I sometimes love Brueggemann's writing and would recommend one of his commentaries. Other times his writing frustrates me. And there are times his thoughts are just over my head. This commentary on Genesis has some good insights and applications which cannot be found elsewhere, but I found more often then not this commentary fell into the second category for me - frustrating. I appreciated Brueggemann's work to be applicable to our culture. But unfortunately much of his insights missed the point of the texts themselves (are we really to learn in Abraham's dialog with God over Sodom that God was in need of Abraham to teach him a better way of being just – without Abraham God was in danger of making a terribly unjust decision). This frustration runs through much of the book. One will find in this commentary much to learn, but also so much to reject. If you are looking for a good commentaries to understand the text and or provide good devotional reading, I would recommend looking elsewhere.

Brueggemann is know for challenging tradition, and this commentary is no exception. He's very passionate about a number of things, some of which will be more welcomed by those toward the leftward end of biblical interpretation. He will challenge your preconceptions about the text no matter where you stand, however, and while I don't agree with his views about the nature of scripture or with some of his political conclusions, I think it's worth a look to find insights you might not see elsewhere. Brueggemann tends to be better than most with literary observations. He always has an eye out for the practical import of the text in contemporary society. [Full Review]

Theological reading with application. [Full Review]

Theological reading with application. [Full Review]