Best Commentaries on Philippians

The REC features sermon-based commentary on the text, making them suitable for all readers.

I have been using this volume in my own studies and finding it quite helpful. I look forward to the scholarly reviews catching up with it.

The PNTC is as good a series as there is and though this one was released a little too late for most of the commentaries on the commentaries, I have no doubt many will find it very useful.

Fee’s commentary is considered almost the equal of O’Brien’s, though with the advantage that it is far more readable (since, after all, it comments on the NIV rather than the Greek text). The commentators on the commentaries praise his attention to the text and the liveliness of his writing.

Philippians is hardly underserved by commentaries, which makes the reception of this one all the more striking. Douglas Moo writes, “In a crowded field of Philippians commentaries, George Guthrie’s volume stands out as one of the best.” David Garland adds that Guthrie “conveys his thoroughgoing analyses in a winsome style, and his theological discernment makes this work indispensable.” The ZECNT format—graphical layouts of each passage’s flow, followed by verse-by-verse comment and application—has served preachers well across the series, and by all accounts this is one of its finest volumes.

Hawthorne’s volume in the WBC series receives unanimous approval. Jim Rosscup points out that “some rank this as the top commentary on Philippians due to the wide reading and masterfully good survey on introductory questions and its carefulness on grammar, philology, capture of the epistle’s flow and handling of difficult passages.” It is targeted at pastors but is equally appropriate for lay leaders.

This commentary is now in its second edition and this new edition is considered significantly stronger than the first. Keith Mathison says, “For those who would like something a little less technical, yet still very thorough, I would recommend the commentary by Moises Silva.” Its particular strength is in tracing the flow of Paul’s argument throughout the letter.

There is always room for one commentary that is a little less technical and suitable for a wide readership. Such is the case with Motyer’s volume in The Bible Speaks Today series. The work is necessarily brief, but apparently still powerful.