The Gospel of John (New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT))

Deep, insightful, and worth not just the money but the time commitment. The footnotes are nearly 1/3rd of the book, demonstrating the completeness of the analysis and commentary. I cannot recommend highly enough.

Several have mentioned disagreement with chapter three in the section on being born again, and I agree that the explanation goes awry there. However, please do not refrain from getting this commentary for that reason. I have been preaching through John and have used it almost through chapter 14. I have found no other commentary that has helped me meditate on the text of Scripture effectively like this commentary. It is truly a treasure. Buy it and be blessed.

I am using this commentary, along with the previous NICNT commentary on John's Gospel by Leon Morris, for a Bible Study course on the "I AM" sayings of Jesus, and have been quite pleased with the valuable information contained in this commentary. I find this book very suitable for searching themes on topics within John, and will continue using it in the future.

Outstanding work of scholarship by a brilliant New Testament professor.

An excellent commentary in an excellent series. Great analysis of the gospel from a historical, language, and theological point of view.

Met all expectations. Would buy again from this vendor

After a lengthy career of teaching and writing, J. Ramsey Michaels delivers a detailed 1,000+ page slab of commentary on the "maverick gospel." This volumes replaces Leon Morris' well-respected 800+ page volume in the same series. I struggled to appropriately title this review because I needed to use the proper words to convey the value of this commentary. It is lengthy--not only in pages, but in the issues Michaels chooses to cover. Often the main body and footnotes will carry on discussions about what certain Greek articles and pronouns refer to, but then Michaels will barely address issues like John's use of the Old Testament, or he almost totally ignores the Johannine communty debate (which admittedly is my own pet interest). As to why I called this commentary idiosyncratic, Michaels makes little use of contemporary secondary sources, and positions that he takes on interpretive issues are often unique to him. He blazes his own trail through John, often where few have gone before him. One example of a colorful interpretation from Michaels: In John 19:30, when Jesus "lays" his head and gives up his spirit, Michaels connects this with Jesus' words in Matthew 8:20 that the Son of Man has no place to "lay" his head. This surely is an intriguing connection, but is he right? Another way he bucks scholarly convention is he gives more attention to the woman caught in adultery passage (John 7:53-8:11; the "pericope adulterae") and sees it as an important set-up for Jesus' teaching in the temple. So again, one is hard-pressed to find a current commentary that reads John the way Michaels does. For the scholars looking at this commentary, you likely won't be satisfied with Michael's use of secondary sources which are often limited and dated. Bultmann is perhaps his main dialogue partner, and early church fathers are cited often as well (which is most welcome!), but he omits interacting with major contemporary scholars (Kostenberger, for one conservative example). Abbott's "Johannine Grammar" seems to be referenced on every other page, which is certainly a classic work, but one wonders if Greek scholarship has progressed since 1906 (it has). So while this commentary won't provide the breadth of current scholarly exposure and discussion, Michaels is aware of this and is up front about what is the goal of his commentary. If you want to learn about Jewish and Greco-Roman backgrounds, go to Keener, he's got two volumes ready for you. If you want to preach, Carson or Burge should already be on your shelf. But if you want a thorough analysis of John's narrative of Jesus, Michaels will add depth and fresh thinking your study of this fascinating gospel. For the general reader, I wouldn't make this the first commentary on John to own; pick up one of the "standards" first--Lincoln, Carson, Kostenberger, Bruce, Moloney--in order to get a solid grounding in John. But please do look to Michaels to give some depth to your Johannine study. For pastors, you must be willing to dig through Michaels's lenghty and valuable analysis of each passage--he won't spoon-feed you theology or application. Fortunately, his tone is readable, often winsome, despite the complex discussion. So, all in all, be aware of what this commentary is set to do and what you want from a commentary. It won't be all things to all people. I was initially put off by it, and over time grew more fond of the alternative perspective it gives.

This is my favorite set of commentaries. The NICNT and the NICOT are great tools for exegetical teaching.

VG

Excellent fresh approach