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Genesis (vol. 2)

Accessible and scholarly

GENESIS (Vol. 2)
EP Study Commentary
By Dr. John D. Currid
Evangelical Press. 432 pages. £16.95
ISBN 0 85234 550 X

It has been said that EP Study Commentaries are 'sufficiently scholarly to give [them] credence in the academic world, but at the same time ... sufficiently straightforward to make [them] accessible to any serious student of the Bible' (quotation from the Banner of Truth).

This commentary on the second half of the book of Genesis (Genesis 25.19-50.26) fits that description well.

Dr. John Currid, the author, is Professor of Old Testament at the Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, USA. He has a PhD in Archaeology, and he is clearly a Hebrew scholar.

This academic background serves Dr. Currid well in his careful exegesis of this part of the Genesis story, and in his discussion of the Egyptian background, for example, of the Joseph story.

For those who studied Hebrew at theological college, and have now forgotten most of it, there will no doubt be renewed interest in the Niphal and Pual forms of Hebrew verbs (remember them?), and the usefulness of chiastic structures and inclusio in drawing out the meaning of the text. For others, there will be understandable apprehension at the formidable glossary of linguistic terms listed at the beginning of the commentary. These include such tongue twisters as anacoluthon, anadiplosis, aposiopesis and asyndeton! However, it must be said that Dr. Currid explains these and other terms clearly, and in some places they throw significant light on the meaning of the text.

This commentary is detailed in its exegesis, and solid in drawing out the truth about the Sovereignty of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ... and Joseph. At the end of each section of the text, following careful exegesis, is a short section entitled Application. This is usually straightforward and clear, and sometimes penetrating. Where the New Testament draws out the meaning of the passage with reference to Jesus, Dr. Currid faithfully draws our attention to it. There is no attempt to discuss in what sense , if any, Joseph is a type of Christ. Nor are there many attempts to apply the principles of Genesis to modern situations. For example, more could have been said about the pattern of persecution and suffering amongst God's people that Stephen draws out of the story of Joseph and others in his famous sermon in Acts 7.

Overall this is a scholarly reliable commentary from the evangelical Reformed perspective, which will enlighten the serious Bible student.

Gordon Bridger,
Gordon Bridger served in various churches before becoming Principal of Oak Hill (1987-96). In retirement he helps at Cromer Parish Church.