Proclaimer Blog
Do I really need this…? A commentary junkie confesses.
I've got lots of commentaries on Hebrews. Some of them are OK, some are not so good (e.g. a Catholic one which is poor overall, but has some good insights here and there). Some are classics (John Owen), some are devotional (MacArthur). I've built them up because, I guess, I've taught Hebrews a couple of times through and have wanted to be pretty thorough in my preparation and I've loved reading and studying Hebrews for myself – possibly one of my favourite (if that is allowed) NT books. Now, at church, we're again tackling Hebrews and I'm struck by Julian Hardyman's review of Peter O' Brien's new Pillar volume. On the whole I both like and appreciate Pillar commentaries. Peter O Brien's previous outing (Ephesians) was especially helpful. IVP (in the UK) have done a fantastic job with this series.
There are a few things that hold me back. One is the price. List price is £32.99. Amazon will sell it to you for £28.04. The guys over at TenofThose.com will sell it to you for £25. I do understand that these are low-volume high-maintenance titles. But £30+ for a commentary, even one of 600 pages, feels like a lot when you're operating on a meagre budget (even though many other similar volumes are similar prices e.g. Eerdmans NICOT and NICNT). That's one thing that holds me back.
Another is that there are commentaries and there are commentaries. Some modern commentaries seem to just aggregate the views of other commentators (though, in fairness, they also adjudicate between them). I'm not sure that I want another commentary that simply summarises all the other ones on my shelf (even if it does save me the bother of reading them all). I'm less persuaded that this will be an issue with O'Brien's volume due to the quality of his last one. But I don't really know, what I need is to be able to browse………… however, I've never been able to do that – I've never lived near enough to a decent Christian bookshop that would stock such a volume (it's not exactly St Andrews or Wesley Owen standard stock).
I thought I had the solution! I'll buy the e-version! That will deliver a superb commentary at a lower price. I use Logos software a lot and thought an e-version would be both helpful and cost effective. But the e-version is $50, still over £30. (In fairness, it is cheaper on the kindle – £21 – but though I read a lot on a kindle, this is not the kind of book that works well there).
In the end, I'm a commentary junkie. I'll get it because I'll always wonder what Hebraic insight I've missed. I just hope Brother Julian is right:
In summary, this is a simply superb commentary, as good if not better than the author’s other stellar works. You will find here a clear and incisive guide to the text of Hebrews, the parts and the whole, which brings the best of other scholars and adds its own. For the serious student of Hebrews for preaching or teaching, I would put it at the top of a list of fine works.