Customer Reviews

Hebrews : A New Translation With Introduction and Commentary (Anchor Bible. V. 36.)

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Koester is consistent throughout the commentary and has in depth research to back up his conclusions. The technical scholar will enjoy the book because it has a notes section that deals with the Greek grammer and technical issues and then a comments section that takes the form of a theological commentary. The lay person will get more out of the comments section because it is in a more reader friendly style. The information and insight are thought provoking and informative. The format is layed out by the Editors of the Anchor Bible Series, but Craig has included his historical studies on how the book of Hebrews has been read throughout the history of the Church.
The strength of the book lies in the fact that Koester sees three stages of growth in church that are the recipients of this letter. The first stage being the one that started in the power and and demonstration of the Spirit. The second stage was one in which they had to resist compromising and apostasizing with the persecution that had come their way. The third stage was one in which they lost property and some were tempted to give up and so the writer of Hebrews according to Koester is writing to remind them where they had come from and to encourage them not to give up.
Perhaps the weakness, in my opinion, is that Koester sees too much Greco-Roman influence on the writer and his community and not enough Jewish i.e. Temple influence upon the writer and his community. In this regard I think that Koester has misread and misses on some of his conclustions.
I highly recommend this book to the scholar and the serious student of the Bible. Koester does present a wide variety of thought on the book and this is definately worth the read.