Sunday, August 30, 2015

Have you read Galatians recently?

Oakes, Peter.  Galatians.  Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015.  ISBN: 978-1-4412-4651-6

Commentaries are by nature books written about other books.  While many works of literature have commentaries (think of all that has been written discussing Shakespeare or Chaucer), when you think of  individual commentaries, you are likely thinking of a book on individual books of the Bible.  That is the case here.  Peter Oakes has written a commentary on Galatians that works on many levels.  He provides a nice overview of the book, highlights the major themes that he sees in Paul's letter, and then he digs into the individual chapters and verses.

Peter Oaks does a very credible job of setting Galatians in context of its time and location while relating the letter to the rest of Paul's letters.  He provides his own translation of the text and setts the major themes in relation to each other.  He works on developing the reader's understanding of how each part of the letter interacts and reflects with the rest of the letter.  He syntheses and documents other commentaries on Galatians without losing his own vision of the book.  The major quibble I have with Oakes' commentary is the abrupt ending.  An afterword would have been a nice addition.  Otherwise, a good choice for developing your understanding of Paul's Letter to the Galatians.

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