Up to Date (1 Corinthians)

Catching Up on the Latest Biblical Commentaries (2019-2024)

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 I’m proud of my “little orange book,” but a resource like this gets outdated.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 Corinthians Commentaries

**Click images to purchase or learn more

Before 2019

As I was looking at “recent” 1 Corinthians commentaries, it is obvious that not a lot has been published in the last few years. So, for those looking for good commentaries, I would point you to some of the classics, like Fee (NICNT), Thiselton (NIGTC), Garland (BECNT), Fitzmyer (AB), and Hays (Int).

2019-2024

Timothy A. Brookins (RNT2)

Brookins has been doing some of the most generative and interesting work in 1 Corinthians in recent years. He is a very knowledgeable scholar and a clear communicator. This is a great concise commentary (~200pp), but be aware he takes a unique approach to the background of 1 Corinthians. Brookins has also produced a guide to the Greek text of 1 Corinthians—you can find that HERE.

Kimlyn J. Bender (Brazos)

The Brazos theological commentary series tends to select modern theologians to write commentaries with a view towards theological interpretation. Bender is a theologian at Truett Seminary/Baylor. He is especially interested in the work of Barth and the topic of ecclesiology and he brings this background to the study of 1 Corinthians.

Lucy Peppiatt (Video Resource)

Okay, this is not a printed commentary, but it’s free and excellent! Peppiatt has recorded a course on 1 Corinthians with the Bible Project. It is very detailed and journeys through the whole letter passage by passage; Peppiatt is especially good at theological reading of 1 Corinthians. You can register (free) HERE.

COMING SOON

While there aren’t a ton of new commentaries at the moment, the future looks bright. Here are some things that are coming in the future.

Michael Gorman, 1 Corinthians (Eerdmans, 2025?)

Lucy Peppiatt, Preaching 1 Corinthians

Carla Swafford Works, 1 Corinthians, Commentaries for Christian Formation

Laura Nasrallah, 1 Corinthians, Hermeneia

Alexandra Brown, 1 Corinthians, New Testament Library

Up next: stay tuned for new commentaries on 2 Corinthians next week!

---