F. B. Hole's New Testament Commentary

Frank Binford Hole (1874–1964) was a London Bible teacher associated with the Brethren, and an editor of the magazines Edification and Scripture Truth. His commentary on the New Testament was written and published in parts between 1924 and 1948 and afterward gathered into volumes covering all twenty-seven books. A separate module of his shorter writings is also in the library.

Hole did not write verse by verse. He takes a chapter at a time and explains it as a connected whole, pausing where a phrase needs explaining and keeping the rest moving so that the chapter's line of thought is never lost. His aim is that the ordinary Christian should understand what the writer is saying and why it matters for daily life. He is fond of homely illustrations, as in his comments on Romans 8:

Not only have we life in Christ Jesus but the Spirit of that life has been given to us. Thereby a new force enters our lives. Coming under the controlling power of the Spirit of God we are released from the controlling power of sin and death. The greater law overrides the lesser. The point may be illustrated by many happenings in the natural world which surrounds us. Here, for instance, is a piece of iron. It lies motionless upon the ground, held to the spot by the law of gravitation. An electric magnet is placed above it and the current is switched on. Instantly it flies upward, as though suddenly possessed of wings. A new controlling power has come on the scene which, under certain conditions and in a limited sphere, has proved itself stronger than the power of gravitation. The Holy Spirit has been given to us that He may control us, not that we may control Him.

Because the commentary is chapter-based, the text for each chapter appears on the first verse of that chapter in SwordSearcher. There are 260 entries, one for every chapter of the New Testament. Wherever you are reading in a chapter, the entry at verse one holds Hole's exposition of the whole chapter, and the commentary panel's next and previous entry buttons move from chapter to chapter.

Hole was a cousin of Hamilton Smith, whose commentary is also in the library, and the two share the same clear, devotional, dispensational approach. William Kelly gives the same tradition at much greater length.