Updated December 22, 2001 (first published February 28, 1998) (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org) - This is the second in our series on the Preacher’s Bible Study Library. In the introductory article we dealt with Foundational Bible Study Aids (Feb. 10, 1998). In this article we will consider COMMENTARY SETS which cover the entire Bible or major portions of the Bible. The following are some sets which I have found to be very helpful in my study of God’s Word, though obviously I do not agree with everything in them. (“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” 1 Thessalonians 5:21.)

I would recommend these sets as a good starting place for building a Bible study library, and I am convinced of the importance of this. As noted in the first article of this series, I was extremely diligent in the study of the Bible from the day I was first saved in the summer of 1973. I probably averaged five to eight hours a day studying the Bible the first ten or twelve years. I spent at least an hour a day just reading the Bible, and when searching out a topic I went directly to the Scriptures before consulting any other sources; but I also found tremendous help through various commentaries. At one point I determined to read and study the Bible alone and to forgo consulting any commentaries or other extra-biblical sources. I did this religiously and prayerfully for a few weeks, and I can testify that the Lord made it plain to me that I needed help from men and that He was not going to give me everything by direct enlightenment. If I were shut up on a remote island with only the Bible, I am sure the Lord would give me everything I needed directly through His Word, but that is not His normal way of operation. He has given ministry-gifted men to the churches and He uses them to edify the saints (Ephesians 4:11-14; 3 Tim. 2:2). I praise the Lord for the priceless gift that some of the excellent teaching of past and present generations has been captured in print so I can possess it and consult it whenever I please. Such material is absolutely priceless.

While I am familiar with a wide range of the commentary sets available, the following are the ones that I have found most helpful for my Christian life and ministry and are the ones I recommend to my preacher friends.

EXPOSITION OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS by Matthew Henry (1662-1714). This set of early 18th-century commentaries (first published in part in 1708-10) remains one of the most helpful in print, in my estimation. In many areas we disagree with old Henry's position, but rarely do we regret having consulted him. Henry, a noncomformist Presbyterian pastor, was a master of biblical languages and a diligent Bible student who ransacked the old commentary material of his day to pass the meat along to us. He had a lovely gift for organizing and expressing his thoughts. He died before completing the full commentary, having finished his work only through the book of Acts. The New Testament commentary from Romans to Revelation was completed by 14 contemporary preachers of that day, all dissenters from the Church of England. (Do not settle for an abridged edition of the full set.) There is now an NIV edition of the Matthew Henry Commentary, and it is possible that the publishers will allow the KJV edition to go out of print at some point. We agree with Baptist pastor Charles Spurgeon's assessment of Matthew Henry: "You will find him to be glittering with metaphors, rich in analogies, overflowing with illustrations, superabundant in reflections. Every minister ought to read Matthew Henry entirely and carefully through once at least. You will acquire a vast store of sermons if you read with your note-book close at hand; and as for thoughts, they will swarm around you like twittering swallows around an old gable towards the close of autumn." He notes that George Whitefield read Matthew Henry through four times during his life. All of this reminds us that men of God used to study the Bible much more than do now. I am convinced that if the average independent Baptist preacher were assigned the task of reading through the entire set of Matthew Henry, he would protest that he needed at least 10 years to complete the assignment.

Hendrickson Publishers has come out with an excellent one-volume edition of the Matthew Henry Commentary. It contains the entire text of the original multi-volume set, including chapter summaries and outlines. It omits the KJV text to conserve space, and it incorporates some helpful revisions: Roman numerals are changed to Arabic ones, Greek and Hebrew words are transliterated. The type style is smaller than that used in the multi-volume editions, but it is clear and legible. Hendrickson Publishers, P.O. Box 3473, Peabody, MA 01961-3473. (508) 532-6546 (voice). (508) 531-8146 (fax).

One or two of the Bible software packages include the unabridged Matthew Henry Commentary. One of these is the Biblesoft Reference Library Plus, which includes the entire Matthew Henry, Nave’s Topical, Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, Nelson’s Bible Dictionary, Strong’s, Thayer’s, and Vine’s. Logos also has the complete Matthew Henry available for its Bible search program. Most of the Bible software packages provide an abridged edition of Matthew Henry, though, which is called the Matthew Henry Concise. It is TOO concise for my taste.

The unabridged Matthew Henry is available on the web at http://www.khouse.org/blueletter/.

HANDFULS ON PURPOSE by James Smith and Robert Lee (1886-1978). This five-volume set contains more than 2,000 expository outlines covering the whole Bible. I have not found many outline sets to be helpful, but these are unusually practical and useful. Robert G. Lee, a Baptist pastor and three-term president of the Southern Baptist Convention, was a master of alliterative sermons.

LIFE AND WORKS OF OUR LORD by C.H. Spurgeon (1834-1892). This three-volume set contains 183 sermons on the life of Christ by the inimitable Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Baptist pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, England.

SPURGEON’S EXPOSITORY ENCYCLOPEDIA by C.H. Spurgeon. This is the only collection of Spurgeon’s sermons classified by topic and alphabetically arranged. The 750 sermons are comprehensively indexed. There are also a number of other sets of Spurgeon’s sermons with indexes.

BARNE’S NOTES ON THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT by Albert Barnes (1798-1870), Frederic C. Cook (1810-1889), and James Murphy. There are 14 volumes in this invaluable set of commentaries. Barnes was a Presbyterian preacher and Bible expositor. He was brought to trial in 1835 for his rejection of the unscriptural doctrine of limited atonement. He advocated total abstinence of alcoholic beverages, was a soul winner, and promoted Sunday Schools.

THRU THE BIBLE by J. Vernon McGee (1904-1988). This five-volume set contains the messages preached by the late J. Vernon McGee on his Thru the Bible radio broadcasts. Though I was saddened by his New Evangelical compromise in many areas, he always gladdened my heart with his warm, Christ-centered commentary on the Word of God. I particularly recommend his commentaries on the Old Testament prophets, because he maintained a literal pre-millennial, pre-tribulational approach in contrast to most of the well-known Bible commentators, including those mentioned above. It is not easy to find sound commentaries on the prophetic portions of Scripture.

WIERSBE’S EXPOSITORY OUTLINES ON THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT by Warren Wiersbe. Though Dr. Wiersbe has become committed to the New Evangelical philosophy in recent years, he is a gifted Bible commentator. His chapter-by-chapter Expository Outlines was completed decades ago during his years as pastor of Calvary Baptist Church of Covington, Kentucky, before he had become so thoroughly committed to the New Evangelical path he trods today (as an editor of Christianity Today, working with Youth for Christ, etc.). The Old Testament and New Testament Outlines can be purchased separately or in one volume. I have found the O.T. outlines to be particularly good. Wiersbe’s Outlines are available for the Logos Bible Software.

IRONSIDE COMMENTARIES by Henry A. Ironside (1878-1951). These commentaries are devotional, practical, and Christ centered. As a young man Ironside worked with the Salvation Army in his early Christian years, and he earnestly sought the “entire sanctification” experience promoted by the Army and the Methodists of that day. It was the turn of the century, and a “holiness” fervor was sweeping across North America. The problem was that it was a false view of holiness which promised various degrees of sinless perfection. From this fervor the Pentecostal movement arose in the early part of the 20th century. Ironside became so discouraged by his failure to achieve an experience of sinlessness that he ended up in a hospital with an emotional and physical breakdown. There God began to teach him the truth of biblical justification and sanctification through some literature that he found, and he was led out of the confusion and doctrinal error of the holiness movement. He joined the Plymouth Brethren and conducted a long and very fruitful ministry as a pastor and Bible teacher. His experiences were recorded in the book Holiness: The False and the True, which is still printed by Loizeaux Publishers and which is also posted at the Way of Life web site under the Charismatic section of the End Times Apostasy Online Database. I have found Ironside to be especially helpful in the Old Testament prophets. Like the previously mentioned J. Vernon McGee, Ironside held a literal pre-millennial, pre-tribulational approach to Bible prophecy in contrast to most of the well known commentators. It is not easy to find good commentaries on the prophetic portions of Scripture. The Ironside commentary series include five volumes on the O.T. prophets. There are individual volumes on Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel; and the Minor Prophets are covered in one volume. The Ironside Commentaries are published by Loizeaux, P.O. Box 277, Neptune, NJ 07754-0277. (800) 526-2796 (orders), (908) 774-0641 (fax).

WILLMINGTON’S GUIDE TO THE BIBLE by H.L. Willmington. This volume contains the heart of the Bible school course developed years ago by Willmington for Jerry Falwell’s correspondence Bible school. The last we knew, Willmington was still at Liberty University. Obviously we do not recommend Falwell’s school, and it is sad to see men continue to be aligned with that type of compromise (hosting a Promise Keepers conference, promoting Billy Graham and his ecumenical evangelism, promoting the most radical charismatic ministries such as The Rock Church in Virginia Beach, etc.) who should know better. Be that as it will, Willmington’s Guide to the Bible is very helpful. It is divided into two major sections: A chapter by chapter commentary on or survey of the entire Bible, and a section on Bible doctrine. The doctrinal studies are thorough and practical. Willmington’s studies on Genesis are particularly excellent. Willmington has published separate volumes entitled New Testament Survey and Old Testament Survey, but in our estimation, the latter are not as helpful as his original Guide to the Bible.

AN INTERPRETATION OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE by B.H. Carroll. This 13-volume set of commentaries on the entire Bible by the famous Baptist preacher Benajah Harvey Carroll (1843-1914) was edited and published by J.B. Carnfill between 1913-16. Carnfield, who was associated with Carroll for many years and who taught Bible for more than 30 years at the seminary level, testified that the Carroll was "one of the greatest Bible scholars and exegetes living in the world today." Carnfield wrote that in the General Introduction to the commentary on Genesis in 1913, the year before Carroll died. The Wycliffe Biographical Dictionary says Carroll "was a powerful preacher, keen debater, ready writer, widely-read historian." Carroll pastored the First Baptist Church of Waco, Texas, from 1871 to 1899. In 1894 he became the principal of the Bible department at Baylor University and was professor of English Bible there from 1901 to 1910. He was influential in creating the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1910 and was president of Southwestern from its inception until his death in 1914. He published 33 books, including a volume on Baptist Doctrine, and many influential pamphlets on such topics as "Communion from a Bible Standpoint" and "The Modern Social Dance." Calvary Publications in Fort Worth, Texas (P.O. Box 181212, Ft. Worth, TX 76118, 817-281-4720), still carries 200 of Carroll’s sermons in booklet form. An Interpretation of the English Bible is long out of print and is rare. It is not a verse-by-verse commentary, but it is packed with helpful thoughts for preachers and teachers. It is an excellent set for a preacher to use in conjunction with his through-the-Bible reading one year.

EXPLORE THE BOOK by J. Sidlow Baxter. An unusually thorough Bible survey course. Originally this was a six-volume work. In 1960 a one-volume condensation was published by Zondervan (1415 Lake Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506). (800) 727-3480 (voice), (616) 698-6900), (616) 698-3255 (fax).

COMMENTARY ON THE HOLY BIBLE by Matthew Poole. This three-volume set of commentaries is not as extensive as Matthew Henry, but the tone and approach is similar. It is a helpful, concise commentary on the entire Bible. Poole commentary ws originally published in 1685, not long after the completion of the King James Bible. He ransacked the commentary material of his day, incorporating the best of it into his work. A lot of thought is packed into the concise language of this commentary.

EXPOSITION OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS by John Gill (1697-1771). Gill was a renowned British biblical scholar and Baptist pastor. For over 50 years he pastored the Particular Baptist Church of Horselydown, Southwark, London, the church which later moved its location and became known as the Metropolitan Baptist Tabernacle of Charles Haddon Spurgeon fame. His knowledge of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew was equal to that of the greatest scholars of his day, and he diligently searched out and studied ancient materials relating to the Bible. The Baptist Encyclopedia notes that “no man in the eighteenth century was as well versed in the literature and customs of the ancient Jews as John Gill.” Spurgeon ranked Gill fifth among all commentators of the whole Bible and stated, “He is always worth consulting. … for good, sound, massive, sober sense in commenting, who can excel Gill?” We personally overlook Gill’s complete capitulation to TULIP Calvinism and glean from the riches of knowledge he passed on via his commentaries. The set of Gill’s Commentaries is available from The Baptist Standard Bearer, Number One Iron Oaks Dr., Paris, AR 72855. (501) 963-3831 (voice), (501) 963-8083 (fax), Baptist@worldnet.att.net (e-mail), http://www.standardbearer.com/ (web page). The full set of Gill Commentaries has been made available for IBM and MAC computer users by the diligent efforts of Larry Pierce, author of the Online Bible, and it is available in the Online Bible for Windows CD-ROM. The new 7.01 version fully supports Windows 95, with right-click shortcuts throughout. Order from (800) 778-3390.

JAMIESON-FAUSSET-BROWN COMPLETE COMMENTARY by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown. This three volume set is frequently critical to the Received Text and the King James Bible, as many of the commentaries are, but it contains much practical thought on the Bible text and is worth owning. Spurgeon said: “We consult it continually, and with growing interest. It contains so great a variety of information that if a man had no other exposition he would find himself at no great loss if he possessed this and used it diligently.” Eerdmans, 255 Jefferson Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503. (800) 633-9326.

THE PULPIT COMMENTARY. This 23-volume set was first published between 1880 and 1919. Each Bible passage is considered in a two-fold manner: commentary and homiletics. While some portions are dull and unimaginative, there is enough helpful thought and meat to make the set a worthwhile investment, in our estimation. Eerdmans reprinted the Pulpit Commentary in 1963.

DISCOUNT BOOKS AND SOFTWARE

The materials we have recommended in these articles on the Preacher’s Bible Study Library can be obtained at discount prices from the following sources:

21ST CENTURY CHRISTIAN
An extensive online discount Christian book distributor.
http://www.21stcc.com/

AMAZON BOOKS
P.O. Box 80387, Seattle, WA 98108-0387. (800) 201-7575, info@amazon.com (e-mail), http://www.amazon.com (web site). A massive online discount book distributor carrying 2.5 million titles. Though this is a secular company, they list a vast number of Christian titles. The online search engine is excellent. Not only does their database contain books currently in print, but also countless titles which are out of print. When you request a book, the engine will return information describing whether the book is in or out of print. If it is out of print you are given an estimate of how long it will take to locate it and are given the option to order a search. You are not obligated to purchase an out of print until the book is located and a price is quoted. Everything about Amazon.com is first class.

CENTURY ONE BOOKSTORE
A large online Christian discount bookstore. 30% discount on Logos Bible Software. 125 N Aspen Av Suite #2, Azusa CA 91702. (888) 932-7123 (orders), (626) 969-8859 (voice), (626) 969-6099 (fax), comments@centuryone.com.
http://www.centuryone.com

CHRISTIAN BOOK DISTRIBUTORS
Discount mail order books. Discount mail order books. P.O. Box 7000, Peabody, MA 01961-7000. (978) 977-5000 (orders), (978) 977-5010 (fax), orders@christianbook.com (e-mail), http://www.christianbook.com (web site).

CHRISTIAN LITERATURE WORLD
More than 1,500 discount Reformed and other titles and Bibles. P.O. Box 4998, Lafayette, IN 47903. (800) 447-9142 (orders), (317) 447-9142 (voice), (317) 449-4870 (fax), jgreenxx@iquest.net.
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INTERNET BOOKSHOP
Another online bookstore with a searchable booklist. Topical listing. Claims to be the largest online book shop in the world.
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LANDSPRING CHRISTIAN DISCOUNT MEDIA STORE
At least 25% off retail on more than 100,000 items. mail@Landspring.com
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SCRIPTURE TRUTH BOOK COMPANY
A discount mail order Bible and book distributor. P.O. Box 339, Fincastle, VA 24090. (540) 992-1273 (voice), (540) 992-5042 (fax).
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STILLWATER REVIVAL BOOKS
Wide selection of discount books, mostly Reformed titles. 4710 - 37A Ave, Edmonton, AB, Canada, T6L 3T5. (403) 450-3730 (voice), (403) 465-0237 (fax), swrb@connect.ab.ca.
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Discount mail order book sales. P.O. Box 4140, Cleveland, TN 37320. (800) 423-9595 (orders), (423) 472-4510 (fax). No e-mail or web site at this time.

WORD MICROSYSTEMS
Word Microsystems offers practically all of the various Bible software packages, including BibleWorks, Logos, Quickverse, PC Study Bible, Thompson Chain Bible Study Library, Online Bible, Sage Computer Library, etc., at excellent discount prices. P.O. Box 802, Montpelier, VT 05601. (800) 705-3946 (orders), (802) 229-0041 (information), 802) 229-0041 (fax), orders@wordmicro.com.
http://www.wordmicro.com/bsoftwre.htm

We trust this information will be helpful. Please do not try to contact us about these materials, though. We do not sell them and have no further information to offer.

“Sell your shirt and buy books.”
--Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s advice to the preachers in his school.