Some Shorter Letters of Paul: A Verse-by-Verse Commentary (Vine) / December 20, 2022

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Some Shorter Letters of Paul contains commentaries on Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians. The commentaries on Galatians and Thessalonians were written by W.E. Vine and C.F. Hogg together. “These two teachers made an ideal combination,” said F.F. Bruce. “They were basically agreed in their interpretation of the great biblical doctrines, and when Mr. Hogg’s theological penetration and command of felicitous and forceful English were united with Mr. Vine’s special gifts, the result was hard to match. For the student of the English New Testament, these two commentaries will long remain standard works.”

Vine and Hogg explained that in Thessalonians Paul “is concerned mainly for the spiritual well-being of those to whom he writes; in Galatians he is concerned for the integrity of the gospel he preached. In Thessalonians he aims at the confirmation of the gospel in the hearts of the believers; in Galatians he is set for its defense against an attack which he was persuaded . . . would have made Christianity a mere sect of the Jews.”

The commentaries on Philippians and Colossians were written by W.E. Vine alone. Philippians is a very personal letter in which Paul thanks the Christians for a gift they had sent him and gives “wise and weighty counsel” about various issues. Colossians deals with both Judaistic and Gnostic errors, showing “Christ as the power against every evil, doctrinal and moral, and the power for all manner of godly living.”

The outlines of each of these letters of Paul are particularly helpful for sermon preparation and teaching.

These commentaries by W.E. Vine and C.F. Hogg excel in the rich tradition of careful, exegetical word study and expository commentary. They take into consideration every reference to a particular word in the Bible as well as the range of its uses in ancient Greek. Pastors, scholars, and serious students will enjoy these in-depth commentaries from the man who gave us Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words.