I first used R. T. France's commentary while in seminary. I return to it often whenever studying the gospel of Mark. Perhaps I'm biased because of my love of stories and their narrative structure, which occurs in three acts. France utilizes the dramatic three act structure to outline and analyze the macro-narrative flow of Mark's gospel. Overall, I find France's analysis very strong even if I don't agree with him on every point. France clearly understands the literary style of Mark and how that influences exegesis. Of course, this commentary assumes some grasp of New Testament Greek, but even those who don't have such knowledge should still have France's work on their shelf.

This commentary is just what it says it is: a commentary on the Greek text. If you are looking for a pastoral or devotional commentary. this is not for you. Recommended for students of New Testament Greek, or for pastors who are doing serious preparation for a sermon or Bible study.

R.T. France's commentary on Mark focuses on the Greek text, but I'd recommend it to anyone interested in carefully working through the Gospel of Mark, regardless of Greek knowledge. France takes the utmost care to interpret the text, providing much relevant background and comparison with other Gospels. Even as he is exegeting a single word or phrase from one verse, he always has the whole contour of the book in mind. While he does not formally have an application section as such, the conclusions he draws from the text are such that the careful reader could easily come up with applications from France's insights.

France's work is technical, yet easy enough to read, especially for a commentary. Beyond its superb quality as a technical/academic commentary, it has even gone so far as to more deeply inspire me in my own view of Jesus and his ministry. It's well worth the money to purchase this book, and well worth the effort to work one's way through it.

Sadly, France just passed away in February. I was fortunate to be taking a class this past semester where this commentary was the primary textbook.

Very educativ,easy to read,suitable for beginners as well as

for advanced and professionals.

Like all of the commentaries in this series, France has provided us with a detailed study on this Gospel. The flow of the commentary is simple yet technical, so that even the layperson will be comfortable using it. France deals with most of the textual issues that are raised in Mark, especially the text of 15:39; but he fails to comment on Mark 16:9-20. He only gives a brief summary of the so-called missing verses. This is one of the best commentaries on Mark that is available today, and I recommend it to anybody wanting to get a better understanding on this book even if you already own the WBC and NICNT ones.