Other than the Bible itself, I think I have personally given away more copies of this book than any other book. If you could only have one book in your library besides your Bible, it would be tough to top this one.

What is so beneficial about this book is that it is a readable, stimulating discussion on the topic of exegesis and hermeneutics. Fee and Stuart raise enough questions in an easy-to-understand discussion about how to properly utilize the Bible that the reader really comes away equipped to understand both what the original author meant to communicate and how it might be applied in our practice today.

One of the outstanding features of this book is the focus on different Biblical genres of literature-- for example, the narrative, the prophetic utterance, the gospel, the epistle. Each genre has its own way of communicating God's word to us. And this is not just some arbitrary list of rules: the authors do a great job of selecting examples to illustrate and prove the benefit of the guidelines they suggest.

When I finished reading this book, it changed the way I looked at the Bible forever. No other single book has been as useful to me in understanding the Scriptures as this one. I give it the highest recommendation possible.