Jacob Milgrom, a rabbi and Bible scholar, has devoted the bulk of his career to examining the laws of the Torah. His incisive commentary on Leviticus, which began with Leviticus 1-16, continues in this last volume of three. It provides an authoritative and comprehensive explanation of ethical values concealed in Israel's rituals. Although at first glance… Read more…
Admittedly, as the last book in the Old Testament, and a minor prophet at that, Malachi is often overlooked by Bible readers. Yet, Malachi's passionate proclamations and the significance of what he had to say to his people capture the attention of even the casual reader. The message of Malachi came at a time of cultural and religious rethinking for Israe… Read more…
Although it appears second in the New Testament, Mark is generally recognized as the first Gospel to be written. Captivating nonstop narrative characterizes this earliest account of the life and teachings of Jesus. In the first installment of his two-volume commentary on Mark, New Testament scholar Joel Marcus recaptures the power of Mark’s enigmatic narra… Read more…
In the final nine chapters of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus increasingly struggles with his disciples’ incomprehension of his unique concept of suffering messiahship and with the opposition of the religious leaders of his day. The Gospel recounts the events that led to Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion by the Roman authorities, concluding with an enigmat… Read more…
One of the twelve Minor Prophets, Micah unwaveringly spoke God’s message to Israel—a message filled with judgment but also laced with the promise of redemption. Micah combined poetic complexity and literary sophistication to compel his audience to respond. And now, through an exacting linguistic and literary analysis of the biblical text, coauthors Franc… Read more…
The Letter of James is one of the most significant, yet generally overlooked, New Testament books. Because Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation, disliked this letter for its emphasis on good deeds, the book has come to be viewed as being in opposition to Paul’s letters, which emphasize faith in God. To correct these and other misperceptions … Read more…
This volume represents a significant breakthrough in the study of Hebrew prosody with important implications for understanding the formation of the canon of the Hebrew Bible. Duane Christensen, a renowned biblical scholar, offers a detailed analysis of the Hebrew text of Nahum and demonstrates the intricate literary structure and high poetic quality of the w… Read more…
The apostle Paul's letter to his friend and fellow Christian Philemon, which focuses on the question of slavery, has long inspired debate. Onesimus, one of Philemon's slaves and a Christian himself, has left his master's house and sought refuge with Paul. In a letter to Philemon, Paul assures his friend that he is sending Onesimus back into capti… Read more…
The Letter to Titus, one of the three "Pastoral Epistles" of the New Testament, has over the last twenty years become the ground of intense controversy-theologically, sociologically, even politically. For this letter (like its companions, I and II Timothy) dates to a time when the Apostles are gone and a new church leadership is evolving. In Titus we read … Read more…
This second book of the three-volume Anchor Bible Commentary offers an astute translation and commentary on the middle sixteen chapters of Jeremiah. Important themes in the present volume include injustice within Judah’s royal house, sexual immorality among the clergy, and true versus false prophecy. Yet the prophet who thundered Yahweh’s judgment was al… Read more…
Stirring words of the most outspoken of the Hebrew prophets are reexamined in this concluding volume of the esteemed Anchor Bible Commentary on Jeremiah.
This final book of the three-volume Anchor Bible Commentary gives us translation and commentary on the concluding sixteen chapters of Jeremiah. Here, during Judah’s darkest days, when n… Read more…
Scripture scholar James L. Crenshaw captures the ominous, yet hopeful spirit of Joel's prophecy in his new translation and commentary.
Joel's Prophecy has an unexpectedly familiar ring to it. The biblical book of Joel is relevant to our late-twentieth-century world because it confronts an age when people tolerated almost anything, … Read more…