Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible

An international team of 63 biblical scholars offers this judicious and solid introduction to the varieties of biblical literature. Like similar one-volume commentaries from Oxford and HarperCollins, this one covers the Apocrypha, though the Eerdmans commentary is more comprehensive, adding an expansive chapter on the oft-overlooked pseudo-epigraphical book of 1 Enoch. Each entry begins with some kind of overview of the biblical or apocryphal book in question, then proceeds to analyze the book section by section rather than verse by verse (a real boon for nonspecialists who often get lost in abstruse, highly technical discussions). The commentary uses the New Revised Standard Version, though some contributors add their own insights about the meanings of contested Hebrew or Greek terms. The essayists draw upon and summarize previous biblical scholarship and sometimes offer revisionist explanations (as with Morna Hooker's passionate and well-argued reinterpretation of Philemon).