The academic and intellectual content is high. This is a volume that anyone concerned with tafsīr will need to consult--it is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the nature and development of the field, and it raises questions and treats issues that are important. Over and over again I found myself drawn in to the papers because of their interest.

Gerald R. Hawting, Emeritus Professor, Department of History, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

A valuable contribution to the study of tafsīr. Reading the book from beginning to end has the effect of immersing the readers in the commentarial tradition and educating them in the aims and methods of Qur'anic exegesis.

Daniel A. Madigan, Associate Professor, Department of Theology, Georgetown University

[T]his is a highly valuable contribution to the field which stakes out the frontiers in tafsir studies. In doing so it shows the need to at reconstructing the exegetes' hermeneutics. It also shows that early dating of sources and concepts appears to be becoming more plausible, possibly indicating that linguistics has functioned as the necessary sustenance of tafsir

Ulrika Martensson, Journal of Qur'anic Studies