Matthew: A Commentary. Volume 1: The Christbook, Matthew 1-12 [Paperback]

Frederick Dale Bruner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 2007

Recognized as a masterly commentary when it first appeared, Frederick Dale Bruners study of Matthew is now available as a greatly revised and expanded two-volume work - the result of seven years of careful refinement, enrichment, and updating. Through this commentary, crafted especially for teachers, pastors, and Bible students, Bruner aims to help Gods people love what Matthews Gospel says. Bruners work is at once broadly historical and deeply theological. It is historical in drawing extensively on great church teachers through the centuries and on the classical Christian creeds and confessions. It is theological in that it unpacks the doctrines in each passage, chapter, and section of the Gospel. Consciously attempting to bridge past and present, Bruner asks both what Matthews Gospel said to its first hearers and what it says to readers today. As a result, his commentary is profoundly relevant to contemporary congregations and to those who guide them. Bruners commentary is replete with lively, verse-by-verse discussion of Matthews text. While each chapter expounds a specific topic or doctrine, the books format consists of a vivid, original translation of the text followed by faithful exegesis and critical analysis, a survey of historical commentary on the text, and current applications of the text or theme under study. In this revision Bruner continues to draw on the best in modern scholarship - including recent work by W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison Jr., by Ulrich Luz, and by many others - adding new voices to the reading of Matthew. At the same time he cites the classic commentaries of Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Bengel, and the rest, who, like Bruner himself, were not simply doctrinal teachers but also careful exegetes of Scripture. Such breadth and depth of learning assure that Bruners Matthew will remain, as a reviewer for Interpretation wrote, the most dog-eared commentary on the shelf. Volume 1 of Bruners commentary is called The Christbook because the first twelve chapters of Matthew are focused on the nature and work of Christ. As Bruner proceeds through these chapters, he shows how Matthew presents, step by step, central themes of Christology: Jesus coming (chapters 1-4), his teaching (5-7), his miracles (8-9), his sermon on mission (10), and his person (11-12). Throughout the book there are also thoughtful discussions of significant topics such as baptism, marriage, Jewish-Christian relations, and heaven

Product Details

• Paperback: 604 pages
• Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co; Revised & enlarged edition (June 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802845061
• ISBN-13: 978-0802845061
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #343,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SC Preacher, August 7, 2008

By 

M. Durrett "Pastor/Teacher" (South Carolina) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Matthew: A Commentary. Volume 1: The Christbook, Matthew 1-12 (Paperback)

I've been using Dale Bruner's Matthew commentary for almost 20 years now, and was utterly dismayed that it was out of print for over a decade. My first copies (Red vol.1, Blue vol.2) are just about falling apart, pages are taped to the cracked through bindings, they're covered with red ink from underlining the rich, deeply evangelical things Bruner has to say. After a couple of years with this commentary, I brought it to a gathering of preacher friends & told them, "Not to be extreme, but in my opinion, as far as preaching & teaching in the church go, this is the BEST commentary EVER written on a biblical book, IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH!" They all smiled, but several of them got a copy for themselves & when our group met the next year every one of them who'd gotten it said, "We agree with what you said about Bruner's Matthew & if anything, you didn't praise it highly enough!"

What's so helpful is that Bruner does what every Bible teacher wishes THEY could do, he goes through the entire history of the church's readings & interpretations of each passage, what the great teachers of the church (very broadly & ecumenically understood - Bruner earned his doctorate in Hamburg, Germany; he began his teaching career as a missionary in the Philippines before a long & productive career at Whitworth College in Washington) have said & thought about a passage. As he makes clear in his introduction, he has been teaching Matthew to undergraduates but just as crucially to adult Bible study groups for over 30 years & that has kept him gloriously grounded in the relevance of Matthew's gospel to living, breathing, growing Christian disciples. He is involved in every bit of current academic scholarship on Matthew, but he always pushes the discussion on from academic issues to issues of, "What does this say to us as Christians, as disciples?" He will have you loving the Gospel of Matthew, especially the seemingly inscrutable things like Matthew's genealogy, which Bruner makes come alive: relevant, indispensable, teachable & yes, exciting! He will also (as one reviewer noted) have you checking back here when you are teaching parallel passages in Mark or Luke, because he always has an insightful comment on the differences between them & the differences they make in telling a story one way or another.

The only two problems with this commentary are two other ways of saying how great it is: (1) when you read it, there is so much great stuff on every page & covering every passage that you will have to fight yourself to retain your own dignity as a teacher & resist the urge to just take it to your lectern, your pulpit & just read it line for line to your group. (2) when I read this commentary, it makes me sit & look with no small frustration at all the other commentaries on my shelves & think of all the fruitless hours I've spent poring over their pages, vainly hoping to distill just one tiny little tidbit of spiritual food I could pass along to growing disciples. I find myself saying to the rest of my wall of commentaries, "What are you all doing?! You could be FEEDING the people of God like Bruner & instead you're all spinning your wheels on things that make no difference to living Christians. You're wasting our time!" This commentary is what a commentary should be & it shames a great many of the other residents of 'commentary world' for being so self-referential.

Dale Bruner is the Presbyterian Church's gift to Christendom. As with Eugene Peterson, my daily prayer is that both of these men will live to a great old age so they can finish the projects God has given them to do. (Bruner is rumored to be writing on John) I can't praise this commentary highly enough. Get it! Read it! Teach it! It will make you a better person, a better teacher/preacher, a better Christian.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best New Testament commentary I have ever read, February 8, 2011

By 

Trevor Geddes (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Matthew: A Commentary. Volume 1: The Christbook, Matthew 1-12 (Paperback)

I purchased this commentary in frustration, after having read so many commentaries on Matthew and been thoroughly disappointed. The user's reviews were what attracted me to Bruner's commentary for which I am grateful to both them and Amazon. Bruner provides an excellent balance between looking at the issues raised by the text and stimulating fruitful reflection on the passage concerned. His own devotion to Jesus Christ is clearly evident and his love for the gospel of Matthew shines out. I suspect no one can really understand a book of the Bible unless they truly love it, and that may be one key to the quality of this commentary - that and dwelling on the text over a good many years while also seeking to live it out in one's own life. It certainly leads to a great wealth of of insight in the case of these volumes.

I have been using this commentary for over 2 years both for preaching and my own edification and it still remains my favourite New Testament commentary. I can truly say it has enhanced my ministry and grown my own love for Matthew's gospel.

I look forward with great anticipation to Bruner's commentary on the gospel of John.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mathematician Matthew the Meticulous, October 9, 2007

By 

Leslie S. Archer "jailchap" (Corpus Christi TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Matthew: A Commentary. Volume 1: The Christbook, Matthew 1-12 (Paperback)

For over 4 years have never ceased to use Dale's MATTHEW. A very deep well.

Panoramic in vision and true, not PC , tolerance and charity to all mark every section.

The second edition adds much, eg on baptism, intrigueing. outreaching.

ALWAYS central is the Redeeming Atoning Cross-bound and Resurrected Savior, our Lord.

Buy it , beg it, or.........pray for a JESUS CHRISTmas gift from your best friend.

Les Archer,Corpus Christi, Texas