1 Corinthians

'Those divine purposes are too profound for human ingenuity, no matter how clever, to discover or unravel on its own and can be imparted only by divine revelation.' p 83 Garland brings fresh clarity to the repercussions of incomprehension: 'Paul is fully aware that delivering the message of salvation does not automatically bring salvation to the messenger.' p 443 Careful scholarship and spiritual insight characterize this enduring commentary on 1 Cor, generally considered to be one of Paul's most testing letters for interpreters. In his introduction to the commentary proper, Garland discusses the authorship, occasion and purpose of the epistle before providing important background information on the church at Corinth. Garland then provides an exposition of the text that takes into account key problems that have emerged in the older and newer literature. Essential for a full-orbed understanding of revelation, the meaning of 'Not I, but the Lord...I, not the Lord' is given a contextual application unique to that age, and which exhibits great exegetical skill by Garland. The prideful Corinthians showed great attachment to the Greek view that knowledge was virtuous, elevating wisdom to a religion, whereas the apostle Paul was willing to forego such gnôsis and the privilege associated therewith. The revelation of God's wisdom in Christ crucified stood in complete opposition to the wisdom of the Greek philosophical tradition. Apart from God's grace people cannot understand the cross for what it is. 'It is the folly of preferring our foolishness to His unerring and infinite wisdom.' Charles Bridges, The Christian Ministry p 249 'The contrast between Paul and the 'knowledgeable' Corinthians is stark. Knowledge can be taught, but love needs to be shown.' pp. 400-401 Garland skilfully counterpoises Paul's appellative with the inconsistency in the character of a man who is called to proclaim God's Word, yet whose life may yield a different reality: 'But he also holds himself up as an example for the Corinthians to imitate (11:1). One may proclaim the truth and many may respond, but that same truth may not penetrate the heart and soul of the proclaimer. The warning that teachers need to conform their lives to their own teaching is captured...But Paul is not simply a herald who announces the events from a platform and never joins in the contest. He is also a competitor.' p 444 The self-abasing apostle put to good use 'socio-rhetorical conventions' to best frame his own example as one worthy of imitation. To his contemporaries Paul was confident that the athletic imagery immediately made obvious the religious. David Williams further provides uncanny metaphorical insight: 'Paul may have had some such finale in mind in 1 Cor 4:8-9, when he declared that 'God had displayed the apostles last of all, like those who are doomed to die'. To the church in Corinth (or at least its leaders), Christianity was about privilege and pride and flaunting their gifts in pu

I'm a pastor who preaches through books of the bible. I am just finishing my current series on 1 Corinthians. I've found this commentary to be one that I would not want to work without. It's really one of the best ones I own. I've found David Garland's commentary to be consistently even handed, careful to evaluate the text honestly, and helpful in almost every situation I've used this commentary for. In particular I found this commentary more helpful on his treatment of 1 Corinthians 11, 13 & 15 than most of my other tools on 1 Corinthians. I've been using about 15 different commentaries on 1 Corinthians, including Worthington, Fee, Keener, Thiselton's NIGTC & Thiselton's Short Pastoral Commentary on 1 Corinthians, as well as a bunch of other commentaries like Prior (Bible Speaks Today Series) & Life Application Commentary. All of them have individual strengths, but this commentary, Garland's, has a lot more material than most of the other commentaries (except for NICNT & NIGTC) I own. Not only does it have more material, but most of the material is helpful. This series of commentaries does one thing that I don't appreciate. The editors have decided to put summaries at the beginning of each segment of the commentary in a medium gray shaded box. This does set apart the text that is a summary of what follows, but it does not copy well on a copier. So if you like a summary and want to use that in a small group discussion you have to lug the entire book in with you. It is also difficult on the eyes to read a few pages of that black print on medium gray background. I just don't like it. Garland sometimes doesn't summarize his material as well as I would like to see. For example, the section on 1 Corinthians 13 where he introduces his exegetical comments on love has some statements that are meant to summarize what follows, but almost contradict the most important point that follows. They sounded good, but as I thought about them, I became worried that he was going to add to the published material that wrongly defines agape as 'unconditional love'. Sometimes he also spends a lot of time on things that most pastors (at least myself) don't really care about. For example in his discussion on love he gives 23 pages of material. The first 4 pages are his summary, but he never accurately defines love in his summary. He does later on in his detailed exegesis, but in his summary he says things like "Love is concern for their community" and "love is the new aeon already present". He says that love is the marrow of the Christian existence. In the 4 pages of summary material he gives two pages to the discussion of the raging and worthless debate on what kind of literary passage does 1 Corinthians 13 represent. If scholars ever figure that out, will it help us? I think that kind of stuff is pretty much a waste of ink and paper, but that's just my opinion. He obviously thought it was worth half of his summarization of 1 Corinthians 13! But he neve

This book is an exceptional exegetical and expositional treatment of Paul's corrective letter to the church at Corinth. Enough sprinkling of original language word studies without being too heavy, and just the right amount of practical application, this book is divided into well-organized sections. It is, in my opinion, the best commentary available on this book - surpassing even Gordon Fee's excellent work.

Several years ago (before Garland's book came out) I did a fairly detailed study over about 6 months on the book of 1 Corinthians. I relied fairly heavily on the commentaries by Thiselton and also by Fee. In the subsequent years, I frequently re-read sections of both commentaries. Recently I wanted to get a more clear understanding of the controversial passages about headcovering and women's silence (in chapters 11 and 14, respectively) so I re-read the relevant portions of both commentaries again. I was pretty unsatisfied with both so I went to the library to see if I could find anything else more insightful. Happily, I encountered Garland's book. Garland's book was much more helpful than either Thiselton or Fee. It was more lucid, kept the same high level of scholarship, and even touched on application! I continued reading the book and have come to the conclusion that it is the best commentary on 1 Corinthians available, for several reasons: - It interacts with all the major views of a given position without becoming too bogged down (something that I think happens often with Thiselton). It is still a long book, but substantially shorter than Thiselton's. - Instead of being merely a commentary on commentaries, Garland tries to persuade the reader of the legimitacy of what the author feels is the correct view. In contrast, you can read many 1 Corinthian commentaries and not even know what the author finally thinks! - It has excellent scholarship with a good degree of balance. Fee, in contrast, holds to extreme views on the controversial women passages (such as arguing that 1 Corinthians 14:33-34 wasn't even written by Paul!). - Garland lightly touches on application. While the majority of the book is on exegesis, Garland helpfully states the relevance of his conclusions to church life today. Thiselton does not really do this, which is unfortunate. - His prose is lucid and sharp. In summary, I believe that Garland's volume is now the best commentary on 1 Corinthians available. Bravo to Baker for this volume. Hopefully other books in the series will have the same standard of quality.

I have preached through First Corinthians for several months now. This commentary has been my primary resource. It is the most thorough, well-researched, and sound commentary I have ever read. Garland confronts the "common" interpretations with historical and biblical insights which make his conclusions virtually argument proof. If you really want to know what Paul was doing in First Corinthians, this commentary is a must read.