Customer Reviews

The Gospel of Luke (The New International Commentary on the New Testament)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Joel Green, a professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky, writes this commentary from a Methodist perspective. His commentary resembles narrative-criticism. That is to say, Green does not necessarily concern himself with a critique of the textual evidence, nor does he examine the "sources behind the text," nor does he speculate about any "Lukan Community," he doesn't even address whether the events contained in Luke actually happened. Instead he gives a scholarly analysis of Luke by treating it as a purposefully written, carefully constructed, unified narrative account. The resulting commentary shows Luke's portrayal of Jesus as the perfectly obedient Messiah who breaks social barriers, blesses the unlovable, and irrevocably/violently divides all peoples.

In so doing, he does a masterful job of showing Luke's major themes (leitmotifs) manifesting themselves throughout Luke and shows how Luke carefully constructs his narrative for maximum effect. While he makes a strong argument that Luke and Acts (both written by Luke) were always intended to be read in light of one another, he makes few connections with other New Testament books. The result is that Green allows Luke to speak for himself; no attempt is made to matrix Luke with Paul, John, Matthew, etc. However, Green does contextualize Luke as he critiques it from both the perspective of Roman society and from the perspective of Second Temple Judaism. During the many meal scenes Luke relates, Green shows how they parallel Roman symposium meals. He also pays close attention to the dominant Roman social network of benefactors and vessels. Each of these examinations draws out meanings in Luke that are normally lost when read through 21st century Western eyes. Green also emphasizes the Jewish notion of cleanliness versus uncleanliness, Jewish-Roman relations, and shows how Luke relies heavily on the Old Testament. Each of these also help the reader in understanding Luke's message. Especially appreciated by this reader is the Green's efforts to make clear Luke's continual connections between Jesus and Moses/Jesus and Elijah.

The negative aspects of Green's commentary are relatively minor but should be mentioned. In his narrative, Green prefers to use a multi-syllabic, uncommon word where more common words would be more beneficial for the reader. Green, writing as a Methodist, views Baptism and Holy Communion as symbolic and thus Sacramentalists will find his comments on certain passages (Jesus' baptism, the Last Supper) lacking. While Green shows that Jesus and Luke are very concerned about eschatology, Green does not show a systematic/unified teaching of eschatology in Luke/Acts. Finally, devotionally, Green emphasizes sanctification (righteous living and attitudes) as opposed to the faith that naturally produces such attitudes. The overall feel is "act like Jesus" as opposed to "believe in Jesus." While this commentary is not necessarily intended to be devotional in nature, the places where application is pointed out, the outcome is emphasized over and above the source.

Nevertheless, these criticisms are minor and should not detract the reader from absorbing and enjoying this excellent commentary on Luke's Gospel. In the author's preface, Green thanks his family who can look forward to "conversations that do *not* turn so quickly to Luke!" Green's dedication to the text, his depth of thought, and his hard work are evident and edifying. Highly recommended.

`The Gospel of Luke' by Joel B. Green in `The New International Commentary on the New Testament' is a major surprise and a welcome relief to anyone who is really trying to make sense of Luke's verses in the course of a serious Bible study class. The surprise is based on my experience that several other titles in this series appear to be works by young beginners, fresh out of Divinity school. Many are literally a reworking of these graduates' Doctoral dissertations. This means the scholarship will be fresh and accurate, but the exegesis and hermeneutics may be just a bit raw, as I found in William Lane's commentary on the Gospel of Mark. On the other hand, there are titles in this series by `old hands' such as Douglas Moo's commentary on Romans. So, as with every major series of commentary volumes, you have to take each author and volume on their own merits.
This is the sixth Luke Commentary I have consulted, and it is unlike almost all the others in a way which is good news for the lay reader or pastoral interpreter. At one end of the spectrum is the three volume work by John Nolland in the `Word Biblical Commentary' series. While I have often found things in books from this series which were nowhere else, the format is dense to the point of distraction. This series is explicitly for scholars who need a survey of everything which has ever been written on a particular book of scripture.
Similar, but somewhat better for the lay or pastoral reader is Joseph Fitzmyer's two volume commentary in `The Anchor Bible' series. The word I get from seminary professors on this series is that it is quite uneven. But, the writers of all the other sources I consulted unanimously agree that Fitzmyer's commentary is THE authority for sound exegesis. The linguistic and historical notes are easier to assimilate than Nolland's dense thickets of sources, and the commentary is more lucid and useful for pastoral interpretation.
The short course for those who prefer the classic Nolland and Fitzmyer approach can be found in Luke Timothy Johnson's offering in the `Sacra Pagina' series. This has the advantage of being written by someone who has also done a commentary on Acts in the same format. Johnson is always my second source, followed by Green's excellent volume.
My first source (first only because our church library has a copy of it) is R. Allan Culpepper's commentary in `The New Interpreter's Bible' (NIB). Like all commentary in the NIB, this may be the best presentation of hermeneutics for pastoral uses, but it is lighter than the others for detailed searches of Old Testament precursors and Hellenic and Hellenistic parallels. I have consulted other commentaries as well, but these four are the most useful, complete, and authoritative.
The single most important recommendation for Green is that more than once, he has provided a clear explanation of a passage in Luke which the other commentaries simply did not address or actually may have gotten wrong. I say `may' because so much of Biblical exegesis is simply common sense and good judgment based on a deep understanding of the whole text. And, there may simply be more than one interpretation of some pericopes, as with the most famous story of the Good Samaritan.
Green is also far better than Culpepper on laying out the overview of Luke the evangelist, although L. T. Johnson's book is equally good on this score.
Finally, Green not only provides insights in areas where others skip over or get wrong, he does it in a style which, while still scholarly, is far more readable and digestible than the excellent works by Fitzmyer and Johnson. I cannot recommend this as your ONLY commentary, but it is and excellent companion to use with either Fitzmyer or Johnson.

Contrary to another review, this book is not the least bit uneven. When the editors/publisher of this series decided to revise several of the commentaries within it, I was so glad to hear that J. B. Green was authoring the volume on Luke.

I have read many articles and dictionary entries by Dr. Green on Luke-Acts and interpretation in general. They are all fantastic. This commentary is no exception. I really appreciate his section in the introduction on How to Interpret Luke, as well as his attention to interpreting narrative in general. He is very articulate, even on the difficult passages of Luke.

This fresh commentary on Luke is a must buy!

Green's commentary on Luke's Gospel provides a model for the biblical commentator. Thorough, well written, orthodox, evangelical--and marvelously helpful for the pastor who faces Sunday constantly--wanting and needing something worthwhile to say, Green's commentary is a helpful ally. Green's commentary here is among the best on Luke's gospel, if not the best. As a pastor who has almost every commentary on Luke's gospel written in the last several years, Green's is by far among the cream of the crop. If you have a limited budget and can only purchase one book on Luke's gospel, this is the one to purchase for your library.

Like Fitzmyer, this is a fully technical commentary, but the intervening 18 years have led to different emphasis. Green takes a literary critical approach, with more emphasis on the meaning of the text as narrative and less on the sometimes reductionistic approaches of the high critical methods. Solid and reliable. A major work by a leading scholar.

I am currently preaching through the Gospel Acccoding to Luke. While there are many excellent commentaries available, I consistently find that Green's literary criticism leads me in the direction of getting to the heart of Luke's message. If you are a pastor or bible student and need a commentary to anchor your study, this is the best of the best.

This commentary is excellent. Dr. Green skims over historical-critical issues and treats the Gospel of Luke (and Acts) as one single narrative deeply embedded in the eschatological hope of the Jewish Scriptures. The life and teaching of Jesus is firmly put within the social and religious context of Roman society (the issue of patronage and the consequent rights and obligations of both benefactors and beneficiaries) and Second Temple Judaism (its definition of religious cleanliness and uncleanliness and the resultant status within the community). The Kingdom's truly revolutionary ethic (social, religious, economic and political) comes to full expression showing how bland and tame most of our current Evangelical preaching and teaching truly are.

It is a massive 900-plus pages, and maybe not for the novice, but I really enjoyed reading it from cover to cover. Studying Luke using this commentary was truly a blessing as I have come to know my Lord and His message in a way I have never had before.

The only quibble I have with this book, or rather with the series' editors, is that they have not let Dr. Green finish the narrative with a commentary on Acts. I would love to have Dr. Green guide me through the second part of this incredible account of the triune God's acts in the world.

I have owned this commentary for a number of years. I preached through the book of Luke over a two year period and could not have gotten through that series without this book. It has classic historical details as well as more current research.

I appreciated the emphasis on the Holy Spirit, which is often reserved for commentaries on the book of Acts.

Joel Green offers alot of historical and cultural information in his study of Luke's Gospel. He has a lot of information about table fellowship in the Greco-Roman world. He is also concerned with the universal scope of the gospel in Luke, noting the author's interest in women disciples and in the vindication of the poor (Luke 6:22ff, Luke 16:19-31).

My main concern with this commentary is that there is too heavy of an emphasis on the cultural background of the text and not always enough emphasis on the exposition of the text. Those looking for more theological reflection may want to consult Joel Green's outstanding book "The Theology of the Gospel of Luke," a book that was so sound that I had to give it 5 stars.

This commentary on Luke is helpful for those looking for more socio-historical data, but I would not recommend using it as your main commentary. Pride of place for commentaries on Luke must go to the two volume set by Darrell Bock.

What can be said about Green's commentary other than it is a pillar in Lukan scholarship. Written from a Methodist position, Green does a masterful job of giving good background, text driven comment and good conclusions on meaning. I used the commentary for a sermon I preached on Luke 15 and I was very pleased with how informative Green is. I would highly recommend for pastors, scholars and lay people.