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Rating: 
Summary: Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary
Review: An Amazing Discovery: My wife and the Vice-Chairman my church board lovingly describe me as a "book-a-holic," and I confess that they're correct in their assessment. I love to read and study, to dig deeper into God's Word, and to share what I've learned with others. I suppose this is my "excuse" for having so a large library scattered all over my house. When I was a younger student and pastor, I bought books just because they looked like they might be interesting. Now that I'm an older student and a more experienced pastor, I only want to acquire boos that are nuggets of gold. Eureka!! (Verb, Indicative, Perfect, Active, 1st Person Singular {VIRA-1S} of the verb "to find," hence a strong exclamatory "I found it!" which was brought into English directly as a transliteration, like was done with Amen! and Hallelujah!) Enough Greek grammar. Eureka! I recently found a superb (maybe incredible is a better word) commentary on Paul's Letter to the Ephesians, one that is great for advanced laymen, Bible students and pastors who do not know Greek, but incredible for those studying Greek. The author, Dr. Harold Hoehner, received his Ph.D. from Cambridge University and is the Distinguished Professor of NT Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, arguably the best evangelical seminary in North America. Dr. Hoehner's commentary is the work of a lifetime, a 930 page giant that is written so clearly that every level student and pastor can benefit from its use. I just finished reading the section on the "armor of God" in 6:10-20 and this section has motivated me to read the entire book. Dr. Hoehner's work will take you deeper into Ephesians than you ever dreamed possible, while at the same time, challenging some of the "folk theology" served up weekly by North America's usually poorly educated TV preachers. His outline is so clear that a pastor could use it as his preaching outline for a good six months, and still have enough material to have a Wednesday night discussion group concerning what he preached the previous Sunday. Imagine how much the group of people in your church would grow if you did this? The only drawback of the book is its cost, $59.99 retail but $41.99 discounted at Amazon. They also have used copies for around $36.00 (all in USD). It's not yet available in Libronix format and may never be as Baker Book House will need to recover the cost of publishing this gold mine. By the way, if it was twice the price, it would still be worth it. If your family or your church would like to buy you a birthday or Christmas present that you'll cherish and use for a lifetime, you may want to consider this commentary. Eureka!!! I found it!!! And now I'm going to find the time to devour it. Oh, yes. You'd probably like the title. Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary. Enjoy! Dr. Norman R. Goos, President - The Kairos Institute, Trinidad & Tobago
Rating:
Summary: Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary
Review: An Amazing Discovery: My wife and the Vice-Chairman my church board lovingly describe me as a "book-a-holic," and I confess that they're correct in their assessment. I love to read and study, to dig deeper into God's Word, and to share what I've learned with others. I suppose this is my "excuse" for having so a large library scattered all over my house. When I was a younger student and pastor, I bought books just because they looked like they might be interesting. Now that I'm an older student and a more experienced pastor, I only want to acquire boos that are nuggets of gold. Eureka!! (Verb, Indicative, Perfect, Active, 1st Person Singular {VIRA-1S} of the verb "to find," hence a strong exclamatory "I found it!" which was brought into English directly as a transliteration, like was done with Amen! and Hallelujah!) Enough Greek grammar. Eureka! I recently found a superb (maybe incredible is a better word) commentary on Paul's Letter to the Ephesians, one that is great for advanced laymen, Bible students and pastors who do not know Greek, but incredible for those studying Greek. The author, Dr. Harold Hoehner, received his Ph.D. from Cambridge University and is the Distinguished Professor of NT Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, arguably the best evangelical seminary in North America. Dr. Hoehner's commentary is the work of a lifetime, a 930 page giant that is written so clearly that every level student and pastor can benefit from its use. I just finished reading the section on the "armor of God" in 6:10-20 and this section has motivated me to read the entire book. Dr. Hoehner's work will take you deeper into Ephesians than you ever dreamed possible, while at the same time, challenging some of the "folk theology" served up weekly by North America's usually poorly educated TV preachers. His outline is so clear that a pastor could use it as his preaching outline for a good six months, and still have enough material to have a Wednesday night discussion group concerning what he preached the previous Sunday. Imagine how much the group of people in your church would grow if you did this? The only drawback of the book is its cost, $59.99 retail but $41.99 discounted at Amazon. They also have used copies for around $36.00 (all in USD). It's not yet available in Libronix format and may never be as Baker Book House will need to recover the cost of publishing this gold mine. By the way, if it was twice the price, it would still be worth it. If your family or your church would like to buy you a birthday or Christmas present that you'll cherish and use for a lifetime, you may want to consider this commentary. Eureka!!! I found it!!! And now I'm going to find the time to devour it. Oh, yes. You'd probably like the title. Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary. Enjoy! Dr. Norman R. Goos, President - The Kairos Institute, Trinidad & Tobago
Rating: 
Summary: Gary Dykes 0n Hoehner's "Ephesians"
Review: Basically a fine print job by Baker, the signatures are Smyth sewn, however the paper quality is not mentioned (not a good sign).The work is a compilation of previous efforts, and some additional Dallas Theological Seminary perspectives. Hoehner often discounts other views with a statement such as "weak", and then does not adequately explain why the opposing view, which he dislikes, arose in the first place. Hoehner supports the popular prevailing "fundamentalist" view, so the work will be popular and possibly sell well. He seems to not know how to break out of the common mold of popular religious interpretation. For example at Ephesians 1:10 he views the end of the ages as the Millennial period (per page 219), logic and common sense dictates that the unique Pauline phrase means the end of time when ages cease, after the final judgment, not the upcoming Millennial age! He uses the Accordance software program and is thus locked into the NA 27 (Nestle/Aland Greek New Testament). This flaw prevents him from realizing many more important manuscript variants. He seems to NOT have done his textual criticism first, but rather relied upon the efforts of earier works (works which need correcting). Hence, he lacks originality. He cannot break from established views, he appears to not even be aware that the verb "be ye being filled" in Ephesians 5:18 (pages 702ff) can be a middle voice. As for the Holy Spirit functioning as a Personal Agent he follows other Dallas writers in declaring that He (the HS) must be only an instrument or means, so his Ephesians 5:18 would be "with" or "in" the HS, if he selects "by" then he refers to others in his same school for support, (supporting the preposition "by" as indicating a means or instrument, but NOT an Agent) and would end up with a depersonalized HS! very circular. His view of election is the popular Baptist or semi-Arminian view, wherein a conversion enacted by a "convert" must first occur before God's elects! in essence this is man working out or making him/herself elect, note his comments on pages 306 ff. There at Ephesians 2:1-3 the reader should be able to see his contradictions with his additional note on Election beginning on page 185. Read and compare! Barth is not the culprit, but a popular distorted fundamentalist view of election is! The book will be well received by those who agree with Dallas Theological Seminary's (and Multnomah, Western Conservative, Wheaton, Moody et al) particular form of a limited dispensational stance. As such its theological scope is severely restricted. Respectfully - Mr. Gary S. Dykes
Rating:
Summary: Best of the Best!
Review: Dr. Harold Hoehner (Th.D., Ph.D) has written the best commentary on Ephesians in English. His work is thoroughly exegetical and exhaustively detailed. His text critical notes (from a "reasoned eclecticism" perspective) are well-balanced and fair (i.e., his conclusions are not overly-dogmatic). His excurses are a mine of information (e.g., on the text critical problem in Eph 1.1 and on the Haustafel [Household Code]). Hoehner's commentary has set a new standard in thoroughness. It is also reasonably affordable in light of its size (approx. 900 pages), especially when one compares it with the works of Best (ICC [although now see the new paperback edition]) and Barth (2 vols. AB). Definitely a best buy! The works by A. T. Lincoln (WBC) and P. T. O'Brien (Pillar) are comparable (esp. O'Brien). Overall, however, Hoehner's work should be considered the best all-around commentary on Ephesians available.
Rating:
Summary: One outstanding commentary!
Review: I purchased Hoehner's commentary on Ephesians with reservation. I knew he'd be a solid, evangelical scholar (he's a distinguished prof at Dallas); I knew this would be a solid, thorough treatment of Ephesians. The thing is over 900 pages long, after all. But I wanted a commentary that would "preach." All too many scholarly commentaries are dry-as-dust, verse-by-verse affairs that frankly don't help a pastor put together a sermon.
This commentary by Dr. Hoehner was a wonderful surprise. Hoehner provides an outline of each unit of text which is built right into his commentary section. And he provides summaries and conclusions which contain the "Big Idea" (or Central Truth, or whatever you prefer to call it)of that unit of text. Why don't more scholars do this in commentaries?
And Dr. Hoehner helps you swim through the Greek like a duck through water; he provides his own translation, and he constantly provides necessary parsing for the reader. But most important of all, he has the best discussion of grammatical categories that I have ever seen, translating a phrase as it would be if it were instrumental, or cause, or sphere, etc., so that you can follow his argument. He lovingly mines the Greek text for everything it can yield, and he actually brings his reader right along with him!
I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this commentary. This is the fruit of an outstanding scholar who has prayed and studied and labored over Ephesians for years.
Rating:
Summary: One outstanding commentary!
Review: I purchased Hoehner's commentary on Ephesians with reservation. I knew he'd be a solid, evangelical scholar (he's a distinguished prof at Dallas); I knew this would be a solid, thorough treatment of Ephesians. The thing is over 900 pages long, after all. But I wanted a commentary that would "preach." All too many scholarly commentaries are dry-as-dust, verse-by-verse affairs that frankly don't help a pastor put together a sermon.
This commentary by Dr. Hoehner was a wonderful surprise. Hoehner provides an outline of each unit of text which is built right into his commentary section. And he provides summaries and conclusions which contain the "Big Idea" (or Central Truth, or whatever you prefer to call it)of that unit of text. Why don't more scholars do this in commentaries?
And Dr. Hoehner helps you swim through the Greek like a duck through water; he provides his own translation, and he constantly provides necessary parsing for the reader. But most important of all, he has the best discussion of grammatical categories that I have ever seen, translating a phrase as it would be if it were instrumental, or cause, or sphere, etc., so that you can follow his argument. He lovingly mines the Greek text for everything it can yield, and he actually brings his reader right along with him!
I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this commentary. This is the fruit of an outstanding scholar who has prayed and studied and labored over Ephesians for years.
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