This book is by Alec Motyer and is the last of the series. The first Tyndale Old Testament Commentary (TOTC) was Kidner on Proverbs. In that volume, Donald Wiseman's first general preface said the aim was for 'students and serious readers'. In the TOTC Psalms, the aim was a bit more specific, 'to provide the student of the Bible who has no specialised training in biblical theology or history of languages with a handy up-to-date commentary on each book'. In this final TOTC, we are back to the serious Bible reader.
So I am the person who is meant to read it. But am I allowed to review it? After a little wrestling with my conscience, I have thought it right to proceed. If we are to wait for a full review by a Hebrew scholar, it will be the next millennium before it appears. But can we wait? The reduced offer for UCCF friends is open for a short period. People want to know if they should buy it.
What, then, are my credentials? Is there any weighting for expectancy? How have we managed for the last 40-odd years? Have I ever heard a series preached on Isaiah? The answer to the last question is: 'No'. I possess the two volumes of sermons on Isaiah Chapters 1 and 5, but I had moved from London and Westminster Chapel by the time the Doctor preached these in the flesh.
Should you buy it? Yes certainly, but you will want to know what you are getting. My method has been to study all the very helpful introductory sections very carefully. Then, with regard to detail, I have taken three representative passages: chapters 24-26; then chapter 35; and then chapters 56-59; and compared and contrasted them with the material in the 21st century one volume commentary by Kidner, the BST by Webb and the major Motyer work The Prophecy of Isaiah.
