Matthew

Recognized as a masterly commentary when it first appeared, Frederick Dale Brunerbs study of Matthew is now available as a greatly revised and expanded two-volume work -- the result of seven years of careful refinement, enrichment, and updating. Through this commentary, crafted especially for teachers, pastors, and Bible students, Bruner aims bto help Godbs people love what Matthewbs Gospel says.b Brunerbs work is at once broadly historical and deeply theological. It is historical in drawing extensively on great church teachers through the centuries and on the classical Christian creeds and confessions. It is theological in that it unpacks the doctrines in each passage, chapter, and section of the Gospel. Consciously attempting to bridge past and present, Bruner asks both what Matthewbs Gospel "said" to its first hearers and what it "says" to readers today. As a result, his commentary is profoundly relevant to contemporary congregations and to those who guide them. Brunerbs commentary is replete with lively, verse-by-verse discussion of Matthewbs text. While each chapter expounds a specific topic or doctrine, the bookbs format consists of a vivid, original translation of the text followed by faithful exegesis and critical analysis, a survey of historical commentary on the text, and current applications of the text or theme under study. In this revision Bruner continues to draw on the best in modern scholarship -- including recent work by W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison Jr., by Ulrich Luz, and by many others -- adding new voices to the reading of Matthew. At the same time he cites the classic commentaries of Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Bengel, and the rest,who, like Bruner himself, were not simply doctrinal teachers but also careful exegetes of Scripture. Such breadth and depth of learning assure that Brunerbs "Matthew" will remain, as a reviewer for "Interpretation" wrote, bthe most dog-eared commentary on the shelf.b Volume 2 of Brunerbs commentary is called "The Churchbook" because Bruner sees Matthew 13-28 as concerned primarily with the life of the church and discipleship. Continuing his Volume 1 "Christbook" exposition, Bruner shows here how the focus of Matthew shifts, from Jesus teaching about "who he is" to teaching mainly about "what his church is." Brunerbs "Churchbook" commentary divides the second half of Matthew according to its major ecclesiological themes: the churchbs faith (chapters 13-17), the churchbs love (18-20), the churchbs history (21-23), the churchbs hope (24-25), and the churchbs passion (26-28). Eminently readable, rich in biblical insight, and ecumenical in tone, Brunerbs two-volume commentary on Matthew now stands among the best in the field.