Customer Reviews

The Gospel of Mark (The Daily Study Bible Series)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Reading this commentary was like having a daily conversation with a deeply learned companion. Barclay's remarks are always insightful. Without being dogmatic, he brings Mark's prose alive. His understanding of the original Greek and of the customs and mores of the ancient world provides helpful context to the story. What a wonderful personal tutor! I now am reading his book on the letters to the Corinthians and will read the entire series.

Barclay's style is very easy to read. He makes reading the Gospel of Mark very interesting. Just reading about Jesus' miracles is good, but having Barclay to read alongside the miracle stories was fun! Planning on using it in my Bible Study class.

50 years and this is still a great book in a great series. Unlike so many popular Christian books that become dated over time, William Barclay's Daily Study Bible just seems to get better. He has excellent historical material. He offers valuable insight that will apply to your life as we begin the third millenium. You will be glad you bought this book, or any of the others Barclay wrote in the New Testament Series.

Mark's Gospel is rich with the teachings of Peter, with some personal insight from Mark who was a boy in Jesus' last days. Barclay does a wonderful job of bringing us into Mark's Gospel and explaining the circumstances and meanings of Jesus' words and parables, without putting any personal spin on them. The English translations don't always do the Greek words justice, and Barclay helps develop the rich meanings of the Greek language we often lose in our translations. To read Barclay is to read Jesus as if He were here teaching us, which, really, He is.

Barclay is one of the most insightful commentators of the New Testament. Written about 50 years ago, much of the background information and schalorship in his commentaries are outdated. Sometimes he stretched historical/cultural background too much to explain the text. Conservative readers should be aware that Barclay was a universalist (one who believes that all people will be saved ultimately). He does not believe in miracles and tries to explain them away in his commentaries on the Gospels. However, his comments on the relevance of the Bible can still be very valuable for discerning readers.

Advanced students would not need be told where to find more updated scholarship on NT Bible. Beginning students should get Tom Wright's "Mark For Everyone" instead of Barclay's. The volume on Mark in NIV Application Commentary series by David Garland is an excellent choice for slightly more advanced students. Mainline/liberal students should try New Interpreter's Bible.

I find that William Barclay's "The Gospel of Mark" is an excelent book to learn more about what is the true meaning of what the Gospel of Mark is all about. It is fairly easy to read and it puts what is written into historical contexts. It let me know a lot more about what was going on during the life of Jesus Christ. so that I could understand the Gospel in much greater depth than I ever had before.

I would greatly recommend this book for use as a suppliment to the Bible for study groups or individual study of the Scriptures. I also think that this book is good for both a historical and/or a theological study of the life of Jesus Christ. It really helps to make sense of what Mark had to say by reviewing what the people knew and thought during the time that Jesus was among them so that we could view the Gospel from that perspective as well as what it means to us today.

I think that every Christian will find that they will learn a great deal from this book. As a Christian I feel that this book should be on everyone's must read list.

This is a great book if you want to understand and know the Bible better. The author is very well educated and expounds each verse. It is no-nonsense and intellectual, but still very applicable to our lives today. My husband and I are reading it together and discussing it chapter by chapter, but it's not a typical contemporary study, with fill in the blanks and thought questions (which my husband can't stand). I highly recommend it if you want to understand the Bible more deeply and fully. Start with Mark, then decide from there. The only reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5 is because some people might find it a bit tedious. I did at first, but now I'm hooked.

The Gospel of Mark is very helpful when studying the book of Mark. Barclay does a terrific job in explaining concepts and giving a better understanding of what life was like at the time Mark was written.

I am very fond of Barclay and I have his complete NT commentary with the exception of Mark. I loaned it out and it never found it's way back to me. Now my set is complete again.

A friend of mine found that one volume of his set of commentaries was missing! Amazon was able to locate the missing volume. My friend was very pleased with the gift which came from a church library! Thank you for offering the used book option for out of print books! Dj