Collection of texts partly published previously, all rev. and updated.

A world-class scholar argues that early Christian memory of Peter underscores his central role as a bridge-building figure holding together the diversity of first-century Christianity.

Seekers after Jesus today feel akin to those who first wondered about him. But the answers to Jesus' question 'Who do people say that I am?' seems less familiar. Prophet, teacher, and Elijah have been traded in for new Cynic philosopher, charismatic rabbi, failed revolutionary and emissary of Sophia. 'This Jesus' points to a Jesus of history who makes sense within the world of Palestinian Judaism.

Based on the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Cambridge, 1987.

Since its appearance nearly 35 years ago, Black's New Testament Commentary Series has been hailed by both scholars and pastors for its insightful interpretations and reliable commentary. Each book in the series includes: an insightful introduction to the important historical, literary, and theological issues; key terms and phrases from the translation highlighted in the commentary where they are discussed; explanations of special Greek or foreign terms; references to important primary and secondary literature; and a Scripture index.Designed to make the latest scholarship on Philippians accessible to a broader readership, this new commentary brings to life both the letter's historical setting and its vigorously theological purpose. A number of important recent studies of the social and religious context of first-century Philippi are here considered for the first time in a commentary, and the author offers a critical engagement with several of the newer approaches to Pauline interpretation, including questions of rhetoric and social convention. Theological highlights include the themes of Christian joy in all circumstances, the Philippians' active 'stake-holding' partnership in the gospel, and above all the pervasive passion for a union with Christ in following his self-humbling example of service. Giving due attention both to the theological heritage of St. Paul's Jewish background and to the Greco-Roman social and religious setting of his readership, this commentary relates a well-grounded understanding of the letter's first-century impact to the wider concerns of Christian theology.

A comprehensive historical survey of patristic exegesis.Simonetti examines the changing understanding of the word of God in the early Church, and describes the individual authors and "schools" which were active in this development.First there is a study of the role of Scripture in the infant Church. Simonetti describes the use of Scripture in orthodox circles, drawing comparisons from the Gnostic world. There follows an examination of Eastern exegesis in the 4th and 5th centuries (Eusebius, the Antiochian School, the Cappadocians, and later developments in Alexandria), and an examination of Western exegesis in the same period (including detailed discussions of Jerome and Augustine). Simonetti concludes with a study of developments in the Eastern and Western Church in the later 5th and 6th centuries.A final section provides a theological perspective through a study of the theological interpretation of Scripture in the patristic era.

The inscriptions dealt with in this book come from the Old Testament period (c. 1000 BC to c. 200 BCE) and constitute an important additional source for our knowledge of the Hebrew language and the religion, history and customs of ancient Israel. The corpus includes texts like the Lachish and Arad letters, the Siloam tunnel inscription, the recently discovered religious texts from Kuntillet Ajerud, and the hundreds of seals, seal-impressions and weights that are now known. Each text is given a unique reference number according to a specially devised system, with an indication of its date and place of origin (where these are known) and one or more bibliographical references. It covers all complete words in the texts (including prepositions and names of persons and places), and also the Egyptian hieratic numerals and other symbols that were used in them.

The inscriptions dealt with in this book come from the Old Testament period (c. 1000 BCE to c. 200 BCE) and constitute an important additional source for our knowledge of the Hebrew language and the religion, history and customs of ancient Israel. The corpus includes texts such as the Lachish and Arad letters, the Siloam tunnel inscription, the recently discovered religious texts from Kuntillet Ajerud, and the hundreds of seals, seal impressions and weights that are now known. No such comprehensive edition has been published for over fifty years and the concordance is the first to be produced for this body of texts. It covers all complete words in the texts (including prepositions and names of persons and places), and also the Egyptian hieratic numerals and other symbols that were used in them.