The only possible adjective for this commentary is “incredible.” It is not just long (2,468 pages of text), but it is packed with useful information, well organized, with the details of the process used in coming to understand the text laid out for examination. A book can be long but not informative. This one uses its space effectively to contain useful information.

All three of these commentaries have been useful to me. Check them out!

Those who know me will be completely unsurprised that, when I was given the opportunity to review a volume in this commentary series, I chose this one.  There are two interlocking reasons:  1)  I love studying the Torah from every perspective I can manage, and 2) I believe Christians who neglect this part of the Bible also miss some of the depth of their own theology and tradition.

Yet few Christians are really interested in Torah, and it is difficult to get them to study it.  So while I have studied from much more complex commentaries on the topic, such as Jacob Milgrom’s three volume commentary on Leviticus (here is my review), I can’t pass those on to Sunday School classes or to pastors I’m encouraging to get started in preaching or teaching from these books.

Thus I am very much attracted to the basic idea of this commentary series, starting with its use of the NLT second edition text, which is an excellent foundation on which to build a commentary for everyone.  Too frequently commentary translations are done in a technical fashion, designed to illustrate the commentator’s points.  This is not a bad thing for a scholarly audience, or even for those past the first stages of study.  Indeed it is necessary.  But it doesn’t help much with that first study.

I’m encouraged by the ambitious goal set forth in the General Editor’s preface:  “… the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary aims at helping teachers, pastors, students, and laypeople understand every thought contained in the Bible.”  Yes, it’s ambitious, but it is aimed at the right group of people.  If one doesn’t keep one’s eye on the goal, then one will never get anywhere.

So how is this volume laid out?

First, it includes the full scriptural text from the NLT second edition.  That’s a highlight.  I’ve already read that part, though not from this volume.  It is a good translation to use in accomplishing the goals of the commentary.

Second, it includes notes on textual, translational, and interpretational details.  For example, looking at notes from Leviticus 4:1-5:13, I see explanations of the Hebrew word behind the English translation “commands” along with references.  We’re provided with word numbers in both the Tyndale and the Zondervan numbering system (Kudos to Tyndale for including the latter), along with references to selected works.  There’s a discussion of the phrase “ceremonially clean” and “an offering for their sin” amongst many others.  In scanning through the volume I also saw notes on various textual issues, but written in minimally technical language.

Finally, there is commentary on the passage as a whole, dealing more with themes, theology, and application.  In the case of Leviticus 4:1-5:13, there is about a page of notes followed by nearly five pages of commentary.  The scriptural text itself occupies very nearly two pages.  This will give you an idea of how space is proportioned.  (The introduction and outline of the book is 10 pages.)

Overall, the book is 679 pages + 14 pages of front matter.  The main section uses 214 pages for Leviticus, 229 for Numbers, and 236 for Deuteronomy.

So let’s compare bulk as a sort of “intimidation factor.”  The NLT Study Bible uses 65 pages for the book of Numbers.  The New International Commentary on the Old Testament volume on Numbers uses 667.  I don’t have a good intermediate number on Leviticus, but I would note that Migrom’s commentary is over 2700 pages.  I would say this commentary is well-placed then to draw people beyond the study Bible stage and on to the more serious study.

As for perspective, the authors (David W. Baker, Dale A. Brueggemann, and Eugene H. Merrill) and editors are all unsurprisingly evangelical, and fairly conservative at that.  I don’t intend to criticize the commentary for its stated perspective.  I will note just how much each author interacts with opposing viewpoints.  In a commentary such as this, there is a balance.  Too much discussion of every idea out there means that one can’t get to the basic work necessary; too little tends to limit the usefulness of the work to broader audiences.

As I mentioned in the initial note, it is not my intent to read through this book and then publish a review.  Rather, after publishing these initial notes, I am going to use it as my secondary devotional study, after my time spent on the week’s lectionary passages, and then blog about the experience, finally wrapping everything up when I have read the entire volume.  While I will, as always, be studying and comparing with many sources, my primary question in this case will be just how valuable and accessible the material is to someone preparing a Sunday School lesson or a sermon for their congregation that would draw from this material.

In terms of overall theme, I’ll be asking myself how well the volume will link the theological themes to Christian theology and tradition, and of course ultimately to Christian living.  Then I will rate the book as to how well it accomplished the stated goal I quoted above, with due consideration for how ambitious a goal it is.

You will be able to follow my study on my Participatory Bible Study blog.  There will be a final wrap-up post here.

I do expect to be using it in study over the next few months and reading it through, but since that will take some time, I’ve already written up my preliminary impressions in the description for this book on its Energion.com Detail Page (Orthodox Study Bible).

Here’s a cover picture:

The story this time centers a great deal around the office, with her secretary, or “Associate Detective” as she has become getting involved a great deal along with her fiance.

I’m not one to tell much of the story, but Precious Ramotswe finds herself solving things in very unexpected ways, even when she’s intending to do something quite different.

All I can say about the whole series is, “What’s not to like?”

View our detail page for The Miracle at Speedy Motors.

I guess I’m a cat person much more than a dog person, but I never really warmed up to the background in fox hunting. It just doesn’t resonate with me. In addition, the animals are less involved than they are in the books with Sneaky Pie.

Nonetheless I still detect the skill of the other books, even though I didn’t warm to the background. Rita Mae Brown can paint the background and characters that draw you in with relatively few words. You quickly feel like you know the characters and you actually care what happens to them.

I rate the book a three for myself, but I’m betting most mystery readers will rate it higher than that.

View the Energion.com detail page for Hounded to Death.

But one needs to decide whether to write satire, comedy, a tacky adventure movie, or a political statement. This movie had elements of all of those, but pretty much managed to combine the worst of those elements. It’s not funny for any length of time. Where it is satirical it is overdone, but not overdone well.

It’s hard to like any of the characters even when it looks like the writers intend you to feel sympathy for them.

I’m glad I watched this on the Netflix movies on demand and thus didn’t pay anything extra for it. I rate this a one, with a note that I considered inventing a zero rating just for the occasion.

View the Energion.com detail page for War, Inc.

This latest book finds Max Kinsella missing and Temple Barr getting engaged to Matt Devine, while the Fontana brothers are all kidnapped, and generally all hell is breaking loose all over.

The problem is to solve the mystery before everyone’s life is ruined, and this is accomplished in a most amusing manner in the required number of pages (396). This is pure fun, though I must say if you don’t like cats you may not like it all that well. Midnight Louie encounters an old flame, and we end up with four cats working on the mystery at once.

What’s not to like?

View the Energion.com detail page for Cat in a Sapphire Slipper.