Hebrew and Old Testament expert Bruce Waltke looks at the book of Genesis as a work of theological literature. Thus, he focuses on primary aspects of the story (narrative), including characterization, plot, theme, scene, structure, foreshadowing and irony, and balances these issues with an emphasis on the theology of Genesis which both shapes and is shaped by the narrative. He looks at the ten divine initiatives in salvation history, each delineated by a “toledot” heading (“the account of the line of…”) followed by a transitional linkage. Waltke interprets the text using twelve levels of signification (sounds, syllables, words, phrases, clauses, sentences, frames/speeches, scene parts or incidents, scenes or episodes, acts or phases, sections/cycles, book/composition), and takes the best of form, source, narrative and literary criticism to offer readers one of the best looks at the theological and literary value of Genesis, the book of beginnings.

This has become the first Commentary that I turn to, for preaching and writing exegetical papers. Waltke has written this commentary in a manner that is easy to understand, and gives a great amount of revenant information, without getting stuck on matters that are not worth the time. If I had one Commentary on Genesis it would be this one, even over Wenham mainly because of how user friendly it is.

It doesn't get any better than this if you want a commentator sensitive to literary devices. Although I found myself disagreeing with Waltke at a few points, I really wanted to agree because he demonstrated everything so well from the text. If you want something more than word studies and ancient near eastern parallels - that is, if you actually want to understand Genesis and what the original author was trying to communicate to his audience - this is the commentary for you.

This is a concise work that does a good job of covering the material. It is not as involved as NAC or NICOT, so it can be very useful when you do not have "digging deep" time.

Bruce Waltke had a set of exegetical notes he would distribute to his Genesis seminary classes, and one of his former students, Cathi J. Fredericks, talked him into letting her edit them for publication. He did expand on them in places, but these are mostly brief exegetical notes with theological summaries for each unit he discusses. I generally find his exegesis to be the best of any of the Genesis commentaries I've looked at, but there isn't a lot of detail here on historical background, language, and many other things you might expect to look to a commentary to help you understand. The book is uneven, having much more discussion on the parts he chose to expand on and much less of insight on the notes he chose to leave as they were. Waltke is a conservative evangelical, and he's also known for some excellent commentaries on Proverbs (NICOT) and Micah (Eerdmans). [Full Review]

A competent Evangelical commentary emphasizing theological insights. [Full Review]

A competent Evangelical commentary emphasizing theological insights. [Full Review]