It is not where Allendar and Longman actually went with this work, but where they COULD have gone that kept me from recommending this work MORE highly. Allendar and Longman could have used this work (and maybe another edition will accomplish this???) to help the hundreds of thousands (upon millions...?) of Christians in the U.S. in churches where emotions are either held at bay and suppressed as evil or they are allowed to run rampant in chaotic displays of extreme behavior. Other than that this was a very useful book that helped us see the redemptive use of our emotions in the process of our individual sanctifications. For example, shame can be a destructive thing if left unchecked, but if we allow it to drive us toward Christ and His redemptive power through the Holy Spirit, to God the Father, then we can be set free from our own personal prisons of shame. I highly recommend all of Allendar & Longman's works.

The soul is said to be the place where human emotions reside. It is the place that reacts or responds to the vertical or horizontal affects of God and society. The emotion is also said to be the link that connects the inner world with the outer world. But if the emotional make up is so active and influenced by God and man how can we as christians learn the language of the soul and communicate that language in a society that shuns reliance on emotion? Well, all these questions and more are answered in this ground breaking book. Discover how God invites His children to be respectfully honest with how they feel. Learn how to deal with the Emotional Struggles of life that seem contrary to "good christian ethics" from God's OWN Word, the Psalms. These writings in the Bible amplify the battle man faces with anger, pain, plea for justice, shame, envy and how they discoverd the goodnes of God in a "strange land". This book is for anyone wishing to face what they feel and gain a fresh perspective into the CRY OF THE SOUL.

This is an excellent book, it reveals through the Psalms how our angry questions directed at God reveal the depth of our battle with Him. It shows how are emotions lead us to the reality that the world is fallen and tragic and that we are far from home - something we would rather run away from. Its premise is that every emotion is a theological statement, that all dark emotions are rooted in our reactive response (flight) to being out of the Garden, out of fellowship with God, and our aggressive response (fihgt) in attempting to regain access to Eden. It clearly and sensitively deals with emotions like despair, sorrow, sadness, anger, fear, jealously and envy - showing that these are mirrors to our soul and also, reflections of the nature of a God. It invites ther reader to deal honestly with his or her emotions, to rise from despair and hopelessness to the mystery and miracle of godly sorrow, repentance, gratitude and worship. This is not secular pop psychology, but a thoroughly biblically based 'guide' to ourselves and our longings for meaningful relationships and ultimately, how all desire points to a hunger for God's redemption, healing and reconciliation. Hope for the hurting, wisdom for anyone wanting to be signposts to a holy and loving Creator God.

I thought this was one of the most compelling book I ever started to read

As a Bible collector and reader, I found this Bible to be unique and readable. The bottom footnotes are plentiful, but don't drown the Bible text. The Bible text is the readable NEW CENTURY VERSION. The knock on the NCV is that it oversimplifies or removes some of the literary value from the text. If you are familiar with other versions you may find some of the revisions odd. However, if you want to actually ABSORB the original writings in everyday english, then this is the Bible for you. The editors have also done us a service in their diligence to controversial topics. They have devoted whole pages to these subjects without interjecting a personal bias. Kind of like we report and you decide! These articles will still point you to the Cross without a doubt. And there are wonderful illustrations of Old Testament objects and achealogical discoveries. You can bring this Bible to your Wednesday night study with pride and the knowledge that the complicated will be made simple.

I purchased this Bible 9 years ago and some how I lost it. I have been looking for one to replace it every since. Then I found it with a different cover. It's feels like being lost and finding your way home. This Bible is wonderful. If you have a hard time reading and understanding the standard King James Version, this Bible is for your. It breaks it down so that you can understand and it answeres every question you ever thought to ask. It is written in standard English even a child could understand. This is the Bible to buy.

The book reflects poor theology and is way too wordy. The same things can be said better with 1/3 of the book's length. The author(s) strikes me as carnal, and shockingly unspiritual many times. I advise against purchasing this book.

Like a democracy, love is not a passive sport for mere observation as spectator, but a full commitment involving our deepest convictions expressed with total "surround sound" Godly spirituality, preferably in stereo with vision for its potential, awareness of its vulnerability, and respect for its limits, governed mostly by the delicacy of its timing to produce the progress expected of it. As a living expression of feeling and attachment, it could not be otherwise and still be called love. The passion poured into its potential arises from belief in both its effectiveness and trust in its methods to derive the heights of mutual benefit capable from that attention, devotion and commitment, as an investment in that object, child or adult. It is the opportunity to play the music of the soul upon the heart of another, to be moved by the exchange of inspiration and enchantment, hopefully reflected back in the precise measure of that grant, or gift. Lack of faith cannot produce bold love, the only love that is capable of full commitment in practice and in theory. Anything less is shallow, by definition, and unworthy of the effort.

This is a good book. The first hundred pages or so are a lot of theology, which I personally loved. But even if you don't love it, suck it up and get through it, because the rest of it is definitely worth. How to love a sinner, how to love an evil person, how to forgive, what Christ's love really is...
This is a solid book, with great illustrations from Dr. Allender's experience, well worth the read.

Each book of the Bible is examined for its literary value by different contributers who are scholars (Biblical and literary) in their respective field. Although the two main genres contained in the Bible- poetry and narrative- are emphasized, other genres are also examined. Layman or expert, student or teacher will all benefit from reading this literary exposition of the Bible. I recommend Ryken's and Longman's book to anyone wishing to expand his knowledge of various literary genres and also willing to have his present view of the Bible challenged. A Christian may be startled by the literary freedom displayed through the writings of each Biblical author and the non-Christian can appreciate the beauty of the Bible as a literary work.

What is this trite, I want my money back. Pretentious "Bible Bashing " from a collection of boring writers, give it a miss.

This book is very important because it is one essential prophetic book about Jesus, one essential source for the Book of Revelation. It also contains a well-known passage about Daniel in Babylonia and his confrontation to the lions. Daniel is able to interpret dreams and visions and he is thus prophesying the future. His confrontation with the lions in the lions' pit follows the miracle of three other deported jews surviving a furnace in which they are thrown. The first section is the basis of a church opera, Ludus Danielis, performed in Beauvais, France's cathedral in the XII-XIIIth centuries. A recording of it is available.

But Daniel is also a model of fair justice against wicked injustice. That is how he saves Susanna from death, by logically revealing the two wicked lying elders. This is how he proves to Cyrus that Bel is an idol and not a God, and that the priests are cheating him, and all that only with logical means and devices. This is how he kills the dragon and reveals it is no God.

We will note that the episode of Daniel in the lions' pit is given in two different versions. As a matter of fact the second version is merged into the first version for the church opera.

This book is a good adventure book. It uses miracles only in extreme situations and it demonstrates that reason and logic are the fundamental tools of good government whereas deceiving and lying are the basic tools of profiteers and wicked people who detain power and want to retain it.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

This book is part of a series of NIV bible studies written by various authors. The author of this volume, Tremper Longman III, is a professor at Westmont College in California and was previously on the faculty of Westminster Seminary.

The commentary is arranged by chapters and contains sections on the original meaning of the text, the context in relation to the whole Bible, and contemporary significance of the text. His writing is easy to comprehend and pleasant to read. The book would work equally well as reference or as a group Bible study.

Longman is solidly reformed. He resists the temptation to use the prophesy in Daniel to set specific dates for the end-times. In fact, he has publicly debated Harold Camping on just this issue. Although not directly addressed, his traditional approach effectively answers the error promoted by dispensationalists.

Yes, this book does have some good truth in it. In fact, all of that truth could be printed on one or two pages instead of the 364 that are contained in the book. It is the equivalent of looking through the trash to find your dinner.

I am not sure who benefits from this book. However, it is not suitable material for regular people. It is best left to professional marriage therapist who enjoy diagnosing strange scenarios.

For Christian individuals seeking a good marriage book, try a more mainline author such as Dennis Rainey or James Dobson.

I thought it was worthwhile, I do see what others mean when they mention that there are only a few key truths, buried under lots of words...but those truths are good ones. I confess, I skipped right to the last chapters, and no, it doesn't give "answers" on how to solve problems, but it helped me to see my heart more clearly, and how I have contributed to our problems. I have read a few books by Allender & Longman, and it is a somewhat awkward arrangement (having 2 authors with pretty different styles). But if you can overlook the faults, this is an insightful book.

Great book to read as a couple. We use it in for a couples group at our church bacause it is very easy to identify with the men and women in the stories and beacause it teaches sound Biblical principles of marriage.

The title of this book sounded great. However, upon reading it I have found it to be somewhat lacking in content. There is little depth; I recommend Clowney's book if you want a detailed look at this subject.

For anyone seeking a Basic understanding to the many symbols of OT worship, this book is a great read. It is very easy to read, smooth in its transition and always makes a connection between the OT and the fulfillment in Jesus Christ. This is a book on the basics, but is very well put together for the layperson or pastor.

The last two reviews accused Dr Longman of being biased and of not being biased enough. The unwary reader might conclude that the author is a fair-minded man who has steered his way between extremes. This is not the case - it is no doubt what he has tried to do, but he has failed. Thus this book has no obvious audience. It will not please those seeking to find books that reliably endorse an evangelical viewpoint, because he includes many books that don't but often fails to tell people that they don't. It will certainly be no good for say Catholics or Jews, or those interested in a Catholic or Jewish viewpoint, because many good books in these categories are not even mentioned. Finally, it will positively mislead anyone looking for books suitable for relative newcomers, because many such books are wrongly labelled "for scholars only", apparently on the sole grounds that they are moderately "critical". This book compares very unfavourably with its predecessor by John Goldingay, alas now unobtainable.

I have the opposite view to some reviewers of this book. They seem to think it is too restrictive and biased against certain viewpoints. On the contrary, it seems to me that for the audience this book is aimed at, it should restrict itself to commentaries by those who accept the Bible, the whole Bible and nothing but the Bible as the inspired word of God. At the very least, there should be some warning for the unwary. On the one hand, it includes commentaries by agnostics who treat the Bible like any other sort of ancient literature or myth (Skinner on Genesis) or orthodox Jews who reject the New Testament (Sasson on Jonah and Ruth). On the other, there are commentaries by Catholics who would include uninspired writings together with inspired ones (diLella on Daniel; in his commentary, he constantly refers to the apocryphal additions to that book, apparently putting them on a level with the book itself). I am not denying that such people have made valuable contributions, but the layman needs guidance about what in their books is trustworthy. Longman fails to do this.

Longman surveys a wide range of Old Testament commentaries and related works. However, when using this book, you must allow for his biases. He is quite explicit about them: "I represent an evangelical approach to the Old Testament, and, accordingly, give high marks to good commentaries that come from a similar perspective." He does add "I can appreciate and learn from writers who write from a perspective different than my own", and indeed sometimes recommends books by Catholic or Jewish authors, but that does not mean that he is prepared to rate highly, or even acknowledge the existence of, all books with a different perspective. For example, there is no mention in this book of the excellent and widely acclaimed (Roman Catholic) New Jerome Commentary nor of the (Jewish) Soncino, ArtScroll or Judaica Press commentaries.

Many books that he considers "critical" get short shrift. If he lists them at all, he gives them only one or two stars, and rates them "S" (only for Scholars) even if they are of a more popular level. Examples of this include Soggin's "Introduction to the Old Testament" and Wevers' Ezekiel. (To be fair, there are exceptions, such as Zimmerli's Ezekiel.) It would take too much room to list other books that have poor reviews or are omitted.

Commentaries on Daniel show this effect most clearly. Hartman & Dilella's and Porteous' commentaries both get very poor reviews. The one by Collins is rightly praised despite being "critical in its approach". However, it is the one by Goldingay that is hailed as "perhaps the most comprehensive commentary on Daniel listed here". This is a fine book, but it offers far less material than Collins.

It has been said that Longman's favourable review of Hamilton's Genesis shows his tolerance of people with different views. However, Hamilton is a fellow evangelical. Their theological differences, such as they are, would not show up nearly so strongly in Genesis as in say Daniel. For Genesis, his tolerance would be shown by better assessments of the commentaries by von Rad or Speiser (he admits that the latter is a "must-buy" for the scholar yet he rates it only S**!), or the inclusion of the one by Meir Zlotowitz

In summary, this book must be used with great caution by anyone who does not share Longman's prejudices.