A Curator’s Guide — An Exploration into Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon

On By Daniel B. WallaceIn Contemporary Issues

img_9080The series continues this week with literature recommended by Rob Bowman on Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.

Ephesians:

Arnold, Clinton E. Ephesians. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010. Perhaps the best recent commentary on the epistle, by an evangelical scholar well known for his earlier work on Ephesians and Colossians.

Hoehner, Harold W. Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002. Magnum opus of this influential Dallas Seminary professor; an indispensable reference.

Lincoln, Andrew T. Ephesians. Word Biblical Commentary 42. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014. Brand-new, expanded edition of Lincoln’s standard academic, mainline commentary, first published in 1990 and revised in 2003.

Thielman, Frank. Ephesians. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2010. Excellent, evangelical commentary.

Philippians:

Cohick, Lynn H. Philippians. Story of God Bible Commentary. Tremper Longman III and Scot McKnight, gen. eds. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013. Evangelical commentary in this relatively new series.

Hellerman, Joseph H. Philippians. Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament. Andreas J. Köstenberger and Robert W. Yarbrough, series eds. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2015. New exegetical commentary by a NT professor at Biola University; presents detailed information about the Greek text alongside important background information.

__________. Reconstructing Honor in Roman Philippi: Carmen Christi as Cursus Pudorum. SNTSMS 132. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Arguably the best academic monograph on Philippians 2:6-11, one of the most debated passages in the Bible.

Reumann, John Henry Paul. Philippians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Yale Anchor Bible 33B. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008. Standard liberal Protestant academic commentary.

Silva, Moisés. Philippians. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992; 2nd ed., 2005. Still one of the very best commentaries on Philippians, by a well-known evangelical NT scholar.

Colossians and Philemon:

Barth, Markus. The Letter to Philemon: A New Translation with Notes and Commentary. Eerdmans Critical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000. Massive commentary on Paul’s shortest epistle, by Karl Barth’s son.

Fitzmyer, Joseph A. The Letter to Philemon: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Bible 34C. New York: Doubleday, 2000. Standard academic commentary by a renowned Roman Catholic NT scholar.

Harris, Murray J. Colossians and Philemon. Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament. Rev. ed. Nashville: B&H, 2010. Strong evangelical commentary, originally published 1991.

Johnson, Matthew V., James A. Noel, and Demetrius K. Williams, eds. Onesimus, Our Brother: Reading Religion, Race, and Culture in Philemon. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012. Essays exploring the epistle from African-American perspectives.

Moo, Douglas J. The Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon. Pillar NT Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008. Standard commentary by preeminent evangelical Pauline scholar.

Pao, David W. Colossians and Philemon. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012. Recent commentary by an evangelical scholar.

Tolmie, D. F., and Alfred Friedl, eds. Philemon in Perspective: Interpreting a Pauline Letter. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2010. Collection of papers from a 2008 conference, examining the epistle using a variety of methods.

Wilson, Robert McL. Colossians and Philemon. International Critical Commentary. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2005; paperback, 2014. An unusually conservative entry in this academically rigorous commentary series.

3 thoughts on “A Curator’s Guide — An Exploration into Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon”

  2. Pingback: A Curator’s Guide — An Exploration into Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon | A disciple's study

  3. RWL

    In ‘Paul and the Faithfulness of God’, N.T. Wright states: “But I have come to think that the main reason why Ephesians and Colossians have been regarded as non-Pauline (or Deutero-Pauline) is because they fly in the face of liberal protestant paradigm for reading Paul which dominated scholarly landscape for several generations, but which has been undermined from more or less all sides over the course of recent decades. Quite simply, Ephesians in particular, and Colossians to a considerable extent, seem to have a much stronger and higher view of the church-and, indeed, of Jesus himself-than many scholars have been prepared to allow. The real Paul, such scholars assumed, taught ‘justification by faith’, and since this was held to be radically incompatible with what seen as a high view of the church (sometimes, too, with a high view of Jesus), Paul could not have written those letters.”

    What is your opinion about Wright’s statement (especially, in regards to Curator’s Guide/Books on Ephesians and Colossians) or does Wright’s statement require a thesis or dissertation like response (e.g. more space than what is allotted on this blog?

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