Experts Recommend OT Commentaries: Genesis (Middleton)
Relaunching an old, incomplete series
OT Commentary Recommendations: Rebooted!
A handful of years ago, I had a blog series where I asked OT experts to weigh in on their recommendations for OT commentaries. For one reason or another (during the pandemic), I left the series incomplete, and lately I have been motivated to do a reboot! So, for a while we will repost the originals (we had gotten through Psalms), and then add brand new ones to complete the series. So, to be clear, if you followed the old series, you will notice we are reposting them with slight updates and modifications to fit Substack.
Experts Recommend OT Commentaries: Genesis (Dr. Richard Middleton)
First up, Dr. Richard Middleton (Northeastern Seminary). Middleton has written widely on biblical theology and Old Testament studies. Related to Genesis, I highly recommend his books: The Liberating Image and his Oct 2021 book, Abraham’s Silence: The Binding of Isaac, the Suffering of Job, and How to Talk Back to God.
Commentaries on Genesis
Technical
John Goldingay (Baker Commentary on the OT): Goldingay provides a careful, thoughtful investigation of the text, attending to translation details, literary style, theological implications, and (selectively) the history of interpretation.
Gordon J. Wenham (Word Biblical Commentary): Wenham’s classic 2-volume commentary combines close scrutiny of textual and translation details, drawing on ancient Near Eastern backgrounds where appropriate, plus excursuses on various topics. Wenham shows awareness of modern critical readings of Genesis without being constrained by them.
Victor P. Hamilton (NICOT): This careful 2-volume commentary by a Wesleyan scholar is both detailed and textual, addressing matters of literary structure and ANE background, while reflecting on the literary and theological point of the text.
Semi-Technical
David W. Cotter (Berit Olam): A beautifully written commentary by a Catholic scholar that focuses on careful literary reading, as a means to suggesting a nuanced theological sense of the text.
Non-Technical
Walter Brueggemann (Interpretation): Brueggemann may be the most published OT scholar today. In this early commentary, we find him at his rhetorical best, challenging the reader with the demanding message of the inscrutable yet faithful God of creation and history.
Nijay’s Picks
I echo Middleton’s picks, here are a couple more that I have used and appreciated
Kathleen O’Connor (Smyth & Helwys): expert study of Genesis that is attentive to the literary artistry of this foundational OT book. Great for classroom, Bible study, and fodder for preaching.
Tremper Longman (Story of God): meant for ease of reading use for pastors and laypeople, offers a great master reading of the whole text.
That's a great list! The only one I haven't read is Middleton's so I'll have to check it out.
Curious about your thoughts on the new Anchor Genesis 1-11 commentary by Ron Hendel!