The New Interpreter s Study Bible brings the best of biblical scholarship to the service of the Church. In this new edition based on The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible with Apocrypha, sixty distinguished scholars have provided background and insight on the biblical text. Features include extensive historical and theological annotations on the biblical text; brief introductions and outlines for each biblical book; excursuses giving further background and insight regarding particular themes and passages; and nineteen commissioned maps detailing the biblical world at various historical periods."

Here is a new appreciation of the Old Testament, by outstanding Biblical scholars, for those who want to be informed about the most recent and creative thinking on the crucial problems and debates in Biblical study. As the distinguished European and American contributors explore the central current issues of Old Testament scholarship, they uncover a timeless message in Israel's prophetic voice and interpret its meaning for our times.

The Ten Commandments and Human Rights sets out to evaluate the importance of the Ten Commandments for the life of faith today. The general thesis is that the commandments are immensely important not only for Jews and Christians, but for all persons seeking to find or to reaffirm a moral foundation for their life and for the life of their children, their religious community, and their society.

The fact that the commandments are put negatively is immensely important, for it means that the community that claims these commandments and builds on them has to work out for itself the positive import of not having other gods, not worshipping idols, not profaning the sabbath, not killing and stealing, and committing adultery. Put negatively, these commitments become the groundwork for a humanly free and responsible search for the will of God for individual, family, and corporate life today and in any day.

It is true that the commandments originate in ancient Israel, are central to the faith of prophets, priests, and sages, and are claimed and made foundational by Jesus for the Christian community. But these commandments also share much with, for example, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which has been presented by the United Nations for adoption by all the nations of earth.

The Ten Commandments and Human Rights seeks to show how to avoid moralistic use of the Ten Commandments in religious life today while still affirming that there are absolutely foundational prohibitions that can and must guide the moral life of all peoples. The Ten Commandments need very little revision in order to become such a foundation for a free and responsible life today.

This eye-opening dialogue between a rabbi and a Christian scholar challenges Jews and Christians to examine their misconceptions and prejudices about each other's faith. Here, a Christian and a Jew stand on common ground. Rather than simply interpreting their own respective heritages, each seeks to present his own insights into the other's religious community. Topics discussed include Scripture, God, Jesus, the Holocaust, election, covenant, and mission. Jews and Christians is a living dialogue of faith designed to foster mutual understanding and respect between the two religions.

Volume five of the Mercer Commentary on the Bible comprises commentaries on the deuterocanonical/apocryphal books which Martin Luther called "useful and good for reading" yet did not consider of the same authority as Scripture. Volume five of the Mercer Commentary on the Bible includes commentaries from the critically acclaimed Mercer Commentary on the Bible and appropriate articles from the equally well-received Mercer Dictionary of the Bible. This convenient yet thorough edition is for the classroom and for anyone who wishes to focus study on these particular texts.