The Gospel According to Mark: The English Text with Introduction, Exposition, and Notes (New International Commentary on the New Testament) (Hardcover)

by William L. Lane (Author) "The reason for designating as prologue Ch. 1:1-13 is that these verses supply the key to the entire Gospel by introducing the central figure of..." (more)
Key Phrases: secrecy phenomena, latt sys, second major prophecy, New York, Mark's Gospel, Minette de Tillesse (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Lane's work on the Gospel of Mark is a contribution to The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Prepared by some of the world's leading scholars, the series provides an exposition of the New Testament books that is thorough and fully abreast of modern scholarship yet faithful to the Scriptures as the infallible Word of God. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 652 pages
• Publisher: Eerdmans (1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802823408
• ISBN-13: 978-0802823403
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #134,433 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great tool for getting the most out of Mark, March 1, 2000

By	Timotheus Josephus - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gospel According to Mark: The English Text With Introduction, Exposition, and Notes (New International Commentary on the New Testament) (Hardcover)

Dr. Lane's commentary on Mark strikes an excellent balance between historical, theological, and practical issues. He also covers textual variants in the manuscript tradition. I found his brief appendix on the issue of Mark 16:9-20 to be very informative.

Lane also does well with sticking to the gospel of Mark while not diverting his attention to parallel passages in Matthew and Luke. He makes a compelling case for the dating and place of authorship of this gospel. His attention to the "difficult" areas of Mark is probably the highlight of this commentary. His concise and forceful arguments are not overly wordy while still being clearly expressed.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly scholarly and readable, November 15, 2004

By	Matthew Gunia (Justice, Illinois) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Gospel According to Mark: The English Text With Introduction, Exposition, and Notes (New International Commentary on the New Testament) (Hardcover)

William Lane, professor of Biblical Studies as Seattle Pacific University, has written a highly readable yet very scholarly commentary on Mark's gospel for the New International Commentary on the New Testament Series. Lane does an excellent job analyzing the structure and themes within Mark, explaning parables from different angles (as well as understanding one parable through the other parables), and commenting on other aspects of ancient Roman and Jewish life.

This reader also appreciates the conservative approach to Lane's commentary. With so many authors attempting scholarly acrobatics to learn about the "Markan community" or practice source criticism, it is refreshing to read a scholarly commentary that holds a traditional view--Mark from the book of Acts wrote this Gospel based almost exclusively on the teachings of Peter. While many reviewers herald this "new and exciting" method of interpreting Mark, there is actually little "new" about it--the traditional conservative view of Mark that the church has always held is the view proposed by Lane.

Although an excellent work, this author does have one criticism concerning the ending of Mark. While Lane is with the majority of scholars in looking down their noses at Mark 16:9ff, Lane dismisses these verses as "unoriginal" without much of a discussion. Without even reprinting the text, he criticizes those who hold to the originality of these verses as unscholarly and speculative. A fuller argument for his premature ending, a more detailed explanation of the function of this abrupt "literary device" and a short commentary on Mark 16:9ff would have been greatly appreciated by this reader, especially in the light that Lane seemingl treats the ridiculous Freer Logion as sacred writing.

In all, this book is a great, mentally provocative treatment of Mark's Gospel that simply fell apart at the end. Highly recommended!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Commentary on "Mark" Available Today!, April 27, 2004

By	Edmund Lau Kok Ming (Malaysia) - See all my reviews

William Lane's commentary on "Mark" is very scholarly and balanced. He employs redaction criticism as his primary method to extract the most out of the "present form" of Mark's gospel and shows us how rewarding it is to do it this way. At the same time, Lane pays attention to many theological issues (such as "the Wilderness motif in Mark", "the Messianic secret", etc.) and historical/textual issues (e.g.- "Mark 16", Dead Sea Scrolls discoveries, comparisons between Peter's sermons in "Acts" and the literary/compositional style of Mark). The overall result is a commentary that is at the same time a great reference work, a great instruction manual and a great devotional tool. Personally, I became interested in many Gospel issues such as Form/Source/Redaction Criticism, the Synoptic Problem, the revelation/hidden Christ, the centrality of the Passion, etc. after reading this work. Highly recommended!