The Wycliffe Bible Commentary

In my junior year in college, my Christmas list consisted of this commentary, which at the time was being sold as a set together with The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. I remember how excited I was when "Santa" brought those two items, to be followed up a year later by Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible. These are basic works, written from a solid evangelical (not necessarily "Reformed") perspective. They accept and defend the Bible as historically true and accurate, allowing, of course, for the appropriate hermeneutics, viz. poetry must be understood as poetry, hyperbole as hyperbole, historical narrative as historical narrative, etc. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary was written by solid scholars, whose credentials are as sound as anyone's, but whose commitments are to biblical inerrancy and a premillenial eschatology. It is meant primarily to aid Christians in their understanding of the biblical text; folks who try to use this volume as an apologetic for religious belief, let alone Christian faith, should look elsewhere. On the other hand, this commentary avoids getting itself entangled in the ever-changing fads of more liberal teology. In my personal writings on books of he Bible, such as Holman Old Testament Commentary: 1st & 2nd Chronicles (Holman Old Testament Commentary) I find myself coming back again and again to this straightford collection in order to recall myself to the basic content prior to clever literary manipulations by those who believe that they have a better grasp of the events of scripture than those who were contemporary with the events. I highly recommend it to beginning and mature students of the Bible seeking for futher depth. For those who need to take a step further back and grapple with issues of the accuracy of the Bible, I strongly urge you to studyA Survey of Old Testament Introduction

A good, solid commentary for those starting to read the Bible and most church members. It treats the Scripture phrase by phrase illuminating the meaning of the text. It is not technical in nature and does not have the depth of a multi-volume set, but is easy to use and presents clearly an evangelical interpretation of the Scripture. However, serious Bible students will eventually outgrow it.

The Wycliffe Bible Commentary is a handy, one-volume commentary on the Bible. It is edited by Charles F. Pfeiffer (OT) and Everett F. Harrison (NT); and represents the best of the American Reformed scholarship. For a volume of its portable size and scope, it certainly covers a lot of ground. Essays introducing each individual book covers many important authorship/stylistic/history issues and represent the views of scholars from many different theological persuasion. This is followed by book-outlines and a "phrase-by-phrase" commentary on each book. Bibligraphy sections that accompany each book's commentary are also helpful for deeper research and studies. All in all, this volume avoids many extremes and usually present their views from a reverent, relevant yet objective stance. It differs from the wafer-thin style of commentary of the Dallas Theological Seminary volumes as well as the (in my opinion), overtly "devotional" style commentary by Matthew Henry. Many scholarly views/counter-views are carefully considered and space is given to recent archaeological/historical findings.

There are very few good one-volume commentary out there. Certainly New Bible Commentary (3rd edition) is very good and I use it often. However, Wycliffe Bible Commentary (WBC) is equally excellent and in some areas it is better.1. It is written by many (really many) excellent conservative Bible Scholars from various theological background (Reformed, Dispensational, etc). Other one-volume commentaries do not have this many reputable scholars.2. It does not include additional articles (i.e., about the Bible, canonicity, Pauline themes, Synoptic issues, etc.). This commentary only comments on the Scriptures. It only includes one article, "From Malachi to Matthew." 3. It is very devotional. It still challenges believers. While certainly scholarly, it is still spiritually stimulating.4. Biblical passages are written in bold type, hence you can easily recognize them and the comments (normal typeset). The font size is big enough to be easy on your eyes.5. For an one-volume commentary, it is very thorough (because the whole book is devoted to commentary of the Bible w/o the additional articles). This is where WBC is better than NBC. It has more comments/insight for the Bible.In sum, I heartily recommend this commentary to any one who desires to know the Bible better.

This one-volume commentary is written from the REFORMED point of view. The authors are established scholars who hold completely to the fundamentals of the Christian faith. It is not a devotional commentary, rather, it focuses on understanding what the Bible says and means, leaving it up to the reader to apply this to life today.