ISAIAH 1–39: A COMMENTARY. By Michael E. W.Thompson. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2022. Pp. xxix + 149. Paperback. $25.00. ISBN 9781666736380.

This brief commentary (originally for the Epworth series of biblical commentaries) is intended for an introductory, even layperson, audience, with attention to contemporary Christian application. The commentary uses the NRSV as the base translation and provides an entry into exploring Isaiah 1–39, acknowledging many key interpretive issues but without substantial explanation or sustained, or usually even explicit, engagement with scholarship. These characteristics make the volume useful for those interested in an informed theological reading of Isaiah 1–39 that does not overburden readers with technicalities and nuances. The introduction briefly discusses topics such as historical background; the phenomenon of ancient Israelite prophecy; the book of Isaiah as a whole, with its compositional history, arrangement, editing, and unity; and the dominant theological themes in Chapters 1–39 (e.g., the holiness of God, divine judgment, future restoration, and eschatological hope). Following the introduction, the commentary proceeds through major sections of the text (Chapters 1–12; 13–23; 24–27; 28–32; 33–39), offering expositions of the subsections within those sections. While the book will be useful in certain theological and introductory contexts, the discussion largely omits any attention to major new trends within Isaiah study (e.g., empire, postcolonialism, trauma, gender issues/feminist concerns).