I started reading Galatians, following my reading plan, and I realized a couple chapters in that if I really wanted my lingering doubts answered, I would need to consult some professional help. How many times have I read the Bible and left my questions to be forgotten with a dismissive, "I'll probably never know... Or at least not this time around." And there are some passages like that. However, I found this commentary available on archive.org and I really liked that the author is a woman with an episcopalian bent, so I went with it.

This was an immense help. It made me fall off track with my reading plan, but I really understood what I was reading and got a solid grasp of all Paul's arguments. This commentary is meant for the layperson. It is easy to understand, not overly complicated, and only makes cross references when really useful and pertinent. (I dislike commentaries that have paragraphs of cross references....either use the references to explain a point or list them at the end of the chapter, for the love of St. Pete!!) Besides that, Osiek explains Greek philosophical traditions when Paul references them, points out contradictions and comparisons in other biblical books, and raises doubts and possible interpretations that scholars and interpreters have. Again, all this and it is not longwinded or boring.

I really liked how Paul was humanized in this commentary. Prone to sarcasm, exaggeration, conveniently forgetting facts that detract from his arguments... Maybe it is nitpicking but I appreciated seeing him as a normal human instead of a Second Jesus that he is so often regarded as by pastors when preaching from his letters.

I will certainly be reading more commentaries from this series and I hope archive.org has them all!