Then I turn to James D.G. Dunn, The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon: A Commentary on the Greek Text (New International Greek Testament Commentary) . As always, rigorous, creative, and theologically suggestive. [Full Review]

There are parts of this commentary that were very helpful. For students doing more in depth study on the book of Colossians, this book would be recommended, but if you are a pastor or Bible study leader, perhaps Garland and Wright would be better places to start. I will say here that I have always avoided commentaries in this series feeling they would be to technical since the title included “Greek.” I have not studied Greek and though I enjoy when commentaries can help me understand Greek words or structures and how it effects the meaning, I do not like when commentaries will write long sentences in Greek and then not explain or transliterate. I assumed this series might fall in the second category – technical and for scholars. But I checked this one out on Google Books and was pleasantly surprised at its ease of reading. It is based on the Greek text and he explains it where needed. But he does not let Greek get in the way of communicating clearly and effectively his ideas. Do not let the label “technical” on this commentary scare you away. I am now looking forward to checking out some other commentaries in this serious I had stayed away from.

[Full Review]

[Full Review]

James D. G. Dunn's well-known and formidable exegetical skills are amply displayed in his new commentary on Colossians and Philemon for the New International Greek Testament Commentary series. On both these texts Dunn offers balanced and reasonable readings that will certainly become essential moments in scholarly discussion of these texts. One of the expressed purposes of the NIGTC series is that the commentaries “interact with modern scholarship" (p. x). Few persons could manage that task as well as Dunn has here. He is consistently fair to scholars with whom he does not agree and to exegetical options he does not hold. At each point of debate, he states clearly and equitably the readings he himself does not maintain and then provides forceful argument for his own readings. This volume thus becomes a wonderful exegetical resource for at least two reasons: first, Dunn offers persuasive and plausible readings of these texts and, second, he provides a wealth of information on scholarly debate on these texts. Typical of Dunn's balance and fairness is his decision about authorship. After giving sympathetic accounts of the arguments both for and against Pauline authorship, he attempts to strike a balance between them. Colossians, he argues, was written by Timothy under Paul's direction (from either Rome or Ephesus in the mid-50s). Thus Dunn can state that “the distinction between ‘Pauline' and ‘post-Pauline' as applied to Colossians becomes relatively unimportant" (p. 38). In some ways, this is a satisfying solution to the peculiar puzzle of the relationship of Colossians to the rest of the Pauline corpus. It is by Paul; it is not by Paul. [Full Review]