Commentaries for Galatians

[Louis L Sorenson]

What are the best commentaries which deal with the Greek? Here are Jon Weatherly's suggestions.

Commentaries on Galatians
Bruce, F. F. A Commentary on Paul's Epistle to the Galatians. NIGTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982.
Probably Bruce’s best commentary: clear and thorough on the Greek text. [1]

Burton, E. DeWitt. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians. ICC.
Edinburgh: Clark, 1920. Classic commentary on the Greek text. [2]

Dunn, James D. G. The Epistle to the Galatians. BNTC. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1993. Informed and
readable comments taking the “new” Paul into account. [2]

Lightfoot, J. B. St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971 (= 1896). An enduring classic by the all-time greatest NT commentator in English. [2]

Longenecker, Richard N. Galatians. WBC. Dallas: Word, 1990. Rivals Bruce in all characteristics. [1]


Coding: LIBRARY BUILDING GUIDE
These numbers at the end of entries indicate recommendations on the value of each work for the typical personal library:
[1] Among the most useful for personal study.
[2] A helpful supplement to the most useful works.
[3] Important for specialized research but less valuable for ordinary exegesis.
[4] Widely circulated but now superceded by other works.

More can be found at CBD at http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/ ... ch=1&cms=1. My class in college used Hendricksen's commentary (http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDet ... mp%3By%3D0). I find using a Greek oriented commentary is essential in studying any book in the original language.

So what are the best Greek oriented commentaries for Galatians? For what reasons do you find specific ones more helpful than others?

[Jonathan Robie]

These are available online for free:

Burton, E. DeWitt. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians. ICC.
Edinburgh: Clark, 1920[/url]. Classic commentary on the Greek text. [2]

Lightfoot, J. B. St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971 (= 1896). An
enduring classic by the all-time greatest NT commentator in English. [2]

I might add:

Meyer, Heinrich August Wilhelm. Critical and exegetical hand-book to the Epistle to the Galatians.

Alford, Henry. Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary

[Stephen Carlson]

In addition to the ones mentioned here, I would recommend:

Hans Dieter Betz, Galatians: A Commentary on Paul’s Letter to the Churches in Galatia (Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979).

Alfio Buscemi, Lettera ai Galati: Commentario esegetico (Analecta [Studium Biblicum Franciscanum] 63; Jerusalem: Franciscan Printing Press, 2004). {In Italian}

Richard N. Longenecker, Galatians (WBC 41; Dallas: Word Books, 1990).

[Jonathan Robie]

Incidentally, as we read and use commentaries, I would be interested in hearing opinions on how they compare. I'm also interested in comparisons between the set of older commentaries versus newer commentaries, etc.

[Alan Patterson]

Douglas Moo's commentary on Galatians should be out any week now.