Bengel's work on the New Testament is a valuable resource for modern students of the Scriptures. In 1734, he published a carefully prepared Greek text of the New Testament with an "Apparatus criticus," which formed the point of departure for modern New Testament textual criticism. His famous canon was: "The more difficult reading is to be preferred." This critical work was followed by an exegetical one, Gnomon Novi Testamenti (Tubingen, 1742). As a brief and suggestive commentary on the New Testament, the Gnomon is still of considerable use today. Bengel's chief principle of interpretation, briefly stated, is to read nothing into the Scriptures, but to draw everything from them, and suffer nothing to remain hidden that is really in them. His Gnomon exerted considerable influence on exegesis in Germany, and John Wesley translated most of its notes and incorporated them into his Annotatory Notes upon the New Testament (London, 1755). A. Hauck, Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. This volume is 5 of a 5 volume set. Each volume is sold separately.
Bengel's work on the New Testament is a valuable resource for modern students of the Scriptures. In 1734, he published a carefully prepared Greek text of the New Testament with an "Apparatus criticus," which formed the point of departure for modern New Testament textual criticism. His famous canon was: "The more difficult reading is to be preferred." This critical work was followed by an exegetical one, Gnomon Novi Testamenti (Tubingen, 1742). As a brief and suggestive commentary on the New Testament, the Gnomon is still of considerable use today. Bengel's chief principle of interpretation, briefly stated, is to read nothing into the Scriptures, but to draw everything from them, and suffer nothing to remain hidden that is really in them. His Gnomon exerted considerable influence on exegesis in Germany, and John Wesley translated most of its notes and incorporated them into his Annotatory Notes upon the New Testament (London, 1755). A. Hauck, Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. This volume is 1 of a 5 volume set. Each volume is sold separately.
“To understand the immediate cultural and societal background of the cities to which John wrote in Revelation 1 and 2, we must first understand the broader background of Roman civilization and its impact upon Asian province,” writes Roland H. Worth in the introduction to this fascinating, information-packed work. It is an in-depth study of the history, culture, society, economics, and environment of early Christians living in Roman Asia. Drawing on a multitude of resources from diverse disciplines, Worth surveys Roman life and attitudes in general, and demonstrates how Roman power developed and was exercised in Asia. He describes life in Roman Asia: what it was like to live in that province, how the imperial cult grew and prospered there, as well as the nature of official governmental persecution in the first century. A second book, The Seven Cities of the Apocalypse and Greco-Asian Culture, will fill in the details of the local background of the Christians for whom the “mini-epistles” in the book of Revelation were written.
The second volume in Travis B. Williams' and David G. Horrell's magisterial ICC commentary on first Peter. Williams and Horrell bring together all the relevant aids to exegesis - linguistic, textual, archaeological, historical, literary, and theological - to help the reader understand the letter. This second covers the major part of the letter, providing commentary on 2.11 to the end of the letter. The exegesis provides for each passage sections on bibliography, text-criticism, literary introduction, detailed exegesis, and overall summary. The volume concludes with a comprehensive bibliography, which covers the whole epistle.
Here John advises us that loving one another is not an option or a suggestion, it is a commandment. John doesn’t want any believer to become like Adam and Eve’s firstborn, Cain. That happened because Cain was under the influence of Satan. This is, therefore, a warning not to mess with the world. So, what if they hate us? We are bound for everlasting life in the presence of God. That’s why death has no power over us. And that’s why, if our thoughts do not tell us that we are guilty, we will not be afraid to come to God. We can pray to God and we can ask Him to help us. He will give us what we ask Him for. That is because we obey His commands and we do the things that please Him. Furthermore, we should all love each other because God makes us able to love other people. Everyone who loves other people confirms our claim to be a child of God. If anyone says clearly that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in that person. And that person lives together with God. We know the kind of love that God has for us. That’s why if we love God, we will not be afraid of Him. So, how do we know that we love God’s children? We know it when we love God and we do what He tells us to do.
The companion to The Seven Cities of the Apocalypse and Roman Culture, this study explores the social world in which early Christians functioned in Asia, providing a comprehensive picture of life in this eastern province of the Roman Empire and focusing on how the local environment affects the interpretation of the book of Revelation. The history, population, local culture, economies, and cults of each city are examined in detail. Including data from hundreds of sources, this volume should prove useful to students of both the Bible and Roman history, as it bridges the gap between the two specialties and provides many details that enable the reader to imagine what life would really have been like in those ancient cities. As such, this study provides a valuable supplement to the broader question of Rome’s general impact upon the region traced in the Roman Culture volume. Although there are many works on the subject, this is the only place where all the information is pulled together. It is a useful resource for Scripture scholars, nonprofessionals with an interest in Bible study, professors and students of Scripture, and historians specializing in the first century CE.
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. Overview of Commentary Organization Introduction—covers issues pertaining to the whole book, including context, date, authorship, composition, interpretive issues, purpose, and theology. Each section of the commentary includes: Pericope Bibliography—a helpful resource containing the most important works that pertain to each particular pericope. Translation—the author’s own translation of the biblical text, reflecting the end result of exegesis and attending to Hebrew and Greek idiomatic usage of words, phrases, and tenses, yet in reasonably good English. Notes—the author’s notes to the translation that address any textual variants, grammatical forms, syntactical constructions, basic meanings of words, and problems of translation. Form/Structure/Setting—a discussion of redaction, genre, sources, and tradition as they concern the origin of the pericope, its canonical form, and its relation to the biblical and extra-biblical contexts in order to illuminate the structure and character of the pericope. Rhetorical or compositional features important to understanding the passage are also introduced here. Comment—verse-by-verse interpretation of the text and dialogue with other interpreters, engaging with current opinion and scholarly research. Explanation—brings together all the results of the discussion in previous sections to expose the meaning and intention of the text at several levels: (1) within the context of the book itself; (2) its meaning in the OT or NT; (3) its place in the entire canon; (4) theological relevance to broader OT or NT issues. General Bibliography—occurring at the end of each volume, this extensive bibliographycontains all sources used anywhere in the commentary.
The Revelation to John by Stephen Smalley is a magisterial interpretation of John's Apocalypse as a grand drama, which can only be properly understood in light of John's Gospel and letters and in the context of the Johannine community. As such, it offers the reader a significantly different approach to this enigmatic text than that offered by most contemporary commentaries. Working directly from the Greek text, Smalley offers a masterful analysis of the critical and literary dimensions of the Apocalypse for students and scholars alike. Contents include an in-depth, critical analysis of the Greek text of Revelation a wealth of scholarly interaction with other commentaries and interpretations of Revelation a canonical assessment of Revelation in light of other Johannine texts a historical understanding of Revelation in the context of the Johannine community an interpretation of Revelation as cosmic drama Here is a fresh contribution to the scholarly study of this captivating but often perplexing book of the Bible. Smalley demonstrates that the Apocalypse speaks directly to any situation in any age and offers a portrait of God's loving justice that is relevant to our own society.
Most interpreters of 1, 2, 3 John believe that the author's opponents (called "antichrists", "deceivers", and "false prophets") advocated gnostic or progressive doctrines that denied or downplayed the humanity of Jesus Christ and the importance of ethical behaviour, and eventually split the Johannine community. Against this consensus, Streett argues that the opponents are former Jewish-Christians who have left the community to return to the synagogue after renouncing their belief that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah.
