"Specifically designed to meet the needs of pastors and students who have less access to scholarly resources and less time to mine exegetical details. As such, it is extremely accessible and user friendly, a welcome addition to the pastor's bookshelf."
"One of the most useful available reference tools for pastors and laypeople alike, and I frequently recommend it from the pulpit. The reader simply has to look up his comments on a passage to find out, for example, why it was momentous that the prodigal son received sandals and a ring when he returned to his father. Although background material is often notoriously slippery and debatable, Keener makes it useful for students of the Scripture."
"I never study a New Testament passage without consulting this excellent work, and do commend it at every opportunity! . . . For us 'working communicators' it is often a great shortcut to a quick remembrance of the background to passages and at other times, truly enlightening."
"Carefully researched yet accessible for the busy pastor or other reader, this commentary puts years of research at the reader's fingertips, passage by passage, in a single volume."
"A phenomenal work. I know of no other New Testament reference that brings together so much information and insight into one volume. Keener has gathered a host of background material from a broad range of ancient and modern sources and put them literally at the preacher's fingertips."
"The book is a rich and accessible mine of important information and a remarkable accomplishment."
"We can no more ignore the humanness of the writers of the [Bible's] written word than we can discount the humanity of the living Lord. But their humanness had cultural connotations. . . . It is therefore not only helpful but also necessary for us to know of their cultures the better to understand the inspired word. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament will prove most helpful in this regard."
"Every biblical text has cultural assumptions. Like an intriguing archaeological dig, Keener's work surfaces the cultural and worldview assumptions of the New Testament. This work brings background to the foreground, so the text's meaning is more accessible to all."
"Here is a book many people have been waiting for. . . . The IVP Bible Background Commentary should prove to be a truly useful book."
"This book will meet a significant need. . . . The discerning reader will detect how well Keener has drawn on the results of much recent research and presented it in a way that pastors and laypeople will be able to grasp."
"Most one-volume, single-author Bible commentaries or study Bibles are erratic in their coverage. . . . Craig Keener's work is an astonishing exception. . . . He can be trusted in almost every statement he makes, and even his more interpretative opinions are consistently well-grounded. Keener has given preachers and lay Christians alike an invaluable resource for years to come."
"A rich and lucid resource for understanding God's Word. This work is presented in a way that serves the needs of pastors in their sermon preparation, as well as lay members in personal Bible studies."
