Matthew: A Shorter Commentary (International Critical Commentary) [Paperback]

Dale C., Jr. Allison (Author), W. D. Davies (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 24, 2005 | Series: International Critical Commentary

This work is an abbreviated version of the monumental, three-volume 'Matthew, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary' in the International Critical Commentary series (ICC). Davies and Allison's magisterial work is considered to be the standard work on Matthew and is still a best-selling title. Retaining all the important features of the ICC volumes, this Shorter Commentary includes the new translation of the Gospel as well as a condensed introduction and a summary of the main exegetical points in a non-technical verse-by-verse commentary. For those who lack the linguistic and historical grounding, or the time, to deal with the ICC volume, this shorter volume is an accessible, affordable and practical alternative.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Readers will generally gain a good understanding of the basic issues of interpretation of the individual pericopes as they work through each section. In this regard, Allison's Shorter Commentary is a welcome edition, particularly for beginning students and busy ministers who will not only benefit from consulting it but can now afford to own a copy of their own. As they read it, moreover, they can do so with the assurance that its present humble form has as its basis a colussus of demonstrated learning in its three-volume predecessor.

(James P Sweeney )

Review

~ International Review of Biblical Studies, Vol 51, 2004/05

'It has many fine observations...this is still a commentary worth having.''

Epworth Review

(Neil Richardson )

'A very useful and reader-friendly commentary for students, pastors, and teachers. [...] This shorter commentary is a valuable addition to theological libraries.'

(Robert Keay, Belfast Bible College Theological Book Review )

'This is a welcome condensed edition of the classic three-volume International Critical Commentary. Dale Allison has skillfully cut down the longer work in a way that makes it accessible to readers without Greek or the other technical skills that the ICC presupposes.'

Peter Oakes

(Journal For The Study Of The New Testament )

As the title indicates, this work is a shorter version of the three-volume International Critical Commentary (ICC) that has taken its place in Matthean scholarship as perhaps the foremost historical-critical commentary. The shorter version is done by Allison, and its target audience is "readers who find the larger commentary too involved or too difficult." In that light, this work, Allison says, "comments not on the Greek text but on my own English translation." There are no major revisions of the three-volume work, and any subsequent publications of the shorter version will follow revisions in the three-volume commentary, not vice versa. Bibliographies in the shorter version cover basic works only through approximately 2003 but are helpful nonetheless for the novice. The shorter commentary is an excellent tool for students, busy pastors and priests, and laypeople, and it is an excellent entrée into the larger commentary if one wants to pursue a point in more depth. One wishes for at least a subject index, but given the reasonable price, this is a highly recommended book for its intended audience.

Fred W. Burnett

Anderson University

v

(Religious Studies Review )

Readers will generally gain a good understanding of the basic issues of interpretation of the individual pericopes as they work through each section. In this regard, Allison's Shorter Commentary is a welcome edition, particularly for beginning students and busy ministers who will not only benefit from consulting it but can now afford to own a copy of their own. As they read it, moreover, they can do so with the assurance that its present humble form has as its basis a colussus of demonstrated learning in its three-volume predecessor.

(, )

'It has many fine observations...this is still a commentary worth having.''

Epworth Review

(, )

'A very useful and reader-friendly commentary for students, pastors, and teachers. [...] This shorter commentary is a valuable addition to theological libraries.'

(, Theological Book Review )

As the title indicates, this work is a shorter version of the three-volume International Critical Commentary (ICC) that has taken its place in Matthean scholarship as perhaps the foremost historical-critical commentary. The shorter version is done by Allison, and its target audience is “readers who find the larger commentary too involved or too difficult.” In that light, this work, Allison says, “comments not on the Greek text but on my own English translation.” There are no major revisions of the three-volume work, and any subsequent publications of the shorter version will follow revisions in the three-volume commentary, not vice versa. Bibliographies in the shorter version cover basic works only through approximately 2003 but are helpful nonetheless for the novice. The shorter commentary is an excellent tool for students, busy pastors and priests, and laypeople, and it is an excellent entrée into the larger commentary if one wants to pursue a point in more depth. One wishes for at least a subject index, but given the reasonable price, this is a highly recommended book for its intended audience.

Fred W. Burnett

Anderson University

v

(Religious Studies Review )

About the Author

Dale C. Allison Jr. is Errett M. Grable Professor of New Testament Exegesis and Early Christianity, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and is the author of The Intertextual Jesus and, with the late W.D. Davies, the ICC volumes on Matthew. W. D. Davies was Emeritus Ivey Professor of Advanced Studies and Research in Christian Origins at Duke University. He was Professor Emeritus at Union Theological Seminary, and Texas Christian University. He was the author of many books, including Paul and Rabbinic Judaism and Jewish and Pauline Studies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: T&T Clark Int'l (May 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0567082490
• ISBN-13: 978-0567082497
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #59,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Commentary on Matthew's Gospel, November 24, 2010

By 

William B. Jones - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Matthew: A Shorter Commentary (International Critical Commentary) (Paperback)

This is a fine commentary on Matthew's gospel, so-called "shorter" because, at 549 pages plus an 18 page introduction, it draws on the three-volume International Critical Commentary by its authors. It does not require Greek of its readers, nor does it footnote contemporary scholarship.

Brendan Byrne's "Lifting the Burden" is a nice thematic approach to "reading Matthew's gospel in the church today," as its subtitle notes. Donald Hagner's two-volume Word Biblical Commentary provides more detail and scholarship on Matthew, at a still-affordable level.