Providing students, pastors and lay people with up-to-date, accessible evangelical scholarship on the Old and New Testaments. Designed to equip pastors and Christian lay leaders with exegetical and theological knowledge to better understand and apply God's word by presenting the message of each passage as well as an overview of other issues surrounding text. Includes the entire NLT text of Genesis and Exodus.
John N. Oswalt, Ph.D., Brandeis University, is Research Professor of Old Testament at Wesley Biblical Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. He was the Old Testament editor of the Wesley Bible and also served as consulting editor for the New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis. He has written six books, including a two-volume commentary on Isaiah in the New International Commentary on the Old Testament series and commentary on Isaiah in the New International Version Application Commentary series. He has been a member of the translation teams for the New International Version and the New Living Translation.

Sixty years ago, most biblical scholars maintained that Israel s religion was unique---that it stood in marked contrast to the faiths of its ancient Near Eastern neighbors. Nowadays, it is widely argued that Israel s religion mirrors that of other West Semitic societies. What accounts for this radical change, and what are its implications for our understanding of the Old Testament? Dr. John N. Oswalt says the root of this new attitude lies in Western society s hostility to the idea of revelation, which presupposes a reality that transcends the world of the senses, asserting the existence of a realm humans cannot control. While not advocating a the Bible says it, and I believe it, and that settles it point of view, Oswalt asserts convincingly that while other ancient literatures all see reality in essentially the same terms, the Bible differs radically on all the main points. The Bible Among the Myths supplies a necessary corrective to those who reject the Old Testament s testimony about a transcendent God who breaks into time and space and reveals himself in and through human activity."

Inspired by the author's preparation of two major commentaries on Isaiah, these essays range from comprehensive to specific, and from popular to scholarly. They first appeared in biblical dictionaries, scholarly journals, and popular periodicals. Gathered here together for the first time, they display in various ways how the authors sees the various parts of Isaiah functioning together to give a coherent message to the church. The opening chapters lay out Oswalt's understanding of the overall message of the book of Isaiah. Subsequesnt chapters consider such themse as holiness and righteousness as they function in that larger structure.

This long-anticipated work completes John Oswalt's two-volume commentary on the book of Isaiah. After opening with a valuable discussion on the state of Isaiah studies today, Oswalt provides an insightful verse-by-verse explanation of Isaiah 40-66, giving special attention to the message of the prophet not only for his own time but also for modern readers.

A unique commentary that explores each passage from three vital perspectives: original meaning, bridging context, contemporary significance. Isaiah wrestles with the realities of people who are not convicted by the truth but actually hardened by it, and with a God whose actions sometimes seem unintelligible, or even worse, appears to be absent. Yet Isaiah penetrates beyond these experiences to an even greater reality. Isaiah sees God s rule over history and his capacity to take the worst of human actions and use it for good. He declares the truth that even in the darkest hours, the Holy One of Israel is infinitely trustworthy."