Commentary Recommendations

There are a large number of commentaries on Exodus today. Rather than describe all of them, I will describe several to be aware of and to consider for your personal library.

If you're trying to narrow it down to one to three, here's my summary:

for academic detail, consider Stuart; those wanting even more detail (and having a large enough budget) would consider Propp (vol 1, vol 2)
for exegetical discussion with some discussion of theological and practical matters, consider Wright, Stuart, and Sklar (forthcoming)
for application and help in preaching, consider Wright, Sklar (forthcoming)

Most pastors would be well served if they had Wright, Stuart, and Sklar (forthcoming).

Chris Wright’s Exodus commentary (2023) in the Story of God series by Zondervan is simply excellent. Exegetically sound, theologically and pastorally aware, and crystal clear, it explains the text well and has good discussion of application to today’s context. Outstanding!

Doug Stuart’s commentary on Exodus (2006) in the NAC series goes into great exegetical detail and is also written with pastoral wisdom and warmth. (Stuart has often served as a pastor while also serving as a seminary professor.) It does not have a separate application section but is pastorally aware and will answer some questions related to the Hebrew text that Wright’s commentary might not.

Jewish commentator Nahum Sarna’s commentary on Exodus (1991) in the JPS series is very well done. Sarna is especially aware of the larger ancient Near Eastern context within which Exodus was written. He does not provide wider theological discussion or application.

Also from a Jewish commentator, Umberto Cassuto’s Exodus commentary (1967) is excellent, providing concise yet solid and insightful explanation of the text. Like Sarna, he does not provide wider theological discussion or application.

Desi Alexander’s Exodus commentary (2017) in the Apollos series goes into more detail than most evangelical commentaries in terms of interacting with (and critiquing) source critical theories of the Pentateuch. He has also written a shorter Exodus commentary in the Teach the Text series (2016) though most pastors might find it to be too brief to answer their questions.

William Propp has written the two-volume Exodus commentary for the Anchor Bible series (1999, 2006). Propp’s commentary is not focusing on theology or application, and he writes in general from a historical-critical approach, but those wanting to go into very great depth in the analysis of the Hebrew will find his commentary one of the most thorough discussions available (though be forewarned that the Anchor series uses transliteration in place of Hebrew font, which can prove tricky for those at the front end of their Hebrew studies).

I wrote the Exodus volume for the ESV Expository Commentary series (forthcoming, 2024?). My goal was to provide solid exegesis of the text that is rounded out with discussion of theology, apologetic matters, and practical application. The last of these is addressed at some length in the application section of each chapter, which I usually divide into three or four sections that could correspond to the three or four points of a sermon.

Along with the normal goals one has in writing a commentary, I had the following specific goals in mind when writing this one:

I tried to be aware of issues in the text that will seem strange, or simply wrong, to modern people. Exodus has many of these, leading to many discussions on apologetic matters related to the book, e.g., the plagues, the death of the firstborn in particular, laws on slavery, etc.
Where possible, I’ve tried to use language throughout the commentary that translates well to the person in the pew. (It seems to me that pastors are sometimes left with the hardest work: translating academic parlance into everyday language.)
In the application sections, I always kept in mind how this would have applied to an ancient Israelite before I considered how it also applies to us today (this helps keep the application rooted in the original message of the text as opposed to allegorical leapfrogging from the Old Testament into the New Testament).
The commentary maintains a strong focus on the grace that God provides to us and on the mission to which he calls us—emphases that are central to Numbers itself.
The theology of Exodus through Numbers leads me to believe that we read Exodus best when we read it as the story of the heavenly King (the Lord), who has come to dwell in his palace-tent (the Tabernacle), where he is served by his palace servants (the priests), and which rests in the midst of his covenant people (the Israelites). Reading Exodus through that lens brings it to life in exciting ways.

The Gospel Coalition is publishing commentaries online for free that cover all the books of the Bible. The goal is to translate them into the five most popular languages of the world, thus providing a free mini-library to countless pastors across the globe! I contributed the Exodus volume (as well as Jonah) to the series.

EXODUS

TGC Commentary by Jay Sklar

So once again, if you're trying to narrow it down to one to three commentaries, here's my summary:

for academic detail, consider Stuart; those wanting even more detail (and having a large enough budget) would consider Propp (vol 1, vol 2)
for exegetical discussion with some discussion of theological and practical matters, consider Wright, Stuart, and Sklar (forthcoming)
for application and help in preaching, consider Wright, Sklar (forthcoming)

Most pastors would be well served if they had Wright, Stuart, and Sklar (forthcoming).

*As an Amazon Associate, I receive a small percentage from qualifying purchases made at Amazon.