This is a series called “Up to Date,” where I do a sweeping survey of the latest and greatest biblical commentaries. In 2020, I published a little book called The New Testament Commentary Guide: A Brief Handbook for Students and Pastors (Lexham Press, 2020). I’m proud of my “little orange book,” but a resource like this gets outdated. If you are looking for commentary classics and “best picks” I suggest picking up my book. In this Substack series though, I will be looking at what has been published in the last five years (2019-2024).
Important Recent Gospel of Luke Commentaries (2019-2024)
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At 860 pages, this is a substantial theological commentary! Spencer knows his way around Luke, this is a rich resource that pastors and scholars will find insightful. Another benefit of Spencer’s work: interdisciplinary study, drawing from systematic theology, philosophy, and psychology. This is easily one of my “go-to” commentaries now.
Discovering Luke is not a commentary, it’s more like a handbook, but Joel Green is a widely recognized and trusted scholar on Luke. This is great for getting your bearings straight when starting a long and deep study of Luke.
This Wisdom Commentary (co-written by Barbara Reid and Shelly Matthews) takes special interest in a feminist-critical perspective, which offers many insights for Luke’s Gospel since Luke clearly gives attention to women and other groups who lived on the margins in ancient society. It is sometimes uncomfortable for some pastors to read incisive scholarship like this, but the gains are worth it.
I haven’t had a chance to look at Mary Schertz’s new (2023) commentary on Luke, but I know the series approaches Scripture from an anabaptist perspective. Thus, I expect Schertz to be especially interested in Luke’s attention to the marginalized in the Third Gospel.
Next up…we will look at new scholarship on John.
Spencer's Luke commentary is my new favorite. I used it for both of my term papers this semester. He is so funny in addition to being knowledgable. It's a good read. For those interested in emotions in the text, he is the best source, often drawing out the nuances of emotion in a pericope.