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 I’m proud of my “little orange book,” but a resource like this gets outdated.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 Ephesians Commentaries
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Lynn Cohick (NICNT)
Lynn Cohick has written an outstanding volume in Ephesians for the esteemed NICNT series. It is well-rounded, sensitive to ancient contextualization, pastorally rich, and I am especially impressed with her work on the Household Code.
Darrell Bock (TNTC)
Bock is primarily a Gospels scholar, but he brings a breadth of knowledge of the Bible to this short (240pp) commentary that would make a great study for a church group or an undergraduate class.
David A. deSilva (NCBC)
While the New Cambridge Bible Commentary is a lesser known series, deSilva is someone always worth consulting. He has written numerous commentaries, a recent highlight is his NICNT volume on Galatians. One can expect from his work on Ephesians both attention to socio-cultural dynamics and Paul’s rhetorical and literary mastery in this beautiful epistle.
COMING SOON
Here are some commentaries on Ephesians that are coming in the future. No clear timeline or release dates for these.
Lynn Cohick, Preaching Ephesians (with Tara Beth Leach)
Erin Heim, Ephesians (WBC)
Gregory Sterling (Hermeneia)
B.J. Oropeza, (Bible in God’s World)
Up next: stay tuned for new commentaries on Philippians next week!
Really enjoy you pointing out newer commentaries. The only problem is that I want to dig into all of them.
You seem to recommend quite a few commentaries from the New Cambridge Bible Commentary. What’s it about?