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A ... Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, by W. Sanday and A.C. Headlam

Paul’s epistle to the Romans has long (always?) occupied a central role in the development of Christian thinking, and substantial commentaries on it are legion.

One of the staple commentaries of the 20th century was that of Sanday and Headlam, first appearing in 1895 in T. & T. Clark’s renowned International Critical Commentary (ICC) series. It went quickly through several editions with subtle updates, until 1902 which became the final (fifth) revised edition. Of it, Cranfield was able to say in his two-volume work which replaced it,¹

Its merits are too well known to need recital here; but anyone who has worked with it for many years is likely to have become more and more grateful for its thoroughness and exactness, its massive learning and sound judgment—though even of this most distinguished work one has occasionally to observe that ‘bonus dormitat Homerus’….

Of the nine copies available on Archive.org, there is a good scan of the 1960 printing of the 5th (1902) edition — although it ranks third in the download count. The most downloaded version is of the same edition, but the scan is much inferior. The second most downloaded is of an earlier edition.

¹ C.E.B. Cranfield, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. Volume 1: Introduction and Commentary on Romans 1-VIII (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1975), p. 41.