Review
They say “all good things come to an end.” While, theologically, that’s not entirely true, in some smalls ways, life can seem that way. So it is with the Teach the Text Commentary Series by Baker Books. It’s sad, but the series has recently been canceled and will not be completed. But, in a bit of good news, it seems as if the publishers saved one of the best volumes for last.
As the name suggests, this series concentrates on gleaning the single big idea of text “units” and how to teach that to others.Rather than quote the entirety of passages within the commentary, the series encourages to keep your Bible close, and only quotes the scattered phrases it chooses to comment directly on. Like so many other commentaries, those quotations spring from the NIV translation. Each section contains “understanding the text” with just enough exposition and context to clarify and support the main idea, in then jumps into a “teaching the text” section that helps with various ideas and tips for arranging and presenting the idea, before concluding with an “illustrating the text” section with, obviously, several illustrations for the themes in the unit. Some, but not all, even include a small section on specific application. This last “Teach the Text” book to be released is a fantastic resource for the busy teacher/preacher, and stands tall among the others in this somewhat uneven series.
Douglas Nykolaishen handles the Ezra and Nehemiah portions well. Choosing to treat them as one book (as the Hebrews arranged them) he uses one brief introduction for both. It conveys the major details well enough, and does an excellent job setting the historical context, but strangely seems far more concentrated on the book of Ezra. In the section on the writer/composer, he completely skips talking about the contributions written by Nehemiah, even when his first-person account stands out against the other third-person writings.
Once the commentary proper is reached, Nykolaishen thrives in the series’ unique format. His unit divisions seem logical, and his “Big ideas” not only appear to be spot-on, but are well-polished in their wording. He seems to excel in setting the context briefly but adequately. Like other books in the series, exposition itself may seem a bit lacking at first, as it only hits the high points in each unit. Much is untouched, but a thorough line by line exposition is not the goal of this commentary, and such details are easily found in another, more technical, work. Discussion of original languages is also kept to a minimum, and only spoken of when on occasion, or in a quick definition when an English word falls a bit short of the original Hebrew meaning.
Nykolaishen also shines in the illustrations he provides. This is where his volume seems to stand well above some other entries in the series. Notably, he seems to pull far wider-reaching illustrations than others, gathering these from a wide variety of sources; World history, human experience, the outdoors, famous quotes, games and the occasional reference to pop culture shows and movies. These not only provide some great material as they are, but also help to prompt further ideas; making them one of the best features of this series, and one of the best examples in the series.
Andrew Schmutzer tackles Esther and does an solid job. He splits the book into 15 “units,” and handles it all in exactly 100 pages. As any good commentary on Esther should, he takes time in the introduction to explain Purim as it became to the Jews, as well as how it relates to the other feasts in their calendar. I’m not sure I agree with quite all of his “Big Ideas.” For example, Esther 5:1-14 has “People are called to use their own resources, abilities, and opportunities, letting God combine their initiative with his plans.” What he’s getting at seems fine, but I don’t care for it seeming like our actions came first and God cowered to work under what we had already begun instead of his Pre-Planned Providence being worked out by our actions. The exposition is a bit ambiguous, but seems also to hint that doing right will be used by God, even if he didn’t necessarily prompt it directly, and sometimes we must act even without knowing quite what God has for us to do. There are several shades and layers to that idea, but it could easily come off as wrong if not handled with a bit more clarity and depth than it was given here. His “Theological Insights” sections are notably far shorter than his co-writer. They are clear and adequate, but somewhat less than the above and beyond seen earlier in the book. While his Big Ideas fall a bit short of his co-author’s, and his illustrations seem to rely a bit more heavily on pop culture movies and media, Schumtzer still provides a solid, if average, addition to this volume.
Notable Quotables:
- Nehemiah 1 Notes: “Nehemiah recognizes that bringing the Judean community back to a position of respectability in the ancient Near East will require dramatic intervention by God, and God’s promise to Moses motivates Nehemiah to trust that God will do so.”
- Nehemiah 2:10-20 Illustration: “An Inner state of faith helps sort out an outer state of chaos. […] Christian music: Christian songwriter Scott Krippayne wrote the song “Sometimes He Calms the Storm,” (1995) in which he teases out this concept…”
- Esther 3:1-6 Big Idea: “Real Honor is rooted in the fixed standards of God’s character rather than the political whims of a power struggle.”
Conclusion:
Douglas Nykolaishen provides an excellent entry in the series, obviously quite at home in the series format, and giving great care to context, theology, and presenting a wide variety of good illustrations. His introduction does seem to heavily favor Ezra, but his comments seems just as strong on both books.
Andrew Schmutzer rounds out this volume with an average entry that is still helpful, but seems a touch disappointing when compared to his co-author’s work. While he doesn’t go above and beyond, the unit divisions and Big Ideas are still a great help for teachers and preachers.
In an emergency, I would almost be comfortable preaching after just referencing these notes on Ezra or Nehemiah; I would not feel quite the same on Esther. However, this volume is certainly worth owning and consulting regularly on all three biblical books.
4/5
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