The other day, someone asked me what I wish I had done differently when I began seminary. My answer would have been: I wish that I had invested in complete sets, instead of buying resources piecemeal. The benefit of having the complete collection at your disposal cannot be overestimated. That’s why we’ve worked to offer the best commentary collections at the lowest possible prices. That’s why we’ve included the International Critical Commentary for our Back-to-School sale. This set is on sale at a massive discount, 30% off the original price for a limited time! Add it to your library today with coupon code BTS2014.
The best of grammatical-historical scholarship on the Bible
The editors of the International Critical Commentary bring together the best biblical scholars of the 20th and 21st centuries to elucidate the writings of Scripture from the standpoint of textual criticism, philology, and source criticism. The roll call is impressive: S.R. Driver and C.A. Briggs edited the essential Brown, Driver, Briggs (BDB) Hebrew lexicon; I. Howard Marshall is the eminent New Testament scholar and professor emeritus at the University of Aberdeen; and C.E.B. Cranfield, about whose Romans commentary Bill Mounce cannot “imagine preparing a talk on Romans without checking Cranfield carefully.[1]
The major strength of this commentary series is its devotion to the original language texts of Scripture. In each volume, the author moves verse by verse and phrase by phrase through the biblical book, offering grammatical and historical insights while saving theological excurses for expanded appendices. The authors dig deep into each passage, bringing to light the language and literature of the Scripture that enhances the study of the pastor and the scholar.
Exegetical insights from the ICC
Jesus’ comments on new and old wineskins are often discussed but rarely understood. In Luke 5:33–39, Jesus defends his disciples behavior by stating that the bridegroom is here but when he goes away, the disciples will begin to fast. Jesus tells a parable concerning the folly of tearing out a piece of new cloth to fix old clothing. He again reinforces his point by explaining how one cannot put new wine in old wineskins.
Plummer acknowledges the difficulty of these words of Jesus: “As to the precise meaning, interpreters are not agreed, beyond the general truth that a new spirit requires a new form.” (Plummer, Luke, 163) However, Jesus seems to be commenting on the idea that Judaism as a system cannot be a proper vessel for the spirit of the coming age: “The scribes and Pharisees, wise in the letter of the law, and understanding their own cramping traditions, were incapable of receiving the free spirit of the Gospel. Young and fresh natures, free from prejudice and open to new light and new impressions, were needed to receive the new word and preserve it unchecked and untrammeled for future generations.” (164)
What about Jesus’s conclusion concerning the person who drinks the new wine and states ὁ παλαιὸς χρηστός ἐστιν (“The old is good”)? Plummer contends with commentators who think that the person has tried the new wine and amend “χρηστός” to “χρηστότερος” (“better”). Instead, the text should stand as it is, with Jesus’s implicit condemnation of the man who will not even taste of the new wine and, by proxy, of the new age to come. (165)
Using ICC in Logos
The beauty of using the ICC in Logos Bible Software is that the commentaries integrate with the other products in your library. With Logos, you can place commentaries side by side while scrolling through your preferred Bible translation or original text resource. While you read the text, the commentaries scroll with you so that you can spend more time learning about the Word than making sure your commentaries are open to the correct passage. Logos also contains many more features that will enhance the way that you do Bible study:
- The Passage Guide brings together all the resources in your library to help you better understand any biblical passage in depth. If you wanted to do a study on Luke 5:33-39, simply search for that pericope in the Passage Guide search bar and Logos will gather together all of the sources in your library relevant to the section of Scripture that you are studying. This includes not only the ICC, but also other commentaries, outlines, and even media.
- With the Sermon Starter Guide, your sermon preparation time is cut in half. By utilizing this feature, you can have commentaries, sermons, and illustrations all in one place. Can’t find that perfect quote for your sermon? Logos brings together any quote collections found in your library and finds those relevant to your sermon passage. With the Sermon Starter Guide, let Logos do the ground work so that you can focus on feeding your flock with the Word of God.
Time is running out
The International Critical Commentary is a part of our Back-to-School sale which goes away soon. Get everything you need to excel this school year with Logos back-to-school sale.
[1] http://zondervan.typepad.com/koinonia/2009/01/mounce22.html