Customer Reviews

The Expositor's Bible Commentary 5.0 for Windows : The Complete Award-Winning 12-Volume Commentary

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This new version of the Expositors Bible Commentary makes it so much more useful. Previously, you could not access the footnotes and it was difficult to use. I had to write to the publishers to get a list of the authors as this was not easily viewable within the program!

The commentary was edited by Frank E. Gaebelein and J D Douglas, with assistance in the Old Testament from Bruce Waltke and Walter Kaiser, and in the New Testament by James Montgomery Boice and Merrill C Tenney.

The 78 authors of the individual volumes come from 7 different countries and various denominations including Anglican, Baptist,Independent, Methodist and Presbyterian churches.

Not all of the commentaries are equally good, but there are some terrific ones, including Carson on Matthew, Longnecker on Acts and VanGemeren on Psalms.

Well worth the bargain price [compared with the book price. And you save all that shelf space!]

One of the most widely recognized commentary sets, the complete twelve-volume Expositor's Bible Commentary is contained on this single CD. One of the reasons for its popularity is the quality of the writing and ease of understanding the text. With the contributions of seventy-eight authors from several countries and Christian denominations it provides a panoramic view of Biblical exposition. Something somewhat unusual in the area of Biblical reference works, the articles are not a compilation of the accumulated wisdom of all the contributors working together but each contributor has their own area for commentary and provides an exposition of the text that reflects their view.

The software uses the Pradis engine, which is common for all the Zondervan reference products. The Pradis interface is an excellent product with an intuitive user interface and a very good online help system.

"The Expositor's Bible Commentary 5.0" CD version is highly recommended for anyone who wants to be able to do serious expository research. With the ability to search electronically, cross-reference, make notes, and copy and paste into other software, it is a top Bible study product.

This is one of my favorite commentary series, and for the price that it is available digitally, how could I pass it up. I have been blessed many times already in the few months since I have owned this commentary series, particularly by DA Carson's Matthew commentary. Hands-down, without-a-doubt, I highly recommend the conservative, generally reformed Expositors Bible Commentary series.

However, the interface is, for lack of a better word, horrible. I have been using Bible software since the late 1990's. I have managed to port the majority of my reference library to digital from traditional ink-and-paper books since Libronix (logos.com) has begun to release massive amounts of resources at reasonable prices. Unfortunately, I have grown accustomed to Libronix's well designed, aesthetically pleasing, and easily navigable interface. Pradis, the software that runs the EBC fails on all three of those accounts. Using Pradis after working on BibleWorks or Libronix is reminiscent of using Windows 3.0 after growing accustomed to using Windows XP (or Vista).

Also, unlike other Bible software publishers, Zondervan's proprietary Pradis does not offer free upgrades. So when EBC 5.0 is outdated and no longer runs well on new machines, you will have to shell out more money for new software, whereas Libronix offers free upgrades.

I will not be buying any more Pradis software. I hope that Zondervan will, like almost all otehr Christian book publishers, release their books on other platforms. Let the publishers do what they do best, publish books. And let software developers do what they do best, develop software. Don't make us fight with bad software to get to the treasure that is within the books.

5 Stars for the commentary series.
1 Star for the software.

If you are a pastor, then you do not need to read any further: Buy this commentary right now! It costs in the neigborhood of $270 to get this entire set in hardback volumes. You can get it here on one single Cd-Rom for $80. It's a no-brainer! This set represents the exciting development of 1970s-1980s burgeoning Evangelical Scholarship. You have a young D.A Carson's excellent contribution on Matthew, Richard Longenecker's terrific exposition of Acts, Willem Van Gemeren's insightful commentary on the Psalms, Walter Kaiser on Exodus, Ronald Youngblood on 1 and 2 Samuel, and Charles Feinberg's wonderful offering on Jeremiah. Oops, did I forget to mention John Sailhamer's terrific commentary on Genesis? That one has helped me out a lot through the years.

I also appreciate the opening volume of introductory articles dealing with both the Old and New Testaments.

This CD-Rom is a steal at $80. Get it while it lasts!
Rev. Marc Axelrod

The Expositors Bible Commentary 5.0 software is easy to use and contains exceptional detail of Bible book introductions. The overviews that I have examined so far are full of usaable background material. The individual comments have been helpful. The whole package is to be commended for general use re Bible knowledge and is of use for teaching purposes/

I initially wanted to purchase the volume series to place in my library. This product is definitely good for reasearch, whether you are a beginner, inter-mediate, or advanced Bible researcher; and for the price, it's definitely worth it.

The main commentary component is the same material as the Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary. It's a very good commentary, I should say, but that detail is not made clear, especially in light of the fact that Amazon is offering both products as a package. If you have the Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary, a significant component of this software program will be redundant.

I owned several volumes of the printed edition of EBC...and those are great, but bulky. I have owned the MAC version of this and now the PC version. Although I use the NKJV Bible for my primary study and teaching text, the EBC is still excellent and rapid to use. Going directly to the exposition of text by chapter and verse is slow...the commentary is still the excellent product that it has always been.