Best Commentaries on Romans

Bruce’s commentary is succinct, understandable, and both theologically and historically reliable. He presents helpful and relevant explanations of the text that focus on Paul’s main points: justification by faith, the relationship between the law and grace, and God’s ultimate purpose for Israel.

Stott is solidly evangelical with a pastor’s heart. With exuberant love and reverence for God’s Word, he offers readers relevant application points that are particularly helpful for teachers in local church groups.

Bird combines careful exegetical work with lively prose, minimal technical jargon, and references to contemporary culture. Following the goal of this commentary series, he successfully sets Paul’s arguments within the big picture of the Bible’s grand narrative, modeling for readers how to do biblical theology.

Kruse demonstrates sound judgment in exegesis and theological application. He doesn’t dodge problematic issues in the text, handling important topics with care. This reliable, erudite, and less lengthy work may be preferred by pastors and Bible teachers who are in a time crunch. Readers will pick up on Kruse’s enthusiasm for correctly interpreting the biblical text and encouraging the church to revere God.

Moo’s NIVAC edition distills his expansive thoughts on the epistle (see below) in a way that’s more digestible for a busy pastor. On those occasions when more exegetical detail is needed, this commentary points readers to his more expansive work in the NICNT. Moo’s work to bridge the gap from Paul’s world to ours, and his attempts to apply the text will surely spark new ideas for day-to-day application to congregants’ lives.

Moo’s excellent commentary is meticulously researched, theologically sound, carefully written, and balanced in its treatment of those with whom it disagrees. The exegesis is consistently on point, and the author’s conclusions are well-reasoned and committed to evangelical theology.

Schreiner interprets Romans with detailed precision and thoughtful theological insight. He thoroughly surveys and interacts with the scholarly landscape, providing robust support for his exegetical conclusions while analyzing the arguments of his conversation partners with charity and humility. On syntactical issues in key and hard passages, he walks the reader through the text by giving well-rounded theological and exegetical reasons for his decisions. Interestingly, Schreiner also outlines the twists and turns of his own biblical and theological journey with this letter during his decades of studying it.

While Thielman’s commentary is technical, immersed in biblical Greek, and uses in-text citations, it remains remarkably accessible. This work showcases Thielman’s mastery of the text and familiarity with the academic literature, yet it’s presented with simplicity. This is a theologically, historically, and linguistically reliable commentary.