Bible commentaries on the New Testament book of 1 Corinthians are listed below. The commentaries listed first are those that have received the best reviews. You will also find options for commentaries on 1 Corinthians that help pastors, teachers, and readers with application of the Bible, commentaries that approach the Scripture verse-by-verse, classic Christian commentaries, and much more. (See more about the scholars, pastors, ministries, and schools whose commentary reviews are being utilized.)
Best Reviewed Bible Commentaries on 1 Corinthians
The First Epistle to the Corinthians (New International Commentary on the New Testament) by Gordon D. Fee
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Reviews and Accolades:
D. A. Carson: a “best buy” on 1 Corinthians, “Fee’s commentary is lucid, informed, sensible, and written with great verve”
Desiring God: #1 recommended commentary on 1 Corinthians
Craig Blomberg, etal: a “priority” commentary on 1 Corinthians
Tom Schreiner: recommended; “an outstanding exposition of the letter with attention paid to its relevance to today”
Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers
Purpose: From the publisher: “Written for scholars, pastors, and lay readers alike…undertaken to provide earnest students of the New Testament with an exposition that is thorough and abreast of modern scholarship and at the same time loyal to the Scriptures as the infallible Word of God.” See more about the New International Commentary on the New Testament series.
The First Epistle to the Corinthians (New International Greek Testament Commentary) by Anthony C. Thiselton
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Reviews and Accolades:
D. A. Carson: a “best buy” on 1 Corinthians, “the best commentary on the Greek text…Thiselton has outdone himself”
Tom Schreiner: recommended; “a massive and technical commentary for research”
Craig Blomberg, etal: a “priority” commentary on 1 Corinthians
Keith Mathison: #1 ranked commentary on 1 Corinthians; “the most thorough and complete commentary on this book available in English”
Best for: students, pastors, teachers, professors, and scholars with training in Hebrew who can follow a technical commentary
Purpose: From the publisher: “At a time when the study of Greek is curtailed in many schools of theology, we hope that the NIGNT will demonstrate the continuing value of studying the Greek New Testament… the volumes of the NIGNT are for students who want something less technical than a full-scale critical commentary… the supreme aim of this series is to serve those who are engaged in the ministry of the Word of God and thus glorify God’s name.” See more about the New International Greek Testament Commentary series.
1 Corinthians (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) by David E. Garland
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Reviews and Accolades:
D. A. Carson: a “best buy” on 1 Corinthians; tied with Fee for “best general commentary on this epistle”
Craig Blomberg, etal: a “priority” commentary on 1 Corinthians
Tom Schreiner: recommended; “a solid exposition of the Greek text”
Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers
Purpose: From the Publisher: “The chief concern of the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (BECNT) is to provide, within the framework of informed evangelical thought, commentaries that blend scholarly depth with readability, exegetical detail with sensitivity to the whole, and attention to critical problems with theological awareness. We hope thereby to attract the interest of a fairly wide audience, from the scholar who is looking for a thoughtful and independent examination of the text to the motivated lay Christian who craves a solid but accessible exposition.” See more about the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series.
1 Corinthians (New International Version Application Commentary) by Craig Blomberg
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Reviews and Accolades:
Tom Schreiner: recommended; “a helpful exposition”
Craig Blomberg, etal: a priority commentary on 1 Corinthians
Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers
Purpose: From the General Editor: The primary goal of the NIV Application Commentary Series is to help you with the difficult but vital task of bringing an ancient message into a modern context. The series not only focuses on application as a finished product but also helps you think through the process of moving from the original meaning of a passage to its contemporary significance. These are commentaries, not popular expositions. They are works of reference, not devotional literature.” See more about the NIV Application Commentary series.
The First Epistle to Corinthians (Black’s New Testament Commentary) by C.K. Barrett
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Reviews and Accolades:
Tom Schreiner: recommended; “a brief but helpful exposition”
Keith Mathison: #4 ranked commentary on 1 Corinthians; “should not be missed”
Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers
Purpose: From the publisher: “Black’s New Testament Commentary has been hailed by both scholars and pastors for its insightful interpretations and reliable commentary.” See more about Black’s New Testament Commentary series.
1 Corinthians (Focus on the Bible) by Paul Barnett
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Reviews and Accolades:
Keith Mathison: #2 ranked commentary on 1 Corinthians; “his insight into the text and its contemporary application is extremely helpful”
Best for: individual study, devotional reading, Bible studies, adult Sunday school classes
Purpose: From the publisher: “These commentaries are popular level commentaries especially useful for pastors and small group leaders. They are useful for personal devotions and spiritual growth. Many of the authors of the commentaries are leading expositors of God’s Word on their speciality subjects. The series holds to the inerrancy of scripture and the uniqueness of Christ in salvation.” See more about the Focus on the Bible commentary series.
1 Corinthians (Tyndale New Testament Commentary) by Leon Morris
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Reviews and Accolades:
Keith Mathison: #5 ranked commentary on 1 Corinthians; “Morris can usually say more in a few pages than most commentators can say in an entire book”
Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers
Purpose: From the publisher: This series is “designed to help readers understand what the Bible actually says and what it means…[each commentary] examines the text section by section, drawing out its main themes. It also comments on individual verses and deals with problems of interpretation. The aim throughout is to get at the true meaning of the Bible and to make its message plain to readers today.” See more about the Tyndale New Testament Commentary series.
The First Letter to the Corinthians (The Pillar New Testament Commentary) by Roy C. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner
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Reviews and Accolades:
Craig Blomberg, etal: a “priority” commentary on 1 Corinthians
Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers
Purpose: From the publisher: “Designed for serious pastors and teachers of the Bible, the Pillar commentaries seek above all to make clear the text of Scripture as we have it…[the authors’] ideal is a blend of rigorous exegesis and exposition, with an eye alert both to biblical theology and the contemporary relevance of the Bible.” See more about the Pillar New Testament Commentary series.
1 Corinthians (Teach the Text Commentary Series) by Preben Vang
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Reviews and Accolades:
Craig Blomberg, etal: a priority commentary on 1 Corinthians
Best for: individual study, devotional reading, Bible studies, adult Sunday school classes
Purpose: From the publisher: The Teach the Text series utilizes “the best of biblical scholarship” and provides “the information a pastor needs to communicate the text effectively. By keeping the discussion of each carefully selected preaching unit to six pages of focused commentary, the volumes in this series allow pastors to quickly grasp the big idea and key themes of each passage of Scripture. The text and its meaning are made clear, and sections dedicated to effectively teaching and illustrating the text help pastors prepare to preach.”
1 Corinthians (Hermeneia) by Hans Conzelmann
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Reviews and Accolades:
Tom Schreiner: recommended; “helpful especially in terms of background”
Best for: students, pastors, teachers, professors, and scholars with training in Hebrew who can follow a technical commentary
Purpose: From the publisher: “The Hermeneia commentary series seeks to offer authoritative interpretation of the earliest texts of the biblical books… The name Hermeneia, from the Greek, has a rich background in the history of biblical interpretation as a term for the detailed, systematic exposition of a scriptural work. Hermeneia is designed for the serious student of the Bible…The editors of Hermeneia impose no systematic-theological perspective upon the series (directly, or indirectly by selection of authors).
First Corinthians (Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching) by Richard B. Hays
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Reviews and Accolades:
Tom Schreiner: recommended; “a fine brief exposition”
Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers
Purpose: From the publisher: “This series of commentaries offers an interpretation of the books of the Bible. It is designed to meet the need of students, teachers, ministers, and priests for a contemporary expository commentary. These volumes will not replace the historical critical commentary or homiletical aids to preaching. The purpose of this series is rather to provide a third kind of resource, a commentary which presents the integrated result of historical and theological work with the biblical text.” See more about the Interpretation commentary series.
1 Corinthians (Crossway Classic Commentary) by Charles Hodge
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Reviews and Accolades:
Keith Mathison: #3 ranked commentary on 1 Corinthians; “filled with valuable insight,” “highly recommended”
Best for: individual study, devotional reading, Bible studies, adult Sunday school classes
Purpose: From the publisher: “For hundreds of years Christendom has been blessed with Bible commentaries written by great men of God highly respected for their godly walk and their insight into spiritual truth. The Crossway Classic Commentaries present the very best work on individual Bible books, carefully adapted for maximum understanding and usefulness for today’s believers.”
More Bible Commentaries with Application Help for Pastors
1 Corinthians: The Word of the Cross (Preaching the Word) by Stephen T. Um
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Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers
Purpose: From the publisher: “For years, Crossway’s Preaching the Word commentary series has helped pastors, preachers, and anyone who teaches God’s Word to better interpret and apply the message of the Bible. Under the careful editorial oversight of experienced pastor and best-selling author R. Kent Hughes, this series is known for its commitment to biblical authority, its pastoral tone and focus, and its overall accessibility.” See more about the Preaching the Word commentary series.
1 Corinthians (For Everyone) by N.T. Wright
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Best for: individual study, devotional reading, Bible studies, adult Sunday school classes
Purpose: From the publisher: “N.T. ‘Tom’ Wright has undertaken a tremendous task: to provide guides to all the books of the New Testament, and to include in them his own translation of the entire text. Each short passage is followed by a highly readable discussion, with background information, useful explanations and suggestions, and thoughts as to how the text can be relevant to our lives today. A glossary is included at the end of each volume.”
More Verse-by-Verse Commentaries
1 Corinthians (New American Commentary) by Mark Taylor
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Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers
Purpose: From the publisher: “The New American Commentary is introduced to bridge the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This new series has been designed primarily to enable pastors, teachers, and students to read the Bible with clarity and proclaim it with power.” See more about the New American Commentary series.
1 and 2 Corinthians (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Revised Edition) by W. H. Mare and Murray J. Harris
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Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers
Purpose: From the publisher: “Written primarily by expositors for expositors…its stance is that of a scholarly evangelicalism committed to the divine inspiration, complete trustworthiness, and full authority of the Bible…the chief principle followed in this commentary is the grammatico-historical – namely, that the primary aim of the exegete is to make clear the meaning of the text at the time and in the circumstances of its writing.”
1 Corinthians (IVP New Testament Commentary) by Alan F. Johnson
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Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers
Purpose: From the publisher: “Each volume, informed by the best of up-to-date evangelical scholarship, presents passage-by-passage commentary based on the NIV along with background information on authorship, setting, theme and various interpretive issues… Preachers, teachers, students and other individuals who want to dig deep into the heart of the New Testament will find an indispensable companion in the IVP New Testament Commentary Series.” See more about the IVP New Testament Commentary series.
The Message of 1 Corinthians (The Bible Speaks Today) by David Prior
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Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers
Purpose: The “the three distinctives of The Bible Speaks Today series are (1) “BST authors are committed to a serious study of the text in its own integrity,” (2) that “expositors should not be antiquarians, living only in the remote past” but suggest application for living, and (3) “each book is intended to be both readable in style and manageable in size.” See more about the Bible Speaks Today commentary series.
1-2 Corinthians (New Cambridge Bible Commentary) by Craig S. Keener
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Purpose: From the publisher: “The NCBC aims to elucidate the Hebrew and Christian scriptures for a wide range of intellectually curious individuals…[volumes] do not assume the reader has a great deal of specialized theological knowledge or an impressive command of the Hebrew, Aramaic, or biblical Greek… Utilizing recent gains in rhetorical criticism, social scientific study of the scriptures, narrative criticism and other developing disciplines, this series intends to provide a fresh look at biblical texts, taking advantage of the growing edges in Biblical Studies.”
1 Corinthians (Understanding the Bible) by Marion L. Soards
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Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers
Purpose: From the publisher: “Each volume in the Understanding the Bible Commentary Series breaks down the barriers between the ancient and modern worlds so that the power and meaning of the biblical texts become transparent to contemporary readers. They present a careful section-by-section exposition of the biblical books with key terms and phrases highlighted and all Hebrew transliterated. Notes at the close of each chapter provide additional textual and technical comments for those who want to dig deeper.” See more about the Understanding the Bible commentary series.
Conflict and Community in Corinth (A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary) by Ben Witherington
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Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers
Purpose: From the publisher: “Using sociorhetorical criticism, the New Testament is interpreted within the context of the world in which it was written and read—the rhetorical method makes use of ancient or classical writings and strategies of communication, while the social science method notes issues of cultures and customs.”
Exegetical Commentaries
1 Corinthians (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) by Paul Gardner
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Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers
Purpose: From the publisher: “The idea for this series was refined over time by an editorial board who listened to pastors and teachers express what they wanted to see in a commentary series based on the Greek text…We arrived at a design that includes seven components for the treatment of each biblical passage”: Literary Context, Main Idea, Translation and Graphical Layout, Structure, Exegetical Outline, Explanation of the Text, and Theology in Application.” See more about the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series.
Technical and Critical Commentaries
First Corinthians (The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries) by Jospeh A. Fitzmyer
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Purpose: From the publisher: “The Anchor Yale Bible Series, previously the Anchor Bible Series, is a renowned publishing program that for more than 50 years has produced books devoted to the latest scholarship on the Bible and biblical topics.” The series “vigorously pursues the goal of bringing to a wide audience the most important new ideas, the latest research findings, and the clearest possible analysis of the Bible.” See more about the Anchor Bible Commentary series.
Historical and Cultural Bible Background Commentaries
1 and 2 Corinthians (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary) by David W.J. Gill
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Purpose: From the publisher: This series “walks you verse by verse through all the books of the New Testament. It’s like slipping on a set of glasses that lets you read the Bible through the eyes of a first-century reader! Discoveries await you that will snap the world of the New Testament into gripping immediacy. Things that seem mystifying, puzzling, or obscure will take on tremendous meaning when you view them in their ancient context. You’ll deepen your understanding of the teachings of Jesus.” See more about the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary series.
Classic Christian Commentaries for Bible Study
1 Corinthians (MacArthur New Testament Commentary) by John MacArthur
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Best for: individual study, devotional reading, Bible studies, adult Sunday school classes
Purpose: From the publisher: “If you’re familiar with John MacArthur’s in-depth Bible teaching, you have an idea of what you’ll find in The MacArthur New Testament Commentary. The commentary takes you deep into each passage, verse by verse—sometimes word by word. It’s like having a Bible teacher sitting next to you as you study Scripture.”
First Corinthians (Thru the Bible Commentary Series) by J. Vernon McGee
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Best for: individual study, devotional reading, Bible studies, adult Sunday school classes
Purpose: From the publisher: “Radio messages from J. Vernon McGee delighted and enthralled listeners for years with simple, straightforward language and clear understanding of the Scripture. Now enjoy his personable, yet scholarly, style in a 60-volume set of commentaries that takes you from Genesis to Revelation with new understanding and insight.”
1 and 2 Corinthians (Geneva Series of Commentaries) by Charles Hodge
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Purpose: From the publisher: Charles Hodge’s work on 1 and 2 Corinthians, which is part of the Geneva Series of Commentaries, forms one of the most significant parts of the plan for a series of popular commentaries on the New Testament. He projected to do this with J. A. Alexander in the 1850s. When the early death of Alexander prevented the completion of the series, the individual volumes were quickly prized in their own right and went through many editions on both sides of the Atlantic.
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