[B-Greek] Re: Hebrews commentaries

CWestf5155 at aol.com CWestf5155 at aol.com
Mon Jan 5 14:36:40 EST 2004


David,

In a message dated 1/5/2004 5:53:34 AM Mountain Standard Time, 
brent at riveroflifembchurch.com writes:
But to your actual question.  There are several fine commentaries available 
on Hebrews, but I don't know how helpful they will be for your task. 
Ellington's commentary in the NIGTC series is good but it is quite exhaustive and 
somewhat wordy which takes away from it usefulness for your purpose.  Attridge has 
written an excellent commentary in the Hermeneia series but it may not deal 
with all the grammatical matters you would like.  Wescott's commentary is great, 
but if you are struggling with Hebrews, this may not be the best since he 
tends to quote patristic evidence in Greek and Latin (some of which are 
substantially more difficult than the text of Hebrews itself!).  I also have enjoyed 
reading (several times) F. F. Bruce's commentary in the NICNT series.  It does 
not deal with every grammatical issue in the Greek text, but is good reading and 
Bruce, like Attridge, is a reliable guide for the Greek text.  
Just a minor correction: the author of the NIGTC series is Paul Ellingworth.  
I agree that it is exhaustive and you don't come away with a clear grasp of 
the overall design (in part because of the detail orientation).  It would be a 
great help for you in analysis below the sentence level, however. 

Attridge is highly considered, but not as useful in Greek analysis.  Check 
out the two volume commentary by William L. Lane from the Word Biblical 
Commentary.  I would use that for a class on Hebrews in Greek and supplement it with 
Ellingworth.

Cindy Westfall
Adjunct Professor, Denver Seminary



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