Increasingly scholars are realizing that prophetic traditions, expressions, and experiences stand at the heart of most religions in the ancient Mediterranean world. This is no less true for the world of Judaism and Jesus. Witherington aims to look at the broader expression of prophecy in its ancient Mediterranean context in an attempt to better understand biblical prophecy in that wider context. Equipped with an impressive appreciation for the cross-cultural nature of prophecy in the ancient world, Witherington is then able to look at the prophetic role of Jesus. Jesus the Seer especially complements Witherington's other volume on Jesus, "Jesus the Sage."

Ambitious in scope, clear and compelling in presentation. Witherington has linked the eschatological prophet-sage Jesus to the complex world of Old Testament prophecy, and then gone on to trace the relationship of both to early Christian prophecy. Rarely has a New Testament scholar demonstrated such proficiency in handling Old Testament and Hebrew sources. The result is a comprehensive scriptural presentation.
" Christopher R. Seitz, University of St. Andrews

""Jesus the Seer" pursues two important ends simultaneously. On the one hand, it adds yet another essential dimension to the emerging comprehensive portrait of Jesus that is being brought to light by the careful work of Ben Witherington III. On the other hand, anyone interested in prophecy" in prophets and in prophesying" will find Witherington s book a veritable tour of the topic. Witherington s knowledge of the contemporary study of Jesus and his picture of the phenomenon of prophecy are remarkably broad and deep. His presentation is lucid, accurate, incisive, andpersuasive. All who are interested in the complex person and ministry of the historical Jesus, especially his work as a prophet, are in Witherington s debt for this volume."
" Marion L. Soards, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

In ranging over two millennia of the phenomenon of prophecy and offering a sustained interpretation of the whole phenomenon, this book is something of a tour de force. It is not too surprising that it has not been attempted before. Witherington's command of the several scholarly fields his book traverses is impressive. This book will undoubtedly stimulate fresh study of biblical prophecy within the broad historical and cultural context it provides.
" Richard Bauckham, University of St. Andrews

Dan Brown's international bestseller The Da Vinci Code has raised many questions in the minds of readers. Was Jesus really married to Mary Magdalene? Did he father a child with her? Did Constantine suppress the earliest Gospels and invent the doctrine of Christ's divinity? Do the Gnostic Gospels represent the true Christian faith which the early church sought to supplant? The Da Vinci Code, in blurring the lines between fact and fiction, popularizes the speculations and contentions of numerous more serious books that are also attracting wide attention. How should we respond to claims that we now have documents that reveal secrets about Jesus, secrets long suppressed by the church and other religious institutions? Do these new documents successfully debunk traditional views about Jesus and early Christianity? Ben Witherington III confronts these claims with the sure-footedness of a New Testament scholar, yet in the plain language that any interested reader can follow. He takes us back to the early centuries after Jesus' death and tells us what we can really know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, the canonical Gospels and their Gnostic rivals.

"A rare treasure ...a triumph!" (Philip Jenkins, Baylor University)"A gold mine of exegetically-grounded biblical theology." (Craig Evans, Houston Baptist University)Reading the Book of Psalms in its original context is the crucial prerequisite for reading its citation and use in later interpretation, including the New Testament writings, argues Ben Witherington III. Here he offers pastors, teachers, and students an accessible commentary to the Psalms, as well as a reasoned consideration of how they were heard and read in early Christianity. By reading "forward and backward," Witherington advances the scholarly discussion of intertextuality and opens a new avenue for biblical theology.

More than eighty years ago Albert Schweitzer posed a question of enduring debate for New Testament scholarship. Did Jesus--and later Paul--believe that the apocalyptic kingdom of God was about to appear, bringing an end to this world? Indeed, what were the eschatological teachings of Jesus and Paul? Is there any appreciable continuity between the two? Ben Witherington takes a hard look at the Gospel texts and makes a thorough and critical assessment of Paul's eschatology. For each topic examined--the language of imminence, the dominion of God, the community of Christ, the Israel of God, the day of the Lord and the resurrection of the dead--he compares and contrasts Jesus and Paul. The result is an important contribution to our understanding of New Testament eschatology. With the second millennium drawing to a close and world events sparking the speculations of popular religious imaginations, Witherington provides a timely and sober re-examination of a topic too long neglected by serious scholarship.

Reading the books of the Law, the Pentateuch, in their original context is the crucial prerequisite for reading their citation and use in later interpretation, including the New Testament writings, argues Ben Witherington III. Here, he offers pastors, teachers, and students an accessible commentary on the Pentateuch, as well as a reasoned consideration of how these books were heard and read in early Christianity. By reading "forward and backward," Witherington advances the scholarly discussion of intertextuality and opens a new avenue for biblical theology.

InterVarsity Press is proud to present The Lightfoot Legacy, a three-volume set of previously unpublished material from J. B. Lightfoot, one of the great biblical scholars of the modern era. In the spring of 2013, Ben Witherington III discovered hundreds of pages of biblical commentary by Lightfoot in the Durham Cathedral Library. While incomplete, these commentaries represent a goldmine for historians and biblical scholars, as well as for the many people who have found Lightfoot's work both informative and edifying, deeply learned and pastorally sensitive. In addition to the material on the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of St. John, published in volumes one and two, respectively, there were fragments on 2 Corinthians and 1 Peter. Lightfoot was well known as a Pauline expert given his commentaries on Galatians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon, and fragments of his work on Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians were published posthumously. It is therefore a delight to have his notes on 2 Corinthians available for the first time. Lightfoot was also interested in the life and work of Peter. The introduction to his commentary on 1 Peter provides insightful analysis of the chronology and context of the epistle. Lightfoot seeks to demonstrate that Peter knew Paul's work and that these two great apostles were in harmony regarding theology and ethics. Now complete, these three commentary volumes reveal a scholar well ahead of his time, one of the great minds of his or any generation.

Preaching's Survey of Bibles and Bible Reference award InterVarsity Press is proud to present The Lightfoot Legacy, a three-volume set of previously unpublished material from J. B. Lightfoot, one of the great biblical scholars of the modern era. In the spring of 2013, Ben Witherington III discovered hundreds of pages of biblical commentary by Lightfoot in the Durham Cathedral Library. While incomplete, these commentaries represent a goldmine for historians and biblical scholars, as well as for the many people who have found Lightfoot's work both informative and edifying, deeply learned and pastorally sensitive. In addition to the material on the Acts of the Apostles, published in volume one, there were detailed notes on the Fourth Gospel, a text that Lightfoot loved and lectured on frequently. These pages contain his commentary notes for John 1-12. Lightfoot had long wanted to write a commentary on the Gospel of John, but he was unable to do so due to more pressing demands on his time, as well as his respect for his colleague B. F. Westcott. As a result, though he continued to compile notes on the text, they never saw the light of day until now. Included alongside the commentary are Lightfoot's long out-of-print essays on the historical reliability of the Fourth Gospel. Now on display for all to see, these commentary volumes reveal a scholar well ahead of his time, one of the great minds of his or any generation.

All too often, argues Ben Witherington, the theology of the New Testament has been divorced from its ethics, leaving as isolated abstractions what are fully integrated, dynamic elements within the New Testament itself. As Witherington stresses, "behavior affects and reinforces or undoes belief." Previously published as The Indelible Image, Volume 1, Witherington offers the first of a two-volume set on the theological and ethical thought world of the New Testament. The first volume looks at the individual witnesses, while the second examines the collective witness. The New Testament, says Ben Witherington, is "like a smallish choir. All are singing the same cantata, but each has an individual voice and is singing its own parts and notes. If we fail to pay attention to all the voices in the choir, we do not get the entire effect. . . . If this first volume is about closely analyzing the sheet music left to us by which each musician's part is delineated, the second volume will attempt to re-create what it might have sounded like had they ever gotten together and performed their scores to produce a single masterful cantata." What the New Testament authors have in mind, Witherington contends, is that all believers should be conformed in thought, word and deed to the image of Jesus Christ-the indelible image.