1 Peter: A Commentary on First Peter (Hermeneia: a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible)

Rating:
Summary: This is now the best overall commentary on 1 Peter
Review: For those who care, I am an evangelical pastor (and Ph.D. candidate) currently preaching through 1 Peter in the church I serve. I am using several commentaries, but this is the best overall. That should not be surprising since Acht. is able to build on many worthy predecessors, most notably Michaels (in the Word series), Goppelt and Kelly. Acht. is able to take full advantage of other works, and even many more recent studies in 1 Peter that have appeared since then. Being the latest work, by default, it is the most up to date and the most inclusive of previous works. Beyond its newness, why is the the best? 1) Acht. has very good exegetical and theological sensibilities. He does not get carried away with all the subtleties of the Greek (and Michaels is prone to do), and never loses sight of the overall picture (Evangelicals will disagree with some of his stances--notably his rigid egalitarianism), 2)As for usefulness, the format is a preacher's dream. All the scholarly information is placed in footnotes (don't forget to check these!), so the text reads clearly and quickly. I found this work much more useful in sermon preperation than Michaels work (in which all the references and scholarly notes are placed in the text!). My one complaint is the price of the Hermenia volumes. They are excellent hard cover books, but a tad more than most individuals (let alone pastors) want to pay for one commentary (considering there are 65 other books in the Bible). I would recommend that Hermenia put it out in a smaller, soft-cover edition and reduce the price to about 25$. This commentary deserves wide usage in our churches, and its current price probably causes many pastors to opt for the less expensive (and less good) works by Michaels or Davids. If they reduce the price, I would give it 5 instead of only 4 stars.