Title: Intresting but not a major work
Product review: Dr. Witherington is one of the rising stars in conservative theology today, and is an amazingly prolific writer (he seems to produce books as quickly as most pastors produce sermons). I guess because of that I expected more from this commentary. I simply did not find much new in this work. Most of Dr. Witherington's observations are what any astute layperson would arrive at on their own. If you are new to reading Mark then this book would probably be of some help in that it will introduce you to major themes and ideas. On the other hand, if you are moderately conversant with modern Markan scholarship, and you are looking for more insight, as well as a more detailed reading of the text, you would do better to look elsewhere. In particular I would suggest either Morna Hooker's superb "The Gospel According to St. Mark", or Ched Myer's challenging "Binding the Strong Man, A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus". Both offer much more serious scholarship and research.
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