Matthew, a Commentary, Vol. 2: The Churchbook, Matthew 13-28 [Hardcover]

Frederick Dale Bruner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2004

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 2 of Bruners commentary is called The Churchbook because Bruner sees Matthew 13-28 as concerned primarily with the life of the church and discipleship. Continuing his Volume 1 Christbook exposition, Bruner shows here how the focus of Matthew shifts, from Jesus teaching about who he is to teaching mainly about what his church is. Bruners Churchbook commentary divides the second half of Matthew according to its major ecclesiological themes: the churchs faith (chapters 13-17), the churchs love (18-20), the churchs histor

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 854 pages
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Revised & enlarged edition (April 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802826709
• ISBN-13: 978-0802826701
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.9 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #700,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bruner does the best job (with Matthew) that I've ever encountered., February 24, 2006

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C. Lambeth (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Matthew, a Commentary, Vol. 2: The Churchbook, Matthew 13-28 (Hardcover)

I won't give a detailed review; I suspect that's best left to those with more time and scholarly critiquing skills. What I will say is that I've read several Matthew commentaries and this one is by far the most helpful. Bruner has the ability to dive into 1st century Palestine, giving us the important details while not saddling the reader/preacher with a mountain of unnecessary information. Yet at the same time, he brings in important insights from our own day and time. Craig Keener's works on Matthew are in the same ballpark as this commentary, but this one swings for the fence instead of being stuck in the infield. Go St. Louis Cardinals!

The only drawback I see with this commentary is that it is so good, I had a difficult time not leaning too heavily on it. Some commentaries provide so-so assistance and access to the text. This one serves it up on a silver tray. I'd say "platter" but that would have negative implications.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is my favorite Commentary, February 27, 2005

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M. Blodgett "M. Blodgett" (Fort Wayne, IN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Matthew, a Commentary, Vol. 2: The Churchbook, Matthew 13-28 (Hardcover)

Dr. Bruner- Thank you for this fine work. It take the best of so many commentaries- from Davies and Allison, Luz, Gundry and the classices from Chrysostrom, Jerome, Luther and Calvin. Your explosive prose and keen insight has blessed me and now my congregation with a fount of knowledge. I appreciate how Dr. Bruner wrestles exegitically, and theologically with the text. His work pays off. The only problem for the preacher is the temptation to lift the teaching material and claim as your own.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterful!!!, November 9, 2005

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Michael Dubruiel "annunciations.wordpress.com" (Birmingham, AL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Matthew, a Commentary, Vol. 2: The Churchbook, Matthew 13-28 (Hardcover)

This is the best commentary on Matthew's Gospel out there. Frederick Dale Bruner has culled the best of tradtion ranging from Rabinical, Early Church Fathers, Reformation and even the Second Vatican Council. What you have here will leave you with a renewed appreciation for Scripture and even more a renewed sense of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ!