Paul's first letter to the Corinthians is one of the most important epistles in the New Testament. David Garland's thoughtful new commentary draws on extensive research and engages the best of contemporary scholarship while providing a readable study that will be accessible to thoughtful readers as well as students, pastors, and scholars. After considering the context of the letter and the social and cultural setting of Corinth, Garland turns to his exegetical work. An introduction to each major unit of thought is followed by the author's own translation of the Greek text. In the course of his verse-by-verse commentary, he incorporates references to other ancient writings that help explain particular aspects of Paul's meaning or provide information on the social and cultural context. He also refers to the work of other commentators and provides extensive notes for further reading and research.
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Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
"I warmly commend this commentary. I am impressed by its careful scholarship and sane judgments. It offers reliable and constructive exegesis based on a wide interaction with scholarly literature. It retains an eye to theology and to pastoral application, with clear comments and often apt turns of phrase."
-Anthony C. Thiselton, University of Nottingham
"A major achievement. The author displays an enviable grasp of the cultural challenges raised in the letter as well as an assured familiarity with biblical and Greco-Roman sources and the secondary authorities. At the same time his text is both readable and relevant."
-Paul Barnett, teaching fellow at Regent College
"This thoroughly researched, clearly written volume is a fine addition to an already respected series. It will offer seasoned guidance to its grateful readers."
-Charles H. Talbert, Baylor University
"We have come to expect from David Garland work that is well researched, wise in its judgments, and instructive for life and thought. This commentary does not disappoint. Garland's work is fully informed and offers sound and useful discussion of this crucial letter. This commentary is a significant and worthwhile achievement."
-Klyne Snodgrass, North Park Theological Seminary
"Garland makes an outstanding contribution to the BECNT series with this scholarly work on 1 Corinthians. Readers will appreciate the thorough attention given to matters of interpretation in this commentary, especially Garland's careful work with the historical and social backgrounds and with the Old Testament and Hellenistic materials that shed light on Paul's letter. The commentary is written with enthusiasm, insight, and genuine wit, so that readers will enjoy as well as profit from studying this volume."
-Marion L. Soards, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
-Anthony C. Thiselton, University of Nottingham
"A major achievement. The author displays an enviable grasp of the cultural challenges raised in the letter as well as an assured familiarity with biblical and Greco-Roman sources and the secondary authorities. At the same time his text is both readable and relevant."
-Paul Barnett, teaching fellow at Regent College
"This thoroughly researched, clearly written volume is a fine addition to an already respected series. It will offer seasoned guidance to its grateful readers."
-Charles H. Talbert, Baylor University
"We have come to expect from David Garland work that is well researched, wise in its judgments, and instructive for life and thought. This commentary does not disappoint. Garland's work is fully informed and offers sound and useful discussion of this crucial letter. This commentary is a significant and worthwhile achievement."
-Klyne Snodgrass, North Park Theological Seminary
"Garland makes an outstanding contribution to the BECNT series with this scholarly work on 1 Corinthians. Readers will appreciate the thorough attention given to matters of interpretation in this commentary, especially Garland's careful work with the historical and social backgrounds and with the Old Testament and Hellenistic materials that shed light on Paul's letter. The commentary is written with enthusiasm, insight, and genuine wit, so that readers will enjoy as well as profit from studying this volume."
-Marion L. Soards, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
About the Author
David E. Garland (Ph.D., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is associate dean for academic affairs and professor of New Testament at George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University. He has authored a number of books, including commentaries on Mark and Colossians/Philemon for the NIVAC series, 2 Corinthians for the NAC series, Reading Matthew, and a forthcoming introduction to Paul. He is also the New Testament editor of the revised Expositor's Bible Commentary.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 40 people found the following review helpful
By kleytos
Format:Hardcover
Several years ago (before Garland's book came out) I did a fairly detailed study over about 6 months on the book of 1 Corinthians. I relied fairly heavily on the commentaries by Thiselton and also by Fee. In the subsequent years, I frequently re-read sections of both commentaries. Recently I wanted to get a more clear understanding of the controversial passages about headcovering and women's silence (in chapters 11 and 14, respectively) so I re-read the relevant portions of both commentaries again. I was pretty unsatisfied with both so I went to the library to see if I could find anything else more insightful. Happily, I encountered Garland's book.
Garland's book was much more helpful than either Thiselton or Fee. It was more lucid, kept the same high level of scholarship, and even touched on application! I continued reading the book and have come to the conclusion that it is the best commentary on 1 Corinthians available, for several reasons:
- It interacts with all the major views of a given position without becoming too bogged down (something that I think happens often with Thiselton). It is still a long book, but substantially shorter than Thiselton's.
- Instead of being merely a commentary on commentaries, Garland tries to persuade the reader of the legimitacy of what the author feels is the correct view. In contrast, you can read many 1 Corinthian commentaries and not even know what the author finally thinks!
- It has excellent scholarship with a good degree of balance. Fee, in contrast, holds to extreme views on the controversial women passages (such as arguing that 1 Corinthians 14:33-34 wasn't even written by Paul!).
- Garland lightly touches on application. While the majority of the book is on exegesis, Garland helpfully states the relevance of his conclusions to church life today. Thiselton does not really do this, which is unfortunate.
- His prose is lucid and sharp.
In summary, I believe that Garland's volume is now the best commentary on 1 Corinthians available. Bravo to Baker for this volume. Hopefully other books in the series will have the same standard of quality.
Garland's book was much more helpful than either Thiselton or Fee. It was more lucid, kept the same high level of scholarship, and even touched on application! I continued reading the book and have come to the conclusion that it is the best commentary on 1 Corinthians available, for several reasons:
- It interacts with all the major views of a given position without becoming too bogged down (something that I think happens often with Thiselton). It is still a long book, but substantially shorter than Thiselton's.
- Instead of being merely a commentary on commentaries, Garland tries to persuade the reader of the legimitacy of what the author feels is the correct view. In contrast, you can read many 1 Corinthian commentaries and not even know what the author finally thinks!
- It has excellent scholarship with a good degree of balance. Fee, in contrast, holds to extreme views on the controversial women passages (such as arguing that 1 Corinthians 14:33-34 wasn't even written by Paul!).
- Garland lightly touches on application. While the majority of the book is on exegesis, Garland helpfully states the relevance of his conclusions to church life today. Thiselton does not really do this, which is unfortunate.
- His prose is lucid and sharp.
In summary, I believe that Garland's volume is now the best commentary on 1 Corinthians available. Bravo to Baker for this volume. Hopefully other books in the series will have the same standard of quality.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'm a pastor who preaches through books of the bible. I am just finishing my current series on 1 Corinthians. I've found this commentary to be one that I would not want to work without. It's really one of the best ones I own. I've found David Garland's commentary to be consistently even handed, careful to evaluate the text honestly, and helpful in almost every situation I've used this commentary for. In particular I found this commentary more helpful on his treatment of 1 Corinthians 11, 13 & 15 than most of my other tools on 1 Corinthians. I've been using about 15 different commentaries on 1 Corinthians, including Worthington, Fee, Keener, Thiselton's NIGTC & Thiselton's Short Pastoral Commentary on 1 Corinthians, as well as a bunch of other commentaries like Prior (Bible Speaks Today Series) & Life Application Commentary. All of them have individual strengths, but this commentary, Garland's, has a lot more material than most of the other commentaries (except for NICNT & NIGTC) I own. Not only does it have more material, but most of the material is helpful.
This series of commentaries does one thing that I don't appreciate. The editors have decided to put summaries at the beginning of each segment of the commentary in a medium gray shaded box. This does set apart the text that is a summary of what follows, but it does not copy well on a copier. So if you like a summary and want to use that in a small group discussion you have to lug the entire book in with you. It is also difficult on the eyes to read a few pages of that black print on medium gray background. I just don't like it.
Garland sometimes doesn't summarize his material as well as I would like to see. For example, the section on 1 Corinthians 13 where he introduces his exegetical comments on love has some statements that are meant to summarize what follows, but almost contradict the most important point that follows. They sounded good, but as I thought about them, I became worried that he was going to add to the published material that wrongly defines agape as 'unconditional love'. Sometimes he also spends a lot of time on things that most pastors (at least myself) don't really care about. For example in his discussion on love he gives 23 pages of material. The first 4 pages are his summary, but he never accurately defines love in his summary. He does later on in his detailed exegesis, but in his summary he says things like "Love is concern for their community" and "love is the new aeon already present". He says that love is the marrow of the Christian existence. In the 4 pages of summary material he gives two pages to the discussion of the raging and worthless debate on what kind of literary passage does 1 Corinthians 13 represent. If scholars ever figure that out, will it help us? I think that kind of stuff is pretty much a waste of ink and paper, but that's just my opinion. He obviously thought it was worth half of his summarization of 1 Corinthians 13! But he never got to the point that some have written about...and EVERY scholar publishing articles on agape needs to have the courage to write about the fact that the word agape does not mean unconditional love just because it is the word agape. He didn't say that...although he in essence comes to that conclusion without talking about the unconditional love definition pop myth.
So anyhow, much to my delight when I arrived at his detailed exegesis of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Garland (to use a baseball metaphor) hits a grand slam home run. He goes to the fine work of Spicq (French scholar and quotes his 3 volume set's article on agape-which has the best definition on agape in print). Theological Lexicon of the New Testament 3 Volume Set (By the way, he doesn't cite Spicq's exhaustive work on Agape. But he is the published authority on detailed study of this term historically and is the most helpful scholar in print on agape. Agape in the New Testament, 3 Volumes
It made me so happy to see Garland pull through and define agape as "demonstration of love" that I wanted to shout 'yes'! He defines agape in this section as something that is not an inner feeling alone, but that it must put itself on display...quoting Spicq verbatim. So he ends up contradicting the summary section of his commentary. Agape is not 'concern for the community'. It is a demonstration of love. I especially love his links to the unmentioned backdrop of the 1 Corinthians passage (Paul doesn't say it in chapter 13), but the clear demonstration of God's love for us all in the offering of his Son on the cross. Bravo!! Pastors-these things preach well! Don't overlook this material. If we goof up the definition of love, we seriously miss what the accurate meaning is of many biblical passages. For 'agape' is a primary theme in the New Testament, if not THE primary theme.
He also handles the 'perfect' term correctly, does not even bother to mention the old view that some amazingly are still teaching to this day...that the perfect refers to the completion of the canon: see the ESV Study Bible notes on 1 Corinthians as an example.The ESV Study Bible
His material should be read before one uses 1 Corinthians 13 in a wedding because it will help a good Pastor preach in a more practical way for a couple.
I say all of this, because sometimes if you are short of time you will be tempted to read just his summaries of a section. I recommend you try to slot enough time to read his exegetical comments in full because of what I have just chronicled on 1 Cor 13.
I wish he had a sub section for each part that gave pertinent links to ancient Jewish and Greek literature with focus on the Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Apostolic Fathers, and 1 Century Jewish authors writing in Greek (like Josephus). I think it would be helpful to have more cross links to these categories. He does bring them into play, but it seems to be more judicious that I would prefer. It would also be interesting to see some material tying into the Hebrew Old Testament terms for love and how this ties in to 1 Corinthians as well as more LXX ties.
I found his treatment of 1 Corinthians 11 to be convincing, noting the difficulty of treating the 'head covering' issue, he lays out a full case for how to interpret that passage, including a simple, yet confirming chiastic outline to support his point. I think I agree with him on that as well. His handling of 1 Corinthians 15 helped me preach on the resurrection and is a worthy aid to any pastor who has to prepare a message for a funeral.
Because some of these passages are usually used in Weddings and Funerals, and I have used them over and over in Weddings and Funerals, I found it interesting to see how Garland contextualizes these passages. I think his links to Paul's purpose in writing remain consistent throughout the book. So you will regularly be reminded of why Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. On 1 Corinthians 13 Garland's comments are superior to Fee's because he correctly defines agape. Fee doesn't cite either of the massive works by Spicq (how can they be ignored?)...but does quote Shakespeare?! This is why it's good to have both commentaries if you can afford it.
One reviewer wrote that this commentary is superior to Fee's The First Epistle to the Corinthians (The New International Commentary on the New Testament) because of his treatment of 1 Corinthians 14:34. I don't know if I agree with that. I believe it's a worthy addition to ones library and that one should read Fee as well as Garland. I don't think I know enough to say which one is superior. I love both of these commentaries. I will say that I also prefer Thistleton's Shorter Commentary First Corinthians: A Shorter Exegetical and Pastoral Commentaryover his NIGTC The First Epistle to the Corinthians : A Commentary on the Greek Text, and I prefer Keener's short Socio commentary 1-2 Corinthians (New Cambridge Bible Commentary) over Witherington Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians because he consistently gets to the relevant issue at hand.
If you have $100 budgeted for 1 Corinthians, I recommend Fee & Garland. Then Thiselton's shorter commentary and Keener's shorter commentary. Of all of these I love Garland the best. But they are all excellent. When I am done reading a section by Garland on 1 Corinthians, I usually have the sense that I've just had an objective and helpful look at what scholars say, and what the text actually means, as well as some links for further study on key issues. I think that's likely how you will feel too if you purchase and use this book in your sermon prep time.
This series of commentaries does one thing that I don't appreciate. The editors have decided to put summaries at the beginning of each segment of the commentary in a medium gray shaded box. This does set apart the text that is a summary of what follows, but it does not copy well on a copier. So if you like a summary and want to use that in a small group discussion you have to lug the entire book in with you. It is also difficult on the eyes to read a few pages of that black print on medium gray background. I just don't like it.
Garland sometimes doesn't summarize his material as well as I would like to see. For example, the section on 1 Corinthians 13 where he introduces his exegetical comments on love has some statements that are meant to summarize what follows, but almost contradict the most important point that follows. They sounded good, but as I thought about them, I became worried that he was going to add to the published material that wrongly defines agape as 'unconditional love'. Sometimes he also spends a lot of time on things that most pastors (at least myself) don't really care about. For example in his discussion on love he gives 23 pages of material. The first 4 pages are his summary, but he never accurately defines love in his summary. He does later on in his detailed exegesis, but in his summary he says things like "Love is concern for their community" and "love is the new aeon already present". He says that love is the marrow of the Christian existence. In the 4 pages of summary material he gives two pages to the discussion of the raging and worthless debate on what kind of literary passage does 1 Corinthians 13 represent. If scholars ever figure that out, will it help us? I think that kind of stuff is pretty much a waste of ink and paper, but that's just my opinion. He obviously thought it was worth half of his summarization of 1 Corinthians 13! But he never got to the point that some have written about...and EVERY scholar publishing articles on agape needs to have the courage to write about the fact that the word agape does not mean unconditional love just because it is the word agape. He didn't say that...although he in essence comes to that conclusion without talking about the unconditional love definition pop myth.
So anyhow, much to my delight when I arrived at his detailed exegesis of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Garland (to use a baseball metaphor) hits a grand slam home run. He goes to the fine work of Spicq (French scholar and quotes his 3 volume set's article on agape-which has the best definition on agape in print). Theological Lexicon of the New Testament 3 Volume Set (By the way, he doesn't cite Spicq's exhaustive work on Agape. But he is the published authority on detailed study of this term historically and is the most helpful scholar in print on agape. Agape in the New Testament, 3 Volumes
It made me so happy to see Garland pull through and define agape as "demonstration of love" that I wanted to shout 'yes'! He defines agape in this section as something that is not an inner feeling alone, but that it must put itself on display...quoting Spicq verbatim. So he ends up contradicting the summary section of his commentary. Agape is not 'concern for the community'. It is a demonstration of love. I especially love his links to the unmentioned backdrop of the 1 Corinthians passage (Paul doesn't say it in chapter 13), but the clear demonstration of God's love for us all in the offering of his Son on the cross. Bravo!! Pastors-these things preach well! Don't overlook this material. If we goof up the definition of love, we seriously miss what the accurate meaning is of many biblical passages. For 'agape' is a primary theme in the New Testament, if not THE primary theme.
He also handles the 'perfect' term correctly, does not even bother to mention the old view that some amazingly are still teaching to this day...that the perfect refers to the completion of the canon: see the ESV Study Bible notes on 1 Corinthians as an example.The ESV Study Bible
His material should be read before one uses 1 Corinthians 13 in a wedding because it will help a good Pastor preach in a more practical way for a couple.
I say all of this, because sometimes if you are short of time you will be tempted to read just his summaries of a section. I recommend you try to slot enough time to read his exegetical comments in full because of what I have just chronicled on 1 Cor 13.
I wish he had a sub section for each part that gave pertinent links to ancient Jewish and Greek literature with focus on the Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Apostolic Fathers, and 1 Century Jewish authors writing in Greek (like Josephus). I think it would be helpful to have more cross links to these categories. He does bring them into play, but it seems to be more judicious that I would prefer. It would also be interesting to see some material tying into the Hebrew Old Testament terms for love and how this ties in to 1 Corinthians as well as more LXX ties.
I found his treatment of 1 Corinthians 11 to be convincing, noting the difficulty of treating the 'head covering' issue, he lays out a full case for how to interpret that passage, including a simple, yet confirming chiastic outline to support his point. I think I agree with him on that as well. His handling of 1 Corinthians 15 helped me preach on the resurrection and is a worthy aid to any pastor who has to prepare a message for a funeral.
Because some of these passages are usually used in Weddings and Funerals, and I have used them over and over in Weddings and Funerals, I found it interesting to see how Garland contextualizes these passages. I think his links to Paul's purpose in writing remain consistent throughout the book. So you will regularly be reminded of why Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. On 1 Corinthians 13 Garland's comments are superior to Fee's because he correctly defines agape. Fee doesn't cite either of the massive works by Spicq (how can they be ignored?)...but does quote Shakespeare?! This is why it's good to have both commentaries if you can afford it.
One reviewer wrote that this commentary is superior to Fee's The First Epistle to the Corinthians (The New International Commentary on the New Testament) because of his treatment of 1 Corinthians 14:34. I don't know if I agree with that. I believe it's a worthy addition to ones library and that one should read Fee as well as Garland. I don't think I know enough to say which one is superior. I love both of these commentaries. I will say that I also prefer Thistleton's Shorter Commentary First Corinthians: A Shorter Exegetical and Pastoral Commentaryover his NIGTC The First Epistle to the Corinthians : A Commentary on the Greek Text, and I prefer Keener's short Socio commentary 1-2 Corinthians (New Cambridge Bible Commentary) over Witherington Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians because he consistently gets to the relevant issue at hand.
If you have $100 budgeted for 1 Corinthians, I recommend Fee & Garland. Then Thiselton's shorter commentary and Keener's shorter commentary. Of all of these I love Garland the best. But they are all excellent. When I am done reading a section by Garland on 1 Corinthians, I usually have the sense that I've just had an objective and helpful look at what scholars say, and what the text actually means, as well as some links for further study on key issues. I think that's likely how you will feel too if you purchase and use this book in your sermon prep time.
19 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By David Bonnet
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have preached through First Corinthians for several months now. This commentary has been my primary resource. It is the most thorough, well-researched, and sound commentary I have ever read. Garland confronts the "common" interpretations with historical and biblical insights which make his conclusions virtually argument proof. If you really want to know what Paul was doing in First Corinthians, this commentary is a must read.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must for any pastor walking through 1 Corinthians
Hands-down a must for any pastor walking through 1 Corinthians. Very clear and cogent arguments. Challenges some of the conventional takes, but for good reason. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Jerry
5.0 out of 5 stars
Now the best commentary on 1 Corinthians
This commentary by David Garland is, in my opinion, the best commentary on 1 Corinthians, even better than the ones by Fee and Thiselton. Read more
Published on February 9, 2011 by Keith
3.0 out of 5 stars
An ok commentary
Part of the commentary is good, although I have found a lot of speculation without proof. In I Cor. 11 there is an assumption that there was a common meal before the Lord's Supper. Read more
Published on October 28, 2010 by Mason H. French
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pride Goeth Before Destruction
The prideful Corinthians showed great attachment to the Greek view that knowledge is virtuous, elevating wisdom to a religion, whereas the apostle Paul was willing to forego such... Read more
Published on October 16, 2009 by Jacques Schoeman
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quite Good
Garland's commentary is well-written and not difficult to read or understand. Scholarly enough, but very readable. Overall, it is well worth having. Read more
Published on November 12, 2007 by Philip Bramblet
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than Fee, better than Moo
This book is an exceptional exegetical and expositional treatment of Paul's corrective letter to the church at Corinth. Read more
Published on January 5, 2007 by Willis K. Cobb
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