This comprehensive, up-to-date introduction to the Old Testament apocryphal books summarizes their context, message, and significance. The first edition has been very well reviewed and widely adopted. It is the most substantial introduction to the Apocrypha available and has become a standard authority on the topic. The second edition has been substantially revised and updated throughout to reflect the latest scholarship. The book includes a foreword by James H. Charlesworth.

In this addition to the well-received Paideia series, two respected New Testament scholars offer a practical commentary on James and Jude that is conversant with contemporary scholarship, draws on ancient backgrounds, and attends to the theological nature of the texts.
This commentary, like each in the projected eighteen-volume series, proceeds by sense units rather than word-by-word or verse-by-verse. Paideia commentaries explore how New Testament texts form Christian readers by
- attending to the ancient narrative and rhetorical strategies the text employs
- showing how the text shapes theological convictions and moral habits
- commenting on the final, canonical form of each New Testament book
- focusing on the cultural, literary, and theological settings of the text
- making judicious use of maps, photos, and sidebars in a reader-friendly format
Students, pastors, and other readers will appreciate the historical, literary, and theological insight that John Painter and David deSilva offer in interpreting James and Jude.

Discovering Revelation is the perfect introduction to the interpretation of Revelation. Through a critical assessment of key interpreters and interpretative debates, it encourages in-depth study of the text and a genuine grappling with the theological and historical questions raised. As part of the Discovering Biblical Texts series, Discovering Revelation draws on a range of author-, text- and reader-centred methodological approaches as complementary rather than mutually exclusive ways of understanding the text. It also reflects the growing scholarly attention to the reception history of Biblical texts, increasingly viewed as a vital aspect of interpretation rather than an optional extra. Discovering Revelation is an ideal commentary for students and those looking to dig deeper into the Book of Revelation. You will gain a solid grasp of the structure and content of Revelation, and a thorough understanding of key interpretations and theological concerns that will enhance your own reading of the text.

What happens when old meets new? As David deSilva has experienced the ancient wisdom of the Book of Common Prayer, he's been formed spiritually in deep and lasting ways. In these pages, he offers you a brand new way to use the Book of Common Prayer, that you too might experience new growth, new intimacy with God and a new lens through which to view the world. Focusing on the four sacramental rites of baptism, Eucharist, marriage and burial, deSilva explores each one in depth through the prayers, liturgies and Scripture readings of the Book of Common Prayer, and then adds his own devotional exercises that help you immediately apply what you've reflected on. As you read and contemplate the material, you may notice old habits, wrong beliefs and negative patterns being replaced with new desires and perspectives that help you draw ever closer to God. In this innovative and engaging resource David deSilva invites you in to a new way of being spiritually formed through an old book that has shaped thousands of disciples through the years. "I hope that, as you read and pray through this guide," he writes, "you will discover afresh the ways in which the rites contained in the Book of Common Prayer facilitate a genuine encounter with God, and a transforming experience of grace."

In this commentary, David deSilva approaches Ephesians as Paul's contribution to the ongoing work of forming his converts' individual and collective identity in Christ through the celebration of God's activity (past, ongoing, and future) on behalf of all who had responded in trust and faithfulness toward Jesus throughout the eastern Roman empire. He explores how Paul's first-century audiences in Roman Asia would have understood and responded to his message, particularly his promotion of the attitudes, pursuits, and practices that would constitute an appropriate response of gratitude for so costly a deliverance and so magnificent a destiny. deSilva's discussion is richly grounded in the Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts that both informed Paul as he composed and his audiences as they engaged his message. He is also attentive to points of relevance to the modern contexts of today's readers who continue to wrestle with Paul's vision for Christian discipleship and human community.

In this commentary, David deSilva approaches Ephesians as Paul's contribution to the ongoing work of forming his converts' individual and collective identity in Christ through the celebration of God's activity (past, ongoing, and future) on behalf of all who had responded in trust and faithfulness toward Jesus throughout the eastern Roman empire. He explores how Paul's first-century audiences in Roman Asia would have understood and responded to his message, particularly his promotion of the attitudes, pursuits, and practices that would constitute an appropriate response of gratitude for so costly a deliverance and so magnificent a destiny. deSilva's discussion is richly grounded in the Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts that both informed Paul as he composed and his audiences as they engaged his message. He is also attentive to points of relevance to the modern contexts of today's readers who continue to wrestle with Paul's vision for Christian discipleship and human community.

For contemporary Western readers, it can be easy to miss or misread cultural nuances in the New Testament. To hear the text correctly we must be attuned to its original context. As David deSilva demonstrates, keys to interpretation are found in paying attention to four essential cultural themes: honor and shame, patronage and reciprocity, kinship and family, and purity and pollution. Through our understanding of honor and shame in the Mediterranean world, we gain new appreciation for how early Christians sustained commitment to a distinctive Christian identity and practice. By examining the protocols of patronage and reciprocity, we grasp more firmly the connections between God's grace and our response. In exploring kinship and household relations, we grasp more fully the ethos of the early Christian communities as a new family brought together by God. And by investigating the notions of purity and pollution along with their associated practices, we realize how the ancient map of society and the world was revised by the power of the gospel. This new edition is thoroughly revised and expanded with up-to-date scholarship. A milestone work in the study of New Testament cultural backgrounds, Honor, Patronage, Kinship, and Purity offers a deeper appreciation of the New Testament, the gospel, and Christian discipleship.

Professor deSilva's outstanding textbook sets a new standard for the genre. The usual topics of New Testament introduction are integrated with instruction in interpretative strategies and application to ministry formation. The attractive layout includes numerous maps, photographs and text-boxes.

New volume in a favorite Bible commentary series. Writing a commentary on Galatians is a daunting task. Despite its relative brevity, this Pauline letter raises a number of foundational theological issues, and it has played a vital role in shaping Christian thought and practice over the centuries. In this replacement of Ronald Y. K. Fung's 1988 New International Commentary volume, David deSilva ably rises to the challenge, providing a coherent account of Galatians as a piece of strategically crafted communication that addresses both the immediate pastoral challenges facing Paul's converts in Galatia and the underlying questions that gave rise to them. Paying careful attention to the history, philology, and theology of the letter, and interacting with a wealth of secondary literature on both Galatians and the rest of the Pauline corpus, deSilva's exegetically sound commentary will serve as an essential resource for pastors and theological students.

David deSilva treats Galatians as a specimen of rhetoric, a letter written not merely to inform, but to persuade. Galatians draws on deSilva's expertise in rhetorical criticism to demonstrate how Paul makes particular language choices to shape his argument and accomplish his distinctive purposes. deSilva's expert analysis guides students not only through the grammar of Galatians but also through the linguistic challenges of New Testament Greek.

This handbook is a must-have for students wishing to master Greek in the context of New Testament studies.

Journey inside the pages of Scripture to meet a personal God who enters individual lives and begins a creative work from the inside out. Shaped with the individual in mind, Immersion Bible Studies encourage simultaneous engagement both with the Word of God and with the God of the Word to become a new creation in Christ. Immersion Bible Studies, inspired by a fresh translation--the Common English Bible--stand firmly on Scripture and help readers explore the emotional, spiritual, and intellectual needs of their personal faith. More importantly, they ll be able to discover God s revelation through readings and reflections."

Grow in the Scriptures throughout the church year with David deSilva as your mentor. Beginning with Advent and moving through the church year, David deSilva brings his years of experience as a biblical scholar to the church in the form of sermons delivered to his home congregation throughout the church year, now adapted into a thoughtful and inspiring collection of reflections. These reflections, which draw on readings from the Revised Common Lectionary, will inform and inspire your understanding of Scripture, written with Dr. deSilva's characteristic warmth and wisdom. In Season and Out makes for excellent devotional reading that will feed saints both in front of and behind the pulpit.

This New Testament introduction is different. Many introductions zero in on the historical contexts in which the New Testament literature was written. This introduction goes further-to give particular attention to the social, cultural, and rhetorical contexts of the New Testament authors and their writings. Few introductions to the New Testament integrate instruction in exegetical and interpretive strategies with the customary considerations of authorship, dating, audience, and message. This introduction capitalizes on the opportunity, introducing students to a relevant facet of interpretation with each portion of New Testament literature. Rarely do introductions to the New Testament approach their task mindful of students preparing for ministry. This introduction is explicit in doing so, recognizing as it does that the New Testament itself-in its parts and as a whole-is a pastoral resource. Each chapter on the New Testament literature closes with a discussion of implications for ministry formation. These integrative features alone would distinguish this introduction from others. But in addition, its pages brim with maps, photos, points of interest, and aids to learning. Separate chapters explore the historical and cultural environment of the New Testament era, the nature of the Gospels and the quest for the historical Jesus, and the life of Paul. First published in 2004, David A. deSilva's comprehensive and carefully crafted introduction to the New Testament has been long established as an authoritative textbook and resource for students. This beautiful, full-color second edition has been updated throughout with new scholarship and numerous images. It is the first choice for those convinced that a New Testament introduction should integrate scholarship and ministry.

How should Christians live in an age of empire? As the city of Ephesus prepares for a religious festival in honor of the emperor Domitian, a Christian landowner feels increasing pressure from the city's leaders to participate. Can he perform his civic duties and remain faithful to his Lord? Or has the time come for a costly choice? In this historical novel, biblical scholar David deSilva brings to life such compelling struggles faced by the early Christians. Their insistence on the absolute lordship of their own singular deity brought them into conflict not only with the myriad religious cults of the day, but with all the crushing power of the empire itself. Meticulously researched and supplemented by historical images and explanatory sidebars, A Week in the Life of Ephesus poses anew the timeless question of Christianity and empire. Here is a vividly imaginative portrait of the Roman empire in all its beauty and might-and hanging over it, the looming sky of apocalypse.

"New Testament Themes" focuses on the worldview and values of the early church, tracing the development of the themes of grace, discipleship, community, and apocalypticism.

Synopsis: Reading Scripture with a view to hearing its significance and challenge within its original, foreign context is the essence of exegesis and an anchor point for responsible hermeneutics. Reading Scripture alongside others from a significantly different social location also helps us see fresh aspects of the meaning of the text itself, as well as fresh angles on its challenge to Christian discipleship. This innovative commentary by respected New Testament scholar David deSilva is grounded in both approaches: a careful exegesis of Galatians as a basis for discerning the challenge of Scripture in any social location; and a reading of Galatians from the viewpoint of the challenges to living out its message among the churches in Sri Lanka, the result of extensive interaction with Christian leaders in Sri Lanka. Seeing the text afresh from within its ancient context and a different, modern social location will challenge readers in the West to consider once more Paul's message of transformation through the Spirit, with implications for Western Christians in their own context and in the larger global matrix of the Church universal. Endorsements: "True to the spirit of Paul, David deSilva, in his creative work Global Readings, allows the Christian church to relive Paul's theology in his Letter to the Galatians and to participate in the challenges faced by the Sri Lankan church today. David's bold move in the 'Reading with Sri Lankan Christians' sections of the commentary allows the ancient text to speak across space and time--a sacred task of an apostle." -K. K. Yeo author of The Spirit Hovers: Journeying through Chaos with Prayers "DeSilva's commentary on Galatians reflects engagement with Galatians scholarship yet remains easy for readers to use. It also reflects both careful consideration of the various historical issues in Galatians and also (albeit less extensively) explicit sensitivity to concrete readings of the text that supplement the usual Western applications." -Craig Keener author of Romans in the New Covenant Commentary Series "The 'miracle' of biblical hermeneutics is that Christians around the world understand passages of the Bible differently, yet at the same time manage, without equivocation, to affirm the same gospel. David deSilva shows us one example of this by reporting on his engagement with Sri Lankan Bible students in understanding the book of Galatians. It is a brilliant model of learning from one another and at the same time standing together in the affirmation of scriptural truth." -Terry C. Muck coauthor of Christianity Encountering World Religions: The Practice of Mission in the Twenty-First Century. Author Biography: David A. deSilva is Trustees' Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary and an ordained minister in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. He is the author of numerous books, including Seeing Things John's Way: The Rhetoric of the Book of Revelation (2009), An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods & Ministry Formation (2004), and Introducing the Apocrypha (2002).

This series publishes books that combine academic rigor with broad appeal and readability. They aim to introduce nonspecialist readers to that vital storehouse of authors, documents, themes, histories, arguments, and movements of the Christian theological tradition. David deSilva majored in English at Princeton University (AB, 1987), received a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary (1990), and completed a doctorate in New Testament studies at Emory University (1995). He has taught on the faculty of Ashland Theological Seminary since 1995.

Adam and Eve weren't concerned about traffic jams as they strolled through the Garden of Eden. The Ten Commandments weren't delivered to Moses by e-mail. So how does the Word, written so long ago, fit into everyday life today? The Connections series offers today's readers and students of Scripture an answer to that puzzling question.

Connections builds an understanding of the relationship between the Bible and everyday life by examining the individual pieces and how they fit together. It invites us to broaden our comprehension of the Bible and its applications to modern life by placing current Scripture scholarship within the concerns of other fields, such as ethical problems in light of Scripture, science and Scripture, contemporary social challenges and Scripture, and the Bible in non-biblical cultures.

This series reveals more of God's intent, encouraging us to study and reflect on the Word from the life experiences, outlooks, and wisdom of many people.

In The Hope of Glory, David deSilva introduces readers to the cultural context of the ancient Mediterranean world and the role of the social values of honor and dishonor. He shows that with the help of cultural anthropologists, sociologists, and ancient authors who reflected on their culture firsthand, today's readers get a fresh and illuminating look at the Scriptures.