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Hebrews
Designed for the pastor and Bible teacher, the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament features today's top New Testament scholars and brings together commentary features rarely gathered together in one volume. With careful analysis and interpretation of the Greek text, the authors trace the flow of argument in each New Testament book, giving readers the tools they need to properly understand and communicate the meaning of the text.?
Commentary on each passage follows a clear structure to help readers grasp the flow and meaning of the
Literary A brief discussion of how the passage functions in the broader literary context of the book.?Main A one- or two-sentence statement of the big idea or central thrust of the passage.?Translation and Graphical Presents each commentator's translation of the Greek text in a graphical layout to help the reader visualize, and thus better understand, the flow of thought within the text.? Describes the flow of thought in the passage and explains how certain interpretive decisions regarding the relationship of the clauses were made in the passage.?Exegetical The overall structure of the passage is described in a detailed exegetical outline. This will be particularly helpful for those who are looking for a way to concisely explain the flow of thought in the passage in a teaching or preaching setting.?Explanation of the Commentators examine words and images, grammatical details, relevant Old Testament and Jewish background to a particular concept, historical and cultural context, important text-critical issues, and various interpretive issues that surface.?Theology in The theological message of the passage is summarized. The author discusses the theology of the text in terms of its place within the book and in a broader biblical-theological context. Finally, each commentator provides some suggestions on what the message of the passage is for the church today.?The Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series is the go-to resource for pastors and Bible teachers looking for deep but accessible study that equips them to connect the needs of Christians today with the biblical text.
Commentary on each passage follows a clear structure to help readers grasp the flow and meaning of the
Literary A brief discussion of how the passage functions in the broader literary context of the book.?Main A one- or two-sentence statement of the big idea or central thrust of the passage.?Translation and Graphical Presents each commentator's translation of the Greek text in a graphical layout to help the reader visualize, and thus better understand, the flow of thought within the text.? Describes the flow of thought in the passage and explains how certain interpretive decisions regarding the relationship of the clauses were made in the passage.?Exegetical The overall structure of the passage is described in a detailed exegetical outline. This will be particularly helpful for those who are looking for a way to concisely explain the flow of thought in the passage in a teaching or preaching setting.?Explanation of the Commentators examine words and images, grammatical details, relevant Old Testament and Jewish background to a particular concept, historical and cultural context, important text-critical issues, and various interpretive issues that surface.?Theology in The theological message of the passage is summarized. The author discusses the theology of the text in terms of its place within the book and in a broader biblical-theological context. Finally, each commentator provides some suggestions on what the message of the passage is for the church today.?The Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series is the go-to resource for pastors and Bible teachers looking for deep but accessible study that equips them to connect the needs of Christians today with the biblical text.
587 pages, Hardcover
Published November 19, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 10, 2025
A master exegete tackles the toughest book for exegesis in the New Testament. What could be better than that? I often think of Moo as a Pauline scholar, but he already has an excellent work on James to his credit. Hebrews is not for amateurs and this book is a win for us.
At first, I saw the 17-page introduction and I thought, you’ve got to be kidding! Silly exaggerations entered my mind—was he not going to give this the same level of intense work he gave other commentaries? Reading it run all that silliness right out of my mind. When he made the case with perfect clarity for all that we just can’t know about Hebrews, things that make up the bulk of many Introductions, you realize that there was no need for more pages. Perhaps a few pages more on structure would have been nice, but that is never going to dominate his writings.
On to the commentary of the text—wow! He is an exegete par excellence. Honestly, I felt like I was reading someone in awe of the text accompanied by a rock-ribbed determination to be true to it wherever it took him. I offer up the warning passage in Hebrews 6 as a case in point. It was the text first and his theological predilections second. It’s hard for me to fully express how much I respect that. I’m not sure I agreed with his final conclusions completely, but I am better for having read it. I’ll never study the passage again without reading it.
This may be the best commentary for exegesis on Hebrews available. Peter O’Brien’s commentary is the only one I felt that way about before, but it’s in a defunct status now anyway. Moo needs no commendation from me, but I offer it nonetheless.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
At first, I saw the 17-page introduction and I thought, you’ve got to be kidding! Silly exaggerations entered my mind—was he not going to give this the same level of intense work he gave other commentaries? Reading it run all that silliness right out of my mind. When he made the case with perfect clarity for all that we just can’t know about Hebrews, things that make up the bulk of many Introductions, you realize that there was no need for more pages. Perhaps a few pages more on structure would have been nice, but that is never going to dominate his writings.
On to the commentary of the text—wow! He is an exegete par excellence. Honestly, I felt like I was reading someone in awe of the text accompanied by a rock-ribbed determination to be true to it wherever it took him. I offer up the warning passage in Hebrews 6 as a case in point. It was the text first and his theological predilections second. It’s hard for me to fully express how much I respect that. I’m not sure I agreed with his final conclusions completely, but I am better for having read it. I’ll never study the passage again without reading it.
This may be the best commentary for exegesis on Hebrews available. Peter O’Brien’s commentary is the only one I felt that way about before, but it’s in a defunct status now anyway. Moo needs no commendation from me, but I offer it nonetheless.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
December 27, 2025
Moo has done an outstanding job with the Sermon-Letter to the Hebrews. I found him to be one of the best on the Letter to Romans and now I can say the same for Hebrews.
The format of the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament is very useful for the pastor-teacher and exegete. It includes so much of what is needed in a good exegetical commentary: literary context, book outline, main idea of the passage, translation within a diagram layout, structure, exegetical outline, explanation of the text, theology in application, and solid footnotes.
Moo is thorough, fair, and balanced. He goes wherever the text leads him. His favorite word is, “however,” which he uses after arguing various positions in such a manner that you’re convinced he believes it and has you convinced…until he throws out his much used, “however”!
Like many commentators on the Book of Hebrews, he doesn’t always know quite where to land among the options. Like other difficult passages sometimes the differences are small and insignificant for the overall communication to God’s people. But in Hebrews there are many times where the differences are significant yet still difficult to choose which is best. Moo fulfills his responsibility as a commentator to make a choice, while being careful to communicate his hesitancy at certain points.
Moo is also very helpful in handling the five warning passages just as he was in handling the thorny issues of Romans 9-11. He affirms Tom Schreiner’s view of the warning passages with just the slightest of hesitancy.
Perhaps, my only complaint with this commentary is that at times the choices of topic for the “theology in application” section seem to be out of place or not as helpful as I wished them to be.
I highly recommend this commentary and it is in my top five for the Book of Hebrews.
Top five commentaries on the Book of Hebrews in terms of usefulness: Tom Schreiner, Doug Moo, David Peterson, O’Brien/Bruce, and Grant Osborne.
In terms of more robust commentaries that are frequently referenced by scholars and yield exegetical gold, I would include Lane, Cockerill, and Ellingworth. I did not do in-depth reading of these as much as reference them for study. Grindheim is another to consult and has been published as a replacement to O’Brien in the Pillar Commentary series. Of course, John Owen is the Puritan King of Hebrew!
The format of the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament is very useful for the pastor-teacher and exegete. It includes so much of what is needed in a good exegetical commentary: literary context, book outline, main idea of the passage, translation within a diagram layout, structure, exegetical outline, explanation of the text, theology in application, and solid footnotes.
Moo is thorough, fair, and balanced. He goes wherever the text leads him. His favorite word is, “however,” which he uses after arguing various positions in such a manner that you’re convinced he believes it and has you convinced…until he throws out his much used, “however”!
Like many commentators on the Book of Hebrews, he doesn’t always know quite where to land among the options. Like other difficult passages sometimes the differences are small and insignificant for the overall communication to God’s people. But in Hebrews there are many times where the differences are significant yet still difficult to choose which is best. Moo fulfills his responsibility as a commentator to make a choice, while being careful to communicate his hesitancy at certain points.
Moo is also very helpful in handling the five warning passages just as he was in handling the thorny issues of Romans 9-11. He affirms Tom Schreiner’s view of the warning passages with just the slightest of hesitancy.
Perhaps, my only complaint with this commentary is that at times the choices of topic for the “theology in application” section seem to be out of place or not as helpful as I wished them to be.
I highly recommend this commentary and it is in my top five for the Book of Hebrews.
Top five commentaries on the Book of Hebrews in terms of usefulness: Tom Schreiner, Doug Moo, David Peterson, O’Brien/Bruce, and Grant Osborne.
In terms of more robust commentaries that are frequently referenced by scholars and yield exegetical gold, I would include Lane, Cockerill, and Ellingworth. I did not do in-depth reading of these as much as reference them for study. Grindheim is another to consult and has been published as a replacement to O’Brien in the Pillar Commentary series. Of course, John Owen is the Puritan King of Hebrew!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews