Nothing speaks more highly for a commentary than how valuable it is to pastors and scholars, students, and interested readers. By all accounts, Victor Paul Furnish's commentary on II Corinthians has become the standard by which others are judged. It is praised as "a quite superb commentary . . . everything that a good commentary should be" (Expository Times), "by any standard . . . an excellent volume" (Interpretation), and "perhaps the definitive commentary on the letter in English" (Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society). In addition, Furnish has "accomplished a difficult task with remarkable skill and apparent ease" (Biblical Theology Bulletin), and has given us "one of [the Anchor Bible's] finest studies" (Catholic Biblical Quarterly). In the internationally renowned tradition of the Anchor Bible series, this commentary is an excellent and indispensable tool for biblical study.

Scholars rarely posses both the gift of academic excellence and the ability to communicate their expertise in an extremely readable fashion; but Furnish succeeds admirably with the right balance of scholarship and practical application, offered in the most accessible prose. With a mastery of primary languages and sources, and a lucid discussion of the first-century context of Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, the reader enters the worldview of the original recipients of this hard-hitting letter. In the end, Furnish successfully navigates the maze of difficulties faced by the commentator and, thankfully, helps the general audience understand what II Corinthians says and means.

What does that verse mean?How should I interpret this passage?What is the significance of this word or phrase in greek or Hebrew?How do Bible-time customs help me understand the meaning of this passage?How can this alleged contradiction be explained?How does the information on the author, historical background, and features of a Bible book help interpret that book? "The Bible Knowledge Commentary" answers these and other questions about the Scriptures, discussing all the Bible verse by verse and often phrase by phrase. In additon, maps, charts, and diagrams help you grasp the meanings of the biblical text. Unlike most others this commentary is by authors from one school - Dallas Theological Seminary. "The Bible Knowledge Commentary" - popular in style and scholarly in content - will deepen your understanding of God's written Word.

"The Bible Knowledge Commentary" will be welcomed by a wide spectrum of Bible students, from the beginner, who will find it easy to undestand and easy to use, to the advanced, who will find it consistently thorough and reliable. The readable style, combined with careful scholarship, make this a Bible study aid I and others will ad to our "most-used" shelf of books.

Encompassing the body of Pauline theology, Ephesians (volumes 34 and 34A of the acclaimed Anchor Bible series) has been called "the crown of St. Paul's writings," yet both its authorship and addressees are the subject of continuing dispute. Through line-by-line examination of its vocabulary, its difficult style, its Qumran and Gnostic affinities, its parallels with and distinctions from the undisputed Pauline corpus, its use of the Old Testament, and its dialogue with orthodox and heretical Judaism, Markus Barth demonstrates that Paul was almost certainly the author. And, after exploring previous explications of this hymnic and admonitory epistle in detail, he concludes that it was intended for Gentile Christians converted after Paul's visits to Ephesus.

On this basis, Barth reexamines the relationship between Israel and the church, discounting the thesis that Ephesians suggests an "early Catholic," or high-ecclesiastic or sacramental doctrine. Instead, he finds in this letter a statement of the social reconciliation which conditions the salvation of the individual. And reevaluating the section describing the relation between husband and wife, he offers an alternative to the traditional notion that Paul degrades women or belittles their rights and their dignity.

In these two volumes Barth has followed the structure of Ephesians: upon the praise of God (chapters 1-3) are based the admonitions (chapters 4-6). But just as the epistle is an integral whole, so is the author's commentary. Through his special understanding and love of the apostle Paul, Markus Barth reopens to modern man the ancient message of love, worship and joy.