Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Set [Hardcover]

Clinton E. Arnold (Author), Steven M. Baugh (Contributor), Peter H. Davids (Contributor), David E. Garland (Contributor), David W. J. Gill (Contributor), George H. Guthrie (Contributor), Moyer V. Hubbard (Contributor), Andreas J. Kostenberger (Contributor), Ralph P. Martin (Contributor), Douglas J. Moo (Contributor), Mark L. Strauss (Contributor), Frank Thielman (Contributor), Jeffrey A.D. Weima (Contributor), Michael J. Wilkins (Contributor), Mark W. Wilson (Contributor), Julie Wu (Contributor), Robert Yarbrough (Contributor)

Book Description

Series: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary | Publication Date: August 1, 2002

Discover - How the springs at Hierapolis help us understand why Jesus described the church at Laodicea as 'lukewarm' - The background and circumstances of certificates of divorce in Judaism - How Jewish dietary laws provided a powerful metaphor for God's acceptance of the Gentiles Brimming with lavish, full-color photos and graphics, the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary walks you verse by verse through all the books of the New Testament. It's like slipping on a set of glasses that lets you read the Bible through the eyes of a first-century reader! Discoveries await you that will snap the world of the New Testament into gripping immediacy. Things that seem mystifying, puzzling, or obscure will take on tremendous meaning when you view them in their ancient context. You'll deepen your understanding of the teachings of Jesus. You'll discover the close, sometimes startling interplay between God's kingdom and the practical affairs of the church. Best of all, you'll gain a deepened awareness of the Bible's relevance for your life. Written in a clear, engaging style, this beautiful set provides a new and accessible approach that more technical expository and exegetical commentaries don't offer. It features: - Commentary based on relevant papyri, inscriptions, archaeological discoveries, and studies of Judaism, Roman culture, Hellenism, and other features of the world of the New Testament - Hundreds of full-color photographs, color illustrations, and line drawings - Copious maps, charts, and timelines - Sidebar articles and insights - 'Reflections' on the Bible's relevance for 21st-century living Written by leading evangelical contributors: Clinton E. Arnold (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen), General Editor S. M. Baugh (Ph.D., University of California, Irvine) Peter H. Davids (Ph.D., University of Manchester) David E. Garland (Ph.D., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) David W. J. Gill (D.Phil., University of Oxford) George H. Guthrie (Ph.D., Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) Moyer V. Hubbard (D.Phil., University of Oxford) Andreas J. K stenberger (Ph.D., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) Ralph P. Martin (Ph.D., University of London, King's College) Douglas J. Moo (Ph.D., University of St. Andrews) Mark L. Strauss (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen) Frank Thielman (Ph.D., Duke University) Jeffrey A. D. Weima (Ph.D., University of Toronto) Michael J. Wilkins (Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary) Mark W. Wilson (D.Litt. et Phil., University of South Africa) Julie L. Wu (Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary) Robert W. Yarbrough (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen) Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary includes Matthew, Mark, Luke (Volume One) John, Acts (Volume Two) Romans to Philemon (Volume Three) Hebrews to Revelation (Volume Four)

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Discover · How the springs at Hierapolis help us understand why Jesus described the church at Laodicea as "lukewarm" · The background and circumstances of certificates of divorce in Judaism · How Jewish dietary laws provided a powerful metaphor for God’s acceptance of the Gentiles

Brimming with lavish, full-color photos and graphics, the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary walks you verse by verse through all the books of the New Testament. It’s like slipping on a set of glasses that lets you read the Bible through the eyes of a first-century reader! Discoveries await you that will snap the world of the New Testament into gripping immediacy. Things that seem mystifying, puzzling, or obscure will take on tremendous meaning when you view them in their ancient context. You’ll deepen your understanding of the teachings of Jesus. You’ll discover the close, sometimes startling interplay between God’s kingdom and the practical affairs of the church. Best of all, you’ll gain a deepened awareness of the Bible’s relevance for your life.

Written in a clear, engaging style, this beautiful set provides a new and accessible approach that more technical expository and exegetical commentaries don’t offer. It features: · Commentary based on relevant papyri, inscriptions, archaeological discoveries, and studies of Judaism, Roman culture, Hellenism, and other features of the world of the New Testament · Hundreds of full-color photographs, color illustrations, and line drawings · Copious maps, charts, and timelines · Sidebar articles and insights · "Reflections" on the Bible’s relevance for 21st-century living

Written by leading evangelical contributors:

Clinton E. Arnold (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen), General Editor

S. M. Baugh (Ph.D., University of California, Irvine)

Peter H. Davids (Ph.D., University of Manchester)

David E. Garland (Ph.D., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)

David W. J. Gill (D.Phil., University of Oxford)

George H. Guthrie (Ph.D., Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary)

Moyer V. Hubbard (D.Phil., University of Oxford)

Andreas J. Köstenberger (Ph.D., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School)

Ralph P. Martin (Ph.D., University of London, King’s College)

Douglas J. Moo (Ph.D., University of St. Andrews)

Mark L. Strauss (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen)

Frank Thielman (Ph.D., Duke University)

Jeffrey A. D. Weima (Ph.D., University of Toronto)

Michael J. Wilkins (Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary)

Mark W. Wilson (D.Litt. et Phil., University of South Africa)

Julie L. Wu (Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary)

Robert W. Yarbrough (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen) Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary includes

Matthew, Mark, Luke (Volume One) John, Acts (Volume Two) Romans to Philemon (Volume Three) Hebrews to Revelation (Volume Four)

About the Author

Clinton E. Arnold (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is professor of New Testament language and literature at Talbot School of Theology in LaMirada, California.

S. M. Baugh (PhD, University of California, Irvine) is professor of New Testament at Westminster Seminary in Escondido, California.

Peter H. Davids (PhD, University of Manchester) is Visiting Professor in Christianity at Houston Baptist University.

David E. Garland (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is William B. Hinson Professor of Christian Scriptures and dean for academic affairs at George W. Truett Seminary, Baylor University. He is the New Testament editor for the revised Expositor's Bible Commentary and the author of various books and commentaries, including Mark and Colossians/Philemon in the NIV Application Commentary, and the article on Mark in the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary. He and his wife, Diana, reside in Waco, Texas. SPANISH BIO: David E. Garland es profesor de Nuevo Testamento en Truett Theological Seminary, Waco, Texas, y autor de numerosos comentarios.

David W. J. Gill (DPhil, University of Oxford) is sub-dean of the faculty of arts and social studies and senior lecturer in the department of classics and ancient history at University of Wales Swansea, United Kingdom.

George H. Guthrie (PhD, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) serves as the Benjamin W. Perry Professor of Bible at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. As a specialist in New Testament and Greek, he is the author of numerous articles and four books including the volume Hebrews in the NIV Application Commentary series.

Moyer V. Hubbard (DPhil, University of Oxford) is an assistant professor of New Testament at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, Los Angeles, California.

Andreas K stenberger is Director of Ph.D. Studies and Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He is the author of numerous works on John, including his commentary in the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series, 'John' in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, and 'John' in Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary.

Ralph P. Martin (PhD, University of London, King's College) is distinguished scholar in residence at Fuller Theological Seminary, Haggard School of Theology, Azusa Pacific University, and Logos Evangelical Seminary in El Monte, California.

Douglas Moo (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is the Blanchard Professor of New Testament at Wheaton College. His work centers on understanding the text of the New Testament and its application today. He has written extensively in several commentary series, including the NIV Application Commentary, Pillar Commentary, Tyndale New Testament Commentary, and the New International Commentary on the New Testament. SPANISH BIO: Douglas J. Moo es profesor de Nuevo Testamento en Wheaton Graduate School, Wheaton, Illinois. Anteriormente enseno durante mas de veinte anos en Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Ilinois. Es autor de muchos libros, incluyendo un comentario a la Epistola a la Epistola a los Romanos que saldra proximamente en la Biblioteca Teologica Vida.

Mark Strauss (PhD, Aberdeen) is professor of New Testament at Bethel Seminary in San Diego. He has written The Davidic Messiah in Luke-Acts, Distorting Scripture?, The Challenge of Bible Translation and Gender Accuracy, and Luke in the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary series. Forthcoming books include The Gospels and Jesus, Mark in the revised Expositor's Bible Commentary series, and Mark in the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary series.

Frank Thielman (PhD, Duke University) is Presbyterian professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, Samford University, in Birmingham, Alabama. He is the author of Philippians in the NIV Application Commentary series.

Jeffrey A. D. Weima (PhD, University of Toronto) is a professor of New Testament at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Michael J. Wilkins (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is dean of the faculty and professor of New Testament language and literature at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, and the author of several books.

Mark W. Wilson (DLitt et Phil, University of South Africa) is adjunct professor of New Testament at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Julie L. Wu (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is President and Professor of New Testament, China Bible Seminary in Hong Kong, China.

Robert W. Yarbrough (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is chair and professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 1924 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310217407
• ISBN-13: 978-0310217404
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #141,987 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb specialty commentary set focusing on often overlooked aspects of the Bible, December 7, 2006

By 

David C. Leaumont "Dave" (Bossier City, LA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Set (Hardcover)

At first when I opened this set to determine how I might benefit from this commentary, I was disappointed, but not because of the content, but because of what I was looking for. I was looking for indepth information on a passage, but that is not the real value of this book. This book gives historical and cultural background information on specific passages of Scripture, and helps to explain often-misunderstood verses and passages of Scripture. The purpose of this commentary (or at least the value I glean from it) is not scholarly lexical study, or explanations of theologies in the New Testament, but instead the significance of the cultural settings often ignored by us who live 2000 years after the writing of Scripture and in vastly different cultural contexts.

A great example of the use of this commentary is John 7:37-44. The commentary explains why it was significant that Jesus used the phrase "streams of living water." In doing so, it explains the 7th day of the "great day of the Feast" (Feast of Tabernacles) was the pinnacle of the celebration and that each day of the Feast had the priest pouring water over the altar that symbolized the coming of the Holy Spirit. This is often lost in most commentaries, and the authors of this set spend a great deal of time focusing on the aspects of the Bible that are so often glossed over because the historical significance of the events are lost on us, who have not lived in Scriptural times and settings.

The authors show no sign (to me) of theological bias toward any tradition besides emphasizing conservative, contemporary, scholarly study of the Bible.

This set is beautifully bound, with heavy covers and reminds me of a college textbook, rather than a commentary. The books open without having to crack the spine, and the pages are very heavy glossy stock. Throughout the book are color photos and illustrations of biblical artifacts, archaeological finds, and maps/charts depicting items spoken about in Scripture.

Overall, this is a superb set for background information. This is not the best choice as a first commentary set, since it specializes in backgrounds of the text, and not strictly on exegesis. However, this set acts as a superb specialty set to help students of the Bible understand many of the tougher illustrations the biblical authors used in conveying the Truth about Jesus Christ.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A handy reference that is easy to use, January 4, 2003

By 

Eric N. Landstrom (Nevis, MN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Set (Hardcover)

All four books are hardcover and smith bound, measuring 8" x10". The set is a background commentary for the New Testament and includes many, many color pictures, maps, and charts (on every page there is something). Further the set is littered with interesting sidebars which are set as text boxes in the margins or as boxes set within the text. The set is written from an evangelical perspective.

Overall the set appears to be well done. Each Gospel or epistle covered has an introductory historical survey of the culture that the Gospel or epistle was written in as well as the specifics of the local customs or issues that are addressed within the Gospel or epistle.

The commentary then proceeds to address the historical-culture issues that each verse has as a backdrop. For example in the third volume the introduction to the Epistle to the Romans contains,

"Understanding Paul's own situation as he writes Romans helps us appreciate the purpose and theme of the letter. In 15:14-22, he looks at a period of ministry just concluded. "From Jerusalem all the way around Illyricum," Paul tells us, "I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ" (15:19). This verse indicates that Paul's ministry has reached a significant geographical turning point. As Luke tells us in Acts, Paul first preached Christ in Damascus (and perhaps Arabia) after his conversion (Acts 9:19-22; cf. Gal. 1:17). Only after three years did he go to Jerusalem to preach, and then only briefly (Gal. 1:18; cf. Acts 9:28-29). Why, then, mention Jerusalem as the starting point for his ministry? For two reasons. First, the city represents the center of Judaism, and Paul is concerned to show how the gospel spread from the Jews to the Gentiles. Second, the city stands at one geographic extremity in his missionary travels. At the other extremity is Illyricum, the Roman province occupying what is today Albania and parts of Yugoslavia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Only here does Paul refer to missionary work in this province, although such a ministry can be fit easily into the movements of Paul on his third missionary journey (see comments on Rom. 15:19). An "arc" drawn from Jerusalem to Illyricum, therefore, passes over, or nearby, the important churches that Paul has planted in south Galatia (Pisidian Antioch, Lystra, Iconium, Derbe), Asia (Ephesus), Macedonia (Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea), and Achaia (Corinth).
But what does Paul mean when he claims that he has "fully proclaimed" the gospel in these areas? The Greek has simply the equivalent of our verb "fulfill" (peplerokenai). To "fulfill" the gospel, therefore, probably means to preach it sufficiently such that viable churches are established. These churches can then carry on the task of evangelism in their own territories while Paul moves on to plant new churches in virgin gospel territory (cf. 15:20-21).
In pursuit of this calling, Paul is moving on to Spain (15:24). On the way, he hopes to stop off at Rome, evidently to enlist the Roman Christians' support for his new gospel outreach (see comments on 15:24). but before he can begin his trip to the western Mediterranean, he must first return to Jerusalem (15:25). Throughout the third missionary journey, Paul has collected money from the Gentile churches he planted to bring back to the impoverished Jerusalem believers. Now he is ready to embark on this trip, and he earnestly asks the Roman Christians to pray for it (15:30-33). The collection represents for Paul a key step in what he hopes will be the reconciliation of the Jewish and Gentile Christians in the early church" (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, vol. 3, pp. 3-5).

An example of the commentary itself from 2 Cor. 11:14:

"Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light (11:14). In some Jewish traditions, Satan transformed himself into an angel of light and deceived Eve a second time:

'Then Satan was angry and transformed himself into the brightness of angels and went away to the Tigris River to Eve and found her weeping. And the devil himself, as if to grieve with her began to weep and said to her, "Step out of the river and cry no more...come out to the water and I will lead you to the place where your food has been prepared."'"

Largely this set appears to be written as a tool for working pastors. It's tone is conversational and does not appeal to excessive use of jargon. It provides all kinds of references and antidotal information which would be useful for sermon illustrations and story-telling. In addition, contemporary source material is referenced as well as recommended reading should a topic peak the readers interest to the point where they wish to more fully explore it. While Zondervan's Backgrounds Commentary is not a scholarly reference, it is obviously aimed at the pastor or church leader who wants to go beyond the basics of a working knowledge of the Bible, yet who also wants a reference that doesn't take a week of reading to get at the stuff that they will eventually wind up presenting in a sermon or Bible study.

A caveat I do have offhand is that the footnotes appear as endnotes at the end of each Gospel or epistle. Stylistically I can understand why this was done as footnotes would break up the overall flow of the work presented; however for footnote geeks this does involve the "Sears Roebuck" method of getting at them.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A new kind of resource for the New Testament expositor, November 21, 2002

By 

Robert Wormley (lakebay, wa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Set (Hardcover)

Dr. Clinton Arnold, known for several ground breaking books on magic and superstition and how they relate to Paul's epistles, has assembled an all-star cast of neo-evangelicals to contribute to this stellar resource for New Testament studies. This commentary series focuses on the 1st century background to verses in the new testament.

It is successful due to its adherance to its clearly stated objective, "The stimulus for this commentary came from the church and the aim is to serve the church. The contributors to this series have sought to provide illuminating and interesting historical/cultural background information. The intent was to draw upon relevant papyri, inscriptions, archaelogical discoveries, and the numerous studies of Judaism, Roman culture, Hellenism, and other features of world of the New Testament and to make the results accessible to people in the Church." (from pg. vii of the introduction.)

The entries are concise and to the point and are extremely useful for those who don't have the time or resources to look up relevant passages in Josephus, or the Dead Sea Scrolls, and who does? The entries are concerned with providing necessary and relevant background information that illuminates the specific context/language used in the text.

As a teacher of youth as well as a trainer of Adult Sunday school teachers, I am finding this commentary to be an essential resource for those who do not have professional training in Biblical studies, but who nontheless have a heart for teaching the Bible correctly.

The only thing that dissapointed me was the binding of the books, they look and feel more like a textbook than a commentary, however this downside is less important than the content. If they were published as comic-books I would still treasure their usefulness in understanding what the Bible meant when it was written.