Customer Reviews

The Epistles of John (The Anchor Bible, Vol 30)

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I probably own at least 20 commentaries on the Epistles of John and I consider this the best. With that said, however, it is not for everyone. Brown's commentary is exceptional for it's grammatical and syntactical interpretation, but would probably be too heavy for people without at least some knowledge of Greek. The commentary is light on theology, but heavy on grammatical interpretation. I consider this a strength, but again make sure it is what you want. One good point here is that while Brown is a Catholic priest, it is not filled with Catholicism. As a non-Catholic literalist Bible scholar, I consider this book invaluable for its pure grammatical analysis. I typically would run from a book by a Catholic priest, but this book is the exception.
If you are looking for an advanced Greek exegesis book to help explain the language of First John, this book is perfect. If you are looking for a readable overview of the Epistle or theological explanations of the Epistle, look elsewhere.

Originally published in 1982, Raymond Brown's `The Epistles of John' is an instalment in Yale University Press' acclaimed Anchor Bible commentary series. Brown is a leading late twentieth century New Testament (NT) scholar.

Overall, this is an excellent modern critical commentary with much strength. From a structural perspective the text is laid out in the standard format for modern commentaries; a detailed introduction discussing dating, authorship, audience and situating the author's work within the broader body of scholarship followed by a section-by-section analysis of the text. The latter analytical portion is sub-divided into a general commentary discussing the section's main points as well as detailed notes on translation, textual and interpretive issues. While from a qualitative standpoint, as one would expect from the Anchor Bible series and Brown, this is an erudite, insightful and well written text.

Despite its clear strength it is important for prospective readers to recognize that this is an academic commentary and as such may not be the best starting point for readers seeking an initial overview of the epistles (some general NT introductions would be better starting points). While interesting and well presented, Brown's interpretation rests on speculative assumptions about authorship (late and not John the Apostle) and audience (parochial rather than universal). For instance, Brown posits the existence of a Johannine community, a small largely isolated cluster of churches in a particular geographic locale. While this `community' view is still popular it has been subjected to growing criticism by commentators such as Richard Bauckham and is beginning to look untenable when understood in a strong sense.

Overall, despite its limitations this is an outstanding critical commentary well worth a look by NT scholars and students. Readers interested in this subject may also enjoy an excellent series of audio lectures by Jack Crabtree on the Johannine epistles available through itunes u/Guttenburg College.