The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary Kindle Edition

Wow. I was pleasantly surprised at the new Baker's Illustrated Bible Commentary. Let's face it, one volume commentaries are often disappointments when it comes to usability. Part of the reason for that is that it is hard to write intriguing & insightful details when the goal is a one (or two) volume commentary. Still, thus far, I have been very happy with the approach of the BIBC, edited by Burge and Hill.I am with the other reviewers who give this volume 4 or 5 stars. Well deserving. You will notice that the few 1 star ratings (two at the time of this writing) are for the Kindle (text-only) edition. More about the Kindle version below.It is hard for me to imagine any evangelical Christian being less than happy with this one volume commentary. Examples?It is hard not to begin with noted evangelical scholar, Victor Hamilton, who does Genesis in this commentary. While this shortened commentary on Genesis can't compare to his full-meal-deal commentary, it gives the teacher/preacher sound insights in quick order. (Some think Genesis 1 isn't given enough space... of course this is true... but it is not without good insights). Look at Noah's story... if this section doesn't shine new light on what his happening, then you probably aren't even searching for a one volume commentary. Great insights that come from the OT Hebrew text, without giving us the Hebrew, of course (Rain, rain, Dry, dry, etc, etc). I also thought the Hagar story was eye opening. Why does the Egyptian slave Hagar get used in this way. Why does Sarai dismiss her? Does Abram's response tell us anything? How does God first reveal himself (to Hagar) differently than before. What is the result? Good stuff here.Roy Gane continues this excellence in his short commentary on Leviticus. Gane ably explains the sacrifices, yet also draws illustrative parallels missing on most commentaries this side. Golden nuggets. Want to know why separation and holiness is so tied together? Gane gives good insights.Kaiser handles Deuteronomy with as much skill as you would imagine from this renowned theologian. Though very short, his Deuteronmy commentary is helpful in tracing the book's argument and flow. Gregory Wong comes next with a wonderful commentaries on Joshua and Judges. Let's look at Judges... a book most short commentaries gloss over (besides pointing out "everyone did right in their own eyes.") Turn to the greatly disturbing story of the Levite and the Concubine and you will see rich detail of moral failure and triumph in this horrid story of the cut up concubine. Israel is at a low point, yet most commentaries miss most of what is happening here. Not Wong. Irony is not lost when the Levite priest brings his concubine along, only to treat her as so much carrion to throw her to the "dogs" so to speak. Then his supposed outrage brings about a war, crazy oaths, and more genocide.. all from the Levites incredibly calloused life that is no different than the nation. If you can't preach/teach from this, something is amiss. Ruth: though Petter seems to side with those who don't see Naomi as especially out-of-step, still gives good insights into the ironic switches within the book. Obadiah (Hill) is excellent. And, many many others.What of New Testament? The Gospels are well handled, but I liked Luke (Schriener) and John (Burge) best. I can tell you that if you want a quick understanding of John's gospel, there may be none better than Burge's treatment here... it will force your (by your own interest) to pick up his full commentary. You have been warned. Burge is a gifted author and a Johhanian scholar with insights that others seem to gloss over.Romans? Come on. You can't cover Romans (something that full volumes often struggle with) in a short commentary and have anything of value! But, my initial thought here, was wrong. Schnable gives excellent insights in a short commentary. See especially his careful work through Romans 6, 7, and 8. Excellent insight in a short commentary.Any clunkers? Gosh, I don't know. :) I think that Moo's Book of James is very tough to follow... not to mention that he seems to give a differing answer to faith-works in his full commentary than he does here. Or, I am just not following his argument well. I don't know. I think it is confusing. He seems to be trying to maintain a distinction that most believers wouldn't know what to do with. I think that James answers his own dilemma by showing us he is talking about the faith that Christians demonstrate on a daily basis (taking care of the needy, etc), rather than saving faith of the Gospel message that Paul is talking about. But, I am in the minority on that one, so perhaps you will understand and cherish Moo's James commentary. In addition, I think that Anderson's First John is tough to understand if you don't already know the categories of thought and discussion in First John. He assumes we know all the various positions of the letter and writes in short-hand for those that know distinctions (like Gnosticism, Docetists, ditheism, Jamnian blessing, Birkat ha-Minim, the Nike victory of Trajan dynasty) seems better suited to something that author could more fully explain.Overall: I think it is unfair to fault it for shortness. I think you have to ask, for a short commentary, how does it do? And there, I have to say 5 stars. Sure it is not detailed, but it is much more detailed than many other one volume commentaries. If I were to own 3 one (or two) volume Bible Commentaries, they would be 1) Bible Knowledge Commentary (two volume), 2) Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary, and 3) the New Bible Commentary. Kindle and Mobile version: I found this print book pretty inexpensively, so I purchased it in hardback form (not the Kindle version). That was a good decision for me, for I benefit from the added charts, maps, and graphics. Still, I may get the text only Kindle version for when I am on the road. If I don't get the inexpensive Kindle version, then I will likely get the Logos version which has both the TEXT and the ILLUSTRATIONS. Both are mobile.I would add this: The illustrations are often pictures of areas or items. That is helpful and engaging, but nothing that I would miss-out on in the text only Kindle version to use "on the road". The charts, tables, and maps however would be a loss if the user didn't also have other study aids available with this information....or also have the print addition.

I purchased this Bible commentary recently and it is a welcome addition to my library. The Bible commentators are evangelical Bible scholars who provide sound, biblical, and lucid exposition on each Bible book. The Bible commentary is based on the 2011 NIV version. (This review is for the book version, not the Kindle)For each Bible book, there's the:IntroductionInterpretive ApproachesDate, Authorship, Audience, Explanation of the Genre, Historical Context and SituationThe commentary on each chapter and sectionSelect bibliographyThroughout the whole commentary, there are beautiful pictures, photos of the region described in the Bible book, maps, and helpful charts. Each Bible commentator chose renown scholarly works in the select bibliography at the end which encompasses the latest research.Some of the scholars I recognized because they have written other commentaries (Victor Hamilton - Genesis and Ezekiel, Willem VanGemeren - Isaiah, Daniel,Zephaniah, and Malachi, Tremper Longman III -- Micah, R.D. Patterson -- Habakkuk, Thomas Schreiner -- Luke, Gary M. Burge -- John, Douglas Moo -- James, Peter H. Davids -- Jude). I was glad to see the exposition by "newer" scholars who provided excellent commentaries on the other books.As stated, each of the Bible commentators did an excellent job in explaining each book of the Bible. I wanted to comment on some particular books which caught my attention:Job -- Gary A. Long provides helpful Mesopotamian parallels to the book of Job and explains the Date, Authorship and Composition of Job very comprehensively. He gives the most complete and helpful explanation of the cycles of dialogue and exposition on Job I've ever seen in a one-volume Bible commentary. What an excellent treatment of the book of Job!Psalms -- Barry Davis provides an extensive description of Hebrew poetry and structure, and offers a helpful brief summary of each Psalm. The explanations of Hebrew poetry and structure are much more detailed than other 1 volume Bible commentaries. Very helpful.Matthew -- Jeannine Brown ties in the theme of the Kingdom throughout the whole commentary and explains Jesus the Messiah as the faithful representative of Israel, the embodiment of Yahweh, and fulfiller of the Scriptures. I have not found these 3 emphases brought out so clearly in other one volume Bible commentaries, and I really appreciated these "golden nuggets" of insight. She provided a very clear and helpful exposition of the whole Gospel of Matthew.Jeremiah -- Elmer Martens provides an informative, detailed explanation of the historical context of the book, the description of the prophet and the theological themes that run through the whole work. Wonderful commentary!Romans -- Eckhard J. Schnabel presents a lucid and informed commentary which strikes the right balance between the new perspective of Paul and the traditional perspective (Justification by Faith). He offers a very helpful historical context of the book of Romans and ties in the theme of Romans (the Gospel) with justification by faith.Colossians -- Lynn H. Cohick gives a wonderful summary of the different views of the "Colossian heresy" and then explained her own viewpoint of what the heresy is. The commentary is very clear and helpful.Space does not permit me to write about all the individual Bible commentaries, but I hope you'll get an idea of how good this Bible commentary is. I give my highest recommendation to the Baker's Illustrated Bible Commentary. You'll receive a lot of rich biblical insights through reading this commentary. Beautifully and masterfully done!This is currently my one volume Bible commentary of choice: It is more complete and offers more insights from the latest biblical research than the other one volume Bible commentaries I own (such as the Believer's Bible Commentary, the MacArthur Bible Commentary and the New Bible Commentary 21st century edition).

I had the print version, but wanted the Kindle format. The Kindle edition has the exact text and photos/illustrations as the print editor. Clear and easy to read. Maps and photos are very clear. Books are indexed so you can find books quickly. I do wished the index included chapters. I change to view multiple pages so its fairly easy to find the chapter I want, just takes more effort. Text to Talk is available using my Kindle Fire, but I can't find that option using the Kindle app on phone. Overall, I am very pleased with the Kindle format. The hardback edition is a pretty heavy book.

Straightforward yet challenging and enlightening. A perfect companion for anyone looking to more fully understand the most important book of all.

Excelente comentário Bíblico. Com muitas ilustrações e com um riquissímo conteúdo. Recomendo para qualquer estudante das Sagradas Escrituras.

Good quality and color glossy paper , feels good

I've been looking for a while for a good Bible Commentary :D

okay