Logos has an eclectic mix of other deals for the second half of December:
Anxiety: Calming the Fearful Heart (Keys for Living Library), $3.99
Rupert Shortt, Does Religion do More Harm than Good?, $4.99
Christopher Ash, Teaching Ruth and Esther: From Text to Message (Teaching the Bible Series), $5.99
Derek Wilson, The Philosopher and the Gospels: Jesus Through the Lens of Philosophy, $6.99
James D. G. Dunn, Did the First Christians Worship Jesus? The New Testament Evidence, $7.99
Paul J. Loth, Teaching Adults with Confidence: A Four-Session Program Seminar for Training Teachers, $8.99
9Marks Journal, Spring–Fall, Special Edition 2018, $9.99
Caleb S. Lewis, Through the Waters: A Biblical Theology of the Book of Genesis, $10.99
Conrad Cherry, God’s New Israel: Religious Interpretations of American Destiny, $11.99
Peter S. Williams, A Faithful Guide to Philosophy: A Christian Introduction to the Love of Wisdom, $12.99
This is an interesting mix of practical theology and biblical theology. The highlight to my eye is James D. G. Dunn, Did the First Christians Worship Jesus? The New Testament Evidence (WJKP, 2010). Conrad Cherry, God’s New Israel: Religious Interpretations of American Destiny (University of North Carolina, 1998) is a new edition of a book originally written in 1971. The updated edition adds some essays on more relevant historical figures (relevant in 1998 at least). The book collects the words of such prominent and diverse Americans related to religion. Fromthe blurb: “Neither a history of American religious denominations nor a history of American theology, this book is instead an illuminating look at how religion has helped shape Americans’ understanding of themselves as a people.”
There is a link on the Free Book page to an additional free book for Logos subscribers, currently N. T. Wright, Interpreting Paul: Essays on the Apostle and His Letters (Zondervan, 2020), and a link to the Verbum Free Book (Catholic resources).
The Logos New Year’s Sale runs until February 1. Good deals on Bible Translations and other important resources. Check it out, buy yourself something nice to make up for the lousy start to 2026.
This Logos Free Book of the Month promotion runs through January 31.A new free book will be available on February 1 at 9:00 a.m. PST. As always, you can use the (free) basic edition or the inexpensive Fundamentals collection to use these free and discounted books.
All the links are Logos Affiliate links. If you plan to buy Logos books, use this link to support Reading Acts.
Sharp, Carolyn J. Micah: Introduction and Commentary. Illuminations. Eerdmans, 2025. xxv+466 pp. Hb. $64.99 Link to Eerdmans
Carolyn Sharp is Professor of Homiletics at Yale Divinity School. She has contributed a commentary on Jeremiah 26-52 (Prophecy and Ideology in Jeremiah, T&T Clarck 2003) and Joshua (Smyth & Helwys, 2910), as well as several monographs, such as The Prophetic Literature (2019); Wrestling the Word: The Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Believer (2010); and Irony and Meaning in the Hebrew Bible (2009), and edited volumes. She serves as Preacher in Residence at St. Thomas’s Episcopal Church in New Haven. In this new volume of Eerdmans’s Illuminations commentary series, Sharp provides an excellent exegetical commentary combined with theological interpretation and reception history.
In the extensive 126-page introduction, Sharp begins with an overview of Micah’s historical context, both new-Assyrian and neo-Babylonian. There are many proposals for the composition and editorial process of Micah as it appears in the Masoretic tradition. She surveys the relevant literature, including James Nogalski (NICOT, reviewed here) and Ehud Ben-Zvi (who argues the book represents Scribal memory from the Persian), and recent suggestions that there are canonical links within the book of the Twelve. She does not interact with Michael B. Shepherd’s commentary on the Twelve, which focused on these canonical links (reviewed here). Although she acknowledges it is not comprehensive (but it is thorough), Sharp reviews various theories of composition. She considers this survey “as an invitation to the reader, to observe shifts in tone, addiction, imagery, and the themes as MicahMT unfolds” (18). In its final form, Micah was shaped as a written composition, drawing on the memories of the fall of Samaria and the neo-Assyrian invasion of 701, events that were still meaningful for the postexilic community (19).
Discussing literary dimensions of Micah, Sharp observes a “fascinating combination of artistically crafted language and structural elegance” (25). She discusses this poetic artistry by serving various forms with examples from the book. As a prophet, Micah is highly figurative and elliptical. The book represents a dramatic public performance by Micah, which was “polished up” by later scribes. She is not convinced the book dates entirely to the postexilic or Persian period. But neither is she convinced that the voice of the prophet can be discerned with confidence in the earlier oracles, but not in the later ones (25). She has a three-page sketch of what can be known about the original prophet Micah from the book.
An important part of her introduction is a discussion of political and economic factors in ancient Judah. After serving, she discusses several approaches to this, including feminist interpretations that amplify Micah’s views (46-57). Feminist interpretation engages with power in several ways, is concerned with social justice, and gives a voice to invisible or erased persons. As a Profitt, Feminist interpretation is interested in social justice and economic oppression, and wants to honor all subjects (erased, silenced, and distorted voices). With this in mind, Sharp addresses two sub-topics raised by Feminist interpretation. First, she asks if Micah was a killjoy, who “dares to name sordid and tragic truth of systemic, patriarchal violence” (52), which Micah often does! Second, she describes Micah as representing “fugitivity.” This term refers to covert resistance to oppression. For Sharp, Micah, insights flight from dehumanizing violence. He argues a possible world exists, energized by life-giving mutuality” (55).
Another important theme in both the introduction and the overall commentary is Micah and ecological justice (57-60). She reads Micah in the context of “the present global ecosystem collapse.” In each chapter, there is a brief excursus connecting the chapter of Micah to a discussion of ecological justice.
Like other commentaries in the Illumination series, the majority of the introduction (60-124) is devoted to “history of consequences.” Here, she traces Jewish traditions (midrash interpretation, medieval Jewish interpretation, modern Jewish interpretation). She then focuses on Christian traditions, including early Christian interpreters, medieval, early modern, and contemporary interpreters, including Christian liturgy, and in social justice movements. Unlike Amy Erickson’s Jonah volume (reviewed here), Sharp has far less artistic reception of Micah. This is to be expected, since Micah generated very little art or literature.
The body of the commentary (133-408) is divided by the chapters of canonical Micah. She begins with a new translation, using YHWH rather than masculine pronouns when Micah refers to the deity. This is followed by several brief sections: a theological overview of the chapter, and a “history of consequences” sidebar (briefly summarizing the reception history covered in the introduction), a retrospect (a kind of application of the chapter), and a short essay on Micah and ecological justice. She follows this with an exegetical commentary. She focuses on exegesis of keywords and phrases (with Hebrew transliterated). All secondary sources are cited in text, making for a very readable commentary.
Conclusion. As with other commentaries in the Illuminations series, Sharp’s excellent commentary on Micah is unique in that it attempts to do reception history alongside an exegetical and theological commentary. How does this commentary differ from Stephen G. Dempster’s Micah 2017 commentary in the Two Horizons series (reviewed here)? They are similar, but different. Both commentaries engage in theological readings of Micah and relate the ancient prophecy to contemporary issues. Both address Micah’s social justice and use it as a template for speaking to modern Christians and for how the church ought to address ecological justice (Sharp) or economic injustice (Dempster). Unlike the Two Horizons series, Sharp intentionally focuses her attention on the reception history of Micah. The result of the multi-focused goals of the illuminations series is a different sort of commentary that does indeed “illuminate” the ancient prophet’s text and is a pleasure to read.
NB: Thanks to Eerdmans for kindly providing me with a review copy of this book. This did not influence my thoughts regarding the work.
For the second half of December 2025, you can add Bearing God’s Name by Carmen Joy Imes to your Logos Library for free. Published by IVP Academic (2019), Imes takes readers back to Sinai, the ancient mountain where Israel met their God, and explains the meaning of events there. She argues that we’ve misunderstood the command about “taking the Lord’s name in vain.” Instead, Imes says that this command is about “bearing God’s name,” a theme that continues throughout the rest of Scripture. Readers will revisit the story of Israel as they trudge through the wilderness from a grueling past to a promising future. The story of Israel turns out to be our story too, and you’ll discover why Sinai still matters as you follow Jesus today.
You can also add her book, The Image of God, for $6.99
Logos has an eclectic mix of other deals for the second half of December:
Michael Bentley and Simon Robinson, Face2Face with David, vol. 1: Encountering the Man after God’s Heart, $3.99
The Book of Common Prayer, 1662: Psalter, $4.99
Joanna Kimbrel and Courtney Doctor, Behold and Believe: A Bible Study on the I Am Statements of Jesus (TGCW Bible Study), $5.99
Carmen Joy Imes, Being God’s Image: Why Creation Still Matters, $6.99
James Burton Coffman, Coffman Commentary: Matthew (1894), $7.99
Thomas O. Summers, Commentaries on Matthew, Mark, and Luke (3 vols., 1869-72), $8.99
Bryan D. Estelle, Echoes of Exodus: Tracing a Biblical Motif, $11.99
J. P. Moreland; William Lane Craig, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview, 2nd ed., $12.99
R. E. Neighbour, Wells of Living Water (14 vols., 1940), $13.99
Kirsopp Lake; F. J. Foakes-Jackson; Henry J. Cadbury; J. H. Ropes, The Beginnings of Christianity: The Acts of the Apostles (5 vols.), $15.99
Notice the Imes, Being God’s Image, and Bryan Estelle’s Echoes of Exodus; both are excellent. Although it is older, The Beginnings of Christianity: The Acts of the Apostles is still oft-cited and worth owning (especially at $16)
Kirsopp Lake was a monumental scholar in both New Testament and church history. He brought his expertise in both of these areas together in a 20 year long collaborative effort with F.J. Foakes-Jackson, Henry J. Cadbury, and many others to examine Acts and its relation to the earliest history of the church. The result was the present five volume work: The Beginnings of Christianity: The Acts of the Apostles. William Baird called it “the most extensive investigation of a NT book by English-speaking scholarship.” Included are two volumes of background study ranging from the background of Jewish history to the rise of Gentile Christianity. Volume three provides an extensive survey of the textual evidence for Acts by James Hardy Ropes. The last two volumes give in-depth commentary on the text of Acts.
Here is a list of the “best books” in 2025, as in, best-selling for Logos. But as implied by that graphic, you can get BDAG on sale (which is rare). HALOT is also there. If you are looking for a professional lexicon for Greek and Hebrew, now is the time. There is quite a bit of variety on this sale, so check it out.
Logos is running a Christmas sale. Some good books to stuff in your own stocking. Because if you don’t, who will? If you run up a serious tab, try the code CHRISTMASJOY at check out for $25 Off $200+
This Logos Free Book of the Month promotion runs through December 31.A new free book will be available on January 1 at 9:00 a.m. PST. As always, you can use the (free) basic edition or the inexpensive Fundamentals collection to use these free and discounted books.
All the links are Logos Affiliate links. If you plan to buy Logos books, use this link to support Reading Acts.
Soden, John M. and Randal Emery Pelton. Genesis. A Commentary for Biblical Preaching and Teaching. Kerux Commentaries. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Ministry, 2025. 752 pp. Hb. $54.99 Link to Kregel Ministry
Kregel’s Kerux commentary series combines a rich exegetical commentary with timely preaching in order to help pastors and teachers prepare sermons and lessons for the church. In this new commentary on Genesis, exegete John M. Soden (PhD, Dallas Theological Seminary) combines pastoral experience and academic credentials. Soden previously published In the Beginning… We Misunderstood: Interpreting Genesis 1 in Its Original Context (with Johnny V. Miller, Kregel, 2012). The preaching sections are written by Randal Emery Pelton (PhD, Capital Seminary & Graduate School; DMin, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary). Pelton serves as senior pastor at Calvary Bible Church in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania (since 2003), and adjunct faculty at Lancaster Bible College, Capital Bible Seminary, and Gordon-Conwell. He previously published Preaching with Accuracy (Kregel Ministry, 2015, reviewed here). His website, Pelton on Preaching, aims to help pastors preach with precision and passion.
Soden and Pelton divide Genesis into four major sections and forty-five preaching units.
Notice that the genealogy in Genesis 25:12-18 is missing. They call this “Family History of Ismael.” They provide three paragraphs of explanation, but do not consider the genealogy a preaching unit. Each major section is introduced with several pages on its literary structure, theological themes, and preaching suggestions. This will be helpful, since most pastors and teachers will not teach the entire book of Genesis in a single long series. Pastors should select one of these four units as a sermon series (your congregation will appreciate this). Weird observation: these sections are a single column, while most of the rest of the commentary is two-column.
A “preaching unit” is a section that can reasonably be covered in a single sermon or teaching session. The authors provide a one-sentence exegetical idea, a theological focus, and a preaching idea for each unit. These should look familiar to those who have read Haddon Robinson on preaching. These are one-sentence summaries of what the sermon should look like. Following this are two paragraphs of “preaching pointers.” This material is gathered on pages 13-48 and repeated at the beginning of each preaching unit.
The twenty-page introduction seems brief, considering seven pages discuss structure and outline (contrasting the Tolodoth structure with Gary Rendsburg’s work on Genesis). This is the nature of the Kerux series; the commentary is much more interested in the text of Genesis than in typical introductory issues. If the book is taken at face value, Moses is the author. But this does not imply that Moses wrote every word in the book (although this introduction does not discuss source criticism, traditional history, etc.) A decision on authorship will affect the date and place of writing. Even if the traditional authorship is accepted, the date of the Exodus is an open question. Nevertheless, they conclude that the occasion and the original recipients were Israel after coming out of Egypt, likely during the wilderness period.
As with other volumes in the Kerux series, there are numerous sidebars discussing cultural and historical issues. In this, there are interesting sidebars on cosmic conflict, surrogate wives, dreams, Levirate marriage, covenant meals, the adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh, the identity of Jacob’s assailant, household gods, and marriage contracts (and many, many more). In addition to these, there are extensive “translation analysis boxes. In these sections, Sodon discusses Hebrew lexical and syntactical issues by comparing popular English translations. This is helpful, especially for pastors, who must deal with a variety of translations in their congregation. Sodon explains the reasons why some translations choose a particular English word based on the Hebrew text.
The exegetical section proceeds through the text by paragraphs. Even in a commentary of this length, it is impossible to deal with every word and phrase in the book of Genesis. Soden comments on the Hebrew text, which often appears without a transliteration. Secondary sources are cited with in-text citations rather than footnotes. Each exegetical unit concludes with a comment on the text’s theological focus.
Pelton’s Preaching and Teaching Strategies begins with an exegetical and theological synthesis. These short reflections on the main point of the passage are followed by a repetition of the preaching idea. He then provides a series of comments on contemporary connections, the sorts of things an interpreter needs to consider before they preach or teach the passage. Sometimes these are canonical connections, others are warnings or advice to preachers as they prepare. The final section is “Creativity in Presentation.” These sections offer suggestions for drawing the congregation into the text (illustrations, for example). These seem shorter to me than other Kerux volumes, but also less gimmicky. The “Creativity” sections often include contemporary movies (The Lord of the Rings) or famous Christian writers (C. S. Lewis, and a host of ancient church writers). Pelton does some of that, but these sections are more concerned with how the narrative works within the larger story of Genesis and the Bible. Each preaching unit concludes with discussion questions that guide the sermon’s application.
Conclusion. Soden and Pelton’s commentary on Genesis will be a valuable resource for pastors and teachers presenting the first book of the Bible in the local church. They do not get bogged down in the fine details, which distract many (especially in the first eleven chapters). By focusing on the text’s meaning and narrative flow, Soden and Pelton provide a solid foundation for reading Genesis with clarity.
This commentary was published in 1983. Greenberg’s second volume on Ezekiel 21-37 was published in 1995, and Stephen Cook finished the commentary in 2018.
Second, there are some other deals December 1-15:
David Jackman, Get Preaching: Why Expository Preaching, $3.99
Collin Hansen, Blind Spots: Becoming a Courageous, Compassionate, and Commissioned Church, $5.99
Helen-Ann Hartley, Making Sense of the Bible, $6.99
Megan Hill, Sighing on Sunday: 40 Meditations for When Church Hurts, $7.99
Lawrence O. Richards, New Testament Life and Times, $18.32 (maybe that price is wrong?)
Judith M. Lieu, Neither Jew nor Greek? Constructing Early Christianity, 11.44
Carol A. Newsom, The Spirit within Me: Self and Agency in Ancient Israel and Second Temple Judaism (The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library), $13.99
Pietro Bovati, Re-establishing Justice’s Legal Terms, Concepts and Procedures in the Hebrew Bible, $14.99
Luke Timothy Johnson, The First and Second Letters to Timothy (The Anchor Yale Bible Commentary), $15.99
Raymond Brown, Epistles of John (The Anchor Yale Bible Commentary), $17.99
This is an interesting mix between academic resources and pastoral resources.
Judith Lieu’s book is a “ground-breaking study in the formation of early Christian identity, by one of the world’s leading scholars. She explores the formation and shaping of early Christian identity within Judaism and within the wider Graeco-Roman world in the period before 200 C.E”
No subscription required. Or get a double discount with a 1- or 2-year subscription bundle. Logos shuffles its bundles every year, so your “gold” package last year is a little different this year. But you do not need to repurchase the whole package. Dynamic pricing means you never pay twice for a book, and on top of that, you get a discount. Click through and check out your pricing…it might be time to pull the trigger on a Platinum Logos library. This is a Black Friday, or Cyber Monday, or “take my money” Tuesday. Whatever it’s called these days. If you want something else, try this code: M7S0Q6E1. That should save you an extra 5%
This Logos Free Book of the Month promotion runs through December 15.A new free book will be available on December 15 at 9:00 a.m. PST. As always, you can use the (free) basic edition or the inexpensive Fundamentals collection to use these free and discounted books.
All the links are Logos Affiliate links. If you plan to buy Logos books, use this link to support Reading Acts.
