R. K. Harrison (1920–1993)

Harrison spends most of his pages explaining the various contending viewpoints of the scholars (primarily German, British, and American) of the 19th and early 20th centuries, then demolishes all of them on two fronts: the many differing opinions on the dating and authorship can't all be correct; the current (1960s) archeological record doesn't support any of them.
He has a droll way of s them that I find very amusing.
He has little patience for their habits of emending the Hebrew, or even show more moving verses and chapters around, to support their contentions, and generally favors the traditional Masoretic Text (MT), with occasional nods to one or another codex of the Septuagint (LXX), while also acknowledging the Essene texts and the Dead Sea Scrolls. show less

Reviewer: A reader

This book is a brave attempt to limit the task of learning a Semitic langauge to the bare essentials. How successful it is depends very much on the student. If you are happy to be faced with many tables to learn by rote then this is for you. If on the other hand you prefer to know why a thing should be so then the explanations given are both limited and surprisingly dense. Add to this the inevitable crop of typographical errors when setting pointed Hebrew and a page show more layout which seems to abhor white space and you have book which can be quite daunting to the student trying to teach themselves. If you have the time to spend and a background of language learning which has prepared you for the many grammatical terms and concepts to which the author refers you should get on fine. Having said all that, this is the best reasonably priced Hebrew grammar available. show less

With the ancient Near East in a state of ferment and the nation of Judah experiencing a succession of political crises, God stationed a man on the scene to speak the divine word. Jeremiah was called by God to the unhappy task of telling an unheeding nation it was going to be judged and destroyed. Often he seemed to despair, yet he continued to utter God's truth fearlessly, leaving as part of his spiritual legacy a demonstration of a man's ability to make religious life an essentially show more personal relationship with God. The structural analysis of this commentary, along with the historical and cultural background it provides, opens up to modern readers one of the Old Testament's most fascinating books. show less

Purpose: This commentary provides a section-by-section explanation of the book of Jeremiah on the level of a layman that deals with many of the major issues and highlights key themes.

Depth: This commentary makes use of the Hebrew but always with an explanation for the English speaker. The focus is upon sections rather than words and phrases, so parts of Jeremiah necessarily do not get addressed. Cross-references are extensive.

Theological perspectives: conservative, evangelical

Evaluation: show more This is a useful work that it helpful for any student. It is easily accessible and cheap. Though not as deep or as thorough as others, it was not intended to be. This commentary accomplishes its purpose and does so well. show less