Of the writing of commentaries on Romans there is no end...thankfully!

The first major commentary on Romans that I owned was volume one of the New International Critical Commentary by C. E. B. Cranfield. I found it in mint condition in the Oxfam book sale, in Woodlands Road, Glasgow, in 1976. It must have been a review copy. The cost new was £6 and the price on the shelf was 10 pence! A few years later I bought volume II when it came out, at £10. I've used these for the last nearly 50 years, and I still trust the careful seriousness of what has become Cranfield, the classic. They are now £90 per volume.

Since then as major commentaries have been published they have found their way to my shelves. I tried with Ernst Kasemann's translated volume which was described as epoch making, but which I found hard to use. In 1988 came the two volume Word Biblical Commentary by J. D. G. Dunn, the first major commentary from what Dunn himself called 'The New Perspective on Paul'. It too has been a faithful companion on my expeditions into Paul's letter, along with Dunn's Theology of Paul which is itself a classic exposition of Paul's letter to the Romans. Joseph Fitzmyer's Anchor Bible commentary, written by a Catholic scholar of immense learning, was described as all but indistinguishable from a deeply informed and theologically rich exposition of justification by faith from the older perspective. It is remarkably readable. 

Then came Douglas Moo's hefty NICNT volume which remains, in its second edition, the premier commentary from a Reformed and traditional perspective, though interacting both negatively and positively with what are more recently called 'the new perspectives' on Paul. N. T. Wright has spent a lifetime on Paul, and his Romans contribution to the New Interpreter's Bible is a scintillating combination of theological exegesis and explanation of how the text applies to church and world. Ben Witherington's more Arminian socio-rhetorical take on Romans is at times combative with those who beg to differ and retain a Lutheran or Reformed position on election, justification, and Christian existence under the Gospel in the power of the Spirit. But Witherington has his own helpful take on what Paul is about in Romans.  

Jewett's Hermeneia was long awaited, and in 2008 appeared as a massive treatment of the social / historical context of Rome and Greco-Roman mediterranean culture. While not ignoring theological interpretation, the emphasis throughout is on Paul and the Roman Christians and the social and historical situation of the early communities at the centre of Empire. It's a tour de force that sparked international conferences to explore further the implications of Jewett's work for ongoing Romans exegesis. I gave away my copy to someone who would get more use from it as an academic and technical commentary.

And so the procession goes on with Colin Kruse in the Pillar series, another who leans heavily to the older or more traditional perspective. In 2016 Richard Longenecker's NIGTC on the Greek text landed with a thump on the already crowded desks of Romans scholars. It is huge, rich, detailed, offering almost everything you could ask for, and quite a lot we neither asked for nor knew enough about to ask, but which lie within the legitimate parameters of technical exegesis, reception history, ecclesial appropriation and personal application. 

The came Frank Matera's Paideia with its accessible length, clear writing and fruitful engagement with social context and rhetorical analysis. Mike Gorman's stand alone commentary is self-consciously written for the church and for Christian formative engagement with a text which embodies Gorman's distinctive emphases on cruciformity and the resurrectional power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

And so to Beverly Gaventa's much anticipated volume in the New Testament Library series published by Westminster John Knox Press. It has just arrived, and this will be my summer read. I plan to write several review posts of my progress through what promises to be a rich gift to academy, church and preacher - Gaventa is one who has exemplified the rich interweaving of these three spheres of learning and teaching in her own calling and career.

With apologies to John and adapting what he says at the end of his Gospel, "there are many other books written on Romans, but the world is barely large enough to contain them!" Perhaps so. But I for one am delighted that such scholarship keeps coming to refresh and nurture the church, and open further the deep wells of the biblical texts for each new generation.     

Since then as major commentaries have been published they have found their way to my shelves. I tried with Ernst Kasemann's translated volume which was described as epoch making, but which I found hard to use. In 1988 came the two volume Word Biblical Commentary by J. D. G. Dunn, the first major commentary from what Dunn himself called 'The New Perspective on Paul'. It too has been a faithful companion on my expeditions into Paul's letter, along with Dunn's Theology of Paul which is itself a classic exposition of Paul's letter to the Romans. Joseph Fitzmyer's Anchor Bible commentary, written by a Catholic scholar of immense learning, was described as all but indistinguishable from a deeply informed and theologically rich exposition of justification by faith from the older perspective. It is remarkably readable. 

Then came Douglas Moo's hefty NICNT volume which remains, in its second edition, the premier commentary from a Reformed and traditional perspective, though interacting both negatively and positively with what are more recently called 'the new perspectives' on Paul. N. T. Wright has spent a lifetime on Paul, and his Romans contribution to the New Interpreter's Bible is a scintillating combination of theological exegesis and explanation of how the text applies to church and world. Ben Witherington's more Arminian socio-rhetorical take on Romans is at times combative with those who beg to differ and retain a Lutheran or Reformed position on election, justification, and Christian existence under the Gospel in the power of the Spirit. But Witherington has his own helpful take on what Paul is about in Romans.  

Jewett's Hermeneia was long awaited, and in 2008 appeared as a massive treatment of the social / historical context of Rome and Greco-Roman mediterranean culture. While not ignoring theological interpretation, the emphasis throughout is on Paul and the Roman Christians and the social and historical situation of the early communities at the centre of Empire. It's a tour de force that sparked international conferences to explore further the implications of Jewett's work for ongoing Romans exegesis. I gave away my copy to someone who would get more use from it as an academic and technical commentary.

And so the procession goes on with Colin Kruse in the Pillar series, another who leans heavily to the older or more traditional perspective. In 2016 Richard Longenecker's NIGTC on the Greek text landed with a thump on the already crowded desks of Romans scholars. It is huge, rich, detailed, offering almost everything you could ask for, and quite a lot we neither asked for nor knew enough about to ask, but which lie within the legitimate parameters of technical exegesis, reception history, ecclesial appropriation and personal application. 

The came Frank Matera's Paideia with its accessible length, clear writing and fruitful engagement with social context and rhetorical analysis. Mike Gorman's stand alone commentary is self-consciously written for the church and for Christian formative engagement with a text which embodies Gorman's distinctive emphases on cruciformity and the resurrectional power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

And so to Beverly Gaventa's much anticipated volume in the New Testament Library series published by Westminster John Knox Press. It has just arrived, and this will be my summer read. I plan to write several review posts of my progress through what promises to be a rich gift to academy, church and preacher - Gaventa is one who has exemplified the rich interweaving of these three spheres of learning and teaching in her own calling and career.

With apologies to John and adapting what he says at the end of his Gospel, "there are many other books written on Romans, but the world is barely large enough to contain them!" Perhaps so. But I for one am delighted that such scholarship keeps coming to refresh and nurture the church, and open further the deep wells of the biblical texts for each new generation.