A Profoundly Disappointing Book

April 14, 2008 at 3:05 pm (Books (reviews and recommendations))

Just today I received this new commentary on Judges in the mail. Usually, any time a new commentary on this book is published, it is cause for great rejoicing, since we have so little on it (which is really a pity, since it is so interesting a book of the Bible). However, I cannot rejoice at this commentary. For one thing, it is way too short to be of much help. The book is 290 pages. However, Niditch’s translation is printed TWICE in the book. Once throughout the commentary, and the very same complete translation at the end (taking up almost 70 pages!). Of commentary, there is only 211 pages, and of course, a lot of that is taken up printing the translation. Since the font-size is the same in both printings of the translation, we can assume that another 70 pages of the remaining 211 pages is translation. That leaves only 141 pages of actual commentary. Then I looked in the bibliography, and found only seven (!) commentaries in the bibliography! And guess who was missing? Daniel Block! The single best commentary out there on Judges isn’t even in her bibliography! There is no excuse for this, since Block’s commentary is now 9 years old. And it is not as if the pool is swimming with big fish, as Romans would be. Indeed, the lack of sufficiently acute commentaries on Judges has been a big problem for pastors for quite some time. Other bibliographical gaps: K. Lawson Younger, and Dale Ralph Davis. Now, I could theoretically understand not having Davis in the bibliography, since it is a more popular work. However, Niditch quotes Lawson Younger’s other works, but not the commentary! Younger’s commentary is a full 6 years old. There is no possibility that Susan Niditch did not know of these works. She deliberately excluded them from her bibliography in a gross display of liberal narrow-mindedness. Not exactly a vote of confidence in my book that this commentary is going to be helpful. These kinds of things really bother me, in case you couldn’t tell.

14 Comments

  1. ReformedSinner (DC) said,

    April 14, 2008 at 3:33 pm

    This review made me think of the late-Al Groves. He was working on a commentary of Judges and I was really looking forward to him everytime we talked about it. He has such insightst that I believed surpassed even Daniel Block. However, it’s mute point now… or maybe not, I don’t know if any publisher would do this but perhaps someone can publish his manuscripts on Judges.

  2. greenbaggins said,

    April 14, 2008 at 3:41 pm

    Libby was working on his commentary (either his Judges or his Isaiah commentary). One of them will see the light of day, I think. I agree that either one would be splendid.

  3. Ron Henzel said,

    April 14, 2008 at 6:08 pm

    Lane,

    You wrote:

    She deliberately excluded them from her bibliography in a gross display of liberal narrow-mindedness.

    As they say, plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose (the more things change, the more they remain the same).

  4. Paul M. said,

    April 14, 2008 at 6:58 pm

    Ron,

    Nice quoting Rush!

  5. chris hutchinson said,

    April 14, 2008 at 8:50 pm

    Wait for Gordon Hugenberger’s upcoming commentary on Judges. It will be splendid. Especially his take that Samson is largely a commendable, rather than a tragic, figure. But who knows when it will ever be finished!

    Chris H.

  6. Rick Phillips said,

    April 14, 2008 at 9:16 pm

    I had long hoped that Al would be given the NICOT on Judges. His notes on Judges from WTS are absolutely precious. In fact, the last time I saw Al I urged him to pursue publication of his Judges material. So I will be thrilled if Libby can get his work into print.

  7. Richard Zuelch said,

    April 15, 2008 at 12:46 am

    Well, Lane, it’s published in the Old Testament Library series, a generally liberal commentary series - so, why are you so surprised? Liberals are always, well, liberals…

    I’m just waiting for Jimmy Carter’s commentary on the Song of Solomon. KIDDING (I hope)…

  8. Steven Carr said,

    April 15, 2008 at 1:32 pm

    That’ll teach you for buying a commentary written by a woman. How’s that for a gross display of conservative narrowmindedness.

  9. rey said,

    April 15, 2008 at 2:20 pm

    So, did you actually read any of the commentary or just the bibliography?

  10. greenbaggins said,

    April 15, 2008 at 2:33 pm

    Rey, I did not read any of the commentary. I will certainly read it when I get to preach on Judges, if that ever happens in my lifetime.

    Steven, I know, I know. But I have to keep somewhat up to date on what the liberals are saying.

    Richard, yes, the OTL is typically very liberal. However, there are some gems among the fakes, such as Japhet on Chronicles, and Habel on Job that are definitely worth having.

    Chris, I will definitely purchase a Hugenberger commentary on Judges. NO doubt about it.

    Rick, yes, that would have been great to have his commentary part of NICOT. I doubt that will happen, but I still hope to see his work in print.

  11. R. F. White said,

    April 15, 2008 at 8:20 pm

    Concerning Al Groves and his studies in Judges, some may know that Al wrote the first version of the Judges notes for the New Geneva Study Bible. As Providence would have it, I was the assistant editor for the OT of the NGSB at the time (early 90s), that is, when it was in the hands of Wolgemuth & Hyatt. Al’s notes on Judges were one of the great highlights of the OT in that project. Sadly, when the project was taken over by Thomas Nelson, Al’s work on Judges was replaced and the NGSB was published with a more garden-variety approach to Judges. Happily, I retained copies of Al’s notes for my own files. They are indeed a treasure of biblical-theological exegesis. I would anticipate tha those who had the benefit of his later work on Judges have even greater treasures in their possession.

  12. Alan D. Strange said,

    April 16, 2008 at 10:38 am

    I will never forget taking Hebrew with Al Groves more than twenty years ago at WTS. We spent some time in Judges translating, and he shared many of his exegetical insights with the class. His rich biblical-theological approach opened up for me that book, and like biblical material, as never before. I do not have the advantage of holding those notes that are in Fowler’s possession and would thus like to add my voice to those calling for the fuller publication of Al’s work on Judges.

  13. rey said,

    April 16, 2008 at 5:26 pm

    Do you know of any good commentaries on Job?

  14. greenbaggins said,

    April 16, 2008 at 5:53 pm

    The best by far is Joseph Caryl, available here:

    http://www.heritagebooks.org/bookstore/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=4662

    However, few have time for a twelve-volume commentary (more’s the pity! He is actually a commentary on the whole Bible from the lense of Job!). The best modern critical commentary (still incomplete) is Clines:

    https://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/1587/nm/Job_1_20_Word_Biblical_Commentary_/?utm_source=lkeister&utm_medium=lkeister

    and

    https://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/1551/nm/Job+21-37+%28Word+Biblical+Commentary%29/?utm_source=lkeister&utm_medium=lkeister

    I also like Hartley and Andersen:

    https://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/1509/nm/Job_NICOT_/?utm_source=lkeister&utm_medium=lkeister

    And

    https://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/2235/nm/Job_Tyndale_Commentaries_/?utm_source=lkeister&utm_medium=lkeister

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