This substantial exposition of 2 Corinthians argues that Paul writes to the Corinthians in order to defend his ministry against their misunderstandings and to make clear the implications of his cross-centred gospel (32). Garland writes clearly and with some flair so that the main exposition should be both comprehensible and interesting to most intelligent readers. Those seeking more technical discussions will find them in the numerous and often extensive footnotes in which Garland deals with matters of text and grammar, cites illustrative material from non-canonical ancient literature and engages with arguments in the secondary literature. Garland occasionally draws from pre-modern interpreters, such as John Chrysostom (327), Bernard of Clairvaux (513) and Calvin (128–29), but predictably draws much more heavily on a wide range of recent scholarly literature.

In the course of his brief but helpful introduction, Garland provides a defence of the view that 2 Corinthians is a single letter rather than a composite work. The main purpose of the book is to exegete the text, but Garland is sensitive to the contemporary significance of the text and occasionally allows himself more scope to draw this out. (See, for example, his closing comments on 4:8–9.)

Generally the text is clear of typos, although I have noticed that this series sometimes has problems with Greek and Hebrew script.

This commentary deserves to be used widely by students, preachers and all who wish to grapple seriously with this part of God’s Word.

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