The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Genesis-Leviticus (Expositor's Bible Commentary)

Since I'm a pastor who is using this book in a current sermon series, and am planning to use it for another one next year, let me focus my review on how helpful this book is for sermon prep. I suspect it would also be very helpful for students working on a research paper, since the author brings together many (100+) sources from the ancient world and other scholarly works on Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus.Nutshell:I'm currently focused on Genesis. I've been using several full technical commentaries and some shorter ones as well. I've found that this commentary invariably adds something to my exploration of the text and comments about it that the other commentaries did not focus on. This authors strength lies in his ability to see how Genesis is tied to other parts of the Pentateuch. Sometimes this brings out themes that are not in any other commentary. For this reason, I believe this commentary should stay in your book bag as you do your study. For pericope after pericope I've found it worth consulting. It should not be your only commentary on these books because his perspective seems to be intentionally limited to the narrative view.Details:Abbreviations contain 11 pages. Extensive ancient literary references and journal references provide a gold mine of potential links.Introduction: After studying Revelation commentaries three years ago, and finding some fantastic introductions, I've become a big fan of extensive introductions. This volume has only 23 pages or so of introduction. Some of this is a relatively short bibliography (less than one page) with a reference to Sailhammer's other book titled "Pentateuch as narrative". A pastor friend recommended that book to me when he saw I was working through Genesis, and my search for that book enabled me to find this one. Both of them are valuable tools. I borrowed Pentateuch as Narrative and bought this one. I will probably purchase Pentateuch as Narrative for my Exodus series (next year I think). A glimpse at Sailhammer's portion on Narrative Typology shows his view of Genesis...from page 37"A small narrative segment that has attracted an extraordinary amount of attention over the years is the account of Abraham's visit to Egypt in Genesis 12:10-20. (he actually types out Genesis when it is in a sentence-refreshing eh?).The similarities between this narrative and that of Genesis 20 and 26 are well known. Such similarities are most often taken to be a sign of historical and literary dependency. Another way to view the similarities is to see them as part of a larger typological scheme intending to show that future events are foreshadowed by events of the past. (see quote by Cassuto in the commentary Ge 12:1-10). In fact, many of the similarities in the patriarchal narratives may have originated out of such a strategy of narrative typology."In essence this shows you what Sailhammer is going to bring out in the text. His whole thing is bringing out the theory that Genesis is part of a narrative that flows through to the end of Deuteronomy. He continually contends for this throughout his material. I think he's on to something, but there are other things that ought to be examined as well.Outline: Some commentaries (like Waltke and Greidanus) bring out alternating patterns and/or chiastic designs or concentric patterns in Genesis. This is helpful to show emphasis and plot lines, comparisons of accounts and to show the key point in say the accounts about Joseph as a whole. Sailhammer does not do this. Instead his outline resembles a story line. To me it reminds me of a commentary on the Acts of the Apostles or maybe even a Gospel. It's clear that his view of the Pentateuch as Narrative flows through to every part of this commentary. I think this is good because it gives a consistent alternative view to Genesis than any of the other commentaries I've consulted.For older Evangelicals this whole approach may present a problem. For it used to be promoted heavily as a counter to Pentecostal theology that one ought never draw doctrine from narratives. But for Pentecostal and Charismatic Evangelicals and for others who have rejected that view, this approach creates no tension at all. If anything it supports (in a round about way) the notion that all scripture is useful for doctrine, even if it is narrative in essence. One just needs to be careful to handle narrative as narrative and not as one would handle poetry or apocalyptic literature. Sailhammer doesn't explore this issue.He gives the text (his own) set apart nicely in a shadow box. Then his commentary follows. For example on Genesis 12:1-9 he gives five pages of comments and two pages of notes. His comments are a pleasant read (absent of ancient language like Hebrew or Latin characters). His notes however contain the Hebrew textual terms he discusses, a transliteration of the term, and an English translation. Bravo!! This enables those of us who read Hebrew to enjoy the Hebrew, those who are not very good at Hebrew to identify it quickly and everyone else to know what in the world he is talking about. I wish every commentator did it like this!Now, however, he does something that I don't like. He does not mark the verses up as he comments on them. So to find the comments on say just Genesis 12:3, you have to start reading the whole five pages because he gives his comments on Genesis 12:1-9 as a whole.Other authors like Greidanus encourage pastors to preach on Genesis 12:1-3 as a unit because there is so much there. In fact, Genesis 12:3b is a sermonic text in and of itself. So if you use a number of resources and want to check Sailhammer on just a bit of his work, you will be frustrated at this. If you take the time to dig though you will find that his cross references are heavy in the Pentateuch (surprise!!) So as he discusses the term seed and the promise it begins to reveal to us, he will cite it's use in the Pentateuch and it's significance in the Pentateuch with references that I missed in other commentaries, but then only say that the NT sees this as fulfilled in Christ, but doesn't even give the reference for that!?! (pg 151).So his strength of showing how this commentary ties into a literary strategy is wonderful, but the limit in focus to that is the reason why this should not be your only commentary on Genesis that you consult. He has a specific vantage point that is very interesting and very helpful. I love this tool. But it is limited in perspective. I've found this to be true of all my other commentaries as well. I find nuggets in many of them. Often Sailhammer's stuff is not duplicated in my other works. Therefore I give this volume a five star and recommend it to any pastor who is studying Genesis for sermon development. Since the job of a Christian pastor/preacher (in my opinion) is to show how the bible presents Christ and the glorious gospel, I think other aids to Genesis like Greidanus or Hamilton or Waltke which give more linkage to the NT are more helpful in sermon development once you catch on to the narrative theme in the Pentateuch (and for that Sailhammer is the best). But we must go beyond this to reveal Christ and Him crucified whenever the Old Testament testifies to this coming glory (Romans 3:19-21 & Luke 24:27). So, Sailhammer will help you bring out the Pentateuch and he will help you adjust your view of Genesis or Exodus or Leviticus. Just be careful to add to this tool others to round it out.

I really feel this series is a great option for those looking for scholarly level commentary that is not overly technical. This particular volume is no exception.A drawback of the multiple-Bible books-in-single-volume format is that the discussion can never get that deep, as space needs to be conserved. Thus, there are times when certain passages of Scripture do not get the comprehensive examination they may deserve. In fact, there have been times where I felt things that needed more discussion were glossed over to maintain space.Alternatively, that does go a long way in a few very positive directions, as well. First, it inhibits the freedom to needlessly prattle on and on with the academic musings that are sometimes indicative of commentaries that seem to indulge in being overly collegiate and end up being somewhat pretentious. These commentaries are substantive, yet not cumbersome--succinct, yet not empty.Second, they stand as a very cost-effective option for one looking to gain a complete set of OT/NT commentaries. The volumes are nicely printed and sturdily bound. They look great on the shelf and will provide all, but the most deeply academic commentary seekers, with a series that will add worth and beauty to your budding theological library.For a great balance of quickly reference-able material, intro-level scholastic commentary, beautifully published volumes, and great price . . . well, this is your set.

I was surprised at the depth of this commentary, considering you don't really need to know Hebrew to use it. It moves fast, as it has to considering it's covering three books. However, the authors don't hesitate to spend a page, or even several, on important topics. Their main thesis is the "seed of the woman" and how that is developed throughout the Pentateuch, in this case Gen through Lev. Many of the ideas presented in here left me scratching my head and wondering why I hadn't been confronted with them before. Solidly Reformed, if you are a Piper/Grudem/Kaiser and Sailhamer person, you will like this.

Love this series

This commentary is very helpful. Writing and formatting are both good. I would recommend it to anyone studying Genesis, Exodus, or Leviticus.

i like the text, but it arrived with a severally damaged corner. I would have expected that from a used book perhaps, but not a new one. I am disappointed, since I will no doubt keep the text for many years.

Personally I think the expositors bible commentary is one of the best on the market plus its verse by verse

I just purchased the Kindle version of this commentary yesterday for use in a Bible study that I am leading, and I am pleased with the commentary itself, so far. However, it is simply not Kindle friendly. This is a commentary on three individual books within the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus)with decent size commentaries on each book. But the TOC only allows you to go to the beginning page of each of the three books covered. Thus, if you need info on the flood account you have to do the Kindle version of hunt and peck to find that info. You go to search and type in chapter 8: the result is many pages long. I had to start searching through random pages numbers in order to home in on the flood account (page 116). It took 10 or 15 minutes. So it appears to be a good commentary for preaching and Bible study, but buy the hard cover. The Kindle version is just too hard to use.

A completely thorough and scholarly treatment of the original texts. A critical rather tyhan devotional comantory, which is why I chose it.I will be buying the remainder of this series.