Here is the first instalment in a projected twenty-volume collection of ‘Exegetical Guides to the Greek New Testament’ (all to be written by Harris). The former Warden of Tyndale House has produced a kind of condensed commentary which proceeds through these epistles paragraph by paragraph, presenting the latest UBS Greek text, a structural analysis, phrase-by-phrase comments on significant issues of vocabulary, textual variants and grammar (including parsings), a translation and expanded paraphrase, a list of topics for further study and various suggestions for preaching the text. The primary target audience includes students and pastors who have studied Greek enough to understand all of Harris’ explanations but are not sufficiently confident in their own abilities to come up on their own with the type of information Harris supplies.

The project is ambitious and the first volume exemplary. The sole outstanding question which remains is if it will be widely enough used to justify the continuance of the series. The information is so densely packaged that it takes considerable effort to glean from the book the key exegetical insights which most preachers will want. Those committed to using the Greek to this extent will probably still value more traditional commentaries more highly; those weak in their Greek may well find even Harris’ digests too daunting. One can also envisage this as a project never completed due to the sheer time each volume requires, unless Harris or Baker decide to spread the authorship around some. This strategy might be desirable even if Harris does live to a ripe old age. No scholar, however well intentioned, can avoid reflecting certain perspectives to the exclusion of others, if he tries to comment in this much detail on the entire NT!