Are questions about commentaries on-topic?

Question

In the process of doing exegesis, many potential resources can be helpful. Is it on-topic for me to make a specific question like:

What are your top (n) commentaries for studying such-and-such a book? What do you like about each?

Or:

What are the merits/problems with Karl Barth's commentary on Romans? What is his general position the book? What are specific passages that he deals with well/poorly?

Obviously a question like

i want to study 1 sam. plz tell me were to start thx

is not so helpful. And the question should specifically ask about the exegetical features of the resource. For example, obviously

Is there any reason for someone who is not neo-orthodox should read Barth's commentary on Romans?

is not appropriate for Hermeneutics.SE. But if a question relating to exegetical or hermeneutical tools is specific enough, is it on topic? If not, would it be on topic at Christianity.SE?

Answer 1

Your second question seems pretty firmly on-topic. The first is also on-topic, but too open-ended to be a great fit on StackExchange.

The trouble (at least so far) with questions about resources about Biblical hermeneutics rather than about Bible texts themselves is that they tend to languish until we snag someone familiar with the resource. Take the question about Tim Keller's book: asked in October and answered on Leap Day. That's a long time to wait.

I've had Luther's commentary on Galatians on my simmer reading list for ages and there's just no knowing when I will be able to evaluate it. There are dozens of others that a person would need to at least sample in order to attempt an answer on "What are the best Galatians commentaries?" On the other hand, hopefully we will be able to attract experts who will be well read enough to answer. (And who knows? Maybe we already have such users. It won't hurt to ask.)