This commentary is an excellent sermon / bible study resource. It requires some background knowledge but gives great incite into the text.

It sets out to "proclaim afresh" for this generation, "the word of God, for the glory of God" and achieves this with flying colours. Can't wait to experience the next Hodder Bible Commentary.

Thank you to David Peterson, Hodder and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. I was not required to write this review, which reflects my honest opinion.

David Peterson's Bible Commentary on Luke is well researched and comprehensive as you'd expect from a bible commentary. The introduction felt more of an academic slog than other commentaries I have read in the Hodder series. So many footnotes, references and theological terms more suitable for the theologian than a lay reader.

I found similarly once getting to the commentary itself in that I needed to take each section separately and study it for a long time to understand what the author is conveying as well as understand very many references to other writers and other bible sections. It was a little too densely packed for me. Or maybe i was being a little too dense of mind at the time I read it!

With thanks to NetGalley and John Murray Press | Hodder & Stoughton for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

At just under 20,000 words Luke’s gospel is the longest of the gospels. Like the other gospels it has its own specific interests and these are most clearly recognised and appreciated by readers when Luke’s gospel is read with a commentary like this one.

Some commentaries on Luke’s gospel are enormous multi-volume series. Other books content themselves with summarising the key themes. This book is pitched between the middle of those extremes. It covers the main themes in the gospel and it also engages with some key elements of the specifics of the Greek text. In places it also signposts readers to where more detail on specific points can be found.

The book is generally informative and interesting, although there were a few places where points could have been pressed a little harder.

Luke’s gospel is particularly careful to contextualise itself by referring to names and dates outside of the gospel. For example, it tells us that there was a ‘world-wide’ census of births initiated by Augustus. But this book also informs us that some of those details are hard to understand, as we have no other evidence of them. (14%). So does this mean that Luke’s gospel is historically inaccurate? What does it mean for biblical inspiration? A little more detail to address questions like that would have been welcome.

Another set of issues arose with regard to the supernatural elements in the gospel (eg miracles, angels, demons, etc). This book generally seems to take the approach that there is no reason to discount the truth of such matters (eg 18%). But some models of demythologising treat those kinds of issues as metaphors to be interpreted, rather than as claims to be determined as true or false. It would have been helpful to flag up to readers that there are very different ways of interpreting supernatural elements of the text.

Some of the parables and incidents in Luke’s gospel also have historical significance, in that they were points of contention in particular contexts. For example, the parable of what this book calls ‘the Shrewd manager (ie Luke 16: 1– 13) raises some serious questions because it looks like Jesus is approving of dishonesty. Luke himself refers to the servant in the story as ‘unjust’ (adikia) and this led some historical critics of Christianity to cite this parable and accuse Christianity of being a religion of criminality. Disappointingly none of that background is mentioned, and arguably this book moves a little too quickly in saying that there is no problem in this parable because the owner of the servant (eventually) approves of his actions (67%). If the servant behaves honestly (because his master says so), then why does Luke describe him as ‘unjust?’

Overall this is a useful book which will benefit Christians wanting to understand the gospels in more detail, as well as helping non-Christians to get a better sense of what the texts mean.

(These are honest comments based on a digital ARC (advanced review copy) of the text).

The book of Luke is one of the 4 canon gospels and contains a lot of historical records. This commentary is quite useful for understanding historical context and the full picture of the gospel. Highly recommended.

This was a pretty good Bible Commentary. I was hesitant about this because I've never heard of the writers, but I was impressed. I learned a lot from this and would recommend it to anyone looking for a new Bible Commentary.

Luke is such a critical book of the Bible in my opinion. There is just so much information to unpack. I was so glad that I had this Bible Commentary to dive deeper than I've ever been able to go myself. I learned so much more about Jesus and his love for us.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own *

Excellent! This has wonderful insight and the information given is based. They need to make a copy of all the books in the Canon!

A great resource for bible students and those who wish to increase their understanding of scripture. Well written and easy to understand.

This is the second commentary by this author and I really enjoy their writing style and how they dig deeper into the Word. I will definitely be going through the other commentaries they have.

I was in a Bible Study on Acts and this book was a great help in understanding the writer, Luke. Yes, I recommend it.
I received an ARC from Netgalley, but the review is my idea.

This book is aimed at those who have a certain understanding of scripture already, as a support for a sermon this is excellent and really takes you through the words and situation that Jesus is living through and that of his apostles and friends. There is a concentration of the parables and the teaching of Jesus and this is explained in good detail and linked to first century beliefs as the Christian church was slowly establishing itself, the scene for the gospel is very well set in the opening chapters and this is excellent grounding and background for the reading of the text. The explanation of words such as salvation in context each time is a real benefit and helps with the nuances of the text and unpacking some of the mystery.

I have to admit, Luke seems to be the Gospel book I've studied the least. So finding this commentary on NetGalley was great! I enjoyed using it to go through the book and seeing the insights that David Peterson gave for the stories and parables within the text.

If you are looking to get back into your faith, or someone who is already pretty headstrong in their beliefs this is a great book to understanding the books of the bible.