Reviewing Volume XII of the ESV Expository Commentary (Hebrews – Revelation)

I am grateful to Crossway for sending me a copy of Volume XII of the ESV Expository Commentary to review. I don’t take the gift to review this commentary lightly. Commentaries are among the resources I use most consistently in ministry, study, preaching, and teaching, and this particular series has already earned a regular place on my shelf. Many books have found new homes after years on my shelves, but commentaries continue to earn their place—especially commentaries worth their weight. This series continues to be one that I enjoy.

This is a substantial and highly usable commentary volume whose Reformed theological framework is sometimes noticeable, but whose exegetical and pastoral value makes it worth engaging even for readers outside that tradition.

A New Volume, A Growing Standard

Over the past several months, I have spent considerable time with Volume 8 (Matthew–Luke) and Volume 9 (John–Acts) of the ESV Expository Commentary. Both commentaries have become weekly resources for me, and I have found myself returning to them often enough that I have begun to think of the series as something of a new standard for the commentaries I keep close at hand. I suspect that this Volume XII of the ESV Expository Commentary series will also be a new standard, on hand and within reach of my desk. 

So when Volume XII arrived, covering Hebrews through Revelation, I was genuinely interested to see how it would compare. At 784 pages, this is a substantial volume that brings together commentary on Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude, 1–3 John, and Revelation. In fact, outside of the Gospels, some of my favorite New Testament books and letters to preach appear in this volume—including James, as well as the Petrine and Johannine letters. Given its size, I have not worked through every page and inch of this volume in the few weeks since it arrived, and I don’t want to pretend otherwise. However, I have spent enough time sitting with it, working through portions of the text, and examining how the various contributors approach these books to offer some initial reflections.

An Overview of Volume XII

In Volume XII of the ESV Expository Commentary Series, we find substantial commentary on Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude, 1–3 John, and Revelation. Published by Crossway in Wheaton, Illinois, this 2018 volume was edited by Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar and features contributions from several well-known scholars from broadly Reformed and evangelical traditions.

Dennis E. Johnson handles Hebrews. Johnson is a Professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Escondido, California. He is a graduate of Westmont College, Westminster Theological Seminary, and Fuller Theological Seminary, and has taught at Westminster Seminary California since 1982.

James is handled by Robert L. Plummer, whose work on the letter is already familiar to me through his shorter book A Living Faith, which explores the theology of James. Having appreciated that work, I was particularly interested to see how Plummer approaches James within this larger commentary format.

Sam Storms handles 1 Peter. Storms is known for bringing together Reformed theology and charismatic theology, an unusual combination that has shaped much of his ministry and writing. He has taught at Wheaton College, serves on the Council of The Gospel Coalition, and has been involved in the Convergence Church Network. His broader ministry history and theological commitments are worth knowing when approaching his work. Though he became notably associated with Mike Bickle, which did not work well amid the scandals surrounding IHOP’s fallout.

Matthew S. Harmon handles 2 Peter and Jude. Harmon is a professor of New Testament at Grace Theological Seminary, where he also teaches biblical theology and exegesis. In this group, Matthew Harmon was one of two names I did not have much prior experience with.

Ray Van Neste handles 1–3, John. Van Neste holds a Ph.D. from the University of Aberdeen and serves as dean and professor of biblical studies in the School of Theology and Missions at Union University. Neste is the other name that I did not have much prior experience with.

Finally, Revelation is handled by Thomas R. Schreiner, who serves as Associate Dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has previously taught at Azusa Pacific University and Bethel Theological Seminary. I actually had Schreiner as an instructor in an Acts course some years ago, so there was a certain familiarity in opening this volume and encountering his work again.

Reading Beyond Our Camps

As with my previous reviews, I want to consider not only what is on the page, but how the commentary actually works for someone who uses these books in the ordinary rhythms of ministry: preparing to preach, teaching others, wrestling with difficult passages, and simply spending time in the Scriptures.

As I unpacked the commentary, I realized that, among the New Testament volumes in this series, this one may be the most controversial. Revelation, James, Hebrews, and the letters of Peter and John are not books that come without their interpretive challenges. Each brings its own theological questions, difficult passages, and long history of disagreement among Christian traditions. Some of these disagreements get quite tense.

And that raises one of the challenges I find most interesting when reading commentaries: how do we read the text and its context without simply reading our theological camps into them? That is never an easy task. Every commentator comes to the text with a tradition, a theological framework, and a set of assumptions. The question is not whether those things are present, but whether we can recognize them, engage them honestly, and still allow the text to challenge us.

A Few Notes from Volume XII

In Hebrews, I particularly appreciated Dennis E. Johnson’s treatment of Hebrews 10. At River Corner Church, we chose Hebrews 10:24 as our key verse for the year: a call to consider how we might “spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” In some more progressive theological circles, I have seen people argue that church community is not really the core of Hebrews 10:25. Johnson settles that question well, in my opinion. He gives a clear account of the urgency and responsibility we have toward one another in a world that continually seeks to draw believers away from Christ and from his gathered church. Johnson’s treatment of this passage reinforces something I have become increasingly convinced of: following Jesus was never intended to be an isolated practice.

I was also glad to see Ray Van Neste take on the longstanding tension surrounding 2 John and the question of whether the letter was written to an individual woman or to a local church. Van Neste acknowledges the tension, but I was disappointed that he does not spend more time contrasting the two possibilities before landing fairly clearly on the view that John is addressing the church figuratively as “the elect lady.” I have not yet been convinced that it is a representation rather than an actual individual woman. By the time Johnson reaches 2 John 4–6, he is primarily working from that conclusion rather than continuing to engage with the alternative interpretation and the tensions it raises.

That was a weakness for me, but Van Neste does not fail to address the substance of this Johannine letter thoroughly. He draws attention to its Old Testament connections, its Christological context, and the practical way in which love and grace were being lived out within the community. I particularly appreciated his unpacking of verses 7–11 and the call for John’s readers to continue in obedience and love for one another in the presence of the many deceivers in the world. That is an important word not simply for the original readers of 2 John, but for all followers of Jesus.

Revelation was perhaps the book I was most interested—and most concerned—to see handled. From what I have worked through so far, Thomas Schreiner handles the tensions of Revelation well. He works carefully through questions surrounding the dating of the book and the inherent challenges they raise, as well as questions of authorship. He rightly identifies the call to persevere as one of the faithful messages running throughout Revelation.

I particularly appreciated Schreiner’s warning that “too often those who preach from Revelation have used it as a prophecy chart.” He pushes back against that approach, calling it, rightly in my opinion, “alien to the message of the book.” Revelation certainly contains prophecy, but reducing the book to a chart of future events misses much of what John is actually calling the church to do: remain faithful, persevere, worship, resist compromise, and bear witness to Jesus.

Schreiner also does a helpful job of naming and explaining the major interpretive approaches to Revelation: preterist, historicist, idealist, and futurist. He addresses the futurist dispensational approach, which has become deeply influential in many of our churches, and offers a broader reading that draws together elements of the preterist, idealist, and futurist approaches. I find myself walking a similar balance among these three perspectives.

One place where I would have liked to see a little more engagement is Schreiner’s treatment of the angels of the seven churches. I tend to understand these figures as representatives or messengers of the churches rather than as heavenly angels standing over the congregations. Schreiner’s treatment is helpful in unpacking the meaning of the text, but I think there is another possibility worth taking seriously: that these figures may represent messengers or representatives of the churches, accountable for faithfully carrying the message of Christ to the churches. I don’t think this is a major weakness in the commentary, but it is one place where I found myself wanting more engagement with an alternative reading.

I particularly appreciated Schreiner’s treatment of Revelation 20. He rightly identifies it as the famous millennial text and one of the most debated passages in the book. The basic difficulty is familiar: What do we do with the thousand years, and how should we understand this controversial period that has produced such different interpretations throughout Christian history?

Schreiner explains the major millennial positions—premillennialism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism—and gives attention to the distinctions within those approaches. He ultimately suggests that the strongest options are historical premillennialism, such as the position associated with George Eldon Ladd, or amillennialism. I lean toward amillennialism myself, so I was encouraged to see Schreiner give that position serious consideration rather than treat it as a theological outlier.

I also appreciated his detour into the church fathers. Both sides of the millennial debate can point to figures from early church history in support of their positions. Schreiner demonstrates that the evidence is more complicated than either side sometimes suggests. The church fathers were not uniformly committed to one particular millennial position; there was significant diversity among them. That historical perspective is useful because it reminds us that this debate is not nearly as simple as sometimes presented.

Ultimately, I suspect this is one of those debates that will continue among faithful Christians until Jesus returns. We can study the text carefully, engage the history honestly, and hold our conclusions with conviction while remembering that our hope is not ultimately found in getting every detail of Revelation right. Our hope is found in Christ, who is the center and culmination of the book.

Again, at 784 pages, I have not completely worked through this commentary in the past few weeks. I have, however, spent enough time sitting with it and working through substantial portions of the text to get a good sense of what it offers. What I have encountered so far has given me plenty to appreciate, a few things to question, and a renewed desire to keep working through the rest of the volume.

A Consistently Excellent Design

As I have mentioned in my reviews of the earlier volumes, the ESV Expository Commentary series is physically full of exceptionally well-designed volumes. The whole thing screams of quality.

The hardback black cover with gold lettering feels sharp, professional, and academic without being overly ornate or flashy. I find the look of the series to be catchy, clear, and clean: the ESV logo, the words “Expository Commentary,” and the volume title are presented with simplicity. The spine is equally uncluttered and easy to identify on a shelf.

The physical quality continues inside the book. The pages are thick, the margins are generous, and the font appears to be around a comfortable 12-point size. That matters to me. Footnotes are readable without strain, and the typeface remains crisp throughout.

The open layout, lay-flat spine, and readable text make sustained engagement possible without distraction or eye fatigue. Even the binding deserves mention; the spine relaxed quickly, allowing the book to lie flat after only a few pages of use.

There is also a ribbon that allows you to bookmark the spot you are working.

These may seem like small details, but they matter when a commentary is actually being used rather than simply displayed on a shelf. I regularly work with several books open at once, particularly when preparing sermons or teaching. A commentary that stays open, provides generous white space, and can be read comfortably for an extended period is simply more useful.

And these books look good on a shelf. Uniform, clean, scholarly in appearance without being intimidating.

A Helpful and Consistent Structure

The physical design would not matter much if the material inside were difficult to navigate. Fortunately, that is not the case.

The commentary itself is organized around narrative sections and connected themes in the passage before moving verse by verse through the text. Each section begins with a helpful overview of the passage and addresses significant exegetical tensions before moving into detailed exposition.

The format follows a consistent and helpful structure: a section overview, an outline, verse-by-verse exegesis, and then a movement toward contemporary application.

That consistency is one of the things I have come to appreciate most about the series. Once you become familiar with the structure, you know how to move through the material. You can read deeply when you have time, or quickly locate the particular passage or question you are wrestling with when you are preparing under the pressure of pastoral ministry.

The series is deeply informative and contains extensive notes, observations, theological reflection, and exegetical discussion. It is substantial without becoming needlessly difficult to navigate.

The Reformed Lens

There is no getting around the theological perspective of this series. The ESV Expository Commentary comes from a broadly Reformed and Calvinistic camp, and that is sometimes noticeable.

For me, that is not necessarily a weakness.

I regularly read commentaries across theological traditions. I find value in reading Reformed, Wesleyan, Anabaptist, charismatic, academic, critical, devotional, and broadly evangelical perspectives. I do not need every commentator to agree with me for them to teach me something.

That is especially true here.

There are certainly moments when the contributors’ theological framework becomes apparent. Readers who come from outside the Reformed tradition will occasionally find themselves pausing, questioning an interpretation, or wishing another theological possibility had received greater attention.

At the same time, in many places, the contributors do explore other angles and engage questions fairly. The Reformed framework is present, but it does not erase the considerable amount of biblical, historical, theological, and pastoral material contained in these pages.

The information is, quite simply, too useful to ignore.

That is probably the best way I can describe my relationship with this series. I don’t have to adopt every theological conclusion in order to benefit from the scholarship. In fact, reading resources that come from outside my own theological instincts can be a useful discipline. It forces me to ask whether I disagree because the text demands another conclusion or simply because I am accustomed to another tradition’s way of reading it.

That makes a commentary like this useful even when I disagree with it.

A Growing Place on My Shelf

My experience with Volumes 8 and 9 has already established the ESV Expository Commentary as a regular part of my study rhythm. Volume 12 is continuing that trajectory.

I have not yet worked through all 784 pages, and I don’t want to pretend that I have. But I have spent enough time with Hebrews, James, the Petrine letters, the Johannine letters, and Revelation to recognize the value of what is here.

For pastors and teachers, that matters. A commentary has to work in the real world. It has to help when a sermon needs to be prepared, when a difficult passage needs to be understood, when a theological question arises, or when you simply want to sit with a biblical text for a while.

The ESV Expository Commentary series continues to do that well. Volume XII is informative, substantial, readable, and physically excellent. It carries a clearly Reformed theological perspective, but that perspective does not diminish the work’s usefulness. If anything, it gives readers outside that tradition an opportunity to engage another theological lens while benefiting from serious scholarship and careful exposition.

I continue to find myself returning to these volumes.

And, at this point, the ESV Expository Commentary series has become something of a new standard on my shelf.

Closing Thoughts

Again, this is a substantial and highly usable commentary volume whose Reformed theological framework is sometimes noticeable, but whose exegetical and pastoral value makes it worth engaging even for readers outside that tradition.

After spending time with Volume XII, I can say that it has earned a place alongside Volumes 8 and 9 in my regular study. It is a substantial, well-designed, and deeply useful resource, even when I find myself questioning some of its theological conclusions. For pastors, teachers, and serious students of Scripture who are willing to read beyond their own theological camps, I think this volume is well worth keeping close at hand.

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