Andy Naselli

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Review article: PNTC, BECNT, and NIGTC in Libronix

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In August 2007 I reviewed three New Testament commentary series (28 volumes) in a single, 8,300-word article: “PNTC, BECNT, and NIGTC: Three New Testament Commentary Series Available Electronically in Libronix,” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 12 (2007): 81–99. This review is now available in two formats:

  1. The PDF appears exactly as the review is printed in the fall 2007 DBSJ.
  2. The plain text adds some hyperlinks.

PNTC

 

BECNT

 

 

NIGTC

Content:

  1. Part 1 (about 1,750 words) make a case for using electronic commentaries in Libronix.
  2. Part 2 (about 600 words) compares the three commentary series in general.
  3. Part 3 (about 5,500 words) comments briefly on each of the 28 volumes (and mentions the authors for the forthcoming volumes).

Outline:

  1. Advantages of Using Electronic Commentaries in Libronix
    • 1.1. Searchability
    • 1.2. Versatility
    • 1.3. Cost
  2. General Comparison of PNTC, BECNT, and NIGTC
  3. Brief Comments on Individual Commentaries in PNTC, BECNT, and NIGTC
    • 3.1. PNTC (8 vols.)
    • 3.2. BECNT (8 vols.)
    • 3.3. NIGTC (12 vols.)
  4. Conclusion

Related:

  1. my review of Scholar’s Gold
  2. “Adding a Second Screen to a Personal Computer“
Logos 9 Is Here

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Comments

  1. Hi Andy,

    Great review. I found it really helpful and was also found the upcoming commentary list very interesting. There was a small point I was curious about. The article says BECNT was $129 academic in logos but I thought it was a fair bit higher than that (ie. $179). Was it really at the lower price, if so I missed the boat, or was that the price for the other baker set?

    Thanks
    Mike

  2. Thanks, Mike. Good question. I think you may have found a typo, though it’s possible that the price may have changed since I wrote this back in August. (I asked five different Logos employees to read my review before it was published, and none of them flagged it when they read it in August.)

  3. Nice review. I appreciate the overview of these three commentary series, especially b/c I’ve been considering going electronic.

    I found it curious, however, that you rank Garland’s work on 1 Corinthians second only to only Fee’s. I take this to mean that you find both Fee and Garland’s work above Thiselton. Just curious as to why.

    Thanks for posting your review.

  4. Mike, I verified that it is a typo. The current academic price is $189.95. It used to be $179.95, not $129.95. I’ve corrected this. Thanks for pointing it out.

  5. Thanks, Jason. I don’t have a strong opinion on this one. Thiselton’s commentary is first-class scholarship, and I don’t mean to belittle it! It’s really a toss-up, but I suppose I made that comment because Garland is a bit more up-to-date and clearer in his writing style. That why I said that Garland is “probably second to Gordon D. Fee’s volume.” That word “probably” indicates an element of uncertainty. :-)

  9. Thanks Andy for this excellent work. I’ll be working myself through it. I agree with most of the positive elements you mention about Logos.

    The one thing I’m not convinced about is price. Perhaps the series are less expensive than the print series. But I’m a French Bible Student. None of us own entire series of commentaries. We just try to have the best one/two on the book we’re studying at present. The craziest is NICOT/NICNT that is sold in only the series.

    But that said, I’m so happy with having my books with me on the go and I still think its the way to go.

Trackbacks

  1. […] Andy Naselli has a good review of 3 major evangelical commentary series that are now electronic.  I’ve been contemplating going electronic with these and he has some good thoughts on the value of the electronic versions.  Now I need someone to give me 800 to buy them.  Check his review. […]