Best Commentary on Ephesians- Harold W. Hoehner

Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary by Harold W. Hoehner is the best, most thorough technical commentary available today on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

The fact that many scholars today question, or even deny, that Paul wrote Ephesians is addressed at length in the opening pages of the commentary. Hoehner devotes nearly 60 pages to exploring the authorship of Ephesians. In fact, he spends several pages listing the views of dozens of commentators from Erasmus and Luther to 21st Century writers. There are reasons to question the Pauline authorship of the book and Hoehner handles those arguments fairly but in the end, he concludes that the historic position in favor of Paul is correct.

Other introductory material is also very thorough, including an extensive listing of commentaries, standard sections on purpose, setting and theology of the book plus a detailed bibliography related to the authorship question. There are also eight excursuses scattered through the book dealing with such issues as election, mystery, textual problems in Ephesians 1:1 and slavery in Paul’s day.

Each section of text begins with the Greek text followed by Hoehner’s own translation. There is a fair amount of Greek, and even the occasional Hebrew word (when referencing a Septuagint translation from Hebrew to Greek) throughout the book. Familiarity with the original languages would be very helpful but is not essential as Hoehner moves through the text phrase by phrase.

As an example of the depth with which each passage is treated, the section in Ephesians 4:1-16 dealing with Christ’s gifts to the church takes up more than 40 pages.  The author often concludes a discussion of a section of Ephesians with a helpful summary that concisely states his thoughts on the passage.

For anyone doing a serious study of Ephesians, this commentary should be your first stop.

Ephesians: An Exegetical Study by Harold W. Hoehner is 930 pages in hardcover. In addition the introductory material noted above, the book is extensively footnoted and contains an author index and scripture index. Hoehner is Distinguished Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. List price is $59.99. Available from Amazon.com.

Our take: Highly Recommended

Other recommended commentaries on Ephesians:

Less technical, no knowledge of Greek needed: The Letter to the Ephesians (The Pillar New Testament Commentary) by Peter T. O’Brien.

Expositional commentary, great for Bible class teachers or others interested in application: The NIV Application Commentary- Ephesians by Klyne Snodgrass.