The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1–17
The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1–17
Semi-technical
Evangelical

The Book of Genesis

in New International Commentary on the Old Testament

by Victor P. Hamilton

4.79 Rank Score: 7.47 from 15 reviews, 8 featured collections, and 35 user libraries
The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1–17
Pages 540
Publisher Eerdmans
Published 1990
ISBN-13 9780802825216
The Book of Genesis: Chapters 18–50
Pages 733
Publisher Eerdmans
Published 1995
ISBN-13 9780802823090

Collections

This book appears in the following featured collections.

Reviews

Add Your Review

This careful 2-volume commentary by a Wesleyan scholar is both detailed and textual, addressing matters of literary structure and ANE background, while reflecting on the literary and theological point of the text. [Full Review]
G Ware G Ware April 24, 2018
I find the division between the volumes to be oddly placed (and really, could be a single volume). But I do think this is arguably the best choice on Genesis. It would benefit from a revision, given the work that's been published over the past almost 30 years. But it is still relevant, and in most ways exceeds more recent works. For example, it is far more balanced than Walton, giving proportionately less space to chapters 1-3.
Jeffrey Jeffrey September 12, 2015
.
Tim Challies Tim Challies January 22, 2013
Most commentators on commentaries commend Hamilton for his thoroughness in examining the interpretive difficulties in Genesis and his generally conservative conclusions (though some are frustrated that he ends up ambiguous regarding Mosaic authorship). After a helpful examination of the various ways of understanding the creation story, he advocates a literary interpretation of Genesis 1. [Full Review]
John Glynn John Glynn September 20, 2008
Jim Rosscup Jim Rosscup September 20, 2008
Like Wenham and Mathews, Hamilton writes from a generally conservative evangelical perspective. I rank Mathews slightly higher simply because Hamilton is a rather dry read. He is, however, always worth consulting. [Full Review]
Hamilton is a conservative evangelical, and the series is generally seen as being more conservative than WBC, which is probably the reason he gets a little less attention from the less-conservative end of scholarship. I think the commentaries are about equivalent in quality, with Wenham perhaps winning out a little more often in terms of incisive exegesis but Hamilton giving a little more depth on more issues, especially in his introduction. Hamilton is particularly better on linguistic issues such as grammar and close analysis of particular words, but I think he may sometimes overdo it chasing lexical rabbit trails. He takes the time throughout his commentary to look at the New Testament use of Genesis. I would say that Hamilton and Wenham balance each other pretty well as a pair. Hamilton is also known for his Handbook on the Pentateuch. [Full Review]
Emphasis on comparative Semitics. Evangelical. [Full Review]
Unnatributed-d Unnatributed-d May 20, 2008
Unattributed-m Unattributed-m May 20, 2008