Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 2: Genesis 16-50

The second volume of Wenham's commentary covering the Patriarchal narrative follows the pattern established in the first volume and the series as a whole, but the results do not seem to offer as much insight as the initial volume. The attention to the text is consistent, and the focus on its final form rather than attempting to discern the underlying sources reinforces the skill of the ancient narrator and the essential unity of the text as it has been received. A brief introduction focuses in the relationship of the text and history, as the larger questions relate to the events recorded and their place in secular history. Wenham balances his high view of Scripture with a honest agnosticism about the correlation of many of the events show more and their relation to known history. He eschews many of the common place parallels between the Genesis narrative and ANE and Egyptian history that have become commonplace in Evangelical scholarship without embracing a ahistorical skepticism. Wenham carefully examines the structure of each passage before the detailed examination of each section. While his analysis of the narrative is solid, his application section is too frequently marked by a simple retelling of the narrative already painstakingly covered and less attention to the connection narrative in the rest of the canon. show less

Bible, O.T. Commentary