Isaiah: The NIV Application Commentary

As a pastor who looks for great ideas to develop sermon points in commentaries, I have found this commentary to be the very best one I have for Isaiah. As the NIVAC series does so well, this commentary gives some exegetical information, contextual bridging from ancient to contemporary settings, and then wrestles with contemporary issues and real life needs.For example, Oswalt deals with several theological ramifications from Hezekiah's story in Isaiah 38-39. (Hezekiah's life was extended by 15 years after crying out to God in prayer). Oswalts exegetical comments are careful, insightful and lead to practical and powerful application. In this passage he points out that Hezekiah's illness was not necessarily a result of sin, and deals with the issue that sin is often a result of sin but not always. He brings in both concepts with multiple scripture references.Then he swings to the issue of God's sovereignty, man's freewill and the Open Theism debate and it's potential support from an overly simplistic interpretation of this passage. He clearly and without a lot of fluff deals accurately with that issue. He leaves no room for an over emphasis on God's sovereignty in light of the multiple references to human freewill, yet fully embraces a biblical concept of sovereignty. He also explains with a minimum of verbage (something I always appreciate by a technical scholar) why Open Theism is an over simplistic conclusion from this passage. He shows why this passage does not warrant a conclusion that has too much of an emphasis on the 'freewill of man' or an over emphasis on the Sovereignty of God. The points are pretty hard to reject if one welcomes all the data involved and comes without a blinding bias.This particular volume in the NIVAC series may be the very best one that exists. It certainly is my best one, and I have several. It is also a 'Gold Medallion Book' sporting the coveted award on the front cover. So it has been widely embraced by a variety of editors, scholars and pastor/teachers. In fact I will say this much...I stopped using this commentary series after finding several of them promoting applications that I thought were way out of touch with the people I minister to. This commentary has completely reversed that general thought in my mind.As I work through Isaiah, I find myself turning to this volume more and more. It's a great companion to the more technical and less practical 'The Prophecy of Isaiah' by Motyer, and to the NICOT 2 volume series by this same author, Oswalt.It's my recommendation that you buy this volume first unless you are only doing a more critical exegetical paper. In that case I recommend Oswalt's NICOT and Motyer's volumes instead. I went ahead and got all four books and am not sorry at all. They are all fantastic tools.I am grateful for great scholars who provide so many helpful insights to the text.

Oswald does an excellent job of making Isaiah understandable and applicable. This particular commentary is not exegesis-heavy, but is extremely easy to read and insightful.

This is the only commentary that I have on the Book of Isaiah (though I have several other commentaries on different books of the Bible). The introduction alone was worth the price of the book; it provided a very readable and helpful historical background. This is not a technical commentary; it is a very helpful explanation of the text along with a section on the application of the text to contemporary living (Life Application, get it?). It is very well written. Though it is easy to read, it provides surprisingly useful insights. I think that this book would be appreciated by pastors and lay persons for use in teaching the Book of Isaiah. I am Reformed in my theology. The book was written by a professor from Asbury Seminary, so I presume that the author is Methodist. I was actually a little surprised that I did not find any theological issues in the commentary with which I would take exception. I cannot restrain myself from making one comment. The author's treatment of the abuse of alcohol in chapter 5 ("Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine") betrayed a slight hint of the teetotalism tradition of many evangelical traditions, almost as if he longed to return to the prohibition era - it made me smile. Unless you have a requirement for a technical commentary, this should be your first choice.

Oswalt is thorough when he applies Isaiah to our times. These are my impressions:The history is primarily in the introductory material, though he touches on it in the commentary text. I wish more details were in the text as I read each chapter. As may be necessary in Isaiah, Oswalt delves into the culture of the people during the time of the prophesies. That, more than the raw dates and events of history, are the big lessons for us. Oswalt is more conservative than I, but he makes his cases and points in such a manner that I pause to think about them and weigh them for myself. To me, that's crucial in a good commentary. His vocabulary is certainly accessible, and I appreciate that.In my Bible reading plan, I'm reading 2 to 3 chapters a day. With the hour or so I've allotted for this purpose, it's impossible to read all the coverage Oswalt has on these chapters. So I can see myself using this commentary for years, appreciating the time Oswalt took to carefully outline his thoughts and analyses, both for the past and for the present.This is definitely an Application Commentary ...

I have bought and read through many of the NIV Application Commentaries as I work through the Bible. I like them because they are not too academic, and although they are getting a little dated the application section is still relevant. This one on Isaiah is the best one I have read yet.

Book is perfect

I am about 300 pages through this commentary and have found it fascinating and inspiring. It has helped me to understand the book of Isaiah and apply it to my own life in a way that has always seemed out of reach to me in the past. The first 70 or so pages is an introduction to put the book in historical context, i.e., what was happening before, during, and after the time period in which Isaiah was writing, what were the powerful nations, what were people concerned about, etc. The remainder of the book is taking a chapter or so at a time out of Isaiah and describing the original meaning (i.e., what it would have meant or said to Isaiah's contemporaries) and then bridging that into how the same message applies in current time. The commentary has helped me understand the relevance of the book of Isaiah in a way I haven't understood before. It leaves me hungry for more, which is exactly what the revealed word of God is supposed to do. I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to move deeper into a relationship with God.

This is a macro-level commentary (i.e. commentary by chunks of related verses as opposed to verse level commentary). I found it very helpful in doing a deep reading of the book of Isaiah. The style of having an original context section and a contemporary significance section as well as a bridging context section in between those was particularly valuable. It helped me better grasp the timeless reality of the truth in the book of Isaiah and in many ways in the Bible as a whole. The commentator was very clear and the commentary showed that a lot of thought (and inspired meditating on God’s word, I believe), hard work (and wide reading), and prayer had gone into it. Thank you.

I like this series for "devotions", and this volume on Isaiah by John Ostwalt, is one of the best I've read so far in it. All this series provides the full NIV text to each "section", and covers, Original meaning, Bridge Context and Contempory Application. It isn't a verse by verse commentary and I would have preferred more detail in the exegesis, but it does give a very helpful "Broad Brush" approach to Isaiah without getting lost in minutia. As with most of this series it is Conservative Evangelical in Theology.John Oswalt has also written the highly acclaimed 2 volume Commentary on Isaiah in the NICOT series, so he has much experience to draw on.

Verse by verse discussion of Isaiah. At times too complex for the ordinary reader, but many good insights into meaning in context and in contemporary life. Too American in it’s examples for my taste, but worth reading

Far surpasses John Goldingay

A helpful and detailed study guide. Can be quite challenging at times.