Skip to main content

A Commentary on Exodus






A Commentary on Exodus (Kregel Exegetical Library) by Duane A. Garrett

With an onslaught of movies coming out covering the first few books of the Bible, our culture is immersed in the stories of the early people of God.  Yet, there is much that is not good and/or misleading about Hollywood’s portrayal of the Pentateuch.  What we need is able scholars to make sense of the Pentateuch.  In steps Duane A. Garrett, Professor of OT Interpretation at SBTS, to provide readers with a clear and commendable commentary on the book of Exodus.  With careful handling of the Hebrew text and an eye toward the theological trajectory of Exodus, Garrett’s commentary is top-notch and not to be missed.

With a 130 page Introduction, Duane leads us through such issues as the date of the Exodus, the structure of the entire book and the history of Ancient Egyptian kings to give us a snapshot of the background of Exodus.  Yet, Duane guides us through the historicity of the exodus as it depends upon the dating of this momentous event (97).  At the end of his comments of dating, Duane writes, “In short, we have ample reason to believe that the biblical account is true, but we do not have sufficient information to specify the details of when it all happened and of what pharaohs were present” (103).  Therefore, trying to tie a specific Pharaoh with the Exodus event is a futile activity

Duane carries out his comments on the life of Moses with patience and great wisdom.  Concerning Moses’ idealism and activity in Exodus 2, he writes, “Second, Moses was an excitable, young idealist…On the other hand, his ideals were not tempered with moderation.  He could only strike out against the Egyptian taskmaster, and end up himself being a murderer, rather than wait to find a better way to remedy the situation.  That is, as a typical young idealist, he was impatient to set things right” (180).  Yet, the idealism of Moses was tempered with bad memories of Egypt, for that is where he committed murder, staining not only his conscience but his life.  Duane writes, “He had committed murder there, and no doubt, as he grew older and more reflective, he bitterly regretted it…The last place he would want to go was back to the scene of the worst moment of his life” (182).  The timidity, the running away from what God was calling him to do was based upon the tragic event in Moses’ early life, killing the cruel Egyptian taskmaster.

Lastly, Duane does an excellent job at bringing together the main theological center points of the book of Exodus.  Looking at ch.3-4 on pg. 232, Duane brings together 5 consecutive points about the previous passage that reflect Moses’ obedience to his father, God’s care for his firstborn son (Israel), and finally Christ’s example as the supreme example of the obedient son.  This kind of careful analysis does not try to find Christ under every rock in the OT but sees patterns in the OT that provide us a way to see Christ and his fulfillment of these patterns and types.

Overall, this commentary was very good in its grasp of grammatical, theological, and narrative issues in Exodus.  I recommend this commentary to anyone wanting to get a firm handle on the second book of the Bible.

Thanks to Kregel Academic for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saving Casper

Saving Casper: A Christian and an Atheist Talk about Why We Need to Change the Conversion Conversation by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper http://www.amazon.com/Saving-Casper-Christian-Conversion-Conversation/dp/1414364881 Many readers will quickly know the authors of this book from their previous release Jim and Casper Go to Church.  Jim and Matt’s new book entitled Saving Casper focuses on the way we talk about conversion in the church and the devastating ways we have pushed away atheists and other non-believers by our posture.  Both Jim and Matt traversed the national landscape, meeting in churches and asking hard questions about faith, conversion, and life. The basic premise of the book and travel is laid out here in their words, “Part of what Casper and I are trying to achieve when we speak to a group of Christians is to help people move a little bit on their “judgment meter.”  This capacity, while intellectually and often theologically uncomfortable,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Essential Christian Doctrine

  Essential Christian Doctrine , General Editor John MacArthur Pastor John MacArthur has for years been teaching the Word of God in both pulpit ministry, books, and conferences with an aim to displaying God’s revelation to his listeners in a winsome and foundational manner.  This new book, Essential Christian Doctrine takes an entire life of teaching and preaching and encapsulates the main contours of the Christian faith for its readers.  John in a systematic way highlights the most necessary teachings from Scripture including God’s Word, the Trinity, while also including sections on Man and the Future. One of the most helpful ways the authors bring to light biblical truth and theology is the way in which they group together particular themes.  In the section on the Holy Spirit, instead of a complex discussion of personhood, word pictures of the Holy Spirit are introduced in a discernible and profitable manner.  The metaphors for the Holy Spirit include fir...
Post a Comment
Read more

God's Grace for All of Life

The Romance of Grace by Jim McNeely III To be honest, when I received this book in the mail I had visions of what it might be like with a title like, ‘The Romance of Grace.’  The emotional rollercoaster and one-sided perspective on how our emotions fuel our faith was my presumption about the book, but this was the furthest thing from the truth as I started reading.  The Romance of Grace by Pastor Jim McNeely III is a careful look at the movements of grace in the way God pursues us with his love and his desire to get us to love him back.  McNeely writes, “We are entering a cosmic romance with a passionate lover, and He is interested in our heart’s truest desire.  His deepest objective isn’t to make us more moral; it is to get us to love Him back.  Virtue is the fruit, not the root” (18).  Why is this helpful?  For one thing, beginning with God’s initiating grace frees us from starting out on the wrong foot in the way we tell the story and...
2 comments
Read more