"Barclay's study corrects the traditional oversight that would equate early Judaism with Palestinian Judaism. This highly readable introduction . . . brings together material that is otherwise available only in regional studies or highly technical works. Barclay strikes a rare balance between local conditions and broad issues, and between supporting detail and coherent argument. It is hard to imagine how the chronic need for a synthesis of the Mediterranean Diaspora might have been better satisfied."—Steve Mason, Pennsylvania State University "The book reflects the best of contemporary scholarship and is likely to become an indispensable source of information and reflection on the problems Jews encountered with living in a frequently hostile environment."—A. P. Hayman, Edinburgh University "This is a superb book which has lifted our discussion of Jews in the Diaspora to a new plane. Since understanding the Diaspora is vital to comprehending a good deal about early Christianity, Barclay has also made a significant contribution to this latter field of investigation."—Paul Trebilco, University of Otago

‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’ (Galatians 3.28) The revolutionary writings of St Paul have had an incalculable impact on Western history, and continue to influence directly the two billion Christians living today. Written by a world authority, this brief history begins by assessing what we know about Paul’s life and letters, and his impact on the Roman world of the first century. It concludes by highlighting the key elements of Paul’s thought and considering their consequences as they have played out over two millennia. ‘Packed with knowledge and insight, this brilliant little book offers a remarkably rich, nuanced, and readable introduction to the Apostle Paul and his legacy through the ages.’ David G. Horrell, Professor of New Testament Studies, University of Exeter.

Paul and the Gift transformed the landscape of Pauline studies upon its publication in 2015. In it, John Barclay led readers through a recontextualized analysis of grace and interrogated Paul’s original meaning in declaring it a “free gift” from God, revealing grace as a multifaceted concept that is socially radical and unconditioned—even if not unconditional. Paul and the Power of Grace offers all of the most significant contributions from Paul and the Gift in a package several hundred pages shorter and more accessible. Additionally, Barclay adds further analysis of the theme of gift and grace in Paul’s other letters—besides just Romans and Galatians—and explores contemporary implications for this new view of grace.

Concise yet comprehensive, manageable and affordable, T&T Clark Study Guides are an invaluable resource for students, preachers and Bible study leaders. Each book in the series gives the reader a thorough introduction to a particular book of the Bible or the Apocrypha and includes: • An introduction to the contents of the particular biblical book • A balanced survey of the important critical issues • Attention to literary, historical, sociological, and theological perspectives • Suggestions about critical appropriation of the text by the contemporary reader • Reference to other standard works through annotated bibliographies. All the books in the series, formerly published by Sheffield Academic Press, are by leading biblical scholars and the authors have drawn on their scholarly expertise as well as their experience as teachers of university and college students.

Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora was the first book to provide a comprehensive survey of the history of the Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora in the Hellenistic and early Roman period. Uniquely, it combines a study of all the important Jewish communities with a thorough examination of the Diaspora literature as a whole. Most studies of Jews in the period from Alexander to Trajan have concentrated almost exclusively on Jerusalem and Judea. John Barclay assembles and analyzes evidence about the Jewish communities in Egypt, Syria, Cyrenaica, Rome, and Asia. Barclay's ambitious goal is to describe, as precisely as the evidence allows, the varying levels of assimilation and antagonism between Jews and the non-Jewish communities in these areas for this 440-year period. For this new edition Barclay has written a new introduction to take account of the changes in the academic debate since the work was first published. This remains a crucial reference for all scholars and students with an interest in Second Temple Judaism, Hellenistic Judaism and early Christianity.

Seminal essays from a leading New Testament scholar For the past twenty years, John Barclay has researched and written on the social history of early Christianity and the life of Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora. In this collection of nineteen noteworthy essays, he examines points of comparison between the early churches and the Diaspora synagogues in the urban Roman world of the first century. With an eye to such matters as food, family, money, circumcision, Spirit, age, and death, Barclay examines key Pauline texts, the writings of Josephus, and other sources, investigating the construction of early Christian identity and comparing the experience of Paul's churches with that of Diaspora Jewish communities scattered throughout the Roman Empire.

Was Paul silent on the injustices of the Roman Empire? Or have his letters just been misread? The inclusion of anti-imperial rhetoric in Paul’s writings has come under scrutiny in recent years. Pressing questions about just how much Paul critiques Rome in his letters and how publicly critical he could have afforded to be have led to high-profile debates—most notably between N. T. Wright and John M. G. Barclay. Having entered the conversation in 2015 with his book Hidden Criticism?, Christoph Heilig contributes further insight and new research in The Apostle and the Empire, reevaluating the case for Paul hiding his criticism of Rome in the subtext of his letters. Heilig argues that scholars have previously overlooked passages that openly denounce the empire—for instance, the “triumphal procession” in 2 Corinthians, which Heilig discusses in detail by drawing on a variety of archaeological data. Furthermore, Heilig takes on larger issues of theory and methodology in biblical studies, raising significant questions about how interpreters can move beyond outdated methods of reading the New Testament toward more robust understandings of the ways ancient texts convey meaning. His groundbreaking work is a must-read for Pauline scholars and for anyone interested in how one of Christianity’s most important teachers communicated his unease with the global superpower of his day.