Annotated Bibliography

Recent Commentaries Most Useful for Bible Teaching and Preaching

Fee, Gordon. 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus. New International Biblical Commentary. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1984. A commentary on the English (NIV) text that includes transliterations of the Greek where useful. It demonstrates fresh, careful exegesis. The commentary is readable, with detailed treatment of exegetical issues handled in separate notes.

Knight, George W. The Pastoral Epistles. New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992. The most detailed commentary of recent times by a scholar who has long specialized in the Pastoral Epistles. Knight had already gained recognition for his work on the “faithful sayings.”

Stott, John. Guard the Truth: The Message of 1 Timothy & Titus. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1996. Stott’s ability to be erudite, practical, and devotional on the same page makes this a highly desirable commentary on these two letters. Those who have heard Stott preach an expository sermon will appreciate seeing that style in print.

Towner, Philip H. 1—2 Timothy & Titus. The IVP New Testament Commentary Series. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1994. Highly readable and an excellent combination of exposition and application. Towner drew on his own doctoral study of the Pastorals, later revised and published as The Goal of Our Instruction (see below).

Other Recent Commentaries Significant for Scholarship

Bassler, Jouette M. 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus. Abingdon New Testament Commentaries. Nashville: Abingdon, 1996. Up-to-date. Draws on a broad spectrum of historical and sociological data. Analyzes the text in literary units rather than verse by verse. Intended primarily for theological students, but does not incorporate the Greek text.

Dibelius, Martin, and Hans Conzelmann. The Pastoral Epistles. Hermeneia. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1972. As with other volumes in this series, this represents the best critical German scholarship. It is of little help to preachers but is of great importance for scholars.

Hanson, A. T. The Pastoral Epistles. New Century Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982. Always worth consulting when one wants a scholarly yet competently presented study from the perspective of one who holds to a post-Pauline date and authorship, probably after A.D. 90.

Kelly, J. N. D. The Pastoral Epistles. Harper’s New Testament Commentaries. New York: Harper & Row, 1963. This is one of the commentaries written by eminent scholars for the Harper series (among them C. K. Barrett on Romans and G. B. Caird on Revelation). It is one of the best commentaries available on the Pastorals. Kelly argues well for Pauline authorship.

Older Important Commentaries

Calvin, John. Commentaries on the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. Ed. John Pringel. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1948. The author needs no introduction. This particular sample of his commentaries reflects his thoughtful (and strong) views on church polity.

Ellicott, Chas. J. A Commentary on the Epistles of St. Paul, vol. 2. Philadelphia: Smith, English, & Co., 1868. One of the classical nineteenth-century commentators. It is based on the Greek text, devoting a full page of commentary to every few lines of the text.

Lock, Walter. The Pastoral Epistles. The International Critical Commentary. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1924. A lesser known but worthy volume in the old but distinguished International Commentary Series. It is based on the Greek text with concise comments that make frequent reference to primary as well as secondary sources.

Scott, E. F. The Pastoral Epistles. The Moffatt New Testament Commentary. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1936. It is a running commentary on the English text, unencumbered by pedantic discussions. Scott was a professor at Union Theological Seminary New York.

Other Relevant Monographs

Donelson, L. R. Pseudepigraphy and Ethical Arguments in the Pastoral Epistles. Tübingen: Mohr/Siebeck, 1986.

Kidd, Reggie M. Wealth and Beneficence in the Pastoral Epistles: A “Bourgeois” Form of Early Christianity? SBLDS 122. Atlanta: Scholars, 1990.

Knight, George W. The Faithful Sayings in the Pastoral Letters. Kampen: Kok, 1968; reprinted, Grand Rapids, 1979.

Marshall, I. Howard. “Recent Study of the Pastoral Epistles.” Themelios, 23/1 (1997): 3–29.

Moule, C. F. D. Essays in New Testament Interpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1982. Pages 113–32, “The Problem of the Pastoral Epistles: A Reappraisal.”

Prior, Michael. Paul the Letter Writer and the Second Letter to Timothy. JSNTSup 23. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1989.

Towner, Philip H. The Goal of Our Instruction: The Structure of Theology and Ethics in the Pastoral Epistles. JSNTSup 34. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1989.

Verner, David C. The Household of God: The Social World of the Pastoral Epistles. SBLDS 71. Chico, Calif.: Scholars, 1983.

Young, Frances. The Theology of the Pastoral Letters. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1994