Duane A. Garrett is a Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Theology, a former Pastor and missi... more Duane A. Garrett is a Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Theology, a former Pastor and missionary. He is well versed in the Old Testament and has produced a worthwhile commentary on Exodus. It fills a gap in the lack of recent commentaries on Exodus. It will be a welcome addition to your library. It is reader friendly, yet scholarly in its approach. I would classify it as a practical scholarly work for pastor and student. He opens with an Introduction that is extended more than many other commentaries (130 pages). In this, he deals with the major issues that scholars normally deal with, but in a much more approachable way. He is not afraid to criticize scholarly efforts that do little good for the overall understanding of Exodus, such as source criticism which he argues has doubtful value. On the Hebrew text, he points out it is a remarkably clean straightforward text. He places high value on accurate translation, and provides his own translation of the text. He points out that some understanding of the history of Egypt, the land, setting for the Exodus is essential. He therefore, gives extensive time and space to help the reader understand the importance of Egypt to both the ancient world and its influence upon the text (where Egyptian words have made it into the text). Key to understanding the history of the Exodus is the date of the event. There has been much debate on the subject. This is a major portion of the introduction (48 pages). In covering the date and its major views, which he breaks down in the late date, the early date, the very early date, and the very late date. In examining the date, he makes clear in spite of recent developments and movement to make this a factual event; he declares " The exodus of Israel from Egypt is historical and occurred as described in the book of Exodus " (p. 46). He thereby confirms his conservative stance. There can be little question that scholars gravitate around two major dates —the early date (around 1447 BC) and the late date (around 1250 BC). He deals with each side
Duane A. Garrett is a Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Theology, a former Pastor and missi... more Duane A. Garrett is a Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Theology, a former Pastor and missionary. He is well versed in the Old Testament and has produced a worthwhile commentary on Exodus. It fills a gap in the lack of recent commentaries on Exodus. It will be a welcome addition to your library. It is reader friendly, yet scholarly in its approach. I would classify it as a practical scholarly work for pastor and student. He opens with an Introduction that is extended more than many other commentaries (130 pages). In this, he deals with the major issues that scholars normally deal with, but in a much more approachable way. He is not afraid to criticize scholarly efforts that do little good for the overall understanding of Exodus, such as source criticism which he argues has doubtful value. On the Hebrew text, he points out it is a remarkably clean straightforward text. He places high value on accurate translation, and provides his own translation of the text. He points out that some understanding of the history of Egypt, the land, setting for the Exodus is essential. He therefore, gives extensive time and space to help the reader understand the importance of Egypt to both the ancient world and its influence upon the text (where Egyptian words have made it into the text). Key to understanding the history of the Exodus is the date of the event. There has been much debate on the subject. This is a major portion of the introduction (48 pages). In covering the date and its major views, which he breaks down in the late date, the early date, the very early date, and the very late date. In examining the date, he makes clear in spite of recent developments and movement to make this a factual event; he declares " The exodus of Israel from Egypt is historical and occurred as described in the book of Exodus " (p. 46). He thereby confirms his conservative stance. There can be little question that scholars gravitate around two major dates —the early date (around 1447 BC) and the late date (around 1250 BC). He deals with each side
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