... For those many modern readers who find the Old Testament to be strange and foreign soil, the NICOT series serves as an authoritative guide bridging the cultural gap between today's world and the world of ancient Israel. Each NICOT volume aims to help us hear God's word as clearly as possible... Scholars, pastors, and serious Bible students will welcome the fresh light that this commentary series casts on ancient yet familiar biblical texts... The author's own translation from the original Hebrew forms the basis of the commentary proper. Verse-by- verse comments nicely balance in-depth discussions of technical matters textual criticism, critical problems, and so on with exposition of the biblical writer's theology and its implications for the life of faith today.