Customer Reviews

St. John Chrysostom: Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 1

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It's a bit odd to be writing the "first review" of a book by such an incredibly gifted 4th-century author. But here goes.

The book of Psalms is saturated with meaning. Sadly most of us in the 21st century (including myself) don't have the attention span necessary to even begin to comprehend the meaning packed into each twist of phrase in the Psalms.

Fortunately we have St. John, quite possibly the most gifted biblical expositor of the last 1800 years, to help us understand the Psalms. St John's writing on the Psalms is truly inspiring and edifying. He has an amazing ability to impart understanding, clarity of thought, and the beginnings of wisdom.

This book is more than a commentary on the Psalms; it is a series of homilies based on the Psalms.

The translator doesn't seem to think to much of St. John or his homilies. I think an appropriate subtitle would be "Translated and with Trash-talking by: Robert Charles Hill". Hill is quite capable as a translator but the introduction and notes seem narrow-minded, pedantinc, and self-important to me. Apparently the notes are intended for scholars who study Chrysostom, as opposed to Christians who learn from him. (Based on the notes, one might conclude that Hill is an atheist; I wonder why he decided to translate this particular book.)

Nonetheless, I highly recommend this book--especially as a starting point for those new to Chrysostom's writing. (I have also read parts of Chrysostom's commentary on the Gospel of John... but that is over my head at this point. I'm saving it for another decade.)

If you like the works of C.S. Lewis and Dostoevsky more than most modern literature, that is a promising sign that you may get a lot out of this book.

However, if you think calling God "Father" is sexist then this book is not for you. If your idea of a good commentary on the Psalms involves a dissection of each Hebrew word in the text, keep looking.