The Kerux Commentary series seeks to be true to name by assisting the proclamation of Scripture. Accordingly, each volume pairs a biblical specialist with a homiletician to provide interpretative insights that are fully integrated with practical suggestions for preachers. In this volume, Michael A. Harbin (Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies, Taylor University) and Mark C. Biehl (Associate Pastor, Upland Community Church) apply that formula to Leviticus. The result is a valuable guide for anyone wishing to teach this crucial book to a contemporary audience.

The commentary opens with expected discussion of authorship, structure, and historical setting. However, the authors’ treatment of select theological themes satisfyingly pushes beyond what is typical. Consideration of holiness, for instance, not only explores etymology and potential glosses but contemplates ontology, Trinitarian characterisation, and social ethics (pp. 50–55). Less run-of-the-mill topics are also tackled, including what the biblical language of נֶפֶשׁ (life, soul, body?) might signify (pp. 62–68).

In the commentary proper, Harbin and Biehl divide the twenty-seven chapters of Leviticus into sixteen preaching units (summarised on pp. 13–26). Treatment of each follows a consistent pattern. Following a one-page overview, the authors outline the literary structure and key themes of the passage. This is followed by a verse-by-verse, or section-by-section, “Exposition” that probes the interpretative issues in conversation with a range of secondary literature. Exegetical insights are then marshalled to distill the unit’s “Theological Focus.” Unlike many commentaries, an additional section explicitly considers “Preaching and Teaching Strategies.” This includes a synthesis of the exegetical and theological issues and a statement of the emergent preaching idea. Further homiletical guidance is provided by listing “Contemporary Connections” alongside suggestions for “Creativity in Presentation.” Each chapter concludes with study questions to inspire small group discussion. Despite having two authors, the writing style remains seamless throughout, allowing detailed textual work to blend organically into consideration of “big idea,” core themes, and possible application(s), without jarring disconnects.

Throughout, significant discussion of Hebrew lexemes and phrases is appraised in standalone paragraphs rather than embedding this discussion in the main text. This draws attention to crucial interpretative issues while also allowing any who wish to avoid such detail the opportunity to read unencumbered. Still, I appreciated the underlying expectation that preachers will be working closely with, or at least consulting, the Hebrew text. The authors certainly make a strong case for doing so. Furthermore, copious sidebars and excurses illuminate pertinent contextual and theological matters. These sometimes run to several pages (e.g., “The Israelite Calendar and the Seven-Day Week,” pp. 316–18). Seven appendices contemplate tangential matters like “Slaves and Emancipation in Israel” (pp. 431–34) and “Land Measurement and Crop Value” (pp. 441–43). All these features are a real boon. Even having spent many years working on Leviticus, I discovered new things from reading this commentary.

In line with the series’s brief, the volume aims to resource preachers. Hence, I consider possible limitations in relation to that target audience and purpose. The first is easily anticipated: as with any book that proffers contemporary points of connection, not every application will suit every context. Still, Harbin and Biehl supply a valuable starting point, and model, for preachers and teachers to work from as they discern implications in their own settings.

A more substantial issue relates to the selection of preaching units. The authors do not provide their rationale for dividing Leviticus into sixteen sections. Yet, this would have been useful for readers—not only as an example of how to do this kind of work well but also to aid those who may have to preach Leviticus in six weeks, or in twenty. What might such a series look like? While occasionally noting that a section could be further subdivided (e.g., p. 293), no alternatives are provided.

The demarcation of preaching units also leads to a degree of imbalance. While Leviticus 25 receives two chapters’ worth of treatment (pp. 359–84), the extensive block of material in Leviticus 11–15 is given only one (pp. 194–219). Even within this, the 149 verses of Leviticus 13–15 (17% of the book) receive less than seven pages of commentary (pp. 209–16). Certainly, as the authors recognise, these chapters “probably constitute the most difficult section of Leviticus” (p. 195). Yet the very issues they suppose a Christian audience might baulk at, that Leviticus 11–15 is “very technical … long, and … detailed,” or even that the “section seems arbitrarily thrown into the book” and is made irrelevant by New Testament teaching (p. 195), surely provide warrant to address such (sometimes wilful) ignorance and to confront assumptions that can be as deeply held as they are mistaken. The danger of not challenging this kind of status quo is that it is thereby reaffirmed.

Harbin and Biehl have written a commendable guide for aspiring preachers and teachers of Leviticus. May it enable many congregations to discover surprising delight in this centrepiece of Torah.