What I wanted to draw attention to was McKnight’s remark about Ben Witherington’s commentaries:

Some of Ben’s readers have asked me why I don’t mention Ben Witherington III more often. Well, when someone has written a commentary on every NT book, it is unlikely they can be mentioned with those who have spent a decade or more on a book, but Ben’s stuff is very good and highly useful for pastors.

McKnight is spot on, especially in an age where there is no end to the proliferation of biblical commentaries. Witherington has a lot of devotees and his books will sell whether or not they are up to par with other commentaries. I give him credit for helping to publicize rhetorical criticism, but for the most part his commentaries are not going to be on the short list of any scholar.

That said, I do not think that Witherington should stop writing commentaries. Some scholars are scholars for the people and others are scholars for academia. We need a wide range of scholars to write for different audiences. If it hadn’t been for F. F. Bruce, I wouldn’t have gained an interest in biblical scholarship otherwise. So keep those commentaries coming Benny!