McConville’s Isaiah commentary is my recent favorite. I’ve referenced it repeatedly over the past couple years while reading and teaching the book. Oswalt and Webb are great, too, but McConville frequently speaks to the questions I have. I like his straightforward, clear approach to the book’s structure. He doesn’t miss the forest for the trees. Perhaps that is the core reason I would offer in recommending McConville: He comments with detailed attention to the words and paragraphs while not losing sight of structure and the flow of thought throughout the book.

Of course, I don’t agree with every comment. For example, I emphatically disagree that the book “has no unified eschatology” (pg. 5). And unlike McConville, I prefer to speak of Isaiah as the author of the finished book. But these types of differences don’t in any way prevent me from finding this commentary very useful.

When friends have asked about Isaiah commentaries over the past couple years, I’ve recommended Oswalt and Webb for those particular situations. Oswalt is very thorough, traditional, and wonderfully devotional; Webb is concise and clear. McConville, however, is recent (2023), thorough, clear, and does a great job balancing attention to linguistics, history, literary, and theological concerns.