Amg's Concise Bible Commentary (Amg Concise)

Rating:
Summary: An Underappreciated Gem
Review: It's too bad that this book isn't more widely known. As most readers will know, there are hundreds of Bible commentaries out there written from many different perspectives, and varying widely in quality, detail, etc., and along with the Harper Collins Bible Commentary and a couple of others, this is one I've ended up always having on the desk while I'm studying.

This particular commentary has a great strength which distinguishes it from other commentaries: it excels all others in giving the reader a concise but comprehensive bird's eye view of everything that's going on in any given area of the Bible. It doesn't include the Byzantine detail or academic probing of something like the Oxford Bible Commentary, but then again, that's the point. The best way I can describe it is to imagine that reading the Bible is like making your way through a hundred miles of thick forest, stream, field, etc. Many of the gigantic commentaries will give you details on every tree and fern and stump, which is great - but reading the Bible with this little number by your side is the equivalent of having photos taken from a helicopter up above every mile of the area.

In the interests of specificity, I should note that this book includes theological, historical, and textual information, written in a very comfortable and easy to understand style, and follows along with each book of the Bible. I very much appreciate in particular the way that Don Fleming has approached the Gospels -he has organized this part of his commentary to chronologically follow Jesus's life, and listed the various passages in each gospel in like order. In this way one can gain a real sense for the actual flow of Jesus's ministry, rather than reading all the way through Matthew, then all the way through Mark, etc., losing track of what happened when. His material on Jewish history between Malachi and the time of Jesus's birth is also valuable.

This book is like the perfect primer for Bible study. While the author is clearly a believer, he deserves praise for avoiding the kind of crushing dogmatism and theological "score-settling" that is the feature of some faith-based commentaries. Because of this, this commentary will be appreciated by members of all denominations. Another feature that distinguishes this from other faith-based commentaries is that the mild historical explanations Fleming includes are totally in line with the latest archaelogical and historical scholarship.

I own a lot of Bible commentaries, and this little beauty is one the standouts. I recommend it highly.