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Jewish World around the New Testament, The

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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.