The First Epistle to the Corinthians (New International Greek Testament Commentary)

Rating:
Summary: Thiselton's - First Corinthians
Review: A slight correction to the first review on this listing. The volume has 1446 pages plus xxxiii introductory pages (not the above xxxii number).

The volume claims to be on "alkaline paper", yet it lacks the ANSI Z39.48-19xx symbol. Additionally, I might add that the main value of the work is that it is a collection of ancient and some current views concerning First Corinthians. As a collection, it is handy, as many of the views can now be seen in one place -- in THIS volume. Thiselton, himself, does not add much to our understanding of this epistle.

Rating:
Summary: A brilliant scholarly commentary
Review: First of all, the NIGTC series has never claimed to be anything but a scholar's series. So it needs to be judged on those terms. Judging it on value to the pastor who may or may not have the advanced Greek knowledge this commentary demands (2 years minimum, probably exegesis experience as well), is like judging the NIV Application series' value for scholars. This is not to say Thistleton does not deal with issues of application, he does. But the primary purpose is to survey the critical literature in view of the text.

Thistleton is one of the leading British scholars of hermeneutics today, and it shows in the work. This is thorough and careful exegesis, often much more careful than Fee's work, which I also admire. This, plus Thistleton's immense vocabulary, can daunt even the most sophisticated reader. But his style is lucid, and, for a commentary, enjoyable. His scholarship is impeccable, and even when one disagrees with him in the end, one understands why one can come to such a view rationally even if you don't accept his presuppositions, which is not always possible in Fee's work.

In short, this commentary is the new standard in Greek scholarship, and is set to be it for a long time. If you don't have the background for this commentary, it is very difficult going. But it rewards careful study.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, but Bloated
Review: For this review, it may help to know that I am a pastor and a Ph.D. candidate. On the one hand, this is an amazing scholarly achievement. Having read several key passages, I am thoroughly impressed by Thiselton's abilities: his mastery of secondary material, his sophisticated understanding of language and interpretation, his exegetical nuance and synthetic skill. This is simply the best commentary on 1 Corinthians in English for the scholar or seminary student. On the other hand, if you are a pastor trying to preach/teach through 1 Corinthians, I recommend you look elsewhere. There is just too much extraneous information in this book which does not directly bear on our tasks. Also, while I commend Thiselton for listing nearly every possible position on a subject, it is frustrating to read so many pages and not be sure what Thiselton's opinion is or why he holds it. There is an astonishing amount of erudite information in this book, but often too much! I wish the publishers of the ever more girthsome commentaries would realize that often, less is more! Thus, I rate the book 4 stars (5 for scholars, but only 3 for preachers). For the pastor, I still recommend Fee as the best commentary, with Barrett and Kistemaker as great complements.

Rating:
Summary: Thiselton's - FIRST CORINTHIANS (NIGTC)
Review: This 1446 page (+ xxxii) volume is a superb and robust work, and will greatly assist any student who is studying I Corinthians. Thiselton has a long familiarity with the text of I Corinthians and his experience is evident and valued here.

The work is part of a series, which to varying degrees, works with the UBS Greek text of the Greek New Testament. This Thiselton does, but not nearly as much as he should have. The book is slated to sell for about 75 dollars, and I need to expose some weaknesses -- however keep in mind the work is highly recommended.

Eerdmans is the publisher (along with Paternoster) hence the quality is poor as far as the binding is concerned. It is glue injected and printed on cheap (non-acid-free) paper. However the thinness of the paper allows it to lay open!! Most thick Eerdmans volumes begin falling apart after a few years of use (some earlier). The text is well printed and quite readable.

The many strengths of this work are readily evident, I shall focus instead upon some weaknesses. His Greek text is based upon the Nestle\Aland UBS apparatus which is a VERY limited apparatus, and it has many errors in it -- hence an unknown number of Professor Thiselton's conjectures will be invalid or seen as errors as time progresses. He should have FIRST established an accurate Greek text and then form his commentary! Secondly: he claims to "fully address ... theological issues..." (page xvi f), and yet he misses the true dispensational view presented by such notables as E. W. Bullinger, Charles Baker, Cornelius Stam, L. S. Chafer et al. Thirdly: he does not expose his own personal bias(s) or religious persuasion (which does influence his commentary) he leaves the reader in the dark here. His translation and his minimal Greek text are hard to follow in the text, it is too fragmented and it requires some effort to view it in an understandable context (despite some bold text features).

Some obvious meanings such as "for you are OF Christ's body and members of (a) part" (a partitive genitive) I C. 12:27 with EK MELOUS are not even examined, just ignored as an "error" in the Greek. This avoidance to deal with potentially real, valid variants substantially hinders the depth and veracity of this work. He could have seized the opportunity to reveal many good variants and to advance our understanding of this mighty epistle even further!

It is extremely well referenced with all of the necessary indexes. Finally, Professor Thiselton does attempt to present an objective commentary, but his own convictions lie everywhere just below the surface. Overall a fine thought provoking work, yet one which leaves ample room for improvement. Gary S. Dykes

Rating:
Summary: Too Much of a Good Thing!
Review: This commentary is simply too much of a good thing. It has too many words, too many concepts, too many theories, too many names--to be useful to anybody but either a very scholarly pastor or a seminary professor. It is unnecesarily technical and often gets lost in overly subtle hermeneutical or linguistic arguments. I am very grateful for his own translation (why France writing on Mark in the same series opted not to do the same is a mystery). It should also be noted that Thiselton is much more of a philosopher/hermeneut/semanticist than he is a theologian per se. Also, Thiselton does almost no serious text criticism, which is a notable failure for a commentary on the Greek text! Lastly, in defense of others who find the book too technical, it must be recalled, in the words of the editors, "the purpose of the series is to cater to the needs of students who want something less than a full scale commentary . . .the authors will bear in mind the needs of the beginning Greek student as well as the pastor or layperson...who does not use the language on a regular basis." If that is the stated aim of this series, Thiselton has failed that aim since this is the largest, most technical commentary on 1 Corinthians in the history of the English language. I would like to see this commentary reduced by about half, removing the scholary paraphenalia, and highlighting his conclusions. Thus, our best bet for a scholarly commentary interacting with the Greek text of 1 Corinthians remains Fee's in the NICNT series, and we look forward to Garland's commentary in the BECNT series.

Rating:
Summary: A Massive and Important Work
Review: This is a welcome addition to the excellent NIGTC series. Thiselton's exegesis is careful and judicious. It is suprisingly lucid for such a technical work. Thiselton does an excellent job of covering the history of interpretation of 1 Corinthians. Since Thiselton is also a philosopher, he deals quite a bit with the philosophical views of the period in relation to the epistle, which makes this work very unique. The depth and sweep of Thiselton's treatment of 1 Corinthians is breathtaking. Provocative insights abound throughout the work and are backed with copious footnotes and thorough bibliographies.

Thiselton's commentary on 1 Corinthians is quite an accomplishment and is very helpful in understanding the background, purpose and meaning of 1 Corinthians. (...) Well worth the price.

Rating:
Summary: An outstandingly erudite and judicious commentary
Review: We are at the point in Biblical commentaries where multi-volume and truly massive commentaries are becoming common. We have Jacob Milgrom on Leviticus in the Anchor series in three volumes, Allison and Davies on Matthew in the ICC at three volumes, for example, all going far beyond the earlier multivolume approach of, say, Brown on John in the Anchor series because the amount of highly detailed textual analysis and exegesis have been vastly expanded in this new generation of commentaries. By usual publishing standards, a book of this size ought to be produced in two volumes because the sheer thickness puts enormous stress on the binding as a prevous reviewer has noted. However, Thisleton's work here is rigorously attempts to make clear the competing interpretations and key issues involved in nearly every passage. Since the battles over Pauline works are in a period of tremendous sturm und drang, it is highly appropriate for the commentator to explain and situate these interpretations. Scholars such as Jacob Milgrom on Leviticus, Michael Fox on Proverbs, perform extremely valuable service in part by drawing deeply from the well of previous commentators, including "ancient" as well as modern (read, historical critical). Will some Biblical books seem to have been waiting for someone like a Milgrom to provide revolutionary interpretations, First Corinthians may not necessarily benefit at this point in time from radical new interpretative efforts. No one commentary can perform all possible tasks that a commentary might preform: close analysis of textual variants (as Holladay does in his massive Jeremiah), theological interpretation (as Joel Green on Luke), single-minded explorations of a proposed hermeneutic methodology (Brevard Childs on Exodus), strict form-critical readings, reader-response readings, and so on. Within its own scope, this is a magnificent commentary that will be valued for many years.