Top 50 Books on Christ in the Old Testament

September 6, 2013  David Murray   8 comments

I’m often asked to recommend books on Christ in the Old Testament. Here’s a bibliography of 50 of the books I consulted in writing Jesus on Every Page. They are in alphabetical order by author. I’ve put a double asterisk (**) beside my favorite books on the list. Any others you’d recommend?

ADAMS, JAMES E., War Psalms of the Prince of Peace. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed,, 1991.

BARRETT, MICHAEL P., Beginning at Moses. Greenville, SC: Ambassador-Emerald, 2001. **

BEEKE, JOEL and SELVAGGIO, ANTHONY (eds), Sing a New Song. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2010.

CHAPELL, BRYAN, Redeeming the Expository Sermon. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005.

CHAPELL, BRYAN, Christ-centered Preaching. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005. **

CLOWNEY, EDMUND, The Unfolding Mystery. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1988. **

CLOWNEY, EDMUND, Preaching Christ in All of Scripture. Illinois: Crossway, 2003. **

DE GRAAF, S.G., Promise and Deliverance (4 vols). Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1977.

DILLARD, RAYMOND AND LONGMAN , TREMPER, An Introduction to the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994.

EDWARDS, JONATHAN, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 9, A History of the Work of Redemption. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1989. **

DREW, CHARLES, The Ancient Love Song. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2000. **

FAIRBAIRN, PATRICK, The Typology of Scripture, 2 Vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1989. **

FAIRBAIRN, PATRICK, The Interpretation of Prophecy. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1993.

FRANCE, RICHARD T., Jesus and the Old Testament. Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 1998. **

GOLDSWORTHY, GRAEME, According to Plan. Illinois: IVP, 1991. **

GOLDSWORTHY, GRAEME, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2000. **

GORDON, ROBERT, Christ in the Old Testament, 4 Vols. Glasgow: Free Presbyterian Publications, 2002. **

GREIDANUS, SIDNEY, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999. **

GREIDANUS, SIDNEY, The Modern Preacher and the Ancient Text. Leicester: IVP, 1988.

HANSON, ANTHONY T., Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. London: SPCK, 1965.

HENGSTENBERG, ERNST W., Christology of the Old Testament, 2 Vols. London: T & T Clark, 1875.

HOWARD, DAVID M., Interpreting the Historical Books. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2006.

KAISER, WALTER C., The Uses of the Old Testament in the New. Eugene: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2001. **

KAISER, WALTER C., Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003.

KAISER, WALTER C., Messiah in the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985. **

KEACH, BENJAMIN, Preaching from the Types and Metaphors of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Kregel, MI, 1972.

KENT, KISSLING, AND TURNER (eds), Reclaiming the Old Testament for Christian Preaching. Downer’s Grove: IVP, 2010.

LAW, HENRY, Christ is All, 5 Vols. Staffs, England: Tentmaker Publications, 2005.

LEVEBVRE, MICHAEL, Singing the Songs of Jesus. Tain, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2010. **

MACARTHUR, JOHN, The Jesus You Can’t Ignore. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008.

MASTERS, PETER, Not like any other book. London: Wakeman Trust, 2004.

MATHEWSON, STEVEN, The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002.

MERRILL, EUGENE H., A Kingdom of Priests. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987.

PENNY, ROBERT L. (ed), The Hope Fulfilled. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2008.

POYTHRESS, VERN S, The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1991. **

PRATT, RICHARD L., Designed for Dignity. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2000. **

PRATT, RICHARD L., He Gave Us Stories. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1993. **

ROBERTSON, O. PALMER, The Christ of the Covenants. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1980. **

ROBERTSON, O. PALMER, The Christ of the Prophets. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2004.

ROBINSON, HADDON, Biblical Preaching. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001.

ROBINSON , HADDON AND LARSON,CRAIG BRIAN  The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching: A Comprehensive Resource for Today. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009.

RYDELNIK , MICHAEL, The Messianic Hope. Nashville: B&H, 2010.

RYKEN , LEYLAND AND LONGMAN III, TREMPER (eds), The Complete Literary Guide to the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993.

SELVAGGIO, ANTHONY, A Proverbs-driven Life. Wapwallopen: Shepherd Press, 2008.

STEPHEN, JONATHAN. Close Encounters with the Son of God. Epsom: DayOne, 1998. **

STEWART, ALEXANDER, The Tree of Promise. Edinburgh: W P Kennedy, 1864.

STUART, DOUGLAS, Old Testament Exegesis. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001.

VAN GRONINGEN, GERARD, Messianic Revelation in the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1990.

WALVOORD, JOHN F, Jesus Christ Our Lord. Chicago: Moody, 1969.

WRIGHT, CHRISTOPHER J. H., Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament. Illinois: IVP, 1992. **

YOUNG, EDWARD J., My servants the prophets. Eugene: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2001.

  • http://butterlight.com Mark Olivero

    Thanks for the list. How about this one?
    Messiah in the OT by W. Kaiser

    http://www.amazon.com/Messiah-Old-Testament-Walter-Kaiser/dp/031020030X

    • http://headhearthand.org/blog/ David Murray

      Yes, Mark, great book. Should have been on the list. It is now!

  • http://dpradke.wordpress.com Daniel Radke

    Thank you so much for this list! I recently got a copy of your book and began reading it. Apart from a few works referenced in your endnotes, I was disappointed by the lack of a bibliography. I am grateful that you have one here. Thank you!

  • Chris Booth

    I’ve pre-ordered “Gospel-Centered Teaching: Showing Christ in All the Scripture” by Trevin Wax…comes out Oct 1.

    Hope it’s ok to give an Amazon link in these comments?

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1433681722/ref=oh_details_o06_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    I’m also currently reading and enjoying “Jesus on Every Page” Thanks for this list…

  • Lee Dodd

    Great list. I have one other to consider adding:

    The Person of Christ, Andrew Bonar

    The whole book isn’t dedicated to finding Christ in the OT, but a chapter or two of this short book are dedicated to that topic. I found it very edifying reading!

  • http://wrathtoriches.wordpress.com/ Brian Cochran

    What about “Him We Proclaim: Preaching Christ from All the Scriptures,” by Dennis E. Johnson?

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1596380543/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1378614666&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX110_SY165

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  • John Jiang

    haven’t read the book, but it seems a good one: Belcher Jr., Richard, The Messiah and The Psalms.

  • John Burris

    I’ll suggest a couple that have been very useful to me…
    “Christ in the Old Testament: Old Testament Appearances of Christ in Human Form” by James A. Borland (Forward by Walter Kaiser)
    “The Angel of the Lord” by Laurence M . Vance (heavy on Scripture and light on commentary) A good source of gathering all the OT references to the Angel of the Lord.