This week I am posting the latest installment from our Curator’s Guide series. Each week has brought you an expertly compiled list (put together by Rob Bowman) of helpful books to guide your study of the New Testament. This segment will contain the bibliographies for Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Galatians.

Romans:

Note: This bibliography lists not five but six books on Romans, which has attracted more commentators than most other books of the Bible.

Byrne, Brendan, S.J. Romans. Sacra Pagina 6. Edited by Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press—A Michael Glazier Book, 1996. Detailed commentary by a Jesuit scholar that supports at crucial points the correctness of the Protestant interpretation.

Dunn, James D. G. Romans. 2 Vols. WBC. Waco, TX: Word Books, 1988. Controversial, stimulating commentary by a neo-evangelical theologian who supports the unconventional view (known as the New Perspective on Paul) of Paul’s critique of first-century Judaism.

Jewett, Robert. Romans: A Commentary. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2006. Standard liberal commentary, a massive work drawing heavily on ancient literature, making full use of new critical methods, and treating Romans more culturally and ideologically than theologically.

*Kruse, Colin G.  Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Pillar NT Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012. One of the very best and most recent commentaries on Romans, critiquing the New Perspective.

Moo, Douglas. The Epistle to the Romans. NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996. Excellent scholarly commentary by an evangelical scholar, sensitive to theological issues.

Schreiner, Thomas. Romans. BECNT 6. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998. Evangelical exegetical and theological commentary that is critical of the approach taken by Dunn and other scholars.

 

Paul’s Epistles to the Corinthians:

*Ciampa, Roy E., and Brian S. Rosner. The First Letter to the Corinthians. Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010. Perhaps the best overall, up-to-date commentary on 1 Corinthians.

Fee, Gordon D. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. NICNT. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987, 2014. Magisterial commentary by the premier Pentecostal New Testament scholar.

Fitzmyer, Joseph A. First Corinthians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Yale Bible 32. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008. Best commentary representing mainstream critical scholarship, by a renowned Roman Catholic scholar.

Garland, David E. 1 Corinthians. BECNT. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003. Massive commentary by an evangelical NT scholar.

Harris, Murray J. The Second Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text. NIGTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Milton Keynes, UK: Paternoster, 2005. Exegetical commentary by a scholar especially noted for his close reading of the Greek text.

Malcolm, Matthew R. The World of 1 Corinthians: An Exegetical Source Book of Literary and Visual Backgrounds. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2013. A commentary that focuses on explaining the historical and cultural references and contexts using numerous quotations from ancient sources as well as photographs and other visual aids.

Martin, Ralph P. 2 Corinthians. WBC 40. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014. Standard academic commentary on 2 Corinthians by a renowned neo-evangelical Pauline scholar.

*Seifrid, Mark A. The Second Letter to the Corinthians. Pillar NT Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014. Just published, but reviews suggest this may now be the best commentary on 2 Corinthians.

Thiselton, Anthony C. The First Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text. NIGTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Carlisle: Paternoster, 2000. Massive, philosophically and exegetically sophisticated commentary, notable for its standout, vigorous defense of the materiality of the resurrection body in 1 Corinthians 15.

Witherington, Ben III. A Week in the Life of Corinth. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2012. And now for something completely different: Witherington has written a novel about a Corinthian through whose eyes we come to understand Corinth, in the process illuminating our understanding of Paul’s epistles to the church there.

 

Galatians:

De Boer, Martinus C. Galatians. New Testament Library. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011. Standard mainline Protestant commentary, interpreting the epistle as an “apocalyptic sermon.”

Martyn, J. Louis. Galatians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries 33A. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997. Standard mainline Protestant commentary, generally reflecting the New Perspective on Paul.

*Moo, Douglas J. Galatians. BECNT. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2013. Arguably the best evangelical commentary on Galatians, though Schreiner’s is certainly also worthy.

Nanos, Mark D., ed. The Galatians Debate. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002. Essays, generally by liberal and secular scholars, exemplifying rhetorical and socio-historical approaches to NT studies and contemporary academic scholarship on the interpretation of Galatians.

Schreiner, Thomas R. Galatians. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010. Excellent evangelical commentary by the leading Southern Baptist Pauline scholar.