David B. Schreiner and Lee Compson. <i>1 &amp; 2 Kings: A Commentary for Biblical Preaching and Teaching</i>

For those unfamiliar with this new commentary series (Kerux) being published by Kregel, it is a strong blend of biblical scholarship and focused homiletical aids where a couple of authors with respective expertise in each area blend their contributions together for the aim of developing a preaching tool commentary. David B. Schreiner served as the OT scholar and Lee Compson as the homiletician for this volume and their work appears well balanced throughout (something not all multiauthored works do well) as a particularly superior help to the preaching/teaching of the local church.In this volume, the books of 1–2 Kings are separated into larger literary units and then broken down into proposed preachable units noting literary structures as indicative of these units. The volume then moves to an introduction proper to the books of 1–2 Kings that gives the expected contexts of biblical introductions including charts on literary units and comparative timelines (excepting Elisha should be listed where a second Elijah is named in the chart on p. 48). Following this introduction, the book is divided into larger literary units. Each chapter of the book then opens with a summary of the “Exegetical Idea,” “Theological Focus,” “Preaching Idea,” and “Preaching Pointers.” This overview summation for the entirety of 1–2 Kings is also provided at the beginning of the volume to capture the proposed movement for preaching through these books (pp. 13–31). The actual exposition of each text follows this opening by making note of issues with the Hebrew text, historical issues, and theological issues as each smaller literary unit is discussed in summation. There are numerous highlighted sidebars on issues of syntax and translation, historical background, and relevant public domain images (that one might be able to make use of through an online search for adding to PowerPoints for a sermon). This is followed by offering “Preaching and Teaching Strategies” such as the “preaching idea” (think: Haddon Robinson’s homiletical classic “Big Idea”) and making specific contemporary connections through seeking to answer what the text might mean, whether this is true or not, and the implications, given the trustworthiness of the claims. Finally, each section closes with ideas for creatively illustrating the sermon drawing both from the preaching of the authors and offering other potential ideas with a short outline of the message and discussion questions, which would serve a small group well whether independently working through the biblical texts or for discussions related to some of the ideas within the sermon.Some of the features of this volume deserve specific highlighting. The theological intentionality of the volume seeks to speak very specifically to issues relevant in hearing the OT precisely as Christian Scripture, a point too often missing in preaching on books precisely like 1–2 Kings. Numerous series have arisen over the last couple decades doing this with intentionality (e.g., Brazos, Zondervan Exegetical) and this series does it well by not often reducing OT texts to moral examples and exemplars but highlighting the place of Christ Jesus as God’s plan for the ages. This focus does not dominate every reading but plays a pivotal role in the movement through the preaching of 1–2 Kings proposed in this volume. The aids for connecting to a contemporary hearing and potential illustrations should make this series stand out for helping the preacher/teacher and professors of ministers-in-training alike. Many commentaries claim to be written for the local church but all too often fail to aid preachers/teachers in their very specific tasks of communicating the message of the text. This volume fills that lacuna well without defaulting to a devotional reading that offers no help for critical reflection nor direct help for thinking through the main point of the text and ways of communicating that message effectively. Finally, the discussion questions offer all manner of possibilities for churches to integrate discussions in other ecclesial settings for teaching within the church as well as potential for writing assignments for students on the various biblical texts.While this volume (and series) does not seem to add considerably to scholarship on the respective books (though there are plenty of small discussions that would prove helpful to undergraduate and graduate students), it provides an invaluable aid to the preacher/teacher in the local church. The volume was accessible for an educated lay readership with some minor discussions of more technical details highlighted in the text within a form of sidebars. The minimal details committed to critical scholarship discussions should not be viewed as a negative as this series is aimed (first and foremost) particularly at those called to preach and teach in the local church. This means it would be a welcome recommendation for students in vocational teaching/preaching ministry by professors who may be asked for recommended commentaries. The insights that are offered pertaining to syntactical/textual and historical issues are almost always pertinent to a careful critical reflection on the text being examined and, at the very least, offer insights for understanding without necessarily finding a place in any sermon/teaching in a local church.