Some time ago, I wrote a small commentary on the book of Revelation — but that is not the one I want to commend here.
Recently, however, I’ve been teaching Revelation as part of our Diocesan Lent courses, and I decided to go over and revise my old notes. In the process, I came across the commentary by Stephen Smalley, published by SPCK, 2005.
It is certainly in the category of ‘big and fat’, and this reflects in the price (up to £40). Nevertheless, I would thoroughly recommend it for the interested student or preacher who wants to go deeper than the excellent, but less technical, commentary by Michael Wilcock.
Still, do feel free to buy mine (currently £3.00 from The Good Book Company), just to complete the set.
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How would you rate Smalley compared to Greg Beale's in the NIGTC? Beale was the best heavy one I could find a few years ago...
ReplyDeleteAnd FWIW, I've got yours too!
John Allister, Cheshire
Smalley obviously rates Beale quite highly, but I personally haven't read Beale - though I liked his stuff on the Temple, and found that very helpful.
ReplyDeleteTo my mind yours is better than Wilcock's in nuance. I think you catch the subtleties of progression in revelation better. Clearly Wilcock's is in more detail but not necessarily of greater depth.
ReplyDeleteSmalley's I have not perused. Must do so. We have a fairly well stocked church library and I largely choose the books. The problem nowadays is the proliferation of commentaries all saying much the same makes it difficult to know which to choose.
D Johnston's 'The Triumph of the Lamb' is a very good example of a pastorally useful commentary that has harvested Beale.