180 of 182 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Barclay an excellent commentator-but beware of this edition!, September 18, 2005
This review is from: New Daily Study Bible: Complete Set (New Daily Bible) 17 vol. set (Paperback)
This edition, with minor changes and corrections, is essentially the same as the revised edition issued in 1975. What this edition and the previous revised edition fail to inform the reader of is that it does not contain all of the commentary text written by William Barclay.
While the 17 volumes of the previous 2nd edition (published in the 1950's) contains a total of 5,195 pages, the revised edition has only 4,541 pages, or a reduction of 12.6%. The reduction is most noticeable in the 2 volumes on Revelation, which is reduced from 528 to 415 pages, a reduction of 21.4%. In Ephesians, the revised edition contains 30 fewer pages, a reduction of 19.1% (157/127). The Gospel of John is reduced by 87 pages, a reduction of 13.7% (634/547). In the commentary in Revelation 3:1-6 (Sardis: A Lifeless Church), well over 50% of the material written by Barclay in the 2nd edition is removed in the revised edition.
This reduction in pages is not solely due to differences in formatting. It is largely due to the deletion of many portions of Barclay's commentary contained in the 2nd edition. I first noticed the selective deletion of portions of Barclay's original commentary in the commentary for John 13:33-35, in which Jesus speaks of loving one another as he loved us. In the 2nd edition, Barclay so beautifully states the following: "He [Jesus] knew all their [his disciples] weaknesses and yet He still loved them. Those who really love us are the people who know us at our worst and who still love us." However, these two sentences, along with four other sentences, do not appear in the revised edition, and they do not appear in this edition. Repeatedly, key sentences and phrases are deleted from this edition. At another point in this commentary, Barclay states that: "It is when we live with people that we find out their moods and their irritabilities and their weaknesses." Although this sentence is contained in this edition, the sentence that immediately follows it in the 2nd edition will not be found in this edition. That sentence is: "And others have the same experience with us."
Furthermore, the changes in the revised edition are not the work of William Barclay, but as William Barclay states in the introduction to the revised edition, "the work of revision and correction has been done entirely by the Rev. James Martin." Clive Rawlins, who wrote an authorized biography of William Barclay, stated in the biography that it was especially questionable for Barclay to allow republication without his own personal revision (due to Barclay's physical decline, Rawlins indicates that Barclay was unable to make the revisions himself). Rawlins was very critical of the revisions by Martin, stating that the nature of the original work was not always respected. At one point, Rawlins stated that Martin's elimination of two key phrases was a great pity and lessened the force of Barclay's statement. In the introduction to the book of Romans, Rawlins stated that it was strange that Martin should have so completely missed Barclay's emphasis in the revised edition prepared by Martin. Rawlins stated in the biography that the reduction of approximately 600 pages in the 17 volume set was because of "vigorous pruning" of Barclay's writing. In conclusion, Rawlins found that the revisions made by Martin in the revised edition "are not of the highest order."
One change unique to this 21st century edition is that the editors have completely rewritten what Barclay said about homosexuality. This can be found in the commentary on I Corinthians 6:9-11. When the material has been completely rewritten, the editors have an obligation to inform the reader of this fact and explain why the changes were made.
On the other hand, I cannot emphasize enough the value of Barclay's commentaries. His knowledge of the Greek language, the Jewish culture and religion, and the Roman occupation during the New Testament era is phenomenal. Furthermore, he has a unique ability to convey this immense knowledge in a manner which is very easy for any reader to understand. William Barclay has the ability to convey to the reader not only what that passage meant to the people to whom Jesus spoke to 2,000 years ago, but what those passages say to us today. On countless occasions, I have felt that Barclay was speaking to me personally as he discussed the relevance of the passage in his commentary.
William Barclay's New Testament commentaries are the most insightful and meaningful commentaries that I have ever read, and I cannot recommend them highly enough. He has both challenged and inspired me; William Barclay's writings have truly changed my life. However, if you want to read all of what Barclay actually said instead of what some editor thought was important enough to leave in, then check with a used book store or do a used book search on the internet to get the 2nd edition of Barclay's Daily Study Bible.
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56 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
titles Included in set are:, September 21, 2005
This review is from: New Daily Study Bible: Complete Set (New Daily Bible) 17 vol. set (Paperback)
The Acts of the Apostles
The Gospel of John - Volume 1 Chapters 1-7
The Gospel of John - Volume 2 Chapters 8-21
The Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Mark
The Gospel of Matthew - Volume 1 Chapters 1-10
The Gospel of Matthew - Volume 2 Chapters 11- 28
The Letter to the Romans
The Letter to the Hebrews
The Letters of James and Peter
The Letters of John and Jude
The Letters to the Corinthians
The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians
The Letters to the Phillippians, Colossians and Thessalonians
The Letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon
The Revelation of John - Volume 1 Chapters 1-5
The Revelation of John - Volume 2 Chapters 6-22
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Barclay is the best, December 5, 2006
This review is from: New Daily Study Bible: Complete Set (New Daily Bible) 17 vol. set (Paperback)
My dad who was a Pastor for over 40 years had the entire collection of William Barclay books. Unfortunately, when he passed away his library was dismanled and now I wish I had access to these amazing books. I have purchased four books in the series and Barlcay will blow your mind with his insightful thoughts on the most obscure verses in the OT and NT. Do not miss this opportunity to grow in your walk with Jesus.
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