When I preach through a book of the bible, I look for three types of commentaries. First, I look for technical ones to help me with the language and grammar, then theological ones, and then more practical ones for devotional and practical application. I will start out with several commentaries and after a few weeks limit myself to three to five in sermon preparation. When I was looking for commentaries on Titus, I was looking for my theological commentaries and was deciding on whether to get a new commentary 1-2 Timothy and Titus by Andreas Kostenberger in the new series, Biblical Theology for Christian Proclamation. I knew of him but the commentary is only a few months old with so limited reviews I was unable to make an informed decision. At the recommendation of a friend who teaches at Talbot I bought this commentary and have been delighted with it.
It is not a technical commentary in that it is not dependent upon the Greek text but the author makes regular references to Greek in his exegesis and exposition. You do not need to know Greek to benefit from this commentary. I cannot remark much on his sections on 1 and 2 Timothy as I have not spent as much in them as I have the Titus section.
As is typical of more thorough commentaries the author addresses authorship and days, context, and literary analysis. The exegesis and exposition is both fair and in depth. He is complementarian but not in an overbearing way. A feature of this commentary series is its emphasis on Biblical Theology, which I found extremely helpful. The commentary has a chapter on Biblical and Theological themes which was a substantial 185 pages! This has a goldmine of information for the student. I found multiple topics covered in the PE discussed and developed theologically that gave more breadth and depth to my understanding of the text as well as informed my preaching. I enthusiastically recommend this commentary and look forward to forthcoming commentaries in the series.
