A few months ago, Smyth and Helwys (a Christian academic publisher out of Macon, GA) contacted me and asked me if I would read R. Scott Nash’s new 1 Corinthians commentary for the Smyth & Helwys series. I had seen the series before in the library – Ben Witherington has written for them (Matthew) and Mitchell Reddish (Revelation) and Charles Talbert (Romans) also have nice volumes in the series.
Though I had not heard of Dr. Nash (Assoc. Prof. of NT at Mercer University), I enjoyed reading the manuscript very much. This series is known for having an excellent layout with good charts and various sidebars. The commentary offers a smooth explication of the text, as it is geared towards students. Nash, though, has really done his historical and archaeological homework. Therefore, I was happy to write an endorsement for the book.
It was my pleasure to see the final product at SBL – hot off the presses. I haven’t even received my own copy yet in the mail, though I will post about it again once I have thumbed through the book. It is a whole different experience to read a book on pdf (in front of your computer) than in nice hardcover form ( in an armchair).
When I turned to the endorsements page, I was excited to see my own words printed next to those of Marion Soards, Carolyn Osiek, and Alexandra Brown. I am not 100% sure why they chose me, but I definitely glad that I did.
I hope it will not seem cheap for me to say that I think seminary and upper-level undergraduate students will benefit from this commentary. Do check it out HERE.
See my endorsement HERE.
NB: Forthcoming is Todd D. Still’s commentary on Philippians – I have seen portions of it and it is very erudite. Once it
it hits the shelves, I will be excited to consult it alongside my other middle-length Philippians commentaries by Bockmuehl and Hooker.
Nice endorsement. One question: Any comment on the (relatively high) price? Would make me think twice about requiring it as a textbook in a course on 1-2 Corinthians.
Dave – you raise an excellent point. The high cost does seem a bit prohibitive. But – if you take a look at the free pdf excerpts of various volumes (though they do not have one for 1 Corinthians yet), there are loads of graphics, sidebars, and charts. In terms of formatting, more work from book designers and editors are involved. Also, each commentary is full of maps and pictures (usually of artefacts and places). My guess is that many of these pictures require copyright payment. Therefore, perhaps the retail price is justifiable, but I am a bit confused that neither Amazon.com nor CBD seem to be coming down from that price much. Why not? Good question.
Hey thanks for sharing. I’ve recently started reading your blog and so I thought I would comment. I’m a graduate student at Truett Seminary and am taking a Greek readings class with Dr. Todd Still right now. So it is always exciting to hear someone else out there appreciate your teacher’s work.
Keep posting I love to read your stuff,
Grace & Peace,
Chris Kuhl