Mark
About
As with all BECNT volumes, Mark features the author's detailed interaction with the Greek text. It combines academic sophistication with pastoral sensitivity and accessibility to serve as a useful tool for pastors, church leaders, students, and teachers.
About the series: The Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (BECNT) series provides commentaries that blend scholarly depth with readability, exegetical detail with sensitivity to the whole, and attention to critical problems with theological awareness. All BECNT volumes feature the author's detailed interaction with the Greek text and are specifically designed with students and pastors in mind. The user-friendly design includes shaded-text chapter introductions summarizing the key themes of each thought unit. Chapter outlines and overviews allow easy entry into the discussion and aid comprehension and recall. With extensive research and thoughtful chapter-by-chapter exegesis, these commentaries will be valued by students, professors, and pastors alike.
Endorsements
"Robert H. Stein has composed an excellent commentary on Mark 1:1-16:8. He explains well the purpose and structure of the Gospel, discusses in detail its problematic verses, judiciously selects views of other commentators, and explains why he thinks the Gospel ends at 16:8. Hence Stein's commentary will be a precious vade mecum for pastors and preachers, students of the New Testament, and teachers in biblical studies."--Joseph A. Fitzmyer, SJ†, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC
"Bob Stein has written a great commentary on the Gospel of Mark. It is rich with interpretive insight, yet it is very reader friendly. Scholars, pastors, students, and lay readers will appreciate how Stein tackles difficult questions head-on and presents sensible solutions. Reading this commentary gives the reader a real sense of what the evangelist Mark was trying to say and how his original readers would have understood him. It makes an excellent contribution to the BECNT series."--Craig A. Evans, John Bisagno Distinguished Professor of Christian Origins, Houston Baptist University
"This comprehensive commentary is the seasoned work of a first-rate, evangelical scholar. The discussions are well informed, and the positions taken are judicious and fair. Anyone working on the Second Gospel will find significant help here, particularly with regard to the theology and purpose of the evangelist."--Klyne Snodgrass, professor emeritus of New Testament studies, North Park Theological Seminary
Praise for the series:
"This series has set a new standard in reader-friendliness with its attractive presentation that combines detailed exegetical comment on the Greek text with accessibility for those who have little or no knowledge of the original language of the New Testament."--I. Howard Marshall, University of Aberdeen
The Author
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Robert H. Stein
Robert H. Stein (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary), now retired, most recently served as senior professor of New Testament interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He previously taught at Bethel Seminary. A world-renowned scholar of the...
Continue reading about Robert H. Stein
Reviews
"The latest addition to this fine Evangelical series geared for scholars, pastors, and interested laity, this is a substantial commentary on Mark's gospel. Stein . . . has a sure grasp of the scholarly literature on Mark and provides a thorough and well-balanced exposition of the gospel text."--Donald Senior, CP, Bible Today
"[The BECNT] series is important as a resource for preachers who are committed to substantial exegetical work in preparation for exposition. . . . Mark, by Robert H. Stein, represents a very significant contribution to evangelical scholarship. Stein . . . has written a massive and most worthy commentary on the second Gospel. Stein's commentary is an important contribution that should be high on the 'want list' of any evangelical preacher."--Preaching
"Stein has laboured in the area of the synoptic gospels in general and Mark's gospel in particular for many years. This new commentary is the harvest of those years of fruitful work, and the result is a careful, incisive and scholarly treatment of the text of the earliest canonical gospel. . . . Stein offers helpful comments in the exegesis sections of his commentary and there are few surprises, with traditional interpretations advanced often with stronger arguments than previously provided. This is an extremely clear treatment of the text and would be beneficial to clergy and students alike. . . . A very worthwhile commentary that will be seen as one of the standard scholarly treatments of the Markan gospel."--Paul Foster, Expository Times
"The Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series seeks to provide 'commentaries that blend scholarly depth with readability, exegetical detail with sensitivity to the whole, and attention to critical problems with theological awareness.'. . . Stein is particularly well qualified for writing a commentary on the Gospel of Mark for such a series. For years he has devoted himself to scholarly research on Mark's Gospel and also to pastoral training. . . . The result is a commentary distinguished both by its scholarship and by its practical usefulness for pastors. . . . Stein's answers to . . . questions of interpretation are consistently thoughtful and supported by evidence. At the same time, the commentary never becomes tedious or lost in details. . . . His commentary shows a sense of balance and a depth of thought. . . . The careful exegesis in this commentary serves as evidence that Stein has thought long and often about the meaning of Mark."--Joel F. Williams, Review of Biblical Literature
"Valuable for the preacher. . . . This is a significant work by a senior scholar who has worked with the gospels for many years. . . . The exposition is of the high quality we expect from Stein. This will be an exceptional choice for a preacher's more detailed commentary."--Ray Van Neste, Preaching
"Stein has organized his writing and discussion of the material in a way that is clear and effective, while still benefiting from his knowledge of critical issues. . . . One of the values of this commentary in my opinion is its summation of an entire career of consistent evangelicalism and a high regard for the text of Scripture. . . . Stein has written a valuable commentary on the Gospel of Mark. His consistently evangelical, traditional exegesis in the current format is accessible and useful to student, pastor, and scholar alike and should be applauded as the fine fruit of many years of Gospels study."--Michael H. Burer, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
"Readers of many stripes, scholars, preachers, teachers--in short, all students of this Gospel--will find a great deal of information about the Gospel according to Mark, the state of the scholarly discussion, and Stein's own interpretive take. . . . This work can certainly be consulted with profit, most especially in the treatment of individual pericopes and the additional notes on translation and text criticism. . . . Stein's commentary is commendable in that he brings together a lot of scholarship and presents a text that is readable and instructional for a wide audience of students of this earliest Gospel."--T. A. Friedrichsen, Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses
"This fresh commentary on Mark is clearly the result of a careful overview of recent works on Mark. . . . This is a very solid commentary, which should be worth its place on any Marcan bookshelf. . . . The commentary has many very useful sections, such as key themes in Mark. . . . There are valuable details on every page. . . . The volume offers splendid, excellent, and careful scholarship. It is a worthy monument to a career of research and writing on Jesus and the Gospels."--Sean P. Kealy, CSSp, Catholic Biblical Quarterly
"Stein has produced an accessible commentary on the Gospel of Mark that reveals his extensive knowledge of the book both within its historical context and contemporary Gospel studies. The goal of the commentary series is readability with depth and content, from a perspective that holds to the trustworthiness and essential unity of the Scriptures. Stein fulfills this aim commendably. . . . Stein reasons cogently, guiding the reader from point to point, without cluttering the text with excessive footnotes. The commentary is quite user-friendly. Special features include tracking Mark's thought units rather than proceeding verse by verse. . . . Especially helpful is the outline summary at the beginning of each new section. . . . The commentary contains four helpful indexes. . . . Stein provides a well researched, carefully written, easy-to-read commentary focused on elucidating the ancient world of Mark's Gospel, and Mark's message for the Church. This commentary will be a valuable addition to a pastor's library and serve well in an upper-division undergraduate or seminary English Bible course."--Lynn H. Cohick, Bulletin for Biblical Research
"Stein's commentary on Mark in the BECNT series is the result of a long career of one of the foremost scholars writing from a traditional perspective. . . . His expert knowledge of Greek is evident throughout the commentary as well as his ability to express exegetical nuances with clear accessible language. This allows the commentary to be useful to a variety of readers. Serious students of Mark and the gospels, pastors, scholars, and laity, as well as seminary and divinity school libraries will find Stein's commentary a valuable resource."--Thomas Anderson, Religious Studies Review
"Written by one of the editors of the [BECNT] commentary series, well known for a lifetime of work on the Synoptic Gospels, this volume is a magnum opus. . . . Stein knows his Markan scholarship inside-out and so maintains a thoughtful dialogue; his evaluation of relevant form- and redactional-critical conclusions is particularly judicious."--Gordon Campbell, Journal for the Study of the New Testament
"Simply put, Stein writes well, and knows a lot, and because he does, the reader will come away knowing more as well. Among recent Markan commentators, Stein stands out. . . . Stein writes in a way that is magisterial without being off-putting, and is a genuine pleasure to read. . . . Whether or not you agree with Stein on any given pericope is hardly relevant. What matters as you write your sermon is that you now have a conversation partner, and someone who can point you quickly to cross references and note parallels, both from the Old Testament and from the larger Greco-Roman world."--Peter J. Scaer, Concordia Theological Quarterly
Praise for the series:
"In this age of unprecedented proliferation of biblical commentary series, it is an outstanding accomplishment for the Baker Exegetical series consistently to have produced what with only rare exceptions have become the best available commentaries on the Greek text of the New Testament book or books treated."--Craig Blomberg, Denver Journal
"Rigorous exegesis by seasoned scholars with explicit evangelical commitments. This is also one of the best-designed, easy-to-read series as it includes intro matters, then each commentator's translation, commentary, and textual notes for every passage. Very reliable."--Bruce Riley Ashford and Grant Taylor, Between the Times blog