Comfort vs. Metzger

Comfort, Philip.

New Testament Text and Translation Commentary

Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 2008. Pp. xli + 899. Hardcover. $39.99

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I’ve been looking at Philip Comfort’s New Testament Text and Translation Commentary and I have to say that I find it much more satisfying than Bruce Metzger’s A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed. The reason for this is a matter of convenience more than anything.  Metzger states in the preface to his commentary that “[o]ne of the chief purposes of the commentary is to set forth the reasons that led the Committee, or a majority of the members of the Committee, to adopt certain variant readings for inclusion in the text and the relegate certain other readings to the apparatus.” (p. vii)  In short, Metzger’s volume is a companion to the UBS4 (or NA27) and assumes that the reader has one of these Bibles.  Comfort’s commentary on the other hand is pretty much self-sufficient and can be used as a stand-alone reference.  I’m too tired to copy an excerpt from each to show what I’m talking about, but either tomorrow or the next day I’ll do just that.  Those who own both volumes already know what I’m talking about.

B”H