Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 121:482 (Apr 1964)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

BSac 121:482 (Apr 64) p. 173

Book Reviews

Commentary On Zechariah. By Merrill F. Unger. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1963. 275 pp. $6.95.

For many reasons, Dr. Unger has produced the best cornmentary on Zechariah available today. The first reason is his sound theological perspective; namely, that he consistently interprets the book within the dispensational, premillennial theological frame of reference. As a result, the prophecy is seen to present “a panoramic unfolding of the events connected with the first and especially the second advent of Christ and the consequent millennial restoration of the nation Israel.”

The second reason is the author’s training in the disciplines of Old Testament archaeology and Semitic languages. In order to give the historical perspective of Zechariah’s day, he presents in the introduction a detailed chronology of the exile and restoration. In his verse-by-verse exposition, Unger clarifies the text by explaining the original Hebrew constructions and by bringing the latest archaeological knowledge to bear upon the text.

The third reason is the author’s long experience in teaching this book. His outline of the book is excellent, his selection of material is skillful, and his use of other commentaries gives a rich breadth to the study.

The fourth reason is the author’s fine style of writing and the excellence of the publication. As with all his works, it is a joy to read this volume; the style is lucid, vivid, and fresh. The format of the book is neat and easily followed.

One addition to the book which would be helpful would be a discussion of the literary genre to which this prophecy belongs, and the hermencutical problem involved in the interpretation of apocalyptic literature.

B. K. Waltke

Three Crucial Decades. By Floyd V. Filson. Richmond: John Knox Press, 1963. 118 pp. $3.00.

The professor of New Testament Literature and History at McCormick Theological Seminary has made a positive contribution within the framework of nonconservative thought to a higher regard for the historicity of the book of Acts. Reflecting the trend of the so-called post-Bultmannian era toward a rediscovery of the strictly historical elements within the New

BSac 121:482 (Apr 64) p. 174

Testament (a trend represented in the Gospels by the “New Quest”), the author clearly reveals his confidence in Luke’s material as “essentially consistent and reliable.” In fact, this confidence becomes repeatedly the basis for the conclusions which the writer draws in interpreting the apostolic age.

It is true that, from a strictly conservative viewpoint, ther...