Customer Reviews

Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 16, Ezra-nehemiah (williamson), 470pp

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If you can only own one commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah, this is undoubtedly the one you should have. It is also probably the best Old Testament volume in the Word series. Biblical specialists will find a wealth of information here, including Williamson's detailed arguments about authorship, date, and history of composition of these books. It was Williamson, along with Sara Japhet, who finally broke the decade old consensus that the Chronicler wrote Ezra and Nehemiah. His previous arguments on this issue are significantly advanced in the commentary. Williamson's translation and text-critical notes are detailed and thorough. At the same time, Williamson's discussions of literary structure, his careful exegesis, and his theological commentary should be accessble and of great value for non-specialists. Some advances have been made on archaelogical and sociological issues over the decade and a half since this commentary was written, but it still stands as the best single reference to these two biblical books.

We just finished an expository preaching series at our church on Nehemiah during which I picked this commentary up to delve deeper as I follow along with the series. This commentary along with the New International Commentary on the Old Testament (NICOT) by Charles Fensham as well as Derek Kidner's (Tyndale Old Testament) according to various sources seem to make up the top three commentaries on the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

This is a great commentary. The Word Biblical series can be more difficult as far as navigating the actual book goes compared to other series. The author provides plenty of historical context while at the same time seeking to provide helpful and faithful exegesis. This commentary is more lengthy and technical than both Kidner's and Fensham's (NICOT). I actually chose this one as my favorite technical commentary for Nehemiah after spending a few weeks with the one by Fensham. I found this commentary to be more faithful to the text, helping to clarify it's meaning, and showing it's part in the Biblical storyline. I would recommend this as a very helpful commentary as one seeks to study and meditate further on the book of Nehemiah.

Remember that the more commentaries and opinions you can read (from perspectives that are trying to be biblically faithful) the better. The point is not to believe everything exactly as the commentator says, but to use his expertise and research to ask better and deeper questions of the text of the Bible. Commentaries are helpful, but only when they are in submission to the Bible as fallible, yet helpful resources.

This was recommended to me by Dr. Tigay of the University of Pennsylvania as the best English language commentary on the subject. It is. --V.K. Inman, Ph.D. candidate, University of Pennsylvania in Arabic and Hebrew.