This literary study considers how the 'voice' of Jesus has been heard in different periods of parable interpretation, and how the categories of figure and trope may help us towards a sensitive reading of the parables today. This book explores what it means to seek the "voice" of Jesus" in his parables through the interpretive keys of literary tropes. Through a detailed discussion of significant periods of parable interpretation, with reference to six narrative parables peculiar to Luke's Gospel, it demonstrates the continued necessity of a creative response to an intention when confronted with figures of speech. Drawing on the long tradition of interpretation, a fresh hearing of the tone of the parables as exemplary tales is suggested, rooted in both the conditions of Jesus's contemporary culture and the Old Testament Scriptures.

For those new to Christian life, the Bible is often an imposing book filled with tales of pregnant virgins, large fish, unbelievable miracles, and challenging stretches of the imagination. It is a daunting task to make sense of biblical narrative and to convey what the story is attempting to do, but skilled storyteller Frank Honeycutt brings lively, fresh interpretations to old stories - and readers will come away with both understanding and inspiration.Conveniently arranged by seasons of the church year, newcomers and life-long Christians alike will encounter the Bible stories of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and time after Pentecost in a whole new way. The stories explored include: Desert Highway Home, Isaiah 40:3; Surrogate Messiahs, John 1:19-20; Love at First Sight, Matthew 4:20; Boating Tips for Night Crossings, Matthew 14:22; and many more.

This book encompasses all major events recorded in the Bible fromthe destruction of the planet Earth between the first two versesof Genesis; the new doctrine of the Age of Grace delivered to theApostle Paul by Jesus Christ himself; details of the Great Tribulation asprophesied by Daniel; the believers of today reigning with Jesus in hisMillennial Kingdom and the new heaven and earth, where the streets arepaved with gold. Get ready for the "read" of your life

"Fred Wolfe has dedicated his life to examining the history, practice, andinterpretation of the word of God. Th e Bible is too oft en misquoted, and this book will help to shed light on some common misconceptions, challenging the reader to strengthen their understanding of God. Withscholarly evidence and reasoning, he has writt en a blueprint of theBible's inception, as well as the deepest meanings of its words. By closelyexamining one's understanding of the word of God, they will fi nd a faithand clarity so absolute that it can never be shaken. Th is book is a must read, no matt er where one is in their walk with God."-Pastor Matt hew Barnett, Co-Founder of the Dream Center

"Roloff has produced an intrepretation of the Revelation of John that can be certain to gain the special interest of theologians because of his . . . emphasis on the Christological starting-point of Revelation and the perspective that this discloses for the Christian community." -- Hans-Friedrich Weiss "In this commentary, one catches the Revelator's vision of eternity ablaze with promise and expectation of accountability in the bleakness of the present. May this book find many who are willing to dialog with the Revelator." -- Frederick Danker

Galatians 3:28, in particular the phrase, "There is ...no longer male and female; for you all are one in Christ Jesus," would seem to point towards an ethos of gender equality among Christians. Acting on this assumption, a number of scholars have considered the phrase significant in reconstructing attitudes towards women in early Christianity. Until now, however, a study of the history of interpretation of Gal 3:28 has been lacking. The exploration of the post-New Testament career of the verse is therefore the focus of this book. The approach is historical-critical, discussing the exegesis of Gal 3:28 in the context of attitudes about the roles of women in the first four centuries CE.

This study reveals that early Christians did not always approach this verse with the same concerns as modern readers. Ancient commentators brought several different questions to their discussion of Gal 3:28, and it is impossible to discover the trajectory in exegesis of this verse that might have been expected. It becomes apparent that during the first four centuries of Christianity most writers treated Gal 3:28 as a statement about the identification of Christians with Christ and therefore an indication that in the resolution of various differences into unity, they could achieve an ideal state. While some writers applied this concept to status differences between men and women, others used it to discuss the qualities of the ideal disciple, the character of the first created human beings, the state of the believer in heaven, and even the nature of God.

The Message of Isaiah 40-55 traces the argument of Isaiah 40-55 to show how the chapters bring a message of encouragement and challenge about God's intention to restore the Judean community, some of whose members are in exile in Babylon, others living in the city of Jerusalem that has lain devastated since it fell to the Babylonians in 587. The chapters hold before this community's eyes a vision of the nature of its God as the powerful creator and the loving restorer. In the course of following the argument, the reader becomes aware that the chapters have to deal with their audience's mysterious resistance to their message. It cannot give God the kind of response the message needs and deserves, nor can it fulfil the role as God's servant that is designed for it. God nevertheless remains committed to it. The prophet eventually becomes aware of a distinctive personal calling to embody that response, until the people are ready to do so. It is the prophet's willingness to do this (notwithstanding the suffering it brings) that embodies the kind of ministry that needs to be exercised to them so that they may be brought back to God and find a restoration of spirit, as well as a physical restoration.

The destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC, which led to the exile of the people of Israel, drastically changed the community's life. In the midst of this darkness, the five poems collected to form the biblical Book of Lamentations emerged as a life-embracing work. This commentary aims to make the message of Lamentations come alive to Christians today. The distinctiveness of the Palestinian voice found in these poems is maintained as they bear witness to the horror of pain and human suffering. Yet, beneath the words, a determined will to live emerges to confront human suffering, probe God's actions and anticipate a new kind of human community.

The keenly awaited second volume completing this major commentary on 2 Corinthians. Volume II covers chapters 8-13. Dr Thrall provides an exegetical verse-by-verse exposition and addresses all historical, linguistic and theological issues. This volume also contains two concluding essays, on the nature of the opposition Paul faced in the Corinthian church, and on Paul's understanding of apostleship, as well as excursuses on particular topics such as the question of Paul's Roman citizenship. The two volumes of this commentary now form the most comprehensive and up-to-date work available on 2 Corinthians.

In this important addition to the Old Testament Library, now available in a new casebound edition, renowned scholar Brevard Childs writes on the Old Testament's most important theological book. He furnishes a fresh translation from the Hebrew and discusses questions of text, philology, historical background, and literary architecture, and then proceeds with a critically informed, theological interpretation of the text. The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.

Using both ancient and modern rhetoric, linguistics, and argumentation theory, this study offers a fresh approach to 1 Peter and New Testament ethics. It is often claimed that the growing interest in paraenesis, or ethical teaching, among early Christians indicates how Jesus' revolutionary teaching and the Pauline notion of justification by faith were gradually replaced by an emphasis on good works and ethics borrowed from the surrounding Hellenistic and Jewish culture. The Motivation of the Paraenesis challenges this traditional view of ethics in early Christianity, arguing that paraenesis was an original, essential part of early Christian doctrine and life. The book also provides a new, well-balanced picture of 1 Peter and its message, giving a natural interpretation to many puzzling sections and clarifying the internal logic of the text and the theology behind it.>

Whether dealing with collective catastrophe or intimate trauma, recovering from emotional and physical hurt is hard. Kathleen O'Connor shows that although Jeremiah's emotionally wrought language can aggravate readers' memories of pain, it also documents the ways an ancient community-and the prophet personally-sought to restore their collapsed social world. Both prophet and book provide a traumatized community language to articulate disaster; move self-understanding from delusional security to identity as survivors; constitute individuals as responsible moral agents; portray God as equally afflicted by disaster; and invite a reconstruction of reality.

Here Andrew Macintosh provides a major introduction, followed by translation and verse-by-verse commentary to Hosea. Incorporating up-to-date evidence from archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as the insights of more recent major commentaries, he places particular emphasis on the work of the Rabbinic authorities and especially that of Ibn Janah. He reveals important new evidence concerning the meaning of Hosea's dialectical language to provide an indispensable reference for scholars, students and clergy.

This comprehensive bibliography to scholarly works on the biblical book of Esther contains over 1500 references. It includes titles of books, collected works, Festschriften, theses, journal articles, essays in collections, encyclopedia and dictionary articles, and online material. It is a classified bibliography, arranged in three categories -- commentaries, biblical chapters and verses, and subject headings in alphabetical order. The scope of the bibliography is international, and its focus is on research from the last hundred years. Scholars, students, clergy, and librarians -- among them literary scholars, sociologists, historians, linguists, art historians, feminists, and Christian and Jewish scholars -- will find this unique volume an indispensable resource and stimulus to further research.