Keil and Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

The Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch is the standard conservative commentary on the Hebrew Scriptures from the nineteenth century, and it is still in print. Keil (1807–1888), a Lutheran professor at Dorpat, wrote on Genesis through Esther, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Minor Prophets. Delitzsch (1813–1890), of Leipzig, wrote on Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, and Isaiah. The English translation was published by T. & T. Clark of Edinburgh beginning in 1866.

Both men wrote against the tide of German rationalism, and they say so in the preface:

It was reserved for the Deism, Naturalism, and Rationalism which became so prevalent in the closing quarter of the eighteenth century, to be the first to undermine the belief in the inspiration of the first covenant, and more and more to choke up this well of saving truth; so that at the present day depreciation of the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament is as widely spread as ignorance of what they really contain.... May the Lord grant His blessing upon our labours, and assist with His own Spirit and power a work designed to promote the knowledge of His holy Word.

This is a scholar's commentary. Keil and Delitzsch work directly from the Hebrew, discuss grammar and the ancient versions, and interact with the critics of their day by name. SwordSearcher displays the Hebrew and Greek characters in the text. But the argument is always carried in English, and a patient reader without Hebrew can follow it and profit from it. The commentary is arranged by section rather than by single verse, so its notes are attached to the verse where each section begins, and the commentary panel's next and previous entry buttons are the way to browse it. The module covers all thirty-nine books of the Old Testament in more than 6,600 entries, with an introduction to each book. The introduction to Genesis begins:

Genesis commences with the creation of the world, because the heavens and the earth form the appointed sphere, so far as time and space are concerned, for the kingdom of God; because God, according to His eternal counsel, appointed the world to be the scene both for the revelation of His invisible essence, and also for the operations of His eternal love within and among His creatures; and because in the beginning He created the world to be and to become the kingdom of God.

Keil and Delitzsch hold firmly to Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, to the historical truth of the narratives, and to the Messianic meaning of the prophets, though they were Lutherans and readers will occasionally meet a view shaped by that tradition. For an Old Testament passage where the plain-English commentaries leave a question unanswered, this is usually the place to look next. M. G. Easton, whose Bible Dictionary is also in the library, translated two of Delitzsch's volumes into English.