New International Commentary: The Gospel of Mark
PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS:
- Verse-by-verse commentary
- In-depth discussion of textual and critical matters
- Introductions to each book’s authorship, date, purpose, structure, and theology
- Detailed bibliography
DESCRIPTION
The Gospel of Mark is significant in many ways. Not only was it the first Gospel to be written and an important literary source for Matthew and Luke, but it is also best characterized as a witness document, a proclamation of salvation through Jesus Christ, which received its creative impulse from the early apostolic preaching. Mark bears witness to the word of revelation that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.
In this widely praised commentary by William L. Lane, Mark is revealed as a theologian whose primary intention was the strengthening of the people of God in a time of fiery persecution by Nero. Using redaction criticism as a hermeneutical approach for understanding the text and the intention of the evangelist, Lane considers the Gospel of Mark as a total literary work and describes Mark’s creative role in shaping the Gospel tradition and in exercising a conscious theological purpose. By taking care to indicate how the text was heard by Mark’s contemporaries while also placing the study of Mark within the frame of reference offered by modern Gospel research, Lane has constructed a thorough going work that is at once useful to scholars and highly intelligible to nonspecialists.
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New International Commentary: The Gospel of Matthew
PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS:
- Verse-by-verse commentary
- In-depth discussion of textual and critical matters
- Introductions to each book’s authorship, date, purpose, structure, and theology
- Detailed bibliography
DESCRIPTION
“It is a special pleasure to introduce R. T. (Dick) France’s commentary to the pastoral and scholarly community, who should find it a truly exceptional—and helpful—volume.” So says Gordon Fee in his preface to this work. France’s masterful commentary on Matthew focuses on exegesis of Matthew’s text as it stands rather than on the prehistory of the material or details of Synoptic comparison. The exegesis of each section is part of a planned literary whole supplemented, rather than controlled, by verse-by-verse commentary, allowing the text as a complete story to come into brilliant focus.
Rather than being a “commentary on commentaries,” The Gospel of Matthew is concerned throughout with what Matthew himself meant to convey about Jesus and how he set about doing so within the cultural and historical context of first-century Palestine. France frequently draws attention to the distinctive nature of the province of Galilee and the social dynamics involved when a Galilean prophet presents himself in Jerusalem as the Messiah.
The English translation at the beginning of each section is France’s own, designed to provide the basis for the commentary. This adept translation uses contemporary idioms and, where necessary, gives priority to clarity over literary elegance.
Amid the wide array of Matthew commentaries available today, France’s world-class stature, his clear focus on Matthew and Jesus, his careful methodology, and his user-friendly style promise to make this volume an enduring standard for years to come.
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New International Commentary: The Gospel of Luke
PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS:
DESCRIPTION
This highly original commentary on the Gospel of Luke is unique for the way it combines concerns with first-century culture in the Roman world with understanding the text of Luke as a wholistic, historical narrative. Focusing primarily on how each episode functions within Luke’s narrative development, Joel B. Green provides countless fresh perspectives on and new insights into the Third Gospel. His extended examination of Luke’s literary art and Luke’s narrative theology allows the Evangelist to address clearly and convincingly both ancient and contemporary readers.
Insisting on the narrative unity of Luke–Acts, Green highlights in this volume the centrality of God’s purpose to bring salvation to all people. Against the backdrop of the conflicted first-century world of the Mediterranean, Green proposes that the purpose of Luke–Acts would have been to strengthen the early Christians in the face of opposition by assuring them in their interpretation and experience of the redemptive purpose and faithfulness of God and by calling them to continued faithfulness and witness in God’s salvific project.
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