The Blackwell companion to the New Testament

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Matthew D. Jensen

"The first letter of John is commonly understood to contain no reference to Jesus's resurrection. Matthew D. Jensen argues that, far from this being absent from the theology of 1 John, the opening verses contain a key reference to the resurrection which undergirds the rest of the text and is bolstered by other explicit references to the resurrection. The book goes on to suggest that the author and the readers of this epistle understand themselves to be the authentic Israel from which faithless Jews had apostatized when they denied that Jesus was 'the Christ' and left the community. Jensen's interpretation calls for a new understanding of the historical context in which 1 John was written, particularly the question of Jesus' identity from the perspective of his fellow Jews. An innovative and provocative study, of interest to scholars and advanced students of New Testament studies, Johannine theology and Jewish history"--

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James K. Aitken

"The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible and the scriptures read by early Christians. Septuagint studies have been a growth field in the past twenty years. It has become an area of interest not only for textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible but as a product of Judaism in the Graeco-Roman world. It is even being utilized occasionally by scholars of Greek religion. At the same time renewed interest in the daughter versions (Syriac, Vulgate, Ethiopic, Coptic etc.) has thrown new attention onto the Septuagint. This Companion provides a cutting-edge survey of scholarly opinion on the Septuagint text of each biblical book. It covers the characteristics of each Septuagint book, its translation features, origins, text-critical problems and history. As such it provides a comprehensive companion to the Septuagint, featuring contributions from experts in the field"--

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John E. Hartley

This commentary on job follows in the tradition of the NICOT series by providing an up-to-date evangelical commentary based on thorough scholarship. John E. Hartley deals carefully with this book whose language, text, and theology are not only among the most intriguing in the Old Testament but also among the most difficult to grasp. Hartley begins with a thorough introduction that treats matters of title and place in the canon, text, language, parallel literature in the ancient Near East and in the Old Testament, author, date, literary features, poetry, structure and genres, and message. In the commentary proper, Hartley uses his knowledge of the cognate ancient Near Eastern languages and displays extensive research in offering a detailed, verse-by-verse exposition that relates each section of the text to the overall message of the book.

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John Barton

"This book provides a detailed exploration of the important elements of the theology underlying the book of Amos"-- "In modern times Amos has come to be considered one of the most important prophets, mainly for his uncompromising message about social justice. This book provides a detailed exploration of this theme and other important elements of the theology underlying the book of Amos. It also includes chapters on the text itself, providing a critical assessment of how the book came to be, the original message of Amos and his circle, which parts of the book may have been added by later scribes, and the finished form of the book. The author also considers the book,Ŵs reception in ancient and modern times by interpreters as varied as rabbis, the Church Fathers, the Reformers, and liberation theologians. Throughout, the focus is on how to read the book of Amos holistically to understand the organic development of the prophet,Ŵs message through the many stages of the book,Ŵs development and interpretation"--