Over the course of several months, Keith Mathison put together a list of his top 5 commentaries for each book of the Bible. With his recommendations of commentaries for Malachi and Revelation, he has now completed both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Here is a round-up of the...

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Preparing a "Top 5" list of commentaries on the book of Revelation is extremely challenging in a number of ways. Commentators differ on many basic issues, from the structure of the book (recapitulation, chronological ordering, telescoping, etc.) to the basic interpretive approach (futurist, preterist, historicist, idealist, eclectic) to its date...

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The book of Malachi is the last of the twelve Minor Prophets, and little is known of the author himself aside from what may be inferred from the contents of his book. Unlike Haggai and Zechariah, Malachi prophesied some time after the completion of the temple in 515 B.C. In...

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The three epistles of John were likely written from Ephesus between A.D. 80 and 85. This would make them among the last New Testament books to be written. The recipients of these letters were likely members of regional churches associated with the church in Ephesus, which itself was under the...

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The book of Zechariah is the lengthiest of the so-called Minor Prophets and one of the most difficult books in the Old Testament. The historical context of the book is identical to that of Haggai. The first eight chapters of Zechariah contain date references ranging from October of 520 B.C....

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The epistles of 2 Peter and Jude are among the most neglected books in the Bible. Both books are dealing with the same problem. 2 Peter and Jude were written to combat the rise of false teachers in the Christian churches. These books are, therefore, extraordinarily relevant, even today. There...

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The exile was a major turning point in the history of Israel. Judah and Jerusalem had fallen to the armies of Nebuchadnezzar. Many of the people of the land had been taken captive to Babylon, while others had fled to Egypt and parts unknown. A small number of the poor...

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It appears that the first epistle of Peter was written by the apostle from Rome sometime around A.D. 62-63, immediately before severe persecution began under Nero. The letter was written to Christians in Asia Minor (1:1) who were already suffering for their Christian faith. Peter writes to encourage these embattled...

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The book of the prophet Zephaniah indicates that he ministered during the reign of Josiah (640-609), the last of the godly kings of Judah (cf. Zeph. 1:1). He likely prophesied sometime between 622 and 612 B.C. Just as Amos had prophesied about the imminent coming of the Day of the...

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The book of James is possibly the earliest writing found in the New Testament canon. It was likely written after Paul began to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles but before he and James met at the Jerusalem Council (cf. Acts 15). In short, the book of James was likely...

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The prophet Habakkuk lived at the end of the seventh century during the period of time when the Assyrian empire was faltering and the Babylonian empire was on the rise (625-605). He likely prophesied between 609 and 605, during the reign of the Judean king Jehoiakim in the last days...

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The book of Hebrews was likely written sometime before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The author of Hebrews wrote this book to warn the recipients about the peril of apostasy. In order to guard the hearts of his readers against falling away, the author of Hebrews makes an...

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The prophetic oracles found within the seventh century B.C. book of Nahum concern Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. Approximately a century before Nahum, Jonah had been sent to the Ninevites, and they had repented upon hearing the prophetic word. Their repentance, however, was apparently short lived because Nahum...

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The three letters commonly referred to as the "pastoral epistles" (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus) are labeled as such because they are the only letters Paul addressed to fellow workers with pastoral responsibilities. All but one of Paul's other letters were explicitly addressed to churches, and that one letter...

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The ministry of the prophet Micah began during the reign of the Judean king Jotham (750-732) and lasted until the reign of Hezekiah (729-686). His ministry, unlike that of Amos or Hosea, overlapped the fall of the northern kingdom. He prophesied the fall of Israel and lived to witness it....

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The historical context of Paul's epistles to the Thessalonians is found in Acts 17:1-10. This narrative recounts Paul's work in the city of Thessalonica during his second missionary journey. While there he spoke in the synagogue, persuading some Jews and even more God-fearing Gentiles that Jesus was the promised Messiah....

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The style of the book of Jonah is distinctive among the prophetic books. Aside from portions of the book of Jeremiah and Daniel, all of the other prophetic books focus primarily on the message of the prophet. The book of Jonah, on the other hand, is a biographical prose narrative...

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The epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon were written by Paul during the early part of his Roman imprisonment. Paul apparently wrote to the Colossian church because he had heard that false teachers had come to the city and were spreading erroneous doctrine in the young church. He writes...

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The book of Obadiah, the shortest in the Old Testament, is a brief oracle against the nation of Edom. Its date is uncertain. Scholars have proposed dates ranging from the ninth century to the post-exilic period. My own view is that it is to be dated in the early exilic...

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The prophet Amos ministered during the overlapping reigns of Jeroboam II in Israel (793-753) and Uzziah in Judah (792-740). His ministry occurred sometime between 760 and 755 B.C. Amos prophesied at a unique time in the history of the divided kingdom. From approximately 780 to 750, Egypt, Syria, and Assyria...

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