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New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus: Insights from His Jewish Context

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This is one of those books you wish you had read a long time ago. David Bivin does an excellent job of "taking you there," back to the time of what it would be like to hear the words of Yeshua (Jesus) back in the second temple period. Bivin makes frequent use of rabbinical sources to help explain some of the more challenging aspects of the life of Yeshua. Although the text is nothing new per se, it draws from a vast pool of knowledge of great scholars such as David Flusser and Brad Young who make extensive use of ancient Jewish writings to shed light and provide context to the New Testament. For anyone not familiar with Jewish sources, Bivin is not suggesting that the Talmud is inspired as the Scripture, but that it contains important clues and commentary that shows that Yeshua was vary familiar with these texts. Many of Yeshua's words parallel those in the Talmud, as Bivin shows.

Bivin does a good job of explaining Jewish customs that affect our understanding of Yeshua. The opening chapters on discipleship, the life of a rabbi, and taking on a teacher's "yoke" are required reading for anyone who seeks a solid historical analysis of the background to the gospels. The section on the prayers of Yeshua is also very critical, but too short; you will definitely want to research this further after reading it. And the analysis on the famous Acts 15 passage is also quite insightful (although again not necessarily new, but quite clear and concise).

In all each section is pretty brief, easy to read, and answers a basic question such as "Why didn't Yeshua marry," or addresses a confusing point such as "Miracle on the Sea of Galilee." In fact, each chapter is basically a summary of articles that you can find on his website, entitled "Jerusalem Perspective."

David Bivin previously wrote a book, "Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus." Although I kind of liked that book, I was very disappointed with it because Bivin didn't make the case for the Hebrew gospels (i.e., written in Hebrew) that well and the use of Jewish idioms didn't really help explain some of Jesus's difficult words. The selected verses weren't that impressive. This time around however, Bivin's choice of difficult words was impressive. This time he really picked some tough ones (such as divorce, pacifism, the rich young ruler) that often frustrate Christian commentators. Although he doesn't advance the case for the Hebrew gospels per se, you will feel that at the very least the gospel writers thought in Hebrew because so many things fit well when viewed Hebraically.

In all, this is a very useful book that I think Messianic believers will find fruitful. It would be helpful for those new to the Jewish background of the gospels. For those who have been around, I think you might find some of the references and the arguments pretty helpful, even if you already agree with the positions. Assuredly a great read for anyone who seeks better background knowledge to the gospels, and ultimately to get to know their Messiah a little better.

The volume is subtitled, "Insights from His [Jesus] Jewish Context," and it lives up to its subtitle. Plenty of stimulating insights here.

David Bevin has collected and revised 22 articles he wrote for a "Jewish Roots" journal, The Jerusalem Perspective, and compiled them into a most interesting book.

The book is subdivided into four main heading, the first of which is "A Jewish Rabbi Name Jesus." This section includes articles about Jesus' formal education, the common practice of discipleship in first century Judaism, and the accuracy of Oral Tradition.

The second section is titled, "Jesus' First Century Jewish Context" and includes information about hems, tassels, Jewish prayers, and examples of rabbis who remained single until later in life.

The third section is titled, "New Light on Jesus' Teachings" and address Jesus' view of riches, pacifism, and divorce.

The fourth section is titled, "The Kingdom is Here" and addresses Jesus as the Messiah-Prophet, the requirements for gentile believers (Acts 15), and Paul's Olive Tree Analogy.

The positives of this book far outweigh the negatives. Just reading relevant portions from the Talmud, for example, amplifies many Biblical passages. The information about discipleship was especially enlightening. I never realized that there were several hundred other rabbis roaming throughout Israel with bands of disciples during the time of Christ. The Talmudic ruling that a man who was going to follow a rabbi for more than 30 days needed permission from his wife evidences how common discipleship was during that era.

The author frequently suggests that while many of Jesus' practices were main stream for that time, others - such as claiming to be Messiah and working miracle after miracle - were not!

The chapter about why Jesus did not get married is particularly relevant in the light of the popularity of the fictional "Da Vinci Code." The examples of famous rabbis who married later in life are helpful (even if a footnote suggests some assume Jesus was married because of the Bible's silence; such a viewpoint ignores the issue of offspring fathered by a man without a sin nature).

I do have some reservations with this material, however. Whereas many Christians have divorced Jesus from His Jewish context and present all of Jesus' teachings as original, this book (and some others) present too many of Jesus' teaching as not original at all. If one is determined to align all but a few of Jesus' teachings with those of the rabbis, an artificial template inhibits the true interpretation of Jesus' words. You make it fit because you think it is supposed to fit -- whether it really fits or not. The author also does not seem to give much creedance to the Gospel of John (as though it has no bearing on the synoptics).

Another example of where I disagree includes the author's belief that Jesus viewed the "heavy" and "light" commandments as bearing equal weight. Then what about Jesus' criticism toward those who strained at gnats and swallowed camels? If camels and gnats are the same thing, how is this possible? Or specks and logs?

The same might be said for Jesus' view toward the Oral Torah (rabbinic traditions). Although He did frequently follow much of the Oral Torah, He spoke against being obsessed with the traditions of men in contrast to the Word of God (and by the "Word of God" He meant the written Word, which He often quoted as such).

Although I do admit it is hermeneutically helpful to try to back-translate Jesus' words from Greek to Hebrew, those of us who believe in both inspiration and inerrancy might have trouble with some of the author's views regarding the composition of the Gospels. The author does not hold a low view of Scripture, just not as high a view as we who espouse verbal, plenary inspiration and inerrancy.

This is a short but worthwhile read. Most of the chapters run only 4 or 5 pages of text plus heavy (but sometimes interesting)footnotes. Because the information is so illuminating, 4 or 5 pages a chapter is satisfying.

This book contains a wealth of gems, despite a few stones among the jewels. With those cautions, I highly recommend this work to anyone who wants to seriously and diligently study the words and works of Jesus Christ. Great for pastors, professors, Bible teachers, but only selected laymen (at least for we who are conservative evangelicals or fundamentalists). The source materials here are especially helpful even if readers draw different conclusions than Bivin does. This is the sort of material I LOVE!

I would like to affirm the other review here, and add just a couple thoughts of my own. Many writers take scripture as it speaks to them and offer very compelling and helpful applications for Christian thought and life. But often those insights are drawn from the writers own experience and personality as they engage and apply the straightforward teaching of scripture. David Bivin offers more than speculation/interpretation about the familiar text (our preferred translation) in his writing. He opens the reader to the world of the translation itself. His teaching about the person of Jesus Christ, his mode of teaching, the meaning of his words, are drawn from a great depth of understanding of Jesus' time, culture, place, language, and audience. A number of passages that might have been meaningless or seemingly opaque are illuminated.

This book is very eye opening because it reminds you that, although there were other cultrual influences around Jesus, Jesus was a Hebrew and a Jew. Therefore, he should be understood as he was in the the Second Temple period. Bivin does repeat some of the things he says in the other version of this book. Therefore, buying this book is sufficient to see his point of view on Jesus. Great buy!!

It has been so difficult for me to find books which even attempt to reconcile modern Christianity with Yeshua's VERY Jewish roots. This book is a good "starter" if you are seeking Jesus/Yeshua within his Jewish context. There are a great number of footnotes explaining various Hebrew words and historical references--and which also point to other texts of interest.

I had to loan my one and only copy to a very good friend of mine who recently became a Christian. As soon as she saw the book, she wanted to read it.

Those of the Jewish faith may disagree with Christian sentiment, but they cannot deny Yeshua's roots in Israel and Judaism. This is a book both Christians and Jews can read together.

This is the second book which David Bivin has authored. His first book was co-authored with Roy Blizzard. This book is quite different in that it is a series of articles Mr. Bivin has written about Jesus' viewpoint on Scripture as related to Jewish society dictated by Torah. The articles are short, easy to read and understand and definitely provide a new perspective on familiar topics, e.g., discipleship, prayer, divorce and remarriage, to name a few.

Since I have been exploring Hebrew roots through Messianic theologians and exegetists, I've come to realize how much heritage is missing from my spiritual life.

Mr. Bivin's book has contributed more information and I would recommend this book to anyone interested in expanding their knowledge about their religous heritage and traditions.

David Bivin's new book, New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus: Insights from His Jewish Context, is a most helpful book. I have never traveled to Israel and, being a gentile Christian, I am not all that familiar with Jewish customs. Consequently, having a straightforward explanation of Jewish customs of the first century is most interesting and helpful in interpreting the NT. One read of this book is probably not sufficient to gain full advantage.

There was a bit of overlap with Bivin's previous book, Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus: New Insights From a Hebrew Perspective with Roy Blizzard Jr., but probably not as much as I might have liked. I really liked the first book and wanted more material on the implications of Jesus speaking Hebrew (and being translated word-for-word into Greek) when I ordered New Light. As it was, I enjoyed the review of first century context every bit as much as the implications of Jesus speaking Hebrew.

Although Bivin's book had numerous insights that I cannot attribute to any other author, the one insight that sticks in my mind is about fishing in the Sea of Galilee:

**Until the introduction of transparent nylon nets in the mid-1950s,

**trammel net fishing was done only at night. In the daytime, the fish

**could see the nets and avoid them. Their miracle [of Jesus in Luke

**5:4-8] was that the fish swam blindly into the net (Bivin, p. 75).

Reading Bivin's book has led me to do two things. First, I searched for and found a Hebrew translation of the NT that I can use to study along with the Greek NT. BibleWorks 7.0 includes such as translation and I hope to start using it side-by-side with the Greek NT during 2008. Second, I have also begun gifting serious friends with copies of New Light to spark their thinking and encourage discussion.

I hope that you too will find New Light worth the time to read and study.

Stephen

I learned a lot, and a lot that I suspected was confirmed. Those of us who cannot read Hebrew are at the mercy of early transcribers who translated the Lord's words verbatum and not idiomatically, thus losing their original meaning. Yeshua was actually a rabbi with twelve students, who traveled the countryside with him, listening to his lessons. It's amazing to me that all scripture at that time had to be memorized. That's why they were to meditate on God's word day and night. There is too much in this book to mention here, but it's very valuable reading. I enjoyed David Bivin's book, "Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus," and this is an extension of that.

This is an excellent book explaining things in the New Testament that

seem strange to readers today. David Bivin, as usual, reads our

scriptures through the lens of a 1st C. Jew.

This book helpfully locates Jesus and his teachings within the tradition of first-century rabbinical practice. The linkages between the Talmud and Jesus' words were especially helpful.