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The Gospel According to John: A Theological Commentary (Eerdmans Classic Biblical Commentaries
New in the Eerdmans Classic Biblical Commentaries collection
In this commentary on John—originally published in Dutch in 1987 and translated into English a decade later—Herman Ridderbos engages the host of twentieth-century interpretations while also developing his own integral understanding of John in which the Gospel emerges as a profoundly theological work.
Beginning with a theological introduction on “the peculiar character of the Fourth Gospel,” Ridderbos uses verse-by-verse exposition to unpack John’s distinctive apostolic character, offering expert literary and homiletical exegesis of the Fourth Gospel “as the Christian church adopted it.”
In this commentary on John—originally published in Dutch in 1987 and translated into English a decade later—Herman Ridderbos engages the host of twentieth-century interpretations while also developing his own integral understanding of John in which the Gospel emerges as a profoundly theological work.
Beginning with a theological introduction on “the peculiar character of the Fourth Gospel,” Ridderbos uses verse-by-verse exposition to unpack John’s distinctive apostolic character, offering expert literary and homiletical exegesis of the Fourth Gospel “as the Christian church adopted it.”
735 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 25, 2013
I am not quite sure what to make of this commentary. It has an awful lot of words but doesn't say much. Most commentaries engage the text from the bottom of the stack to the top: text-critical issues, form-critical issues, historical-critical issues, finishing with systematic theology. This commentary really skips mainly to the last step, and is couched in a jargon-laden theological discourse that is difficult at times to understand. It is useful as a supplement to another commentary like the NICNT or AB.
July 27, 2021
A thoughtful and revealing commentary on this profound piece of theology. No one made better sense of it for me than Ridderbos. It gets four stars because sometimes the author lingers too much on subjects of secondary importance, and too little in the most relevant matters. For example, he deals with the matter of predestination (in John, those who respond to Jesus voice as sheppard) very shortly, dedicanting only four or five pages - even to reject the notion, given its prominent role in various theological traditions, it deserved more than what was given in the commentary. Besides, these four and five pages doesn't disclose very well Ridderbos' opinion on the matter, it is at least ambiguous.
July 6, 2022
Good without being brilliant, but perhaps this assessment is due to having high expectations at the start. Engages with a range of scholarship and is helpfully assertive when it comes to his interpretation throughout.
June 16, 2025
I read this as a compliment to the D. A. Carson commentary.
December 29, 2016
A seemingly thorough tome on John's Gospel. The author presents alternative theories well, but occasionally suffers from a lack of definitive summation. e.g. he quotes Bultmann incessantly, but seems to disagree with Bultmann on most points - where we can infer that he has an opinion.
Overall, a good reference commentary on the fourth gospel, but its use is in breadth, not depth.
Overall, a good reference commentary on the fourth gospel, but its use is in breadth, not depth.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews