Revised thesis (doctoral) - Universitèat, Tèubingen, 2010.

The publication of the King James version of the Bible, translated between 1603 and 1611, coincided with an extraordinary flowering of English literature and is universally acknowledged as the greatest influence on English-language literature in history. Now, world-class literary writers introduce the book of the King James Bible in a series of beautifully designed, small-format volumes. The introducers' passionate, provocative, and personal engagements with the spirituality and the language of the text make the Bible come alive as a stunning work of literature and remind us of its overwhelming contemporary relevance.

Introduction. The authorship of the Gospel ; The Gospel's sources ; How the author handled his sources ; From eyewitnesses to Matthew's sources ; The date of the Gospel of Matthew ; The provenance of the Gospel of Matthew ; What kind of document did Matthew think he was writing? ; The state of the Gospel text ; Elements of Matthew's narrative technique ; Matthew's use of the OT ; Matthew's use of other Jewish tradition -- Commentary. The stock from which Jesus comes, and its history (1:1-17) ; Infancy (1:18-2:23) ; John proclaiming in the wilderness (3:1-12) ; Preparation (3:13-4:12) ; Establishing his ministry (4:13-25) ; Sermon on the Mount (5:1-8:1) ; Jesus on the move in ministry (8:[1]2-9:34) ; Workers for the harvest (9:35-11:1) ; Seeing clearly and relating rightly to God's present agenda (11:2-30) ; Conflict with the Pharisees (12:1-50) ; Parables of the kingdom (13:1-53) ; Jesus interpreted, but also rejected (13:53[54]-16:20) ; Anticipating a future through suffering and beyond (16:1-17:20) ; Status and behaviour in the 'royal family' (17:22-18:35) -- Family and possessions in view of the kingdom (19:1-20:16) ; Redefining greatness, Jesus goes to Jerusalem to die : Jericho, Bethphage, entry into Jerusalem (20:17-21:11) ; Provocative ministry in Jerusalem (21:12-46) ; Jesus silences the leaders who are his opponents (22:1-46) ; Jesus criticises the scribes and Pharisees (23:1-39) ; The shape of the future (24:1-25:46) ; The Passion account (26:1-27:66) ; Resurrection and commissioning (28:1-20).

Winner of the 2009 Christianity Today Award for Biblical Studies, Stories with Intent offers pastors and students a comprehensive and accessible guide to Jesus' parables. Klyne Snodgrass explores in vivid detail the historical context in which these stories were told, the part they played in Jesus' overall message, and the ways in which they have been interpreted in the church and the academy. Snodgrass begins by surveying the primary issues in parables interpretation and providing an overview of other parables—often neglected in the discussion—from the Old Testament, Jewish writings, and the Greco-Roman world. He then groups the more important parables of Jesus thematically and offers a comprehensive treatment of each, exploring both background and significance for today. This tenth anniversary edition includes a substantial new chapter that surveys developments in the interpretation of parables since the book's original 2008 publication.

The Matthean Parables offers a fresh approach to the origin of Matthew's Gospel. It builds on current historical, literary, rhetorical and sociological studies of Matthew's Gospel to show how the Matthean parables illuminate the structure, purpose and theology of that gospel. The first part of the book establishes the need for a new attempt to define the genre of Matthew's Gospel, examines what is meant by a parable, and summarises the contribution made by the parables to that new attempt. The second part is a thorough exegetical, historical critical and literary study of all the Matthean parables in the context of the whole gospel and in the light of all the Matthean figurative material. An appendix illustrates the use of syntactical material in defining the character and style of a biblical text.

"Parable research has to a large degree ignored the Sermon on the Mount (SM) and for its part, research into the SM has likewise left the parables by the wayside. However, the use of parabolic language in more than one third of the SM influences its interpretation and indeed opens up a new approach to it. In the current volume, Ernst Baasland focuses on this important factor, whilst also taking the rhetoric of Jesus' teaching into consideration. The author maintains that rhetorical features have a great bearing on the interpretation of the text with the overall structure illuminating the entire composition of the sermon. Fresh insights into its oration therefore serve to challenge the source problem in a new way. The religious and philosophical settings of this most well-known of Christ's preachings are clarified by its parables and rhetoric; and the sermon's Jewish background has often been investigated. While the author continues with that particular task, he simultaneously affords more emphasis to the parallels in (Greek) Hellenistic literature. The combining of all these factors leads to a clearer comprehension of the Sermon on the Mount's philosophy of life and provides a better understanding of this classical text"--

Contrary to the prevailing view that βασιλεία is a verbal noun signifying God’s rule, this study demonstrates how the term’s pragmatic range in Matthew’s Gospel covers both five distinct types of use and their integration into a coherent concept. The study, which is the first to examine all occurrences of βασιλεία in the First Gospel from the perspective of semantic monosemy, extends and enhances our appreciation of the Matthean Zentralbegriff, and engenders a more accurate apprehension of the nature and aims of the Matthean narrative and the theological views it conveys.

Since the late nineteenth century, New Testament scholars have operated on the belief that most, if not all, of the narrative parables in the Synoptic Gospels can be attributed to the historical Jesus. This book challenges that consensus and argues instead that only four parables—those of the Mustard Seed, the Evil Tenants, the Talents, and the Great Supper—can be attributed to the historical Jesus with fair certitude. In this eagerly anticipated fifth volume of A Marginal Jew, John Meier approaches this controversial subject with the same rigor and insight that garnered his earlier volumes praise from such publications as the New York Times and Christianity Today. This seminal volume pushes forward his masterful body of work in his ongoing quest for the historical Jesus.

What was the original purpose of the Gospel of Matthew? For whom was it written? In this magisterial two-volume commentary, Walter Wilson interprets Matthew as a catechetical work that expresses the ideological and institutional concerns of a faction of disaffected Jewish followers of Jesus in the late first century CE. Wilson’s compelling thesis frames Matthew’s Gospel as not only a continuation of the biblical story but also as a didactic narrative intended to shape the commitments and identity of a particular group that saw itself as a beleaguered, dissident minority. Thus, the text clarifies Jesus’s essential Jewish character as the “Son of David” while also portraying him in opposition to prominent religious leaders of his day—most notably the Pharisees—and open to cordial association with non-Jews. Through meticulous engagement with the Greek text of the Gospel, as well as relevant primary sources and secondary literature, Wilson offers a wealth of insight into the first book of the New Testament. After an introduction exploring the background of the text, its genre and literary features, and its theological orientation, Wilson explicates each passage of the Gospel with thorough commentary on the intended message to first-century readers about topics like morality, liturgy, mission, group discipline, and eschatology. Scholars, students, pastors, and all readers interested in what makes the Gospel of Matthew distinctive among the Synoptics will appreciate and benefit from Wilson’s deep contextualization of the text, informed by his years of studying the New Testament and Christian origins.

An examination of all the relevant passages containing the term "Son of Man" in both Matthew and the Parables of Enoch.