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Sunday evening quote

"And how shall I call upon my God--my God and my Lord? For when I call on Him I ask Him to come into me. And what place is there in me into which my God can come--into which God can come, even He who made heaven and earth? Is there anything in me, O Lord my God, that can contain Thee? Do indeed the very heaven and the earth, which Thou hast made, and in which Thou hast made me, contain Thee? Or, as nothing could exist without Thee, doth whatever exists contain Thee? Why, then, do I ask Thee to come into me, since I indeed exist, and could not exist if Thou wert not in me? Because I am not yet in hell, though Thou art even there; for "if I go down into hell Thou art there.''

I could not therefore exist, could not exist at all, O my God, unless Thou wert in me. Or should I not rather say, that I could not exist unless I were in Thee from whom are all things, by whom are all things, in whom are all things?' Even so, Lord; even so. Where do I call Thee to, since Thou art in me, or whence canst Thou come into me? For where outside heaven and earth can I go that from thence my God may come into me who has said, I fill heaven and earth"?

Augustine, Confessions

Commentaries

There are a huge variety of commentaries available out there, ranging from the very detailed (and very expensive) for the serious scholar to the more devotional kind of commentary for the lay person who is simply interested in getting to know their Bible better. Mark Heath and Jeremy Pierce both have far more in depth guides to what's available in the world of contemporary commentaries but here are a few of my favourites.

There are some notable omissions here, so I'll explain them first. The Word Biblical Commentary series is still one of my favourites, although some volumes are still only half done (e.g. Job) and whilst some are excellent (e.g. Smalley on 1,2 and 3 John, Dunn on Romans) some are now quite out of date and not looked upon quite so favourably (e.g. Isaiah). They go into a lot of depth in a similar way to the NICOT/NICNT series and NIGTC commentaries but are usually 25-50% cheaper, which is important when you're a cash-strapped student. All the volumes are now available on CD-Rom, which is the reason I odn't have a picture in this post :)

Another major series not listed here is the Anchor Bible series. Some volumes are rather dated now and are a bit too liberal for some people's liking, but still an excellent addition to any library. The volumes on 1 Corinthians and Acts are among two of the best I've read.

Lastly is the ICC series. For some reason I'm still not sure of, I've actually only ever used one commentary in this series and was very impressed. The texts are detailed and thorough, though this has the disadvantage of spreading some books over several volumes. Matthew's Gospel comes to 3 volumes which would set you back about £60 in total (ouch). Perhaps one to borrow from the library than purchase yourself.

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