The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 1-15

This book is very thorough. Perhaps even too thorough? I found the book a really solid study. Two things - lack of pastoral insights and lack of Hebrew - keep me from giving it 5 stars. Let me address the 2nd point - he transliterates the Hebrew text rather than actually using a Hebrew font. Seriously, a two volume commentary on Proverbs that is intensely intersted in subtle nuances of Hebrew and then uses only transliteration? I find myself having to translate Waltke back into Hebrew in order to find where he's going in the text. Essentially, it's an excellent book, yet more difficult than it needs to be on this point.

Bruce Waltke's commentary on Proverbs (2 vols.) provides indepth linguistic and theological insights into the text. We often read the individual proverbs as simply neat insights into life. The proverbs can be much more than this, though. The proverbs are the product of community reflection upon biblical teaching and everyday life. Waltke's treatment of the text helps the reader to look deeply into the use of specific words, including how they are used in other OT passages, and into the deeper theological meaning. I highly recommend both volumes. Since this is a 2 volume treatment, there is sometimes more information than a reader might want. For a briefer treatment, but one that is also very helpful, I recommend Dave Bland's commentary on Proverbs published by College Press (Bland's text also includes Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs).

Bruce Waltke is an outstanding OT scholar, and one of the most respected. This 2 volume commentary on Proverbs is exhaustive and scholarly. Waltke displays a brilliant command of OT narrative structures throughout this commentary. The average person picking up a Bible and reading Proverbs can easily conclude that Proverbs is little more than an extensive list of random sayings devoid of any real order or structure. Not so. Waltke repeatedly demonstrates how the chiastic structures that are found all over the place in Proverbs provide great order and reveal deep insights into what the writer was doing. Waltke's command of wisdom literature as a literary genre is also impressive, and adds "wisdom" to his commentary. One can certainly read Proverbs and gain many insights without reading Waltke's commentary. But Waltke does a fantastic job in showing the structure of Proverbs and how its contents integrate with the rest of the Bible, particularly the OT. Waltke labored over this commentary for years, and the painstaking scholarship that went along with this is obvious from cover to cover. While a working knowledge of Hebrew would be a big help in digesting this commentary, even those with no training in the Hebrew language can still profit from the many insights Waltke provides. Pastors in particular should get this commentary, even pastors who aren't Hebrew scholars. Proverbs is a profound but too often misunderstood book. Waltke provides reliable and insightful guidance to the pastor who wants to responsibly preach out of Proverbs with the desire to edify his flock. Highly recommended.

As a young preacher, I recently began preaching through the book of Proverbs; this book was pointed out to me, and it has been an invaluable aid since I purchased it. Waltke demonstrates that he has thought long and passionately about God's book of wisdom. He brings to the reader solid exegesis, wide personal reading, and (most importantly) a belief in what the Bible says. Although it may be too technical for those wanting an introductory commentary (you might do better looking at Derek Kidner's Tyndale contribution), Waltke's work will, on my bookshelf, set the standard for Proverbs commentaries. ...Can't wait until the second volume is published!