The Gospel According to Mark

I have used this text as one of my sources for scholarly and pastoral insight into the Gospel of Mark, and I must say that is fulfills both roles with surprising abundance. Though it does not have a translation of Mark's text itself in the book, that is a minor drawback. The passage by passage and concept by concept scholarship is up to date, well cited, and often exciting. As a pastor, I have especially benefited from the conceptual work in this commentary. It is not uncommon for verse by verse works to get lost in the weeds (pastorally speaking), or segmented from itself as it pours over words, their origins, and their possible interpretations. Edwards, however, is consistent in keeping his eyes on the sweeping themes of Mark, especially discipleship. Not only is there rich commentary in the introductory paragraphs of each section, but within the verse by verse work as well. I highly recommend this book as a well-grounded, evangelical commentary that does a phenomenal job of providing conceptual and pastoral insight along the way. It has been a joy to use.

I find it truly amazing that there is still so much lively discussion about a Gospel of the New Testament which has been a cornerstone of Christian faith for almost 2000 years; however, the more I study New Testament exegesis, the less I'm surprised. The thing that makes the dialogue over The Gospel of Mark special is not Romans' deep theological arguments. Martin Luther, for example, in his 55 volumes of works translated into English barely mentions the Gospel, while doing an entire commentary on the Gospel of John. The primary interest lies in the fact that less than 200 years ago, the basic opinions on dating Mark changed from its being considered a copy of Matthew to being an earlier source of both Matthew and Luke. This lively discussion was enriched even further by exegesis in the last 50 years, with the founding of `redactive' analysis by Marxson in Germany. I've surveyed five different exegeses of Mark and have found much common ground, but also many differences, lying primarily in the translations and in the extent to which they address the history of commentary on Mark. Even though some of the volumes deal much more deeply with previous scholarship than others, all limit themselves to work done in the 20th century, and even to work done in the last 50 years. One thing I must say that although there are important differences, all of these volumes represent sound work at the deepest levels of scholarship. Some are more suitable for pastoral use than others, but none are `lightweights'. The six volumes I surveyed follow: `The Gospel According to Mark', William L. Lane, 1974, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., `The New International Commentary on the New Testament' Series. `Mark 1-8:26', Robert A. Guelich, 1989, Nelson Reference & Electronic, `Word Bible Commentary' Series based on the author's own translation. `Mark 8:27-16:20', Craig A. Evans, 2001, Nelson Reference & Electronic, `Word Bible Commentary' Series based on the author's own translation. `The Gospel of Mark', Pheme Perkins, 1995, in Volume VIII of The New Interpreter's Bible with side by side NIV and NSRV translations. `The Gospel of Mark', R. T. France, 2002, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., The New International Greek Testament Commentary Series. `The Gospel According to Mark', James R. Edwards, 2002, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., `The Pillar New Testament Commentary Series'. After having read commentary volumes from most of these series on both The Epistle to the Romans and The Epistle of James, I find a lot of consistency across volumes in the same series, so if you become comfortable with the way that `The New Interpreter's Bible ` approaches things, then you are probably on solid ground if you continue with that source, especially if you invested some big bucks in the complete 12 volume set (or there is a set available in your library's reference section, as it has appeared in every library I have visited). `The New International Commentary on the New Testa

This is fine addition to the Pillar Commentary Series. I especially appreciate the introduction to the commentary. The author develops the themes that are nesessary to understand this Gospel. It is rewarding to work through the Biblical Story. Edwards is a lucid writer who communicates important Biblical cuture insights to his audience. I love to use it while preparing to teach on Mark especially to Jr. High and High school students. He helps fill the questions around the 1st centery church. I find it an important tool in Bible study.

This is a fantastic commentary. I'm not usually the motivated type who takes the time to review a book but, I've so enjoyed Mr. Edwards work that I wanted to share my sentiments. Anyone wanting to swim into the deeper waters of Mark's Gospel will enjoy the journey. "Here's to an ever increasing faith!"

I was surprised to see this commentary hasn't been reviewed, since it is of such high quality. I suspect it is because Edwards, unlike Carson or Blomberg or Bock, isn't a well-known scholarly name. Nevertheless, I rate this commentary "up there" with my favorite NT commentaries: Carson on John, Fee on I Corinthians, O'Brien on Ephesians. If you read and appreciated any of those, you will not be disappointed by this commentary.