Best Commentaries on Isaiah

Mathison applauds Webb for making most of the space he was allotted for this volume, offering “very illuminating insight into the text.” Webb’s strength is in helping the reader see how the message of Isaiah comes together in a unified way.

Motyer masterfully helps readers to grasp how the message of the book fits together as a whole. As Longman observes, “Motyer and Oswalt [see below] provide the most lucid exposition of Isaiah from a traditional viewpoint that sees the whole book as coming largely from the eighth century.” This volume is more than a summary of Motyer’s more technical work (see below); it also provides many additional insights.

Longman says, “Grogan has produced one of the best short commentaries on the prophet Isaiah. He is particularly adept at bringing out the theological meaning. . . . While he presents a strong argument in favor of the authorial unity of the book, he does not write off some who, while accepting the idea of supernatural prophecy, opt for multiple authorship.”

Lessing’s invigorating exposition will help pastors make the original text more accessible and understandable. He’s careful to keep the larger biblical storyline in mind as he writes, and he offers a fresh theological interpretation of Isaiah 56–66, the often-neglected concluding chapters of the prophecy, demonstrating their continuity with Isaiah 1–55. He shows how the closing chapters bring Isaiah’s ‘righteousness’ and ‘servant’ themes to culmination with the inclusion of Gentiles in the people of God.

Motyer’s masterwork. As Longman observes “It is thoroughly researched and thought-out. It represents the best of a conservative evangelical approach to the book at the end of the twentieth century.” Despite some weaknesses in its dated format, the commentary is so well-written it can be read straight through devotionally. Motyer provides careful linguistic and poetic analysis as well as clear outlines that would translate easily for preaching/teaching. His focus is on giving an apologetic for Isaiah’s unity and pre-exilic date, and on expounding its rich inter-textual connections and theology. Highly recommended.

Oswalt’s NICOT commentary carefully balances the book’s structure, the flow of thought of each passage, and exegetical nuggets from the original language to support its interpretive decisions. Oswalt is fabulous on verse-by-verse details.

Goldingay is a critical scholar but a noted specialist on “Deutero” and “Trito” Isaiah. His breathtaking work is insightful and deserves the scholarly distinction it has received.

Koole treats every pericope of Isaiah, providing a new translation and then helpfully summarizing the results of his exegesis in non-technical language. Though Koole is a critical scholar, he gives primacy to the final stage of the text. His tripartite commentary is an unsurpassed guide to interpretation of Isaiah’s second half.

Massive and meticulous, but a bit tedious in its writing style. Mathison observes that it “is something of a modern classic among Reformed students of Scripture. It has been replaced in the NICOT series by the fine work of Oswalt, but it should not be relegated to the dust bin.”

Williamson brings together all the relevant aids to exegesis—linguistic, textual, archaeological, historical, literary, and theological—to help the reader understand the meaning of Isaiah’s prophecy. He incorporates a range of secondary scholarly material, examining all the key textual and critical issues surrounding the text. These volumes are essential reading for an academic study of Isaiah.