Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 42, Ephesians [Hardcover]

Andrew T. Lincoln (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 1990

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 590 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (November 6, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 084990241X
• ISBN-13: 978-0849902413
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #268,218 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent commentary - but read critically, November 17, 2003

By 

Samuel M Smith (Fort Worth, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 42, Ephesians (Hardcover)

Lincoln's thought is clear, lucid and intelligible, which helps him explain what can be one of the more convoluted and enigmatic books in the NT. Now, clarity should not be confused with brevity. This is one of the longer commentaries in the Word series on one of the epistles. Lincoln's arguments are finely nuanced and require much of a reader. But in the end, it is worthwhile.

Lincoln rarely engages in sustained polemic against those who hold to positions with which he disagrees, but rather deals with them and offers whatever explanation he favors expeditiously. His knowledge of koine Greek and textual criticism are encyclopedic.

My disagreements with Lincoln are at the presuppositional level, namely that the letter must be deutero-Pauline because of certain linguistic and stylistic features. It seems at times that he wants to ascribe to "the writer" access to Paul's mind, almost as a doppelganger, but thoroughly and consistently rejects Pauline authorship. Lincoln would do well to consider more seriously the role of the amaneuensis in 1st century letter writing, as well as the amount of traditional material the writer employs before rejecting Pauline authorship.

Second, in his discussion of the passage on marriage (5:21-33) Lincoln falls into the hermeneutical sinkhole of postmodern relativism.

On the whole, though, Lincoln is a brilliant scholar whose work on Ephesians deserves every serious NT student's full attention.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Consistent in interpretatians and very good overall, December 22, 2005

By 

DarrenGJohnson "DarrenGJohnson" (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 42, Ephesians (Hardcover)

The Word Biblical Commentaries have four sections, outside of the introduction, that carry one through the commentary. The first is the translation section. In this section the author give his own translation of the passage he is about to examine. The is followed by a notes section, which tells why the author chose to translate the way that he did. The next section is comments, which is handled in a verse by verse format. The final section is Explanation and in this section the author ties it all together.
I write as a Classical Pentecostal with a degree in theology. I thought that overall this was a very good commentary. I was not totally sold on the non-Pauline authorship, but I was impressed how the author was ever conscious that he had taken this stand and interpreted the book from the perspective of a generation after Paul. This really took the meaning away from the biographical section of the epistle, because the author has to try to account for and brace up his position throughout the explanation. If, however, Lincoln is correct about the authorship then it does bolster some Pentecostal positions, because such things as apostles and prophets would be shown to carry on after the first generation of apostles have passed on. As attractive as that is to a Pentecostal like myself I still was not sold on non-Pauline authorship. That aside this commentary is reliable and I recommend it especially for those who know Greek. If you do not know Greek then the benefit will not be as great, but there is enough in the comments and explanation section to benefit.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tough Call..., December 12, 2005

By 

Ryan D. Westbrook (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 42, Ephesians (Hardcover)

I have a BA in religion from a state school, and I'm a practicing Christian. I've always taken a very critical eye to the scriptures, and, while I've still got much to learn, Lincoln does an outstanding job of fleshing out a very complex epistle. Sadly, however, I bought it hoping for a more theological rather than exegetical tack. If you're on the hunt for a solid starting point for research, I think its great. But if you have more specific, pointed questions of a theological nature, you'll probably find yourself frustrated by this one. The commentary is much more a demo of the harmony of the author's words within a free-standing pseudopauline epistle than an investigation of how Ephesians fits into the entirety of the canon. The search continues for a critical yet faith-based theological commentary...