My Favorite Commentaries on the Gospel of Mark
As I said in my previous post, the late, great preacher and New Testament scholar Fred Craddock advised pastors to have “two good commentaries” on each book of the Bible. He cautioned seminary students at the time, like yours truly, that interpreting God’s Word is simply too important to be left to any one person’s opinion.
I have probably spent enough on commentaries over the past twenty-one years of ministry to buy a nice, used sports car! But, shhhh, don’t tell my wife that!
I want to turn now to the second Gospel in our canon, which bears the name of Mark but many believe were actually the words of Peter recorded by John Mark.
By most scholars’ estimation, the Gospel of Mark was the first of the four that was written. Yet, I’m not sure the work has been as well served by scholarly and pastoral commentaries as it should be.
A number of great works have emerged over the past twenty years on Mark but too few commentators have skillfully incorporated them into a technical or semi-technical tome.
However, a few are well worth mentioning:
Pride of place must go to the two volume work by Joel Marcus in the Anchor Yale Bible Commentary series. While the retired Duke professor (I’ll try not to hold that against him) is often much too skeptical in regards to the historicity reported by Mark, the commentaries theology and insight on Mark’s use of the Old Testament is superb. Scholars, pastors and seminary students must own these two volumes even though they are pricey.
Moving from a technical to a more lay friendly work, The NIV Application commentary on Mark by David Garland is invaluable for preaching, teaching or personal study. Garland is a skilled writer and insightful exegete. If you don’t know Greek or are just rusty, this is the first place you should turn.
A few other commentaries on the Gospel deserve an honorable mention: First, Ben Witherington’s socio-rhetorical commentary is one of the scholar’s best works (second only to his outstanding commentary on Acts)—this too is a must for preachers. Second, from a technical perspective (i.e., you really need to know Greek to use it well) is the New International Greek Testament Commentary by R.T. France. The late British New Testament scholar was more conservative than Marcus but I don’t think he nailed Mark’s theology as well. However, it is still a truly valuable resource. Finally, preachers and committed lay people should also not overlook the fine commentary by James Edwards in the Pillar New Testament Commentary Series. Edwards is a marvelous writer and often offers better insight in this popular level work than many scholars do in a thick, technical commentary.
I should also note that I have used the two volume set from the Word Biblical Commentary Series penned by Robert Guelich and Craig Evans, respectfully. They are solid but the format of the Word series drives me bonkers. I also have mined a few gems from Morna Hooker’s 1992 entry in the Black’s New Testament Commentary series. I have yet to really dig in to contributions by Adela Yarbro Collins, Eugene Boring or Francis Maloney but, typically, they are all first rate scholars.
That’s all for now, tune in next time.