues—including the range of possible interpretations—and refers readers to the best fuller discussions. Beyond providing reliable, informative commentary, this hefty volume also includes thirteen introductory and context-setting articles that do justice to the biblical documents both as historical sources and as scriptures.

The sixty-seven contributors to the ECB come from a wide variety of backgrounds and are acknowledged leaders in the field of biblical studies. Their contributions stand out either for their fresh interpretations of the evidence, or for their way of asking new questions of the text, or for their new angles of approach. While the translation of choice is the New Revised Standard Version, many of the contributors offer their own vivid translations of the original Hebrew or Greek.

Cutting-edge, comprehensive, and ecumenical, the ECB is both a fitting climax to the rich body of interconfessional work undertaken in the latter part of the twentieth century and a worthy launching pad for biblical study in the twenty-first.

Special Features of the ECB

The only one-volume commentary to cover all the texts (including the Apocrypha and 1 Enoch) regarded by one or more Christian churches as canonical

Thirteen major essays that introduce each section of Scripture and its study

Encapsulates in nontechnical language the best of modern scholarship

Includes superb bibliographies and an extensive subject index

Written by sixty-seven first-rate Bible scholars

Designed for use by scholars, students, pastors, and general readers

Table of Contents

OLD TESTAMENT

The History of the Tradition: Old Testament and Apocrypha, John W. Rogerson

Premodern, Modern, and Postmodern in Old Testament Study, John A. Goldingay

Syro-Palestinian and Biblical Archeology, Deborah A. Appler and Julye Bidmead

The Pentateuch, David Noel Freedman

GENESIS, Gordon J. Wenham

EXODUS, William D. Johnstone

LEVITICUS, Walter J. Houston

NUMBERS, Philip J. Budd

DEUTERONOMY, John W. Rogerson

JOSHUA, K. Lawson Younger Jr.

JUDGES, P. Deryn Guest

RUTH, Gerald West

1 AND 2 SAMUEL, Graeme Auld

1 AND 2 KINGS, Roger Tomes

1 AND 2 CHRONICLES, Richard J. Coggins

EZRA, Lester L. Grabbe

NEHEMIAH, Lester L. Grabbe

ESTHER, Sidnie White Crawford

JOB, Katharine J. Dell

PSALMS, Willem S. Prinsloo

PROVERBS, Ronald E. Clements

ECCLESIASTES, John Jarick

SONG OF SONGS, John W. Rogerson

Introduction to Prophetic Literature, Paul L. Redditt

ISAIAH, Margaret Barker

JEREMIAH, A. R. Pete Diamond

LAMENTATIONS, David J. A. Clines

EZEKIEL, John A. Goldingay

DANIEL, Iain Provan

HOSEA, Grace I. Emmerson

JOEL, Anthony Gelston

AMOS, M. Daniel Carroll R.

OBADIAH, Anthony Gelston

JONAH, David Gunn

MICAH, John W. Rogerson

NAHUM, John W. Rogerson

HABAKKUK, Anthony Gelston

ZEPHANIAH, Anthony Gelston

HAGGAI, John W. Rogerson

ZECHARIAH, John W. Rogerson

MALACHI, M. Daniel Carroll R.

OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA

TOBIT, Lester L. Grabbe

JUDITH, Gerald West

GREEK ESTHER, John Jarick

THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON, A. Peter Hayman

SIRACH, John Snaith

BARUCH, John J. Schmitt

ADDITIONS TO DANIEL, John W. Rogerson

1 MACCABEES, John R. Bartlett

2 MACCABEES, John R. Bartlett

1 ESDRAS, Hugh G. M. Williamson

PRAYER OF MANASSEH, Philip R. Davies

PSALM 151, Alison Salvesen

3 MACCABEES, Philip S. Alexander

2 ESDRAS, John J. Schmitt

4 MACCABEES, David A. deSilva

PSEUDEPIGRAPHA

Introduction to the Pseudepigrapha, James R. Mueller

1 ENOCH, Daniel C. Olson

The Hebrew Bible in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Daniel C. Harlow

NEW TESTAMENT

The History of the Tradition: New Testament, James D. G. Dunn

Hermeneutical Approaches to the New Testament Tradition, Joel B. Green

Introduction to the Gospels, Christopher M. Tuckett

MATTHEW, Anthony J. Saldarini

MARK, Craig A. Evans

LUKE, David L. Balch

JOHN, J. Martin C. Scott

ACTS, John T. Squires

Letters in the New Testament, Victor P. Furnish

ROMANS, John Reumann

1 CORINTHIANS, Stephen C. Barton

2 CORINTHIANS, John Barclay

GALATIANS, Beverly R. Gaventa

EPHESIANS, I. Howard Marshall

PHILIPPIANS, Charles A. Wanamaker

COLOSSIANS, Morna D. Hooker

1 AND 2 THESSALONIANS, Robert Jewett

THE PASTORAL EPISTLES: 1 AND 2 TIMOTHY AND TITUS, Pheme Perkins

PHILEMON, Morna D. Hooker

HEBREWS, Anthony C. Thiselton

JAMES, Richard Bauckham

1 PETER, Graham N. Stanton

2 PETER, Scot McKnight

1, 2, AND 3 JOHN, John Painter

JUDE, Scot McKnight

REVELATION, Loren T. Stuckenbruck

New Testament Apocrypha, Robert E. Van Voorst

 The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament, Daniel C. Harlow