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The NIV Application Commentary helps you communicate and apply biblical text effectively in today's context. To bring the ancient messages of the Bible into today's world, each passage is treated in three This unique, award-winning commentary is the ideal resource for today's preachers, teachers, and serious students of the Bible, giving them the tools, ideas, and insights they need to communicate God's Word with the same powerful impact it had when it was first written.
624 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
103 people are currently reading
216 people want to read
About the author
Peter Enns
76 books736 followersPeter Enns is Abram S. Clemens Professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University, St. Davids, Pennsylvania. He has taught courses at several other institutions including Harvard University, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Princeton Theological Seminary. Enns is a frequent contributor to journals and encyclopedias and is the author of several books, including Inspiration and Incarnation, The Evolution of Adam, and The Bible Tells Me So.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
July 30, 2024
4.5/5 - This commentary has many sections that function like a devotional. Spiritually and academically helpful!
June 29, 2019
This is the first of the NIV Application Commentary series I have read, and Lord willing it won't be the last. Exodus- Peter Enns has been a delight to read. The author was thorough and sound. I enjoyed the format. 1. A commentary on the text, 2. Bridging Context- where the passage is related to the entire analogy of faith and yolked to corresponding writings in the NT, and 3. Contemporary Significance- where the text is applied to the modern reader with many valuable insights and observations. This commentary was very pastoral and will be useful to the pastor and laymen alike. You will not get bogged down in scholarly language or higher criticism. This is 600+ pages of wonderful commentary.
Want to read
September 20, 2014I was gifted this commentary by my father-in-law and I look forward to seeing what Peter Enns has to say about Exodus!
November 28, 2023
An accessible commentary for lay people, but there were parts I wish he had gone deeper into. Some of the application sections felt a bit dated, as this is 20+ years old and the culture has shifted since it was written (pre-9/11!). Overall it kept the important themes of Exodus and kept my study on track.
September 26, 2022
May have been the most helpful commentary in my recent study of Exodus
November 8, 2019
Another great commentary from this series. I really enjoy this commentary set.
The only constructive criticism I would give was that I had hoped for a bit more commentary on the plaques.
The only constructive criticism I would give was that I had hoped for a bit more commentary on the plaques.
August 8, 2017
Read this for the third time, side-by-side with two other Exodus commentaries. Enns's volume remains the best work on Exodus I've read.
January 31, 2021
[Really 4.5] Books like this really show the drawbacks to Goodreads rating system by not allowing half stars. Peter Enns is an admirable guide through the book of Exodus. He is learned, engaging, and never loses the forest for the trees.
Let’s start with the strengths. I’ve spent a good amount of time with the NIVAC series. As a whole, it strikes a careful balance between being academic and lay-minded. However, it has an idiosyncratic structure. Each passage’s commentary is broken into three sections: original meaning, bridging contexts, and contemporary significance. The first and last are pretty self-explanatory, but the middle section is largely left up to the author’s discretion, and the helpfulness of that section consequently fluctuates from volume to volume. Enns is clear-minded in his approach here. He uses the section to essentially show how the themes of that particular section find their culmination in Christ. It’s a great approach, throws some theology into the mix, and helps identify the book as a clearly Christian commentary on a Jewish scripture.
Also, Enns does an excellent job letting the ambiguity of the book sit when it needs to. The OT has always posed a host of interpretative challenges for Christians. Some of these challenges come from a lack of knowledge, and Enns is quick to point those out. I appreciate his willingness to say “we just don’t know” when there’s a lack of evidence. However, some of these challenges come from the fact that many OT passages don’t fit neatly within the larger doctrinal concerns of modern Christians. Enns hits these head-on and encourages us to let the narratives stand on their own and challenge our notions about God.
For instance, when discussing whether Pharaoh hardens his own heart or God hardens it form him, Enns helpfully makes the point that the concept of “free will versus determinism” is a modern construct. The narrative has no interest in answering that question, but seems to operate with an understanding of both simultaneously. Enns also calls out interpreters who seek to find some verse for verse application equivalence. Those who seek to break down the entirety of OT law in a point for point application to how Christians should live today are chasing a fool’s errand. Not only is this poor exposition, but it fails to encourage modern Christians to fully wrestle with what the law means for us. And finally, Enns’ most noteworthy attempt at challenging modern assumptions is when he addresses the golden calf incident. While he engages in some slight apologetics here, the fact that Moses seems to change God’s mind is present in the text and Enns doesn’t let the reader misread that intention as something else.
However there are a few drawbacks. In particular, because Enns has such a mastery of the scholarship around Exodus, he’ll occasionally get into the weeds in such a way that he draws attention away from the big picture. While I recognize the documentary hypothesis as being a foundational approach to the book by critical scholars throughout the twentieth century, I believe that Enns misunderstands the extent to which readers of this commentary series would be aware of it. He rightfully critiques those critical scholars throughout, but it feels more like a detour. It’s not that I disagree with Enns’ assessment - it just seemed like most readers here would either be ignorant of the controversy or sympathetic towards Enns’ own view, so why address it beyond the introduction? Also, I have some slight qualms with his critique of liberation theology. He fails to consider the diversity within the movement so his own critiques are only valid for a subsection of its followers, while he claims to deal with it as a whole. But these are minor issues - the book still stands as a testament to Enns’ scholarship and written ministry.
As a side note, having followed Enns’ career through present-day, I’d be interested in seeing him revisit this commentary. As he’s matured as a scholar and his specific approach to the Bible has been clarified, I feel like he would be less interested in commenting on the historicity of the narrative as he much as he does here. It’s not necessarily that I believe he would wholesale argue against its historicity (although there are a few scenes where I think he would be more open to waffling on the idea), but would rather consider the discussion less important than the theological and canonical themes. Don’t get me wrong. The seeds of his later thought are here. The idea that he sits so comfortably with the ambiguities of the text reveal his willingness to deal with the text in its canonical form rather than simply provide apologetics for it. But I feel like his thought has only gravitated further to that side of the spectrum and he’d probably make some edits to what he had to say throughout the commentary. Of course, who’s to say! I appreciate his thought both then and now, and am glad to have spent so much time with this commentary.
Let’s start with the strengths. I’ve spent a good amount of time with the NIVAC series. As a whole, it strikes a careful balance between being academic and lay-minded. However, it has an idiosyncratic structure. Each passage’s commentary is broken into three sections: original meaning, bridging contexts, and contemporary significance. The first and last are pretty self-explanatory, but the middle section is largely left up to the author’s discretion, and the helpfulness of that section consequently fluctuates from volume to volume. Enns is clear-minded in his approach here. He uses the section to essentially show how the themes of that particular section find their culmination in Christ. It’s a great approach, throws some theology into the mix, and helps identify the book as a clearly Christian commentary on a Jewish scripture.
Also, Enns does an excellent job letting the ambiguity of the book sit when it needs to. The OT has always posed a host of interpretative challenges for Christians. Some of these challenges come from a lack of knowledge, and Enns is quick to point those out. I appreciate his willingness to say “we just don’t know” when there’s a lack of evidence. However, some of these challenges come from the fact that many OT passages don’t fit neatly within the larger doctrinal concerns of modern Christians. Enns hits these head-on and encourages us to let the narratives stand on their own and challenge our notions about God.
For instance, when discussing whether Pharaoh hardens his own heart or God hardens it form him, Enns helpfully makes the point that the concept of “free will versus determinism” is a modern construct. The narrative has no interest in answering that question, but seems to operate with an understanding of both simultaneously. Enns also calls out interpreters who seek to find some verse for verse application equivalence. Those who seek to break down the entirety of OT law in a point for point application to how Christians should live today are chasing a fool’s errand. Not only is this poor exposition, but it fails to encourage modern Christians to fully wrestle with what the law means for us. And finally, Enns’ most noteworthy attempt at challenging modern assumptions is when he addresses the golden calf incident. While he engages in some slight apologetics here, the fact that Moses seems to change God’s mind is present in the text and Enns doesn’t let the reader misread that intention as something else.
However there are a few drawbacks. In particular, because Enns has such a mastery of the scholarship around Exodus, he’ll occasionally get into the weeds in such a way that he draws attention away from the big picture. While I recognize the documentary hypothesis as being a foundational approach to the book by critical scholars throughout the twentieth century, I believe that Enns misunderstands the extent to which readers of this commentary series would be aware of it. He rightfully critiques those critical scholars throughout, but it feels more like a detour. It’s not that I disagree with Enns’ assessment - it just seemed like most readers here would either be ignorant of the controversy or sympathetic towards Enns’ own view, so why address it beyond the introduction? Also, I have some slight qualms with his critique of liberation theology. He fails to consider the diversity within the movement so his own critiques are only valid for a subsection of its followers, while he claims to deal with it as a whole. But these are minor issues - the book still stands as a testament to Enns’ scholarship and written ministry.
As a side note, having followed Enns’ career through present-day, I’d be interested in seeing him revisit this commentary. As he’s matured as a scholar and his specific approach to the Bible has been clarified, I feel like he would be less interested in commenting on the historicity of the narrative as he much as he does here. It’s not necessarily that I believe he would wholesale argue against its historicity (although there are a few scenes where I think he would be more open to waffling on the idea), but would rather consider the discussion less important than the theological and canonical themes. Don’t get me wrong. The seeds of his later thought are here. The idea that he sits so comfortably with the ambiguities of the text reveal his willingness to deal with the text in its canonical form rather than simply provide apologetics for it. But I feel like his thought has only gravitated further to that side of the spectrum and he’d probably make some edits to what he had to say throughout the commentary. Of course, who’s to say! I appreciate his thought both then and now, and am glad to have spent so much time with this commentary.
September 28, 2018
Exodus is an Old Testament commentary, written by Peter Enns and published by Zondervan Academic. Most commentaries on Exodus are highly critical and on the rare occasion are helpful to the pastor. Thankfully that trend has changed in the last few years, with a plethora of solid evangelical commentaries on Exodus.
I therefore was pleasantly surprised when I read Enn’s work and found it to be conservative while still engaging with on some level with high criticism scholarship. Although I expected a more lengthy work, the space the Enn’s used was used in a wonderful manner.
This commentary is part of NIV Application commentary series, a series which is synonymous with through exegesis and spot on application, this volume not only continues this legacy, but truly propels it to new heights. Exodus has two main sections the typical general introduction, and then followed by a insightful exegetical commentaries on the book of Exodus.
While I disagree with Enns on a few minor issues with regard to Old Testament date of writing, the arguments he makes are sound I just adhere to a earlier date of composition. I also disagreed on a number of other issues but that is do to Enns focus on dispensationalism and his view of physical Israel.
In the vein of recommending, Exodus, to others I would recommend this commentary to pastors and scholars, yet I would highly recommend pastors, such as myself, to pair this scholarly commentary with one that is one that has more of a pastoral tone.
This book was provided to me free of charge from Zondervan Academic in exchange for an unbiased, honest review.
I therefore was pleasantly surprised when I read Enn’s work and found it to be conservative while still engaging with on some level with high criticism scholarship. Although I expected a more lengthy work, the space the Enn’s used was used in a wonderful manner.
This commentary is part of NIV Application commentary series, a series which is synonymous with through exegesis and spot on application, this volume not only continues this legacy, but truly propels it to new heights. Exodus has two main sections the typical general introduction, and then followed by a insightful exegetical commentaries on the book of Exodus.
While I disagree with Enns on a few minor issues with regard to Old Testament date of writing, the arguments he makes are sound I just adhere to a earlier date of composition. I also disagreed on a number of other issues but that is do to Enns focus on dispensationalism and his view of physical Israel.
In the vein of recommending, Exodus, to others I would recommend this commentary to pastors and scholars, yet I would highly recommend pastors, such as myself, to pair this scholarly commentary with one that is one that has more of a pastoral tone.
This book was provided to me free of charge from Zondervan Academic in exchange for an unbiased, honest review.
December 17, 2020
This commentary is intended for popular Christian use - it is not particularly scholarly. So, it avoids academic controversies and extensive detail. This volume, and probably the NIV Application Commentary series, as a whole, is a good place for the average student of the Bible to begin his/her understanding of the Old Testament. For the benefit of such a reader, the commentary covers the various sections (or pericopes) as the nature of each requires (not the chapters, which are not original to the text; these are an anachronistic imposition upon it), organizing comments into three parts: Original Meaning; Bridging Contexts (creating a "bridge" from the past up to now); and Contemporary Significance. This last section is of most benefit to the modern reader: we want to know what something so strange, so different, so far removed means for us today.
Unfortunately, the sections on the Holiness Code and the Tabernacle, where the modern reader strains the hardest to find relevance for today, are totally abandoned by the author. He provides his reasons for this neglect, but I am unconvinced by them. I walked away thinking that either he is not expert enough to comment upon these, or that his editor has discouraged diving into these subjects, for they do tend to become controversial and get embroiled in detail. Were these areas better covered, I could easily give four stars out of five; as the book stands, however, I can give Peter Enns' treatment only three stars. It is well worth the read, however.
Unfortunately, the sections on the Holiness Code and the Tabernacle, where the modern reader strains the hardest to find relevance for today, are totally abandoned by the author. He provides his reasons for this neglect, but I am unconvinced by them. I walked away thinking that either he is not expert enough to comment upon these, or that his editor has discouraged diving into these subjects, for they do tend to become controversial and get embroiled in detail. Were these areas better covered, I could easily give four stars out of five; as the book stands, however, I can give Peter Enns' treatment only three stars. It is well worth the read, however.
March 7, 2019
Pretty good commentary
I’m just starting to dig even deeper into the Old Testament, and this was a highly rated commentary. It is really good if you want a pretty unbiased survey of Exodus, and its a good start for delving more into Hebrew Scriptures. I really liked how the author spoke of the reason for things being written as they are, and how he was unafraid to say, “We just don’t know” to certain parts of scripture that seem contradictory or confusing. I did learn quite a bit of new things with this commentary, and I believe that I will return to it for certain things. On the whole, it is quite good a useful if you - both if you are totally new or if you feel like you know the Exodus fairly well.
I’m just starting to dig even deeper into the Old Testament, and this was a highly rated commentary. It is really good if you want a pretty unbiased survey of Exodus, and its a good start for delving more into Hebrew Scriptures. I really liked how the author spoke of the reason for things being written as they are, and how he was unafraid to say, “We just don’t know” to certain parts of scripture that seem contradictory or confusing. I did learn quite a bit of new things with this commentary, and I believe that I will return to it for certain things. On the whole, it is quite good a useful if you - both if you are totally new or if you feel like you know the Exodus fairly well.
March 11, 2025
The Good Kind of Challenging
This Exodus Commentary by Peter Enns was extremely informative and engaging. More importantly, it challenged me to grow and deepen my Biblical literacy. Enns insists that we not skim the confusing, challenging, or seemingly contradictory bits, but immerse ourselves in them, accept the possibilities of their meaning, and grow in our faith. I highly recommend reading this commentary, but only if you are looking for something deep and somewhat heavy to challenge you to grow in your relationship with God.
This Exodus Commentary by Peter Enns was extremely informative and engaging. More importantly, it challenged me to grow and deepen my Biblical literacy. Enns insists that we not skim the confusing, challenging, or seemingly contradictory bits, but immerse ourselves in them, accept the possibilities of their meaning, and grow in our faith. I highly recommend reading this commentary, but only if you are looking for something deep and somewhat heavy to challenge you to grow in your relationship with God.
June 28, 2025
This was a wonderful commentary on Exodus. I’ve never read Exodus in its entirety before so a commentary was very helpful. A couple of the chapters were very long though but I split them up into two days so it wasn’t too bad. My favorite chapter was the chapter on the golden calf. I loved the explanation that the Israelites’ panicked and therefore that’s why they wanted the calf made. They feared they had lost touch with God. It wasn’t just blatant rebellion. I also liked the explanation that God’s anger just isn’t uncontrolled. It has a purpose.
April 2, 2020
During my recent study of Exodus, this commentary was by far my favorite. Enns approaches the text in a careful manner, taking it seriously and never shying away from asking the hard questions (and even on occasion simply stating that what something means is simply unclear). The application sections were very helpful, as they were focused on seeing the Gospel in Exodus and appreciating the beauty of God's work in delivering Israel from bondage. Highly recommended.
5/5
5/5
December 15, 2021
this was a fine commentary but way too much of "we're not going to go into that here" comments. Also all the "Bridging Context" sections lost me constantly. I wanted a commentary on Exodus, not every single book of the Bible, so ended up skipping most of those sections. The contemporary significance sections were pretty good. I'm not smart enough to comment on anything more than that. On to Leviticus.
September 11, 2017
Really a great commentary. He gave a vibe of not really knowing what he was talking about though. It was as if he was writing about something that was out of his element and didn't spend the time necessary to have a comfortable hold on the issues. Still good and worth owning.
August 7, 2019
Peter Enns claims to not have all of the answers and it is absolutely beautiful.
December 29, 2021
This commentary is easy to read and gives great understanding to Exodus.
April 18, 2011
This excellent commentary on Exodus explains many of the subtleties of the book without becoming dry or pedantic. Enns makes logical New Testament and contemporary connections that are often enlightening. I enjoyed his sometimes quirky turn of phrase. For me, he accomplished his goal, to "lead to greater understanding of who the God of Exodus is and what it means to be bound to him through the death and resurrection of his Son." My favorite commentary was Philip Ryken, "Exodus", a 5-star for sure. Unfortunately, at almost 1,200 pages, I was only able to read the portions I taught this year.
June 4, 2009
Very thorough, helpful commentary.
December 8, 2009
One of my favorite OT scholars and a great commentary. Love the NIV Application format.
December 4, 2020
Solid humble commentary we used as supplement to a sermon series and study guide.
December 16, 2016
Didn't read it all, but the chapters I did read were brilliant. One of the most insightful, enjoyable commentaries I've used. And it was immensely helpful for preaching through Exodus.
April 23, 2016
Great commentary. I want it.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews