Poole’s uncommon gift of compactness and comprehensiveness enabled him to distil into his work material that was generally spread over many folio volumes. When the exhaustiveness of Puritan literature later became a cause of disfavour, Poole’s commentary was exempt from the criticism and even in the 19th century Richard Cecil could say
If we must have commentators, as we certainly must, Poole is incomparable, and, I had almost said, abundant of himself. His supreme concern is to clarify th meaning of the text. Consequently where the meaning is plain he spends little time, but on difficult passages he is fullest and frequently gives a survey of various views with reasons for his own conviction. In this way he brings out the importance and relevance of obscure passages-particulary in the Old Testament.