Different commentaries are written by different authors with different perspectives and for different purposes. That means... well... they're all different.

Technical commentaries are focused purely on the academic and critical aspects of a passage: its context, its literary meaning, its sources, etc. They are detailed and emphasized aspects of language and grammar (often using untransliterated Greek and Hebrew).  They will discuss several possible interpretations of a passage, weighing the different views.  They will concentrate almost exclusively on what the text would have meant to the original readers, and will not be concerned about contemporary application. 

Practical or devotional commentaries will focus more on how to apply a particular passage for sermons or personal spiritual formation. They emphasize application and personal impact of scripture passage.  In short, technical commentaries target scholars and seminary students, and practical commentaries target teachers and pastors. Some commentaries try to reach a balance and do a little of both.

Below is a brief overview of several commentaries, where they fall on this spectrum, and other comments. (These assessments are based on a combination of scholarly reviews and blogs and are by no means "official." Take them with a grain of salt.)

Technical vs Practical: 0 = completely technical, 5 = mixed, 10 = completely practical

AB - Anchor Bible Commentary

Technical vs Practical: 0

The Anchor Bible Commentary, published by Yale Press, is a project that started in the 1950s. It has over 100 volumes and is still incomplete. The series is part of a larger collection that covers a wide array of subjects in religion, sociology, and anthropology in the tradition of 19th- and 20th-century liberal arts scholarship. It is an extremely exhaustive and comprehensive series, but it is disliked by many evangelical scholars because as a whole it has no theological attachments and often arrives at conclusions contrary to orthodox Christian tradition. Some of the older volumes in the series are quite dated and should be supplemented by more contemporary commentaries.

BECOT/BECNT - Baker Exegetical Commentary on the Old/New Testament

Technical vs Practical: 4

Perhaps the most technical series that is still geared towards pastors, the BECOT/BECNT gives a thorough treatment of the text and interacts a fair bit with the original Greek.

Broadman's Bible Commentary

Technical vs Practical: 8

Broadman's is a product of the Baptist Sunday School Board in the 1970s. It was one of the earlier efforts to create an evangelical survey of biblical criticism. It is based on the RSV. It is quite short and non-comprehensive. A fairly dated series, these volumes should probably be referred to only if they have been recommended to you by someone knowledgeable on a subject.

BO - Berit Olam

Technical vs Practical: 5

Berit Olam is a unique and fairly new series. It is not overly technical, but unlike other non-technical commentaries, it does not focus on pastoral application. Instead, it emphasizes the literary structures of the Bible especially with respect to Hebrew written and oral traditions.

EBC - Expositor's Bible Commentary

Technical vs Practical: 8

The books in this series are very brief, which is both its greatest strength and greatest weakness. It presents overviews of the theological significance and critical issues of each passage but does not provide any in-depth treatment. As the series title suggests, it is focused on giving pastors a big-picture overview of the text in a way that makes it applicable for teaching and preaching.

HERM - Hermeneia

Technical vs Practical: 2

This is a very technical series with an emphasis on making connections with other ancient literature. The series description on the publisher's website (Fortress) makes it clear that the aim of the series is purely critical and that it attempts to remain completely neutral on any theological issues.

ICC - International Critical Commentary

Technical vs Practical: 0

This series was the peak of critical biblical scholarship a hundred years ago. Many were published in the 19th century. Some are still useful, but only consult a volume if someone specifically recommends it to you. Many of the volumes are available for free online at archive.org.

JPS - Jewish Publication Society Torah Commentary

Technical vs Practical: 1

A very high-quality and balanced commentary on the Torah. It is particularly strong in its discussion of historical context and rabbinic traditions. It is quite technical and often deals directly with the Hebrew text.

NAC - New American Commentary

Technical vs Practical: 6

This series is published by a Southern Baptist organization. It puts an emphasis on the theological content of the text from a conservative evangelical perspective. Like the EBC, it is focused more on practical application than on scholarship.

NIB - New Interpreter's Bible

Technical vs Practical: 3

The NIB, published by the United Methodist group Abingdon, attempts to present a balanced and ecumenical approach to the Bible that still respects orthodox traditions. The commentaries treat the text verse-by-verse and then as an entire passage, utilizing both the NRSV and NIV translations. It is noteworthy that the commentaries also treat apocryphal books.

NICOT/NICNT - New International Commentary on the Old/New Testament

Technical vs Practical: 4

This series is praised by many evangelicals. It is sufficiently informative while still being approachable to non-experts. Many of the books in this series are ranked very highly by BestCommentaries.com.

NIGTC - New International Greek Testament Commentary

Technical vs Practical: 2

This respected series is regarded as one of the most technical and exhaustive commentaries available that is consistent with an evangelical theological perspective. It interacts very heavily with the original Greek texts. It is often considered too technical to be suited for pastoral use.

NIVAC - NIV Application Commentary

Technical vs Practical: 7

Breaks down each passage in terms of literary and historical meaning as well as contemporary significance. Seems to have a goal of presenting context and critical issues but in a way that is useful for pastoral teaching. Published by Zondervan.

OTL - Old Testament Library

Technical vs Practical: 3

A long-running and well-respected series known most for strong historical criticism. Old volumes in the series are gradually being replaced.

PNTC - Pillar New Testament Commentary

Technical vs Practical: 5

This series is the product of D.A. Carson's objective of filling the need for high-quality evangelical commentaries on New Testament texts. The series is notably uncritical of traditional assumptions regarding historical context, authorship, and audience, and it is one of the least technical modern commentary series.

TOTC/TNTC - Tyndale Old/New Testament Commentaries

Technical vs Practical: 8

This series is meant to be very approachable to non-scholar lay Christians. Some of the volumes are quite dated and are in the process of being rewritten.

WBC - Word Biblical Commentary

Technical vs Practical: 1

Noted for quality bibliographies at the end of each section. Also particularly strong for work with the original biblical languages.

These are standard top academic commentaries appropriate for exegetical work. All are available in print and some are available as an ebook (see a list of ebook commentaries in the third column). It is important that you also consider other academic commentaries that offer a wider and more diverse perspective. Take a look at the next box.

It is important that the student take the additional step to investigate resources that may be outside the standard literature so there is a wider experience and a deeper engagement with scripture. Here are some possibilities.

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* Citation of Sources

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Digital Reference Sources at UPSem

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