Clinton Arnold's commentary on Colossians is a high-water mark in the exegetical discipline, a tour de force that will inspire New Testament commentators and readers of the epistle for many years to come. Faced with the absence of any Colossian archaeology and the availability of only a very few inscriptions from the city, Arnold masterfully draws upon a wide selection of epigraphy and archaeology from Hierapolis, Laodicea, and other nearby sites to portray with vivid accuracy the historical and religious background of the Lycus Valley, establishing thereby the Greco-Roman semantic domains and first-century social conventions impacting both on Paul's language and the variegated worldviews of his auditors. This locality-specific investigation of Paul's world is enriched by Arnold's expertise in the Greco-Roman literature, the Greek magical papyri, amulets, and curses, which unveil elements of the syncretistic Colossian error. The Old Testament and the literature of Second Temple Judaism is also exhaustively plumbed in exegetical discussion, alerting readers to the distinctive theological heritage from which Paul's gospel drew. Arnold's meticulous theological exposition of the epistle's message engages the history of scholarship and analyses of literary criticism with rigor and rich insight, opening exciting new vistas for modern readers into the apostle's message to his original auditors. This is aided by excursuses that pursue significant issues of debate in further depth. Challenging scholarly points of contention in many areas (e.g.

, the epistle's pseudepigraphic authorship), Arnold's landmark commentary is a masterpiece and an exemplum of holistic exegesis for New Testament scholars.