When it comes to commentaries on Ephesians, I still turn first to the Ephesians commentary that I first learned from so much… Markus Barth, but I’m getting ahead of myself. This series is intended to help pastors who are preparing sermons and are looking for solid exegetical studies, but I am in need of your help with the recommendations you have. Which commentary on Ephesians do you like most?

As I said, I like Markus Barth and have ever since college when I spent gobs of time working on Ephesians 4. His was one of the early Anchor Bible commentaries and he managed to find one volume inadequate: Ephesians: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on Chapters 1-3 (Anchor Bible, Vol. 34)
and Ephesians: Translation and Commentary on Chapters 4-6: Anchor Bible 34A (Anchor Bible).

Next I turn to Andrew Lincoln who wrote that commentary at St John’s College in Nottingham when I was doing my doctorate at the University, and I often saw Andrew — I remember standing in the library when he told me he thought Eph 2:8-9 was not Pauline theology — his commentary is thorough and sensitive to the theological contours: Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 42, Ephesians
.

If you’ve got some funds, buy Ernest Best’s volume in the ICC series: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Ephesians (International Critical Commentary)
. As with many in this series, there is a shorter version: Ephesians: A Shorter Commentary
.

There’s much to harvest from the above, but there’s always something to glean from Klyne Snodgrass, Ephesians: The NIV Application Commentary
.