Book Reviews -- By: Mark R. Stevenson

Journal: Emmaus Journal
Volume: EMJ 14:2 (Winter 2005)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Mark R. Stevenson


Book Reviews

Mark R. Stevenson

1 & 2 Kings, Holman Old Testament Commentary, vol. 7, By Gary Inrig, Nashville: Holman Reference, 2003, 377 pages, hardcover, $19.99.

The Holman Old Testament Commentary (HOTC) is a series designed for most of the Bible teachers in the English-speaking world. I am thinking of the many men and women who teach Sunday school classes, home Bible studies, and do personal discipleship without any training in how to teach the Bible. These gifted people need as many tools as they can get, and this series is one such tool. This is a teacher’s commentary. It is specifically designed to help Christian educators craft and present lessons that are accurate, interesting, and motivational.

The commentaries in this series include the following elements in every chapter: (1) An introductory illustration, (2) a verse-by-verse commentary, (3) a concluding summary which includes principles derived from the passage and application suggestions, (4) an application section which expands on the central theme of the chapter, (5) a prayer, (6) a section which briefly explains more technical questions of history or theology in greater detail, (7) a teaching outline, (8) and several questions that can be used to stimulate discussion. It is clear that this is not intended to simply be a verse-by-verse exposition of Scripture. This commentary series is designed to help teachers become better teachers by providing homiletically appropriate lesson outlines, multiple illustrations, and other information to make Bible lessons more effective. These are, in a sense, Bible curriculums in commentary form.

For teachers who do not have a significant amount of time to prepare, these commentaries will be a great help. Everything is done for you. But the greatest strength of theses volumes is also, at times, their greatest weakness. For example, teachers who actually engage in serious study of the Bible will usually have their own idea of what the central point of a passage is. Unfortunately, it may not always be the main point the commentator has selected. If a teacher disagrees

with the commentator, then the material in the commentary becomes less useful, because the entire chapter has been crafted around the author’s choice of a central theme. What this means is that teachers must not approach this commentary as a lesson plan, but as a commentary which includes tools for crafting lessons. They should not feel the need to follow the commentary at every turn but be willing to pick and choose the parts that are helpful to them as they teach their understanding of the passage.

As it relates to the volume on 1 and 2 Kings we can make the foll...

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