Study Tools. Full Commentary Sets

Pastor David Green has begun and excellent work by recommending books that every Baptist preacher needs to have. I’m going to try my hand at adding to the list and using his format. I’m not disagreeing with his list. There are some books he has that I haven’t read and I’m sure vice versa. First, check out David’s list.

I’m going to go section by section and then give a short overview of why I like them. Today's installment will cover Full Commentary sets. These are my favorites. 

Full Commentary Sets.

John Gill's Exposition of the Bible. The Good Doctor is a staple for any Baptist library. He’ll give you most of the information that you want and a lot of the information that you don’t want. As Spurgeon pointed out, he likes to firstly, then secondly explain what the text doesn’t mean before telling you what it does. But the man was such a giant intellect it is worth the effort. Not so hot on eschatological issues.

Matthew Henry

If you need the sense of the passage and how to apply it, Matthew Henry is great.

Albert Barnes.

Might be my favorite. Would probably be the happy medium between the overabundance of information with Gill on each verse, but with the clarity and insight of Henry. Like Henry, he did not finish the whole Bible and it was finished for him, some areas weaker than others, especially on church doctrine.

Matthew Poole

Short and sweet comments. I’ll follow his lead.

B. H. Carroll

I absolutely love this collection. Sometimes I’ll just take one down and read a little section. They are full of insightful observations and witty stories and illustrations. The book recommendations he makes are also gold. These are Carroll’s classroom lectures as he took his seminary students through the English Bible. Obviously, not a verse by verse commentary, but it you are going to preach through a book or do a book study, I would say that this set should be on you list to read in your early study of the book. I disagree with his eschatological views.

The Pulpit Commentary

I usually look at this once I’m finished with my outline and my study. I rarely look at the exegetical work, but I enjoy the homiletics section. It’s a collection of sermons and sermon outlines from various preachers.

 Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary 

Another favorite when I'm just looking for the sense of the passage. Often good application.