Tomasino's commentary on Esther is outstanding. Esther is one of those books where you need many resources because of its history of reception. I found myself opening as many Esther resources as I could get my hands on. Each one was like a hunt for a little fact or idea that was not in the others. Certainly I would find some idea here, another there. So I had to keep track of all these in various places and continuously visit these books to ensure I would not miss something. That was the common pattern until continually checking Tomasino's commentary and realizing it contained a comprehensive collection of ideas and interpretations. It is very well done and well researched. It has the references I need to historical works, the comments on archaeological ideas, various scholars ideas regarding a passage or phrase and his own evaluation of the evidence on questions. I find also that he is succinct as can be to adequately address the issue. He is not verbose on speculative ideas. So certainly you can track the references and read more on why others have proposed certain ideas. I find just the right amount of discussion on each idea, each verse and phrase, and my other sources don't have much to add. This certainly does not mean you should skip out on Jobes (for her masterful application) or Bush (for his excellent analysis of the Hebrew). Yet through all your research you should include this comprehensive volume. It will save you time. It is highly recommended!

Let me recommend this commentary to you if you are planning to preach from the book of Ephesians. This commentary is excellent. There are many great commentaries on Ephesians. This one will not match the level of technical analysis you will find with Hoehner or with Baugh (If you are trying to decide between those - I recommend Hoehner first). When it comes to preaching you don't always need that level of detail (of course, every bit helps). This commentary focuses on what you need to think though if you are going to go about preaching or teaching form Ephesians. It will not give suggestions on how to break it down into 232 sermons. You will need Martyn Lloyd-Jones for that (his written commentaries are just his sermons cleaned up and prepared for publication). Also don't forget to consult Boice and even Chapell to see how they have organized their materials. In this book, you will get a great analysis of the text, verse by verse even, with highlights that come from a solid reflection on the text from many different angles. I can often tell that the author has synthesized ideas from two or three top level commentaries and taken the best bits to offer in their analysis. For each pericope you get a literary structure and theme analysis, an exposition, a theological focus section, a preaching and teaching strategies section (which is quite nice, and very useful for giving those ideas you might need for illustration purposes and to tie things together for a series of messages), and they give discussion questions (if you ever prepare those for small groups or for Sunday school lessons etc.). Each section shows true thought and doesn't feel rushed or manufactured. Sometimes I will want more - but I get what is necessary. With this commentary alone, you would be well prepared to offer a great set of sermon series or teachings from Ephesians. In the preaching and teaching strategies section you will get preaching ideas, contemporary connections and a creativity in presentation section. A suggested sermon outline and/or series suggestions. There are sections included throughout that highlight important topics that don't always fit within the other sections. These include things like translation analysis (for deeper language and linguistic analysis), broader context (for cultural and ancient life ideas), comparisons of various interpretations when there might be multiple ways the text has been understood (they usually conclude with which one they feel is most convincing which is helpful), and even how different OT citations and illusions come into play (for example: Paul's use of Psalm 68 in Ephesians chapter 4). These are all things that the preacher needs to be aware of, and you are provided enough detail to have an accurate grasp of the issue at hand. Overall it is very well done and should be added to your library if you are preaching or teaching through Ephesians. If the other works in the series are like this one I would not hesitate to purchase them.

I highly recommend this commentary set. It seems that Lenski always has something insightful to say. He does discuss the Greek, but not in a highly technical way. He doesn't get caught up on textual criticism but is knowledgeable of the issues. It is not a technical commentary but is an intermediate work. I always look forward to reading his remarks on a passage. He takes a conservative approach in his exegesis and does work through each passage in an exegetical way. His interpretations are usually always informed by the context and are helpful. As a preacher who prepares multiple sermons every week, I value Lenski above the Tyndale TNTC set, the IVP set, the cornerstone set, and the BST set. In many places I would read Lenski before NAC. Obviously it is hard to compare sets where there are multiple authors and where different volumes are of higher quality, but as a general rule that is how I rank Lenski. I think it is worth the price and should be added to your collection. His insights on different passages are valuable and will not be found in other works. He does not copy or parrot other ideas, but feels fresh. I always feel that he has fairly treated each verse and does not seem rushed or concise. He is also not verbose or too detailed. Lenski is overall very helpful and highly recommended.

I would recommend the ESV Bible Atlas as a tremendous map resource you should add to your library. This atlas is superior to the Holman Bible Atlas and the Zondervan Bible Atlas. There are more maps, larger maps, and better maps in this resource than the others. I have each of them (and a few others) and use this one more than all the others. This atlas also includes many diagrams and illustrations of ancient cities, and temples. There is a section with timelines (but that is not as good as the timelines Logos provides). There are many maps that are included in the ESV Study Bible but there are many many more in this atlas. There are maps that include secular history (Alexander the Great, intertestamental period etc.). There are a few 3D maps which help one to visualize the elevation changes and such. This resource has larger maps than the others as well. They are higher quality in resolution and visually appealing (no strange colors like the carta resources, which clearly date those maps). There are some archeological resources here as well, but they are more like "asides" and are not the main focus. They are useful images and helpful narratives attached. This is a highly recommended resource. Logos makes it easy to get these images and maps into PowerPoint also. If you are trying to decide which atlas resource to buy I would put my vote on this one.