Experts Recommend OT Commentaries: Exodus (Imes)

Relaunching an old, incomplete series

Oct 07, 2024

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: Exodus (Dr. Carmen Imes)

Guest Writer: Dr. Carmen Imes. Imes is associate professor of OT at Biola University. She is the author of several excellent books including Bearing God’s Name, Being God’s Image, and a soon-coming book entitled Becoming God’s Family, all with IVP Academic. She is also working on a commentary on Exodus for the Baker Commentary on the Old Testament series.

Commentaries on Exodus

Technical

Cornelius Houtman (HCOT): Translated from Dutch, Houtman’s 4-volume commentary on Exodus is everything one could hope for in such a lengthy treatment, a close reading of the text with attention to textual criticism, philology, historical background, and exegesis.

William H.C Propp (AYB): Propp’s work is thorough and careful. He includes comparative linguistics and attention to the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Semi-Technical

Peter Enns (NIVAC): Enns easily navigates between historical background and theological significance. His insights make this a great resource for pastors and students.

Victor P. Hamilton: Hamilton’s stand-alone commentary engages technical questions with transliterated Hebrew as well as sensible commentary. He is not constrained by membership in a series.

Non-Technical

Terence E. Fretheim (Interp): Fretheim is attentive to genre and literary structure. His theological sensitivities make this volume a treasure.

Christopher Wright (SOG): Wright is theologically rich and pastorally sensitive. He is not distracted by scholarly debates, but exposits the text beautifully as it stands. For those preaching or reading devotionally through Exodus, it's a great choice.

Also Recommended: Abel Ndjerareou (African Bible Commentary): Ndjerareou writes from an African context. Though necessarily brief, his comments are brimming with theological and applicational wisdom.