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Old Testament Commentary Survey
For the student, minister, and layperson alike, Old Testament Commentary Survey makes finding the best Old Testament commentaries easy.
In this fourth edition, Longman focuses on the best of established commentaries and commentaries published in recent years. He lists a number of works available for each book of the Old Testament, gives a brief indication of their emphases and viewpoints, and evaluates them. Longman also indicates who would most benefit from the commentary under consideration (scholar, minister, layperson). Finally, he summarizes his top recommendations for those trying to build a library that covers every book of the Old Testament. The result is a balanced, sensible guide for those who preach and teach the Old Testament and need help in choosing the best tools.
In this fourth edition, Longman focuses on the best of established commentaries and commentaries published in recent years. He lists a number of works available for each book of the Old Testament, gives a brief indication of their emphases and viewpoints, and evaluates them. Longman also indicates who would most benefit from the commentary under consideration (scholar, minister, layperson). Finally, he summarizes his top recommendations for those trying to build a library that covers every book of the Old Testament. The result is a balanced, sensible guide for those who preach and teach the Old Testament and need help in choosing the best tools.
160 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 1991
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About the author
Tremper Longman III
198 books129 followersTremper Longman III (PhD, Yale University) is the Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. Before coming to Westmont, he taught at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia for eighteen years. He has authored or coauthored numerous books, including An Introduction to the Old Testament, How to Read Proverbs, and commentaries on Daniel, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Jeremiah and Lamentations, and Song of Songs.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 14, 2026
Longman, Tremper. Old Testament Commentary Survey.
I wished I had this resource when I first started theological studies. Longman surveys the major players in the Old Testament commentary world. There are some omissions, but that is probably inevitable. He rates volumes from one to five stars.
Observations:
The New International Version Application Commentary (NIVAC) receives the highest marks. Not every commentary in the series is equally good, but all are respectable and the really good ones stand out above the rest. That is Longman’s analysis. I have not read every volume in the series, but the ones I have read are particularly fine.
Anchor Yale BIble. A few volumes are good, but the format of the series is eclectic at best, and in my opinion that takes away from any strengths it might have. In my opinion, the series’s value lies only in the first few pages of each section. There an exegete might find some technical help with the Hebrew. Otherwise, it is unremarkable.
Tyndale Old Testament Commentary. A reliable series but its short size prevents any commentary from standing out. A case in point is Derek Kidner. Kidner is a fantastic writer and every page teems with insights, but the series’s brevity keeps him from really shining.
NICOT and WBC. Both are good, slightly technical sets. The latter has some good scholars, but the series as a whole is hit and miss.
Old Testament Library (OTL). Time has not been kind to it. Any good insights the series might have are eclipsed by more substantial sets. Valuable only because of the former premier scholars: Childs, Von Rad, Weiser, etc.
New American Commentary (NAC). Some true gems here, but the series tends toward brevity when the preacher might want more substantial interaction. Do not miss Block’s or Stuart’s works.
The reader must also consult Longman’s appendices. There he lists all the volumes (and sets) he gave five stars to. Of particular interest are the following:
Enns on Exodus
Milgrom on Leviticus
Wenham on Leviticus
Block on Judges
Dillard on 2 Chronicles.
I do disagree with him on at least one point, and this might surprise some readers. Although I love the church fathers and I am grateful for Thomas Oden’s ministry, I do not think the Ancient Christian Commentary series is all that good. True, it saves the reader time and the footnotes and references are available in the text, but very few volumes deliver in terms of impact. And they are very pricey. If one wants to spend money on the Fathers’ exegesis, a better option is the similar Ancient Christian Texts series. There you get the entire commentary on a book. They are expensive but a better use of the money.
I wished I had this resource when I first started theological studies. Longman surveys the major players in the Old Testament commentary world. There are some omissions, but that is probably inevitable. He rates volumes from one to five stars.
Observations:
The New International Version Application Commentary (NIVAC) receives the highest marks. Not every commentary in the series is equally good, but all are respectable and the really good ones stand out above the rest. That is Longman’s analysis. I have not read every volume in the series, but the ones I have read are particularly fine.
Anchor Yale BIble. A few volumes are good, but the format of the series is eclectic at best, and in my opinion that takes away from any strengths it might have. In my opinion, the series’s value lies only in the first few pages of each section. There an exegete might find some technical help with the Hebrew. Otherwise, it is unremarkable.
Tyndale Old Testament Commentary. A reliable series but its short size prevents any commentary from standing out. A case in point is Derek Kidner. Kidner is a fantastic writer and every page teems with insights, but the series’s brevity keeps him from really shining.
NICOT and WBC. Both are good, slightly technical sets. The latter has some good scholars, but the series as a whole is hit and miss.
Old Testament Library (OTL). Time has not been kind to it. Any good insights the series might have are eclipsed by more substantial sets. Valuable only because of the former premier scholars: Childs, Von Rad, Weiser, etc.
New American Commentary (NAC). Some true gems here, but the series tends toward brevity when the preacher might want more substantial interaction. Do not miss Block’s or Stuart’s works.
The reader must also consult Longman’s appendices. There he lists all the volumes (and sets) he gave five stars to. Of particular interest are the following:
Enns on Exodus
Milgrom on Leviticus
Wenham on Leviticus
Block on Judges
Dillard on 2 Chronicles.
I do disagree with him on at least one point, and this might surprise some readers. Although I love the church fathers and I am grateful for Thomas Oden’s ministry, I do not think the Ancient Christian Commentary series is all that good. True, it saves the reader time and the footnotes and references are available in the text, but very few volumes deliver in terms of impact. And they are very pricey. If one wants to spend money on the Fathers’ exegesis, a better option is the similar Ancient Christian Texts series. There you get the entire commentary on a book. They are expensive but a better use of the money.
August 27, 2019
In my review i'll be comparing and contrasting Old Testament Commentary Survey by Longman (5 stars) and New Testament Commentary Survey by Carson (4 stars). Both books seek to accomplish the same thing: Help you decide which Bible Commentaries are well written, thorough, and useful for the reader depending on that person's role (Scholar vs Pastor vs Layman) so that the person does not invest considerable sums of time and money on commentaries which don't meet their needs or are poorly written.
They take a slightly different approach to theit analysis. Carson is a bit more subjective, comparing commentaries to each other and judging how their author approaches the subject. This is helpful if you are familiar with the commentaries which are being compared because then you can intentionally decide to get one based on how it is similar or different from another one with which you are familiar. It is less helpful for those who are not familiar with many commentaries. Longman proceeds in a different manner. He classifies each commentary as being targeted to one of these types of readers:
L - Layman
M - Minister (including seminary students)
S - Scholar
He also includes two categories which are blends of those types of readers. In fact, most of the commentaries fall into one of these two blended categories:
LM - Laymen and Ministers
MS - Ministers and Scholars
Longman then rates each commentary between 1 and 5 stars, using half stars on occasion.
I found Longman's approach more useful for me because i am not as familiar with many of the commentaries Carson compares.
If you are a minister or someone who teaches the Bible, these books are both extremely useful and will save you much heartache and wasted money by being strategic in your purchases.
Both authors as a general rule, discourage buying commentary series (with a few exceptions), because in most series the quality can vary between different volumes depending on the author's abilities and writing.
They take a slightly different approach to theit analysis. Carson is a bit more subjective, comparing commentaries to each other and judging how their author approaches the subject. This is helpful if you are familiar with the commentaries which are being compared because then you can intentionally decide to get one based on how it is similar or different from another one with which you are familiar. It is less helpful for those who are not familiar with many commentaries. Longman proceeds in a different manner. He classifies each commentary as being targeted to one of these types of readers:
L - Layman
M - Minister (including seminary students)
S - Scholar
He also includes two categories which are blends of those types of readers. In fact, most of the commentaries fall into one of these two blended categories:
LM - Laymen and Ministers
MS - Ministers and Scholars
Longman then rates each commentary between 1 and 5 stars, using half stars on occasion.
I found Longman's approach more useful for me because i am not as familiar with many of the commentaries Carson compares.
If you are a minister or someone who teaches the Bible, these books are both extremely useful and will save you much heartache and wasted money by being strategic in your purchases.
Both authors as a general rule, discourage buying commentary series (with a few exceptions), because in most series the quality can vary between different volumes depending on the author's abilities and writing.
February 24, 2022
Precise and clear.
January 18, 2008
The positives -- this book is a MUST for anybody at all serious about commentaries. Longman is VERY sharp. A Yale Ph.D. with years of teaching experience, he knows his stuff. Great authroity. Very, very good resource.
The negatives -- this third edition is not what it could be.
Omissions are plentiful. How could he possibly exclude reviews of Dale Ralph Davis' commnetaries on Joshua, Judges, I and 2 Samuel and I Kings? These are some of the best commentaries I've ever used. Another example, how could he leave out O. Palmer Robertson on Jonah?
Also, he often does not clue the reader in on the ideological biases of some works. P. 23 doesn't mention that the Daily Study Bible series is highly critical. Same for p. 58 and Kath. Sakenfeld (far left).
Other puzzles -- how can a book on p. 20 be a "fine" commentary when he gives it just 2 stars (overall he is a very generous grader!).
Some are P&R publishers' editing flaws. How can Longman mention in vol. 1 of a set that the author for vol. 2 is "announced" for the future to be.... when vol. 2 is already out and reviewed by Longman? (see p. 100). Also, some abbreviations used don't appear in the Abbreviation Key ("MT" on p. 107). In three places Longman reviews his own books in the first person ("I was trying to do this..."), whereas for another of his books he refers to himself in the third person as "Longman" (see p. 89). On p. 128 he says it would be "inappropriate" for him to comment on his own book (no way!), but he does this anyway in four other cases.
Overall, excellent book. But it needs better editing, and the addition of some outstanding works that are ignored. (He could easilly cut some things, if need be, that are highly dated, and irrelevant.)
The negatives -- this third edition is not what it could be.
Omissions are plentiful. How could he possibly exclude reviews of Dale Ralph Davis' commnetaries on Joshua, Judges, I and 2 Samuel and I Kings? These are some of the best commentaries I've ever used. Another example, how could he leave out O. Palmer Robertson on Jonah?
Also, he often does not clue the reader in on the ideological biases of some works. P. 23 doesn't mention that the Daily Study Bible series is highly critical. Same for p. 58 and Kath. Sakenfeld (far left).
Other puzzles -- how can a book on p. 20 be a "fine" commentary when he gives it just 2 stars (overall he is a very generous grader!).
Some are P&R publishers' editing flaws. How can Longman mention in vol. 1 of a set that the author for vol. 2 is "announced" for the future to be.... when vol. 2 is already out and reviewed by Longman? (see p. 100). Also, some abbreviations used don't appear in the Abbreviation Key ("MT" on p. 107). In three places Longman reviews his own books in the first person ("I was trying to do this..."), whereas for another of his books he refers to himself in the third person as "Longman" (see p. 89). On p. 128 he says it would be "inappropriate" for him to comment on his own book (no way!), but he does this anyway in four other cases.
Overall, excellent book. But it needs better editing, and the addition of some outstanding works that are ignored. (He could easilly cut some things, if need be, that are highly dated, and irrelevant.)
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April 16, 2010--I have the third edition of this book. --
Evangelical in perspective.
A great tool if you are interested in buying commentaries. I like the rating system that he has in the book. The distinction between what is useful to laypersons, ministers, and scholars is very helpful.
It will save you from wasting money and time.
Evangelical in perspective.
A great tool if you are interested in buying commentaries. I like the rating system that he has in the book. The distinction between what is useful to laypersons, ministers, and scholars is very helpful.
It will save you from wasting money and time.
May 11, 2012
A must have.
May 17, 2014
Useful tool.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews