Ephesians

Tyndale New Testament Commentaries #10

by Francis Foulkes

Unlike Paul's letters to the Galatians or the Corinthians, the letter to the Ephesians contains almost no clues about the situation and issues its recipients faced. Nevertheless, the letter vividly depicts how God's will revealed in Christ reorients believers' lives toward unity, mutual respect, submission and love--in short, new life in Christ. Francis Foulkes expounds with clarity and ease the letter's central themes and emphases. 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: Reference, Theology, Christian, New Testament, Religion, Scripture, Biblical Studies

187 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

Reviews

[Jacob Wigley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the verse-by-verse structure of the Tyndale commentaries awkward for Ephesians, since it is a letter which I think would benefit from a more thematic approach. Paul often repeats concepts from one verse to the next which means the commentator also has to do the same in the Tyndale format. Meanwhile, some the heavy theological concepts raised in Ephesians (such as that of predestination in chapter 1, or the household codes in chapters 5-6) are not afforded the space they might need. As such, I feel the author -or perhaps it is the series- would do well to be more versatile in method. Nevertheless, in the passages better fitted to the verse-by-verse format this commentary offers comprehensive, balanced and expertly communicated insights. A personal highlight for me was Foulkes' explosion of the "Armour of God" passage in 6:10-20.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

An extremely knowledgeable professor writing 200 pages on a 10 page letter while trying to keep the level introductory is in a difficult position. Several of the Tyndale commentaries on Paul's shorter letters fall into this category and most come across as workmanlike and worth reading if they are already in your library. With a new commentary replacing this one in the Tyndale series, it is difficult to recommend searching this one out.
Here the introduction is interesting for its thoughts on the Pauline authorship of the letter. The commentary is a bit deeper on the Greek and more academic than some of the previous commentaries. There are a number of fine thoughts on Ephesians, but mostly standard comments.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good commentary

[Rick Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good and helpful commentary.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Foulkes does a good job of surveying the book of Ephesians in a way that is helpful for the pastor and lay leaders. There are good insights and a solid evangelical focus. Calvin is followed along with dialogue with major commentaries. I found this smaller commentary to be helpful. This is not always the case with books of this size.

[Justin DeVantier · Rating 5 out of 5]

life changing. well written.

[Bob Wolniak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise helpful commentary on Ephesians that i use in preparing for talks.