If you’re a church member planning a Sunday school class or Bible study, a pastor getting ready for a new sermon series, or a seminarian looking to build your biblical studies library, you may be seeking a reliable commentary. Which one should you pick up? Which commentaries are biblically faithful and suitable for your study and teaching needs? If that’s a question you’ve asked recently, The Gospel Coalition’s Carson Center for Theological Renewal is pleased to announce a new series of recommendations pages designed to serve you.
In the spirit of Don Carson’s New Testament Commentary Survey, TGC Council members, staff, and expert writers have worked together to compile an annotated list of the best commentaries on each Bible book. This project leverages the collective wisdom of scholars and church leaders who have devoted years to training the next generation in biblical scholarship and expositional preaching. Our goal has been to serve you—pastors, ministry leaders, and laypeople in local churches—by pointing you to the best resources available.
Personalized List
For each biblical book or section, we’ve listed modern commentaries under three categories.
TGC Council members, staff, and expert writers have worked together to compile an annotated list of the best commentaries on each book of the Bible.
The introductory commentaries are for Sunday school teachers and small group leaders without advanced training. They’re written in accessible prose and orient the reader to the text as well as its author and original audience. Preaching commentaries are for pastors and Bible teachers preparing to proclaim the Word. These commentaries include nods to the original languages but focus on exposition and application for God’s people today. Scholarly commentaries are for academics and pastor-theologians. These books assume knowledge of original languages, address various textual considerations, and interact with other scholarly works.
The first two categories primarily highlight resources written by Reformed and evangelical authors. The third category includes the best scholarly resources without regard for the author’s theological persuasion.
Designed to Serve You
To compile the list, TGC staff surveyed a selection of evangelical scholars and church leaders that included TGC Council members and seminary professors from major evangelical seminaries, and we consulted other faithful lists like Carson’s New Testament Commentary Survey and Tremper Longman III’s Old Testament Commentary Survey. “If you are a Bible teacher, preacher, or serious student of God’s Word, this curated and vetted list of faithful resources has cut through the vast ocean of commentaries and brought the very best ones to the surface,” said Courtney Doctor, TGC’s director of women’s initiatives. “This will save you time and give you considerable confidence as you study.”
Check out our new listing of “Best Commentaries.” The TGC and Carson Center teams are prayerful this resource will serve church leaders like you for generations to come.
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The Carson Center for Theological Renewal seeks to bring about spiritual renewal around the world by providing excellent theological resources for the whole church—for anyone called to teach and anyone who wants to study the Bible. The Center helps Bible study leaders and small-group facilitators teach God’s Word, so they can answer tough questions on the spot with a quick search on their smartphone.
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