Customer Reviews
Comments by Michael Calum Jacques author of '1st Century Radical'. - By: Michael Calum Jacques, 21 Nov 2008 
This serious Bible Commentary contains over 1400 pages & some 11 maps and, as other reviewers have commented, it is a weight tome, too.
It is edited by John Barton who is the Oriel & Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture, Oxford University & his colleague, John Muddiman, Tutorial Fellowin New Testament Studies at Mansfield College, Oxford. These two editors are to be commended for both the thoroughness of the articles & the relative consistency evident throughout this single volume. There are over other 70 contributors of articles, each an accredited expertin his or her own field.
Consistency can be an issue with a 'single volume' commentary on the Bible. It is easy for us to forget that the Bible is not strictly a book but is really a library which contains a broad & formidable range of literary genres sourced from a variety of cultures, ages, & philosophies. With thatin mind, it is probably expecting too much, when we ask for one volume to 'tick all the boxes'; The Oxford Bible Commentary gets much closer to fulfilling these expectations than most other single volume works.
Michael Calum Jacques
Really very helpful - By: "Smith" Reader, 03 Jul 2008 
Having completed a lay preachers coursein the Christian Church I have been looking for a one volume commentary. Have now found it!
The Oxford Bible Commentary is a concise (but rather heavy), written by well informed experts commentary. It gives a great verse-by-verse discuss of the whole Bible.
A great starting point fot study & sermon preparation.
An excellent commentary on the Christian bible - By: Tim Acheson, 15 Oct 2001 The Oxford Bible Commentary is a concise, expert commentary, providing useful verse-by-verse explanation of the Christian religious book.
The commentary encompasses all books recognised as canonicalin any of the western churches of Christianity, & also includes excerpts from booksin other canons. The advanced bible scholar may additionally wish to refer to more specialist textbooks for detailed insight into specific topics or individual biblical books.
This is among the most authoritative Bible commentaries available. The reader will appreciate the expertise of the distinguished contributors, their concise verse explanations, thorough verse cross-references, & critical approach. The book is intuitively structured throughout and, despite the large size of this volume, easy to navigate.
It is a helpful aide toward informed reading of the Bible for any reason - religious, theological, historical, literary, or general interest. An extensive bibliographic resource & relevant maps complement the text.
A good Bible commentary such as this is highly enlightening. Each versein the Bible suddenly makes much more sensein the light of expert explanation. In reading the Bible without the benefit of well-informed commentary, essential considerations such as the historical context, & relationships between verses, are almost certainly overlooked. While opinions expressedin this commentary are objective, they are frequently conservative & tend to be representative of mainstream or orthodox thought.
The OBC is a huge, high quality reference textbook, with a proportionate price-tag, & I fervently commend it to anyone with a serious interestin the Christian scripture.
