Customer Reviews

Deuteronomy (New International Commentary on the Old Testament)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Craigie was an excellent scholar. This work on Deuteronomy is among the best. Having translated this book word for word from the Hebrew, I can assure you that Craigie hits at major themes and continuity of the book.

His historical section on covenant is particularly good. The sainted F.F. Bruce said of this work: "not only a monumnet of Hebrew literature but a permanent part of Christian Scripture."

Craigie believes that this is a series of sermons given by Moses as they were perched on edge of promised land. In author's words: "Provides a paradigm for the kingdom of God in the modern world."

Does an excellent job with commandments, promises of curses and blessings. Must have for the serious student of Deuteronomy who believes as Craigie in the Word of God not the product of human imagination.

Intermediate or advanced level from the NICOT series. Read everything you can by this author. Thorough and scholarly in general, may not be as technical as more serious interpreters may like.

This commentary has some excellent points, descriptions, comparisons, etc. But it does not have all the descriptions/comparisons necessary to understand Deuteronomy structurally. Rather, this commentary has a tendency to focus on single verses and contexts without seeing the big picture. For instance, there is little mention of the structure of ch12-26 dovetailing almost perfectly with the order of the ten commandments. Or of the several inclusios and inclusio-like elements in the book. While detail-orientation is essential to a good understanding of the Bible, it is at least as important to see how every verse fits into the context of the chapter or book as a whole.

While studying Deuteronomy I used this book and the NICOT commentary by Christopher Wright, which I believe together provided a balanced picture.

Bottom line: This commentary is excellent on the details, but is best used alongside other commentaries.

Briefly, Craigies' commentary on Deuteronomy is a good synopsis of the content. However, the work lacks much of the sort of detail that expositor's of the text are often looking for in a commentary. Obviously, there is much to cover in such a work, but his strength is not so much in linguistic studies, but in giving one an overall sense of the flow and meaning of the text. This is a good resource for introducing one to the thought of Deuteronomy. Unfortunately, it is lacking in much of what an expositor wants, particularly in an OT commentary.