Review of John Nolland’s Commentary on Matthew

The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text by John Nolland. The New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005. Xcviii + 1481 pp. $80.00. It is always interesting to read an editor’s preface to a commentary series. In editorial hands the series becomes unlike anything else—or almost anything else—and at the …

Twittering the Gospel

Greg Gilbert has started a contest to see who twitters the best gospel. Since there is no better gospel, maybe I should say “to see who twitters the gospel best”! I don’t tweet, so I don’t know how it works. If they count the spaces, I’m over the limit. If the spaces aren’t counted, I …

Revelation 2:8-11, Faithful unto Death

Only Jesus has the necessary authority to call people to be faithful unto death. Commanding people to be faithful unto death announces that it is better to be faithful to Jesus than it is to go on living. Only Jesus can make that announcement. Only Jesus can adequately reward that kind of sacrifice. The death …

Seven Reasons You Should Read Tom Schreiner’s New Testament Theology

1) More than any other reason, you should read this book because it will help you understand the Bible, which will help you know God as he is revealed in Jesus by the power of the Spirit. 2) Schreiner’s massive knowledge of texts in context will inspire you to know your Bible better. 3) The …

Was Joseph a Type of Christ?

I think so, and I try to prove it in this essay: “Was Joseph a Type of the Messiah? Tracing the Typological Identification between Joseph, David, and Jesus,” The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 12.4 (2008), 52-77. The gist of my article is this: From the reuse of key words and phrases (linguistic connections) and …

Good New Stuff on the Bible

I’m glad to see the appearance of Ancient Word, Changing Worlds: The Doctrine of Scripture in a Modern Age by Stephen Nichols and Eric Brandt. Anyone who wants to understand the disputes in North America over Inspiration, Inerrancy, and Interpretation in the last 125 years should praise God for this handy book! The latest issue …

Samson Crushed the Philistines, and They Wanted Entertainment

My colleague, Charles Halton, has a fascinating study of a pun in Judges 16:25-27 in the most recent issue of the Journal of Biblical Literature. The play on words involves two verbs that sound virtually the same except that one begins with “s” (sin) and the other begins with “sh” (shin). The verb in the …