Customer Reviews

The New American Commentary - Volume 2 - Exodus

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Exodus is a pivotal book, a key volume not only in the Pentateuch but in the whole of the Hebrew bible. And Douglas Stuart is a first rate evangelical Old Testament scholar (who has already penned commentaries on Ezekiel and some of the Minor Prophets). Put the two together and you have an important and powerful combination.

There have been a number of good commentaries on the book of Exodus. Many consider the 1974 volume by Brevard Childs (Old Testament Library) to be the best written, albeit by a non-evangelical. Good volumes of a somewhat more conservative and evangelical variety have been penned by Enns (NIV Application Commentary, 2000) and Durham (Word Biblical Commentary, 1987). But this is the newest and perhaps best treatment of the book. Part of the New American Commentary series, this just released volume will long serve as the first port of call for evangelical assessments of this important Old Testament book.

Good commentaries offer a balance of two things: the technical, grammatical, cultural and other background material, along with sound theological analysis. Both exegesis and exposition are required. This volume fulfils both requirements nicely.

Stuart has clearly done his homework. (He says he consulted over 1700 items, not all of which are featured in the bibliography.) He is up on all the relevant literature, and is aware of the current debates. He also writes well, and is able to provide the theological sense of the book, and individuals passages throughout.

Given the constraints of the series, his introductory remarks do not occupy much space (only 50 pages out of an 800 page work). But more detailed discussions of important points are scattered throughout the commentary. Thus a number of excurses into various disputed issues, difficult topics, or theological hot potatoes are interspersed in these pages. Surprisingly however one such item, the Divine name YHWH as revealed in Exodus 3:14, receives no separate excursus, but just a half page discussion (along with a half page footnote, leading the reader to further study).

While acknowledging that extra-biblical evidence for Exodus is thin, he is more optimistic than writers like Durham about the book's historicity. He also ascribes Mosaic authorship to the book.

His thematic approach to this book is to highlight the servant theme: Israel's' exodus from Egyptian servitude is replaced by servitude to Yahweh. The transition from being servants of a bad king to being servants of a good king is the overriding motif of the book, although Stuart lists eight other key themes, including the necessity of law, the promised land, and covenant relationship.

The commentary itself is a nice blend of giving the sense of the text along with the various technical considerations that need to be addressed. More scholarly discussion is reserved for the footnotes, which are plenteous and lengthy. Thus the main body of the text can be easily followed, but the numerous excurses and footnotes take the reader to more advanced levels, when deeper considerations are called for.

All in all this is a very fine commentary indeed, which should serve both student and scholar for many years to come.

The thing that most impressed me about Douglas Stuart's commentary on Exodus for the New American commentary series (Broadman & Holman) is the easy proficiency with which Dr. Stuart exegetes how a particular Hebrew word or phrase should be taken in context, weaves in the ANE background, and demonstrates the way the theology not only relates to Exodus and the rest of the Pentateuch, but to entire biblical corpus. Those familiar with Dr. Stuart's prior work will not be surprised by the depth of scholarship undergirding his insights here. For a conservative commentary that is sufficiently meaty but still easy on the eyes, one could do no better.

This past fall, I had the opportunity to teach Exodus & I purchased Stuart's commentary, as it came highly recommended from several theologians. As I delved into the Introduction it did not let down. Stuart's treatment of the historical, textual, authorial and theological aspects of Exodus are definitely worth consulting and utilizing in your studies and understanding of the text. It is quite good. However, the details of the commentary were not as good & his explanation of the text is not as satisfactory as other commentaries. The author comes from a good, conservative scholarship position, but seems bound by certain "literal" (overly conservative?) interpretations of the text when there are better explanations. I also found that he was given to psychological interpretations and conjectures that are not necessary, at least in an exegetical commentary.

As an illustration of a too "literal" approach to the text, this is seen in his interpretation of chapter 24 and the sprinkling of the blood of the covenant. "Moses sprinkled blood on the people in order to symbolize their being parties to the covenant. Some droplets would remain on their skin for days; some that fell on their clothing would be visible, if faded, for as long as the clothing lasted. The ceremony itself was so vivid and extraordinary as to be memorable, and its memory was intended to keep in the consciousness of the people the fact that God had joined with the people of Israel in a formal..." Am I really to believe that Moses sprinkled blood on the millions that gathered? Doesn't it make more sense that Moses sprinkled the blood on the 12 pillars, which represented the 12 Tribes? Also, I think the details regarding it being on their skin and clothing is superfluous. These sorts of "literal" interpretations are found throughout his commentary & detract from his overall insights.

Regarding too much psychological projection into the text, I point to his understanding of Levitical repentance after the idolatry in chapter 32. "All the Levites [repented] decisively-including, surely, a chagrined and probably openly embarrassed Aaron. Some of the Levites' motivation may have come from tribal loyalty to their fellow tribesman Moses, especially now that they had seen Aaron publicly rebuked and had seen the bull idol so decisively destroyed." This is just pure conjecture and too much interpretation, especially psychological, of the text. These sort of details might be fine for a sermon, but not what I expect in a commentary, at least the exegetical details of the commentary.

Perhaps there should be an "application" section that affords Stuart this sort of interpretation, but it is not necessary in the specific details of his exegesis of the text. This sort of conjecture is found throughout his commentary.

All in all, the commentary is worth consulting, especially for the introduction, details of historical debate, including borrowing from other ANE narratives, but I believe you will be better served acquiring Peter Enns' and Nahum Sarna's commentaries for their exegetical insights of the text.

Stuart has written a thorough, extensive commentary on the book of Exodus. Commentaries in the NAC series seem to be consistently solid and on target theologically, and this commentary does not disappoint. I have used Stuart especially for teaching on the tabernacle construction and the items in the tabernacle and tent of meeting. Stuart often gives general overviews of sections of Scripture, followed by detailed discussions of each particular verse of set of verses. Stuart explains well each portion of Scripture, and includes a number of pertinent excursuses (e.g., The Invisible God of the Old Covenant, and The Urim and Thummim). Well written, highly recommended study of Exodus.

This 700+ page tome on Exodus was a treasure trove of knowledge. Stuart leaves no stone unturned and no issue unaddressed, and this is definitely a good work to consult for serious study of Exodus. Stuart has exceptional knowledge of Hebrew and is able to clearly explain several issues of translation and interpretation that may have been traditionally confusing to readers of Exodus.

If this book has a weakness, it is a marked tendency to press the language of text towards a rigid literal meaning. There are places where it feels like Stuart is trying too hard to make the straightforward literal meaning of the text square with reality, even when the text is clearly being using a figure of speech or a metaphor.

Exodus (The New American Commentary) I found this book to be extremely informative and helpful in leading a small group study of the book of Exodus.

I am very pleased with the book and the time that it took that i got it. Not to mention if you are interested in the Book of Exodus this is a good commentary to look through. he (Stuart) is very interested in the event of the exodus.

This is a wonderful commentary. He writes in an easily understandable style. The commentary is very thorough. A good evangelical commentary.