Pastor’s Bookshelf: Galatians

Galatians was the first book I studied when, as a high schooler, a claim on my life was experienced. I tell more of this story in the opening to my own commentary on Galatians (Galatians (The NIV Application Commentary)

), which can be interpreted as an early new perspective reading of Galatians. The emphasis was on salvation-history than on “badges” that separate Jews from Gentiles.

We have a rich selection of commentaries on Galatians, and I reveal my own biases: would you add to these or eliminate some of these?

FF Bruce’s commentary is where many begin today: The Epistle to the Galatians: A Commentary on the Greek Text (The new international Greek Testament commentary)
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R Longenecker is one of the most complete listing of viewpoints: Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 41, Galatians
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HD Betz, a powerful commentary when it came out for its focus on rhetorical theory, is a masterpiece of exegesis: Galatians: A Commentary on Paul’s Letter to the Churches in Galatia (Hermeneia: a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible)
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JDG Dunn’s small commentary can’t be dismissed for its size: here is a compact statement of his version of the new perspective — The Epistle to the Galatians
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And now many will finish off their work on this letter by turning to J Louis Martyn, Galatians (The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries)
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