A very good commentary. Walton gives excellent background and foundation going in, and the commentary is quite solid and mostly Evangelical throughout. I am not keen on the format of the NIVAC's, and Walton a few times seems to jump over or only slightly touch on some passages. Overall though, one of the better commentaries on Genesis.

This is really good. Whether or not you buy all of Walton's implications of God's design or function, over material origins, you need to have this in your library. His major contribution is in ancient Hebrew and Mesopotamian cultural analysis. Very solid.

It is difficult to decide what commentary should fill the number five slot, but in terms of general helpfulness, Walton's commentary probably deserves it. The NIVAC series does not get into as many technical issues, but it excels in terms of bridging the gap between the original audience and the contemporary world. This commentary, then, will be of particular use to preachers and teachers. [Full Review]

John Walton's NIVAC is thought by many to be one of the better expositional/applicational Genesis commentaries. The strength of this series is tracing out how to bridge the gap between the original meaning and contemporary application, and those who do it well have produced some very good volumes, especially in the Old Testament. Walton is one of the editors of the series, and he has a better idea than some contributors of what the series was supposed to be like. Also, one of his scholarly strengths is ancient near eastern background, including literary genre. I've looked at it a little bit, and what I've seen has mostly been good. The original meaning section is pretty light, though, as is typical of this series. My biggest complaint has been Walton's endorsement of Walter Kaiser's view of Old Testament interpretation that there can be no truth expressed in a biblical passage unless the original human author intended it. [Full Review]