This book is only a survey; but it is better than some of the online references (such as http://bestcommentaries.com/).

Longman gives each reviewed commentary a brief blurb-style review and then he rates the commentary on a five-star scale. He says the star system reflects his opinion on whether a particular commentary is worth buying. All I can say is it is a good idea to read the full review of each commentary. For example, in Longman's review of Speiser's commentary on Genesis he says, "This commentary is a classic and probably a must-buy for the scholar, but of little use to anyone else." That's probably a fair judgment. He gives it one star and indicates that it is a commentary for the scholar (indicated by the code 'S'). The general opinion of Speiser's commentary is that it is useless; but that is not my feeling about it. I used the commentary in my personal study of Genesis and I found it to be quite useful but also challenging. I am not a scholar. It seems the commentaries I have found most useful over the years, Longman rates at an 'M' (minister) reading level.

The Westminster Bible Companion series was totally ignored in this survey. Yes, many of the Westminsters are too brief to rate; but I know for a fact that several deserve attention. Fretheim's commentary on 1&2 Kings, for example, is very useful to the student. I suspect Brueggeman's set on Isaiah are worth reading too. I was hoping to see reviews on those particular volumes in Longman's survey.

I suppose Longman had to draw a line somewhere or the book would have grown to an out-of-control thickness. I wouldn't mind it being around 50% thicker. I wish a little attention were given to the several quality volumes that happen to be in sets that were given no attention.

Tremper Longman's survey of Old Testament Commentaries is based from an evangelical viewpoint. He analysis highlights strengths of commentaries written from a different point of view; but, his rating system favors commentaries written from an evangelical viewpoint.