Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 50, 2 Peter, Jude (bauckham), 377pp (Hardcover)

~ Richard J. Bauckham (Author) "Most introductory issues can really only be settled as a result of detailed exegesis..." (more)
Key Phrases: pseudepigraphal device, eschatological conflagration, eschatological paraenesis, Jesus Christ, New Testament, Second Peter (more...)

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Product Description

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 388 pages
• Publisher: Word Books (February 15, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0849902495
• ISBN-13: 978-0849902499
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #129,147 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best commentaries I've read, April 21, 2006

By	David I. Spencer "eschaton" (Davis, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Bauckham's commentary on 2Peter and Jude is definitely one of the best commentaries on any book of the Bible that I've ever read. It reads very clearly and easily for a technical commentary and directly investigates the background for each book both in the early church and its writings and history and in late second temple judaism and its own writings and history. Bauckham does an excellent job of mining the exegetical depths of Jude and 2 Peter in a way that hasn't much been done before. He takes Jude to be the older work, used by the author of 2 Peter in his own writing. Bauckham argues for a slightly later date for 2 Peter than traditional scholars would probably like and treats 2 Peter as pseudonymous. Although I tend to prefer the hypothesis that Peter wrote 2 Peter, the amount of evidence Bauckham issues in favor of his hypothesis is indeed impressive. Bauckham argues that 2 Peter is of the literary genre called the testament. In testaments, the work is always pseudonymous and often written both to address some current need by applying older wisdom and many times also to summarize and disseminate the teachings of the revered figure to whom the writing is fictionally ascribed. I take the fact that the ascribed authors in this genre are understood to be and are supposed to be not the real authors is what could possibly save Bauckham from denying innerancy or infallibility in regards to this letter. Regardless of how you see this issue and Bauckham's position in general, enough of his interpretation does not rest on his view of the letter's authorship (and he does after all think it accurately reflects Peter's teachings) that you should be able to learn a lot and be inspired by this commentary no matter what you think.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Standard text on II Peter/Jude though not without problems, August 12, 2000

By	Jeremy Pierce (Syracuse, NY) - See all my reviews

Bauckham has produced a masterful commentary on these 2 largely ignored books. He has carefully researched the commentaries on these books and has offered much that is original. Many consider this book to be the standard work on these 2 books. His treatment of the authorship of II Peter is questionable but original. He thinks the book is pseudonymous, but he also thinks its recipients would have known so, so he doesn't see it as dishonest. Thus he sees his position as compatible with seeing the letter as authoritative scripture. If he is right, why was there so much emphasis on seeing the letter as genuinely Peter's in order for it to enter the canon? Some of his historical reconstructions are affected by this, but on the whole his exegesis is top-notch.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Testament Window into First Century Jewish Literature, April 26, 2006

By	Orville B. Jenkins "Research Guy" (Arlington, Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A volume in the Word Biblical Commentary. A great value of this volume is the extensive backgrounds Bauckham provides. He refers to many other writings, as well as trends of the day, that provide insights into Jude and Peter's message. Both are somewhat ambiguous and cryptic, and chapter 2 of 2 Peter resembles the single chapter of Jude considerably.

Bauckham discusses the various Jewish apocalyptic writings that have been considered the sources of Jude's puzzling reference to the Archangel Michael arguing with Satan over the body of Moses at the time of his death. This fascinating story is referred to in several popular writings of the first century and later.

Bauckham settles on the Testament of Moses, known in an expanded, rewritten later form as the Assumption of Moses as the written source of this Jewish folk tale. This is one of a whole genre of popular stories developed in the Jewish community from Maccabean times into the Middle Ages, providing variations on Old Testaments events. Some attempt to fill in gaps or clarify anomalies in the Torah stories.

See two other collections of some of these oral stories, Legends of the Bible, by Louis Ginzberg and Hebrew Myths -- The Book of Genesis, by Robert Graves and Raphael Patai. Many of these stories were written down over the centuries in various Rabbinic collections, the Haggadah, and other popular Jewish writings.

Bauckham also accounts for the similarity between 2 Peter and Jude differently than most commentators. He proposes that Jude was written first, placing it much earlier than some commentators, with Peter referring to Jude in the general topic of apocalyptic judgement of the false teachers, borrowing many specific phrases.

One factor that makes me question this is the fact that Peter used the future tense in speaking of the presence of these antinomian teachers among the believers, while Jude speaks as if they are currently present. This seems to be a strong indication of 2 Peter's priority to Jude.

Bauckham provides excellent and extensive commentary on word meaning and usage in Jude. He determines that Jude has a very high, though colloquial style of Greek, and shows familiarity with much Hellenistic and Greek classical literature.

On the other hand, it appears that Jude quotes from Old Testament references in the Hebrew, rather than the Septuagint. Jude seems very familiar, likewise, with current Jewish literature, though he is obviously writing in Greek to a Greek-speaking audience.