Romans

Tyndale New Testament Commentaries #6

by F.F. Bruce

Paul's epistle to the Romans changed the lives of many great Christian thinkers, including Augustine, Martin Luther, John Wesley and Karl Barth. However, while Romans has been among the most influential books of the New Testament, it has also been the subject of some of the church's most heated debates. What is justification by faith? What is the relationship between law and grace? What is God's ultimate purpose for Israel? Without losing sight of the simplicity of the gospel, F. F. Bruce guides us along the difficult but rewarding paths of this great letter. The original, unrevised text of this volume has been completely retypeset and printed in a larger, more attractive format with the new cover design for the series. The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries have long been a trusted resource for Bible study. Written by some of the world's most distinguished evangelical scholars, these twenty volumes offer clear, reliable and relevant explanations of every book in the New Testament. These Tyndale volumes are designed to help readers understand what the Bible actually says and what it means. The introduction to each volume gives a concise but thorough description of the authorship, date and historical background of the biblical book under consideration. The commentary itself examines the text section by section, drawing out its main themes. It also comments on individual verses and deals with problems of interpretation. The aim throughout is to get at the true meaning of the Bible and to make its message plain to readers today.

Genres: Theology, Reference, Biblical Studies, Christian, New Testament, Nonfiction, Christianity

283 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Frederick Fyvie Bruce FBA was a Biblical scholar who supported the historical reliability of the New Testament. His first book, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? (1943), was voted by the American evangelical periodical Christianity Today in 2006 as one of the top 50 books "which had shaped evangelicals".

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great and respected commentary on Romans. A must read for anyone seriously studying this Epistle. This should book should be in the library of every serious student of the Bible.

[Philip Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this, particularly pp. 59-63 where he summarises the argument of the letter concisely in his own words. Super useful.

[Sean Meade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Bruce commentary is almost perfect (for me). It's the right amount of depth (not too far into the footnotes). The thing it's missing that I like is Bruce's own translation. Still wonderful and highly recommended.

Bruce closes with this powerful quote from the end of William Tyndale's Prologue to Romans [http://www.bible-researcher.com/roman...

Now go to, reader, and according to the order of Paul's writing, even so do thou. First, behold thyself diligently in the law of God, and see there thy just damnation. Secondly, turn thine eyes to Christ, and see there the exceeding mercy of thy most kind and loving Father. Thirdly, remember that Christ made not this atonement that thou shouldest anger God again; neither died he for thy sins, that thou shouldest live still in them; neither cleansed he thee, that thou shouldest return as a swine unto thine old puddle again; but that thou shouldest be a new creature, and live a new life after the will of God, and not of the flesh. And be diligent, lest through thine own negligence and unthankfulness thou lose this favor and mercy again.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well thought out and well written commentary. If there is a negative it is that this book might be too complex at times for an introductory series like the Tyndale. It seems more like a mid-level commentary.

The introduction has all information you expect and the final section which is a paraphrase summery of the book is a good way to gain some understanding of Romans before you dive into it.

There tends to be a fairly lengthy commentary on each of the sections of Romans where most of the meat of the commentary can be found. Verses are then touched on as needed, often quickly breaking down Greek words or concepts. The author is a clear expert on his subject and good at explaining his thoughts on Romans and Paul. There are points which require a bit of work to follow along for the more novice reader, but the it is definitely worth the effort.

[Jess Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gordon Fee disait de ce commentaire que en rapport à sa taille il était très complet et c'est vrai. Bruce fait ici un véritable tour de force de faire tenir autant d'informations dans un si petit espace (notamment sur la critique textuelle).

L'inconvénient c'est que l'exégèse est parfois très superficielle, Bruce préférant paraphraser et reformuler pour expliquer un passage.
Aussi il a tendance à asséner des propositions comme des vérités sans vraiment argumenter.
De plus la date de publication d'origine et le format font qu'il n'a pratiquement pas d'interaction avec la Nouvelle Perspective sur Paul (seulement une ou deux lignes sur les génitifs "Foi en/Fidélité de Jésus).

Mais ça reste une excellente aide pour étudier l'épître aux Romains, disponible en français en plus !

[James Ruley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this was a solid commentary on Romans. Decent explanation of the background of the book and key issues in the text. For such a deeply theological book as Romans, however, I was disappointed in how minimal discussions of certain parts of the text were. Solid, but not superb.

[Stephen Bedard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This commentary isn't and was never designed to be an exhaustive commentary on Romans. But it is a nice short look at one of the most influential books in the Bible. Very helpful for students, preachers and Bible study leaders.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found Bruce's introduction and his big picture explanatory overview of each section, often more helpful than his detailed analysis (on the verses he chooses to touch on). Fairly conservative from a doctrinal point of view. Beneficial.

[Isaac Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. Did this "devo style," reading a bit each morning with the corresponding scripture by its side. I loved diving much deeper into the text and spending (a lot) more time with each part of Paul's letter.

Onto 1 Corinthians!

[Erik Koster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good commentary in this series. I think this series will likely end up being my go to for technical commentaries but for the next one I’m going to start looking around for sermon style books. Less technicality and more life application.

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok commentary. Positions taken with minimal explanation, some parts are stronger than others. There are better options out there.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A generous 3.5, really. The intro is the best part.

[J Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely helpful and mostly clearly written, but with far too many non-Biblical references.

[Joshua Reitano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid, if not spectacular. I love the Tyndale series for its economy of words and always marvel at the depth and breadth that they can achieve in the space they do. This volume is no exception.

[Britain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough, deep yet comprehensible for a layperson. It brings a groundedness other commentaries lack. .
I like the intentional verse by verse approach.

[Scott Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read a number of books by F.F. Bruce now. He is very prolific. This was one of the better commentaries he has written. One of the things I enjoyed was his paraphrase of the texts. It was very assessable. His insights into Paul and his thinking is balanced and without dogmatism. He is just a very, very reasonable thinker and writer. I am always happy to read someone who is doing more than grinding an ax.

[Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best treatments of one of Paul's most theology rich books.

[Alan Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great resource to answer questions about some difficult passages.