The Message of Nehemiah (Bible Speaks Today Series)

The Message of Nehemiah
The Bible Speaks Today series
By Raymond Brown
IVP. 256 pages. £9.99

There are many things I like about Raymond Brown's commentary on Nehemiah, a new addition to IVP's popular series, The Bible Speaks Today.
The first strength is the clarity of its structure. Not only is the volume as a whole divided into chapters clearly and sensibly, but each chapter itself is a model of clarity. For example, in expounding Nehemiah 2, Dr. Brown gives us the following headings: God's servant waits (2.1); God's servant trusts (2.2-3); God's servant prays (2.4-5a); God' servant plans (2.5b-8) and God's servant testifies (2.9-10). It is simple, clear, logical and biblically faithful - and every chapter in the book is constructed with similar lucidity. To the reader, it all looks very straightforward, but I suspect it took a lot of hard work to make it so!
The second strength is its directness of application. For example, in introducing his discussion of Nehemiah 8, in which the people of Jerusalem hear the Word of God read and explained, we are told of a 1995 survey which revealed that only 15% of regular churchgoers interviewed were committed to day-by-day Bible reading (note - regular churchgoers!). Again and again, Dr. Brown brings our society today under the scrutiny of Scripture in a wise and perceptive way. I thought his analysis of worship from Nehemiah 12 was particularly shrewd.
The third strength of the book is its faithfulness to Scripture. Of course, this is what one would expect from IVP and The Bible Speaks Today series, but it is worth stating nonetheless. I especially liked the way Dr. Brown let the structure of Nehemiah shape the structure of his commentary. Sometimes, even in some other volumes in the BST series, one is occasionally left wondering whether the author had wished parts of the Bible had been written in an different order so as to better suit his purposes! Thankfully that is not the case with this book.
Finally, I think it is worth saying that the book is not only clear and readable but written with an engaging warmth and wisdom. I cannot imagine anyone would be disappointed by it.

David Baker

© Evangelicals Now - November 1998
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