Johnson's study of Hebrews is unusual in adopting a social-scientific analysis. By examining the implicit sociological data in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and locating the implied society within the context of the larger Graeco-Roman world, he concludes that the author of Hebrews advocates an ideal society that is both more open to outsiders and more willing to assimilate fully new members than was first-century ce hellenistic Judaism. According to the group/grid paradigm developed by Mary Douglas, the implied society can be categorized as +weak' group/'weak' grid, in contrast to +strong' group/'strong' grid Hellenistic Judaism. The critique of the levitical system in Hebrews can be seen as supporting the author's advocacy of that implied open society.

This book discusses the theory that the Psalter was compiled with the specific intention that it should be used as a book for private spiritual reading. It is argued that if this were so, the work of the final editors would not have been confined to arranging the psalms in a particular order but would have included additions and interpolations intended to give the whole book a new orientation. An investigation of selected psalms shows that although the Psalter may have become a book for private devotion not long after its compilation, there is little evidence that it was compiled for that purpose.

Tom Wright has completed a tremendous task: to provide comprehensive guides to all the books of the New Testament, and to furnish them with his own fresh translation of the entire text. Each short passage is followed by a highly readable commentary with helpful background information. The format makes it appropriate also for daily study.

Truth matters. The apostle Paul's passion for truth runs throughout his Pastoral Letters - that it may be faithfully guarded and handed on. John Stott is at pains to convey Paul's passionate concern for the future of the gospel, and for younger pastors charged with its care. Contemporary culture, John Stott points out, is being overtaken and submerged by relativism and pluralism - an attitude that all so-called 'truth' in fact can make no demand that others be converted to its particular view. The apostle's unambiguous commitment to the definite truth of the gospel is in stark contrast to the contemporary spirit, and his concern for its future needs to grip us today.

This two-part commentary argues that Chronicles, placed as it is among the 'historical books' in the traditional Old Testament of the Christian church, is much misunderstood. Restored to its proper position as the final book in the canon as arranged in the order of the Hebrew Bible, it is rather to be understood as a work of theology essentially directed towards the future. The Chronicler begins his work with the problem facing the whole human race in Adam-the forfeiture of the ideal of perfect oneness with God's purpose. He explores the possibility of the restoration of that ideal through Israel's place at the centre of the world of the nations. This portrayal reaches its climax in an idealized presentation of the reign of Solomon, in which all the rulers of the earth, including most famously the Queen of Sheba, bring their tribute in acknowledgment of Israel's status (Volume 1). As subsequent history only too clearly shows, however, the Chronicler argues (Volume 2), that Israel itself, through unfaithfulness to Torah, has forfeited its right to possession of its land and is cast adrift among these same nations of the world. But the Chronicler's message is one of hope. By a radical transformation of the chronology of Israel's past into theological terms, the generation whom the Chronicler addresses becomes the fiftieth since Adam. It is the generation to whom the jubilee of return to the land through a perfectly enabled obedience to Torah, and thus the restoration of the primal ideal of the human race, is announced.>

"Hierapolis in the Heavens" is a project which brings together several articles and essays that Kreitzer has written on the letter to the Ephesians and follows up a new suggestion which he first put forward in 1997 as to the setting and provenance of the epistle. Nothing quite like this has yet been published on Ephesians, particularly as it does offer some important new archaeological, textual and numismatic evidence for scholarly consideration. The book should also be of interest to social-historians of the first-century world as it argues that the letter we know as "Ephesians" was written to what was, in effect, a daughter-church of the church in Colossae; some intriguing questions about power-relations between churches such as this are opened up as a result.It was formerly known as "The Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement", a book series that explores the many aspects of New Testament study including historical perspectives, social-scientific and literary theory, and theological, cultural and contextual approaches. "The Early Christianity in Context" series, a part of JSNTS, examines the birth and development of early Christianity up to the end of the third century CE. The series places Christianity in its social, cultural, political and economic context. European Seminar on Christian Origins is also part of JSNTS. "Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus Supplement" is also part of JSNTS.

This book deals with the place of the source-document Q and its compilers within late Second Temple Judaism, with special attention to Q's relationship to the Herodian Temple. The investigation of this perspective is fraught with problems because the passages that are associated with the Temple in Q do not speak with the same voice, raising the question of how to reconcile the seemingly positive view with the rather more hostile views. Using a comparative approach, Han analyses the essential differences in the two types of positions, and concludes that the negative attitude is original, while the positive position is due to a later redaction that took place after the First Revolt and the destruction of the Temple.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9 "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7-10 God offers you his comfort. He promises you his power and strength. But when hard times hit--illness, death, job loss, relationship troubles--it is often hard to remember, tobelieve that God is with you. Again and again Scripture teaches, "Do not be afraid." In this book of daily Bible studies David Ivaska has gathered God's words of encouragement for you. As you explore God's promises from the Old and New Testaments, you'll be reassured of God's goodness. As you dwell on the truth of God's sovereignty and faithfulness, your hope will be restored. Be Not Afraid includes ten weeks' worth of daily Bible studies, with the seventh study in each week designed either for individual study or for a small group wrap-up session. The six individual studies each week feature introductory material, a Scripture passage (NIV text reprinted alongside for handy reference), 3-5 questions for reflection, and a prayer. Whether you feel anxiety over one great issue or many small ones, this Bible study guide will give you the tools day-by-day to turn over to God all your cares and worries.

This work argues that the author of the Gospel of Matthew structures his work as a Bios or biography of Jesus, so as to encapsulate, in narrative form, the essence of his theological understanding of God's Basileia (sovereign rule), as proclaimed and taught in the teaching and healing mission of Jesus. Evidence for this is found in Matthew's careful use of structural markers to divide his story of Jesus into significant thematic sub-sections in which he uses a series of Basileia logia at incisive points to highlight aspects of Jesus' teaching and healing mission. In this way, Matthew is able to portray Jesus, as God's promised Messiah, who instructs his disciples through discourse and narrative, hence in word and example, in the nature and demands of God's sovereign rule.

By structuring his Gospel as a story, Matthew depicts Jesus giving instructions to his disciples and also instructs the readers of the text. Hence, Matthew's Gospel becomes a manual of instruction on the nature and demands of God's sovereignty. Its purpose is to ensure that not only the members of the Matthean community, but all future disciples of Jesus are competently trained to carry out Jesus' commission: "Go therefore and disciple all the nations ..." (28:19-20). In this way, the goods news of God's saving presence is proclaimed to all the nations until God's eschatological reign is finally established.

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Remarkably enough, there is a scarcity of modern commentaries on the Psalms for the more general reader, though after the Gospels, they are probably the most widely read part of the Bible. Clergy read the Psalms in rotation as part of the daily offices, the Psalms are a regular part of the church's worship, and the "Book of Psalms" is a spiritual classic in its own right. This commentary is addressed to the widest possible readership and is informed by John Eaton's pastoral concerns and his commitment to environmental issues. He examines the authorship of the psalms and their use as poetry and songs, as well as in worship. Eaton provides his own, modern translation of each of the 150 Psalms and provides a commentary highlighting the relevance of the psalms to the modern reader. The inspirational discussion of each psalm ends with a related Christian prayer, either from the tradition or written by Eaton himself.

Waldemar Janzen offers a fresh approach to the canonical structure of Exodus. The liberation from Egypt is a prelude to Israel's unique calling to model before the nations a new life of service under God. Exodus portrays how God, through his servant Moses, wages a dramatic battle with Egypt's mighty ruler for the release of enslaved Israel. Yet as the battle rages, Israel stands apart as a watching noncombatant, wavering between doubt and faith.

After wresting Israel from Pharaoh's enslavement, God fights for the soul of his doubting and resistant people. They ask, "Is the Lord among us or not?" Even after Israel's covenant commitment to be God's "priestly kingdom and holy nation", Israel breaks away again and worships a golden calf, a symbol of what is clear to the senses.

In the end, God's grace wrests Israel away once more, this time from captivity to its own doubts, fears, and self-centeredness. In the last chapters, Exodus portrays a people focused in faith on the imageless presence of God in its midst. Nevertheless, God still wrestles for his people even today.

The book presents essays on themes useful for teaching, preaching, and Bible study; bibliographies; charts; a map; and an index. "Believers church" refers to churches in the Anabaptist heritage of faith. The BCBC series is sponsored by six denominations: Brethren Church, Church of the Brethren, Brethren in Christ Church, General Conference Mennonite Church, Mennonite Brethren Church, and Mennonite Church.

It has long been noted that the "Book of Lamentations" shares, at least in part, a theological outlook with the prophetic literature that the destruction of Jerusalem was the result of Yahweh's decisive action against the sins of the nation. Too often, however, this relationship has simply been presupposed, or assumed to be a relationship of shared perspective. To date, there has been no systematic exploration of how it is that Lamentations accepts and/or modifies the theological outlook of the prophetic literature. In addition, when the theology of the prophets has been discussed in relation to "Lamentations", there has been a tendency to group all the prophetic books together as if they existed as a homogeneous whole, and shared amongst themselves a singular outlook. This tendency to simplify the theological complexity of the prophetic literature coincides with a similar tendency to reduce the theology of "Lamentations" to simple, monotheistic assertions. Drawing on the literary insights of Mikhail Bakhtin, this study explores in detail the nature of the relationship between "Lamentations" and the pre-exilic/exilic prophetic literature. Drawing on the notions of dialogism, polyphony and double-voicing, the study argues that "Lamentations" enters into a dialogic relationship with prophetic literature, a relationship that both affirms and subverts that literature. Central to the acknowledgement of the dialogic interaction between Lamentations and the prophetic literature is the recognition of "Lamentations" as a multivalent, polyphonic text in which unmerged viewpoints exist in a tension-filled relationship.

The book is, primarily, a linguistic investigation into the possibility that the Johannine farewell discourse is the product of multiple hands. Chapter 1 examines the history of the problem. Chapter 2 contains an examination of the stylistic unity of the farewell discourse and John 14:31-16:33 is examined for specific literary style markers. All the style tests show that the major divisions of the farewell discourse are consistent with the style evident in the rest of the Gospel. Chapter 3 contains an investigation of the structure of the farewell discourse. The text is tested for structural unity, textual prominence, and coherence. The results show that the discourse holds together quite well in structure, peak, and cohesion. Chapter 4, therefore, returns to the issue of the magnus reus (Latin for "the great litigant"). The difficulty presented by 14:31, (ultimately, the major reason for identifying editorial activity) is investigated in terms of the assumptions current among source critics. Upon a closer examination, these assumptions are shown to be unlikely based on the conventions of ancient literature and the literary conventions of participant movement in the rest of the Fourth Gospel. The conclusion reached in this work is that the farewell discourse should be considered a unity. Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series, 256.

By a poetic analysis of Isaiah 34-35 as a single poem, the reading explores in depth its imagery, themes and structure. Attention to detail is combined with wide-ranging discussions of reading and interpretation, which revolve around the contrasting, and strangely interrelated, scenes of destruction (nightmare) and restoration (dream) found in the two parts of the poem. The poem emerges as an integral part of Isaiah, which is treated as a single work. The consistency is revealed in parallel terms, images and structure. Implications of the analysis and mode of reading for the whole of Isaiah are commented on throughout.

All too often, missions have been narrowly defined as evangelism or at best, extending to practical, physical social action such as medical mission or education. On the Side of the Angels argues that human rights and justice need to be reclaimed by evangelical Christians and that human rights work should be seen as central to Kingdom mission, not just regarded as a secondary activity and labeled "political. "The book draws on the authors first-hand experiences of places of persecution and oppression, including Burma, East Timor and India, along with their work of advocacy in the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, United Nations and other forums. Its chapters include examining the biblical basis for activism, real-life stories of crimes against humanity, religious persecution, torture, discrimination and injustice. Concrete examples of how to do advocacy and inspiring examples of great Christian human rights activists, past and present, will motivate and challenge readers to be advocates of God?'s love and justice.

Few parts of the Bible have captured the imagination of individuals in the way that the book of Jonah has. James Limburg examines this well-known book, keeping several questions in mind: How did the story originate? What is its place in the Bible? How did the New Testament understand the story? How has the story been understood in Judaism and in Islam? What might it mean for people today? And what does it have to say about God, about the human condition, and even about God and nature? In reviewing the book, Limburg gives special attention to the many contributions of artists, musicians, painters, and sculptors who, he says, may have been the best interpreters of Jonah. He also keeps in mind the literary dimension of the texts and takes great care to follow the divisions of the book as they were defined by Jewish scribal tradition. Limburg begins his commentary with a fresh translation of the biblical book of Jonah and continues with a careful examination of the text, pointing out the significance of this old story for our own time. An extensive appendix provides highlights from the interpretation of Jonah in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The activity of early Christian proclaimers is seen as the backdrop for the Epistle's challenge to its readers to identify with God's order or with the earthly patronage of the rich. The significance of the Epistle of James within early Christianity, when not neglected, has been disputed. In recent years the letter, and its author, have received renewed attention, and this contribution to the revival examines the way in which the author and his addressees are depicted within the social world of emerging Christianity. Edgar finds strong points of contact with the sayings of Jesus and with early Christian itinerant proclaimers, who are often seen as having been active in preserving and transmitting these sayings. The Epistle challenges the shaky commitment of its readers to their new allegiance, and, in the light of the coming of God's eschatological ruoe, employs the model of patronage to lay out the choice between loyalty to God and identification with the earthly value system dominated by the rich.

Subversive Scribes and the Solomonic Narrative considers 1 Kgs 1-11 through the optics of propaganda and subversion with primary attention given to subversive readings of portions of the Solomonic narrative. Seibert explores the social context in which scribal subversion was not only possible but perhaps even necessary and examines texts that covertly undermine the legitimacy or the legacy of Solomon. The book is divided into two parts. In the first, Seibert develops definitions of propaganda and subversion and notes other studies which have understood certain biblical texts to function in these ways. Primary consideration is given to developing a theory of subversive scribal activity in this section of the book. An important distinction is made between "submissive scribes," individuals who wrote what they were told, and "subversive scribes," individuals who did otherwise. Since many scribes were writing for the very people who paid them, those wanting to engage in subversive literary activity had to do so carefully, and to a certain extent covertly, lest they be detected and exposed. Yet their critique could not be so obscure that none could detect it. There needed to be enough clues to allow like-minded scribes to read the text and appreciate the critique, but not so many that opponents could charge such scribes with sedition. In the second part of the book, Seibert applies this theory of scribal subversion to various passages in 1 Kgs 1-11. An extended discussion is given to 1 Kgs 1-2 with the remainder of the Solomonic narrative being treated more episodically. The focus is on passages which look suspiciously like the work of a subversive scribe and/or which have subversive potential. It is argued that scribes could-and sometimes did-intentionally encode a critique of the king/kingship in the text and that one of the most effective ways they accomplished this was by cloaking scribal subversion in the guise of propaganda.

Elaine Jordan has written her first book with personal reflections on a wide variety of biblical and spiritual subjects ranging from the providence of God, to faith, children have free will, situation ethics, management, etc. A delightful group of short essays by a Christian author.

This book maps the relationship between Matthew's Gospel and the Didache. No consensus regarding the nature of this relationship has yet been achieved, neither has serious consideration been given to the possibility that Matthew depended directly on the Didache. If it may be shown that such was the case, then this infamously enigmatic text may finally be used to answer a series of tantalizing questions: what is the pattern of the Synoptic relationships? How did the earliest Jewish Christians incorporate Gentiles? What was the shape of Eucharistic worship in the first century?

In this challenging new work, Nielsen compares Herodotus with Old Testament historiography as represented by the so-called Deuteronomistic History. He finds in the Old Testament evidence of a tragic form like that encountered in Herodotuss Histories. Nielsen begins by outlining Herodotuss Greek context with its roots in Ionic natural philosophy, the epic tradition and Attic tragedy, and goes on to analyse in some detail the outworking of the Herodotean tragedy. Against that background, the Deuteronomistic History is to be viewed as an ancient Near Eastern historiographic text in the tragic tradition.