Logos has a sale on commentary sets this month and I was considering updating or upgrading The New International Greek Testament Commentary set. The only one I am missing in this series is Romans by Longnecker so I started googling, as I normally do when looking for commentaries, the best commentaries on Romans and found this intriguing comment by John Piper on why he finds Henry Alford commentaries so helpful and returns to so often:
Of all the commentaries on all the books of the New Testament, the one that I come back to most often is Henry Alford, The Greek New Testament. Henry Alford died in the 1870s, I think, and wrote a commentary on all the books of the New Testament based on the Greek. I find him most helpful, not because of his theology, but because of his relentless attention to grammatical and logical detail. He tends to wrestle with the things that I understand least. And that is where I need help. It seems to me that most commentaries are 90% obvious — like you are reading there what you would have seen on your own. It is the 10% we need help with, and Alford regularly is helpful.
I have referred to Alford's commentaries in the past but he is not on my go to list. I will need to change this pattern going forward. Sage advice from a great thinker and preacher. I decided against getting Longnecker's commentary on Romans even though it was 60% off for me.
Of all the commentaries on all the books of the New Testament, the one that I come back to most often is Henry Alford, The Greek New Testament. Henry Alford died in the 1870s, I think, and wrote a commentary on all the books of the New Testament based on the Greek. I find him most helpful, not because of his theology, but because of his relentless attention to grammatical and logical detail. He tends to wrestle with the things that I understand least. And that is where I need help. It seems to me that most commentaries are 90% obvious — like you are reading there what you would have seen on your own. It is the 10% we need help with, and Alford regularly is helpful.
I have referred to Alford's commentaries in the past but he is not on my go to list. I will need to change this pattern going forward. Sage advice from a great thinker and preacher. I decided against getting Longnecker's commentary on Romans even though it was 60% off for me.
