Professor Mackay’s substantial commentary on Exodus is a worthy addition to the growing Mentor series, and deserves a wide readership. The targeted readership is ‘Bible college and seminary students, pastors and others’. Unfortunately the author is not introduced.

In some respects, this commentary falls between two stools. The easy style, lack of Hebrew (even in transliteration), frequent references to the NT, and periodic ‘reflections’, all address lay-people, students and preachers. As a preacher, I found much to commend it. However the substantial length may be off-putting to these users, whereas those looking for more detail would, like me, be frustrated by the dearth of footnotes and brevity of bibliography. I was puzzled why some issues or debates were footnoted and others not, e.g. for brick-making (K. Kitchen noted) but not for Egyptian records in the next paragraph (108). At times I would have liked to follow up the sources of suggestions and comments.

The layout also seemed to reflect uncertainty. The commentary divides Exodus into six major units, with subdivisions marked by a simple heading. But independent of these headings, and in larger type, every new chapter of Exodus is also marked. This conflicts with the thematic divisions of the text and creates confusion. While the sections marked ‘Reflection’, which make links between Exodus, the NT and modern application, are helpful, they are irregular. Sometimes they follow the chapter divisions, sometimes the commentary sections.

Theologically, the commentary is conservative. A fifteenth-century date for the Exodus is argued briefly. The historicity of the events is assumed, with the large number of Israelites and the miraculous nature of the plagues and the exodus upheld. Difficulties in harmonising the text with other passages or external data are addressed, but always resolved conservatively, e.g. the Philistines (13:17) were in Canaan in the fifteenth century. Traditional locations of places are maintained, with brief discussions of alternatives.

The introduction is a very brief 26 pages, covering theological themes, historical background, authorship (substantially Mosaic), links between Exodus and the gospels, and the structure of the book.

Mackay’s theological comments are a strength of this commentary. He seeks to elucidate not only the meaning of words, phrases and sentences, but also to raise the theological issues, e.g. the place of OT law for Christians. Theological comparisons and contrasts made between ANE lawcodes and the Book of the Covenant are useful. There is also a helpful theological introduction to the Tabernacle (429–31).

Nonetheless there are gaps and weaknesses. For example, Mackay discusses the literary place of repetition and doublets in chapters 35–40, but not what those final chapters contribute theologically to the book, especially following the golden calf incident. I was unconvinced by his reasoning for identifying the angel of the Lord with the second person of the Trinity in 14:19 (255), and by the explanation of why the altar was to have been made of undressed stones (362) which seemed to read too much into the text. At times also there was some psychologising of characters that failed to convince, e.g. on 3:11 (74). There are a number of typographical errors, some glaring such as ‘Feat’ of Unleavened Bread (232), and some incorrect page numbers in the Table of Contents. The full text of the NIV is included, though the Introduction does not name the version used.

Notwithstanding my criticisms, overall this is a reliable and very readable commentary. Its style is accessible. I would certainly use it for preaching and commend it to others.

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