A Greek, a Calvinist, and a Jew. What do these have in common with each other? These are the religions of the three resources I am using in my sermon prep on Genesis: John Chrysostom, John Calvin, and Nahum Sarna. You see, I am not a huge commentary reader, but am an eclectic reader.

I have long held the practice of checking out some church father in my sermon prep. This is what the Reformers did (see H. O. Old's volume on preaching in the Reformation and his comments about Zwingli) and I think it is valuable in keeping with the catholicity of the Church. For Genesis, there are three volumes of Chrysostom's homilies on Genesis in the series (vols. 72, 84, 87), The Fathers of the Church (The Catholic University Press of America). In reading these homilies you'll understand why he was called "chrysostom," the golden-mouthed, as his rhetoric comes out, his moral exhortations to his people, and his preaching of the mystery of Christ. Read homily 49 as a great representation of his method, as he applies the meaning of Isaac and Rebekah waiting 20 years for a son as well as his preaching on the virgin birth of Christ.

I also like to read some Protestant reformer, and this time it happens to be John Calvin. Not only is his commentary available, but two volumes of his sermons are accessible to us: one on Abraham and one on Isaac.

Finally, I have found Nahum Sarna's two books on Genesis, Understanding Genesis and his Jewish Publication Society Commentary amazing, thanks to the recommendation of Bryan Estelle. His insights into the Hebrew text and ancient near Eastern culture open Genesis in a way my congregation has never heard before. His comments also challenge the Christian to think Christianly, that is, why do we see Christ in this text when Dr. Sarna does not?

Preachers, what commentaries have you found helpful on Genesis? Is there anyone else out there that reads the church fathers?