WBC: 2 Corinthians

by Ralph P. And Davids Peter H. (editors) Martin

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship.

Genres: Reference

527 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 1985

Reviews

[Fred Kohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have found Paul's second letter to the Corinthians the most difficult of Paul's undisputed letters to read in the original Greek. So when I found this volume from the excellent World Biblical Commentary series for only thirty bucks, I couldn’t pass it up. I didn’t realize the reason it was so cheap was because I was buying the first edition and a later edition was available (for more money, of course!) Nonetheless this edition was fine, if not my favorite in this series, and I doubt I will bother to read the later edition.

I started reading this book several months ago but only got about 100 pages in before I was distracted by other projects. My interest in 2 Corinthians was renewed when I read Framing Paul: An Epistolary Biography by Douglas A. Campbell. 2 Corinthians is an important work for reconstructing the life of Paul. It contains more biographical material than any other of Paul's letters other than Galatians. It is partly for this reason, I think, that Martin calls 2 Corinthians a very human letter.

Even after reading 2 Corinthians again in the Greek with the help of this commentary I am still struggling with the Greek. There are lots of unfamiliar words.

[Matthew Bonzon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Technical. Especially helpful with literary forms, devices, and structures.
The in-text citations hurt the readability.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martin's commentary on 2 Corinthians is thoughtful and useful, despite the convoluted organization of Word commentaries generally. One could wish he spent more time explicating passages as a whole and less on the technical details, but it is a wise companion overall. The new revised version of this text looks even better.