Abstract
With the proliferation of commentaries and new commentary series, the publication of a stand-alone commentary on Paul's letter to the Romans is difficult to justify. However, Arland Hultgren's commentary on Romans, Paul's most famous letter, does just that. Hultgren has accomplished something unique in writing a commentary that is both critical and reader friendly, attuned to both minute exegetical questions and larger theological issues, and is thus ideal for scholars, students, and pastors alike.
The commentary begins with a traditional introduction, on issues such as the dating and provenance of the letter, why Paul wrote the letter, and what kind of letter Romans actually is. For Hultgren, Romans “projects a theological vision for [Paul's] future work as he arrives in Rome, seeks support from his readers, and goes on from there to Spain” (p. x). While not a doctrinal treatise, Romans is a summation of Paul's theology that has as its main question, “How can God reclaim the creation?” (p. 7).
Hultgren divides Romans into ten sections (1:1–7; 1:18–3:20; 3:21–4:25; 5:1–8:39; 9:1–11:36; 12:1–21; 13:1–14; 14:1–15:13; 15:14–33; 16:1– 27). Each section includes a fresh translation by Hultgren, notes on the Greek text and interpretive issues, general comments on the passage as a whole, and detailed comments. This final subsection contains Hultgren's verse-by-verse exposition of the letter and is therefore the bulk of the commentary. Being unburdened by the demands of a commentary series, Hultgren has created a very user-friendly and straightforward structure for the commentary, making it easy to become oriented with a full section of the letter or to focus on a particular verse. Furthermore, each section is completed by a bibliography of works pertaining to the relevant section of Paul's letter. It should be stressed that the bibliographies Hultgren provides—both the specific bibliographies at the ends of each section and the general bibliography at the end of the work—nearly validate the price of the book alone. These bibliographies will be particularly helpful for students seeking to get a grasp on the scholarly literature on Romans.
At the end of the commentary proper are eight appendices on important issues in the interpretation of Romans. The topics addressed in the appendices are as follows:
The meaning of “righteousness of God” in Romans;
Romans 1:26–27 and the question of Paul's view on homosexuality;
Whether pistis Christou is a subjective (faith of Christ) or objective (faith in Christ) genitive;
the imagery of Romans 3:25, where Christ is called the “mercy seat”;
whether the main verb in Romans 5:1 should be construed as an indicative (“we have peace”) or hortatory subjunctive (“let us be at peace”);
the identity of the “I” of Romans 7;
the relation on the body of Christ to local congregations; and
on the question of house churches in Rome.
These helpful appendices allow Hultgren to buttress the positions argued for in the commentary and to extend the discussion without encumbering the interpretive sections of the commentary with long digressions on specific topics.
With regard to the theological stance of the commentary, Hultgren is confessionally Lutheran but is not beholden to follow the tradition at every single point, often introducing nuance to and thus working from typical Lutheran positions rather than simply upholding or disparaging them (cf. e.g. his handling of the Romans 7–8 and the traditional Lutheran understanding of simul iustus et peccator). Similarly, Hultgren's interpretations are traditional in many places, yet surprisingly not so at some turns (e.g. on Paul and the question of homosexuality). Thus, refreshingly, one gets the sense of watching a seasoned scholar wrestle with an incredibly demanding text and being open to follow that text where it leads. And although Hultgren's overall interpretation of the letter largely works within the interpretive options provided by other works (perhaps excepting his understanding of the “weak” and the “strong” in 14:1–15:13), I believe this is a worthwhile commentary that will benefit a wide range of readers.