The First Letter to the Corinthians

This commentary, written by Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, belongs to the Pillar New Testament Commentary series, which addresses “serious pastors and teachers of the Bible” (xiv). The features of the series mark this volume as well. The commentary is extensive and detailed (the text itself has 867 pages), obviously the result of an enormous amount of work. The exegesis focuses to a lesser degree on academic discussions and more on theological and ethical issues. The commentary uses the TNIV. The few philological aspects of the exegesis are confined to footnotes. The volume has some practical orientation and discusses a number of themes of actuality with respect to Christian life in the modern world (see 1 and the body of the commentary). This explains why scholars of 1 Corinthians will not find within responses to all their questions on exegetical discussions. The lengthy introduction addresses a number of general issues, some of which are usually included in all commentaries (the city of Corinth and the Corinthian church, the structure of 1 Corinthians, and the reading strategy proposed by the commentary), while others would pertain rather to introductions to the New Testament (a quite long chapter on “The Identity and Aims of the Apostle Paul,” with biographical data gleaned from the Pauline Epistles and Acts and a discussion of Pauline theology). [Full Review]