Jewish World around the New Testament, The [Paperback]

Richard Bauckham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2010

Renowned biblical scholar Richard Bauckham believes that the New Testament texts cannot be adequately understood without careful attention to their Judaic and Second Temple roots. This book contains twenty-four studies that shed essential light on the religious and biblical-interpretive matrix in which early Christianity emerged. Bauckham discusses the "parting of the ways" between early Judaism and early Christianity and the relevance of early Jewish literature for the study of the New Testament. He also explores specific aspects or texts of early Christianity by relating them to their early Jewish context. Originally published by Mohr Siebeck, this book is now available as an affordable North American paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

New Testament texts cannot be adequately understood without careful attention to their Judaic and Second Temple roots. This volume contains twenty-four studies that shed essential light on the religious and biblical-interpretive matrix in which early Christianity emerged.

Richard Bauckham covers many aspects of the literature and thought of early Judaism, including life after death, the provenance of the Pseudepigrapha, the Jewish apocalypses, the book of Tobit, and more. He discusses the "parting of the ways" between early Judaism and early Christianity and the relevance of early Jewish literature for the study of the New Testament. Bauckham also includes studies that explore specific aspects or texts of early Christianity by relating them to their early Jewish context, such as the delay of the parousia, the restoration of Israel in Luke-Acts, and the use of Latin names by Paul and other Jews in the early Christian movement.

"Bauckham's essays are fresh in their approach, inspiring, erudite, and well argued throughout. They show the methods and the promise of studying early Judaism for its own sake and in order to understand the New Testament in the Jewish world around it. The volume has left me with new insights and much to ponder and pursue."--Christoph Stenschke, Review of Biblical Literature

Originally published by Mohr Siebeck in Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 233, The Jewish World around the New Testament is a corecipient of the Franz-Delitzsch Award for 2010, offered by the Institute for Israel Studies in Giessen, Germany.

About the Author

Richard Bauckham (PhD, University of Cambridge) is emeritus professor of New Testament and Bishop Wardlaw Professor at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and a Fellow of the British Academy. He is the author of numerous books, including The Testimony of the Beloved Disciple and Jesus and the Eyewitnesses.

Product Details

• Paperback: 548 pages
• Publisher: Baker Academic (July 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801039037
• ISBN-13: 978-0801039034
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #617,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive essays by a leading orthodox scholar, July 30, 2010

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Jeri Nevermind "loves to read" (Idaho) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Jewish World around the New Testament, The (Paperback)

Bauckham, of course, is the scholar who wrote "Jesus and the Eyewitnesses", an important and much acclaimed work.

This book is a collection of essays which were written by Bauckham over some two decades, and they range widely in the arguments they make. Tobit, Enoch, the messianic interpretation of Isaiah, and the beliefs of Second Temple Jews about the afterlife, are all part of this collection.

Unlike other scholars who have argued that Daniel was written in either the second or sixth century BC, Bauckham suggests strands which coalesced over time. He states, "Daniel...suggests the roots of apocalyptic lies in mantic wisdom" (p 45), pointing out that although Daniel is not a prophet "his function is exactly theirs" (p 45).

He brings clarity to the always murky world of pseudepigraphal documents in one essay. And he explains why "the Lukan genealogy...to be constructed according to the apocalyptic world-historical scheme inspired by Enoch literature" (p 160).

I was especially fascinated by his discussion of how the Second Temple Jews parted ways with the early Christians. "The opposition of the rabbis to Jewish Christianity was important for the fate of Jewish Christianity in Palestine," (p 177), although it may not have been significant to the Diaspora.

Most significantly, the early Christians redefined monotheism to include Jesus.
Furthermore, the early Jerusalem church saw "itself as the new, eschatological temple of God..the concept of the Christian community as the eschatalogical temple is very widespread in early Christian literature" (p 185).

The belief in an afterlife grew over time among the Jews. But by the end of the 1st century, it appears widespread. Much of this belief was based on the the logic of the righteousness of God, who will, in the end, see that the wicked are punished, and the good rewarded.

A good deal of scholarship has been done lately on the lost tribes and the constant promises by the prophets that they would be restored. Bauckham makes a number of interesting points about the lost tribes and their restoration under Jesus, the Davidic messiah.

Greatly rewarding to anyone who picks it up.