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 I’m proud of my “little orange book,” but a resource like this gets outdated.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 1-2 Thessalonians Commentaries
**Click images to purchase or learn more
Nathan Eubank (Catholic Commentary)
Eubank is a widely respected Catholic NT scholar. Eubank draws from modern as well as ancient discussion of these texts in his analysis. He dwells on important themes such as holiness, hope, and love.
Timothy Brookins (Paideia)
I love this (Paideia) series: concise, clear, and theologically interested. Brookins brings deep knowledge of the Greco-Roman world to the study of these oft-neglected letters.
Seyoon Kim (Word Biblical Commentary)
The esteemed WBC is going through new commissioning as older original volumes need updating. Kim is a worthy replacement for F.F. Bruce’s original, as Kim was one of Bruce’s students. Kim is a very careful and knowledgeable scholar.
Coming Soon (or Not So Soon)
Here are some commentaries on 1-2 Thess that are coming in the future. No clear timeline or release dates for these.
Dale Allison (Illuminations Series)
Lisa Bowens (NICNT)
David Chapman (EGGNT)
Jamie Davies (BiGW)
Douglas Moo (CSC)
Todd Still (NIGTC)
Up next: stay tuned for new commentaries on 1-2 Timothy, Titus next week!
In case you are interested and unaware, I have my own published resources on 1-2 Thessalonians.
My New Covenant Commentary is an “intermediate” resource that is meant to be concise and readable, but exegetically robust and theologically engaged.
My Zondervan Critical Introduction is not a commentary, but offers a state-of-the-discussion update on all the major scholarly interests in this text.
Your New Covenant Commentary was a very helpful resource for a paper I wrote about 1 Thessalonians for my NT class at Denver Seminary. Also really enjoyed Nathan Eubank’s commentary.