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Walking the Ancient Paths: A Commentary on Jeremiah
2019 Biblical Foundations Book Award Finalist in Old Testament "Ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it." (Jeremiah 6:16)
In Walking the Ancient Path , distinguished Old Testament scholar Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. draws on a lifetime of study to illuminate the book of Jeremiah for a contemporary audience. Following an introduction that surveys the historical and literary background of Jeremiah along with its theological emphases, Kaiser examines each verse of the text, explaining its meaning and significance.
Every section is followed by devotional and application insights that guide the reader in applying the text to their everyday lives. Bibliographies in each section provide resources for further study, and most textual and linguistic matters are discussed in footnotes. Pastors, scholars, and serious students of the Bible will find this volume indispensable for understanding Jeremiah's message and how to apply it today.
In Walking the Ancient Path , distinguished Old Testament scholar Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. draws on a lifetime of study to illuminate the book of Jeremiah for a contemporary audience. Following an introduction that surveys the historical and literary background of Jeremiah along with its theological emphases, Kaiser examines each verse of the text, explaining its meaning and significance.
Every section is followed by devotional and application insights that guide the reader in applying the text to their everyday lives. Bibliographies in each section provide resources for further study, and most textual and linguistic matters are discussed in footnotes. Pastors, scholars, and serious students of the Bible will find this volume indispensable for understanding Jeremiah's message and how to apply it today.
656 pages, Hardcover
Published June 19, 2019
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About the author
Walter C. Kaiser Jr.
97 books56 followersWalter C. Kaiser Jr. (PhD, Brandeis University) is president emeritus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. He previously taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and at Wheaton College. Kaiser is active as a preacher, speaker, researcher, and writer and is the author of more than forty books, including Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament and The Majesty of God in the Old Testament.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 1, 2019
I’ve been using the works of Walter Kaiser for several years, so when I saw that he was coming out with a new work on Jeremiah I was instantly intrigued. Now that I’ve had a chance to get into this commentary, I can confess that it did live up to my high expectations. As something of a commentary junkie, I’ve had the privilege to review all types of commentaries all the way up to the massive tomes that cover every conceivable issue. As much as I enjoy using all of them, if I were forced to choose, this type of commentary prepared by Kaiser and his colleague Tiberius Rata is the most ideal for pastors. It has more depth than the TOTC series and is pretty close to the NAC in its scope. If you can imagine that style of commentary, then you will know how to gauge this work that is a model volume of its class. Further, in these days of prolific commentary production, I would argue that Jeremiah would be one of the books most in need of a new commentary of this type.
The introduction is not massive, but it gets to the heart of what most Bible students and pastors are looking for. There is background on Jeremiah and his times. There’s a brief mention of compositional issues because the scholarly world is so enamored with them. You will find conservative conclusions here. There is a discussion of Jeremiah’s relation to Deuteronomy as well as the text of Jeremiah. The section on theological emphases could probably have been expanded but was accurate as far as it went. The authors give us an extensive outline of Jeremiah along with a brief bibliography at the end of the introduction. (There’s a lengthy bibliography at the end of the book).
As for me, I enjoyed the commentary itself even more than the introduction. What you received in every passage was clear guidance on understanding the text. If scholarly side issues were mentioned, they never dominated the discussion. I don’t see how this book could not help someone wrestling with the challenging book of Jeremiah. Let’s label this book a necessity!
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.
The introduction is not massive, but it gets to the heart of what most Bible students and pastors are looking for. There is background on Jeremiah and his times. There’s a brief mention of compositional issues because the scholarly world is so enamored with them. You will find conservative conclusions here. There is a discussion of Jeremiah’s relation to Deuteronomy as well as the text of Jeremiah. The section on theological emphases could probably have been expanded but was accurate as far as it went. The authors give us an extensive outline of Jeremiah along with a brief bibliography at the end of the introduction. (There’s a lengthy bibliography at the end of the book).
As for me, I enjoyed the commentary itself even more than the introduction. What you received in every passage was clear guidance on understanding the text. If scholarly side issues were mentioned, they never dominated the discussion. I don’t see how this book could not help someone wrestling with the challenging book of Jeremiah. Let’s label this book a necessity!
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.
November 17, 2022
Having just finished a sermon series through Jeremiah, Kaiser's commentary did not prove to be very helpful (see Wright's work on Jeremiah for a much better one). This is a thick work for a long book and it seems rather hastily put together - at the same time, writing a commentary on the longest book of the Bible is an extraordinary difficult task. The commentary takes a verse by verse approach (and this is usually how I referenced it), but it seems to miss the larger picture and context. The value of this commentary is a fair and close reading of the text that honors it as the Word of God through Jeremiah.
At the same time, it is not incredibly revealing with regard to the particulars of a given verse, the comments sometimes appear to alternate between banal explication (to choose an example at random: "in a very real sense, what is to happen is a reversal of creation, especially for that part of the world inhabited by Judah,") and odd-ball analyses (this was an odd comment on 33:18 "in fact, an 'Aaronic gene' has been discovered recently as a result of the genome project, giving some idea as to how this might be identified and used in the future to determine who in Israel was from a Levitical line.") The comments mostly shined when they are expositions of the Hebrew text.
At the same time, it is not incredibly revealing with regard to the particulars of a given verse, the comments sometimes appear to alternate between banal explication (to choose an example at random: "in a very real sense, what is to happen is a reversal of creation, especially for that part of the world inhabited by Judah,") and odd-ball analyses (this was an odd comment on 33:18 "in fact, an 'Aaronic gene' has been discovered recently as a result of the genome project, giving some idea as to how this might be identified and used in the future to determine who in Israel was from a Levitical line.") The comments mostly shined when they are expositions of the Hebrew text.
March 27, 2024
This is an excellent commentary for understanding the biblical book of Jeremiah. It includes a fresh translation and detailed commentary, but not the great detail given by more scholarly commentaries. It strikes a very good balance between scholarly depth and suitability for devotional reading. It helpfully refers to other historical books in the Old Testament to add clarity and background where needed. Jeremiah: An Archaeological Companion by Philip J. King is a very good companion to this commentary.
August 16, 2023
This is a readable and exegetically useful commentary from Kaiser/Rata and Lexham Press.
I would have liked more summary material at the end of sections, but for looking at the text this is a valuable tool. 4/5
I would have liked more summary material at the end of sections, but for looking at the text this is a valuable tool. 4/5
December 16, 2021
Having just preached through the book of Jeremiah, this was without a doubt my favorite study resource. I loved Peterson's book and Wright's commentary, but Kaiser has provided a unique resource in Walking the Ancient Paths.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews