The Jewish Annotated New Testament

Edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler

New to this Edition:

New section introductions to the Gospels and Acts, and to the Epistles and Revelation
Four New Testament books with completely new annotations
25 new essays beyond those revised from the first edition
All first edition annotations and essays fully revised

Introductions to each New Testament book, containing guidance for reading and specific information about how the book relates to the Judaism of the period, have been revised and augmented, and in some cases newly written.
Annotations on the text - some revised, some new to this edition - provide verse-by-verse commentary.
The thirty essays from the first edition are thoroughly updated, and there are twenty-four new essays, on topics such as "Mary in Jewish Tradition," "Christology," and "Messianic Judaism."
For Christian readers The Jewish Annotated New Testament offers a window into the first-century world of Judaism from which the New Testament springs. There are explanations of Jewish concepts such as food laws and rabbinic argumentation. It also provides a much-needed corrective to many centuries of Christian misunderstandings of the Jewish religion.
For Jewish readers, this volume provides the chance to encounter the New Testament - a text of vast importance in Western European and American culture - with no religious agenda and with guidance from Jewish experts in theology, history, and Jewish and Christian thought. It also explains Christian practices, such as the Eucharist.

Thoroughly revised and greatly expanded

The Jewish Annotated New Testament

Second Edition

Edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler

Description

First published in 2011, The Jewish Annotated New Testament was a groundbreaking work, bringing the New Testament's Jewish background to the attention of students, clergy, and general readers. In this new edition, eighty Jewish scholars bring together unparalleled scholarship to shed new light on the text. This thoroughly revised and greatly expanded second edition brings even more helpful information and new insights to the study of the New Testament.

· Introductions to each New Testament book, containing guidance for reading and specific information about how the book relates to the Judaism of the period, have been revised and augmented, and in some cases newly written.

· Annotations on the text--some revised, some new to this edition--provide verse-by-verse commentary.

· The thirty essays from the first edition are thoroughly updated, and there are twenty-four new essays, on topics such as "Mary in Jewish Tradition," "Christology," and "Messianic Judaism."

· For Christian readers The Jewish Annotated New Testament offers a window into the first-century world of Judaism from which the New Testament springs. There are explanations of Jewish concepts such as food laws and rabbinic argumentation. It also provides a much-needed corrective to many centuries of Christian misunderstandings of the Jewish religion.

· For Jewish readers, this volume provides the chance to encounter the New Testament--a text of vast importance in Western European and American culture--with no religious agenda and with guidance from Jewish experts in theology, history, and Jewish and Christian thought. It also explains Christian practices, such as the Eucharist.

The Jewish Annotated New Testament, Second Edition is an essential volume that places the New Testament writings in a context that will enlighten readers of any faith or none.

Thoroughly revised and greatly expanded

The Jewish Annotated New Testament

Second Edition

Edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler

The New Testament

Gospels and Acts - Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler

The Gospel According to Matthew - Introduction and Annotations by Aaron M. Gale
The Gospel According to Mark - Introduction and Annotations by Lawrence M. Wills
The Gospel According to Luke - Introduction and Annotations by Amy-Jill Levine
The Gospel According to John - Introduction and Annotations by Adele Reinhartz
The Acts of the Apostles - Introduction and Annotations by Gary Gilbert

Epistles and Revelation - Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler

The Letter of Paul to the Romans - Introduction and Annotations by Mark D. Nanos
The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians - Introduction and Annotations by Shira Lander
The Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians - Introduction and Annotations by Alan J. Avery-Peck
The Letter of Paul to the Galatians - Introduction and Annotations by Shaye J.D. Cohen
The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians - Introduction and Annotations by David Kraemer
The Letter of Paul to the Philippians - Introduction and Annotations by Michael Cook
The Letter of Paul to the Colossians - Introduction and Annotations by Peter Zaas
The First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians - Introduction and Annotations by David Fox Sandmel
The Second Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians - Introduction and Annotations by Adam Gregerman
The First Letter of Paul to Timothy - Introduction and Annotations by Naomi Koltun-Fromm
The Second Letter of Paul to Timothy - Introduction and Annotations by Alejandro F. Botta
The Letter of Paul to Titus - Introduction and Annotations by Jennifer L. Koosed
The Letter of Paul to Philemon - Introduction and Annotations by Barbara Geller
The Letter to the Hebrews - Introduction and Annotations by Pamela Eisenbaum
The Letter of James - Introduction and Annotations by Herbert Basser
The First Letter of Peter - Introduction and Annotations by Marcie Lenk
The Second Letter of Peter - Introduction and Annotations by Gila Vachman
The First Letter of John - Introduction and Annotations by Michele Murray
The Second Letter of John - Introduction and Annotations by Julie Galambush
The Third Letter of John - Introduction and Annotations by Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus
The Letter of Jude - Introduction and Annotations by Andrew S. Jacobs
The Revelation to John - Introduction and Annotations by David Frankfurter

The Essays

Introduction to the Essays - Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler

History
The Greco-Roman Background of the New Testament - Erich S. Gruen
Jewish History, 331 BCE-135 CE - Martin Goodman
Revolts against Rome -- Eric M. Orlin

Society
Judaism and Jewishness - Shaye J. D. Cohen
Ioudaios -- Joshua D. Garroway
Archaeology of the Land of Israel at the Time of Jesus - Jodi Magness
The Sanhedrin - David Goodblatt
Jewish Family Life in the First Century CE - Ross S. Kraemer
Marriage and Divorce - Michael L. Satlow
Gender - Tal Ilan

Movements
Jewish Movements of the New Testament Period - Daniel R. Schwartz
Pharisees - Lawrence H. Schiffman
Messianic Movements - David B. Levenson
The Historical Jesus - Sarah J. Tanzer
Paul and Judaism - Paula Fredriksen
Judaizers, Jewish Christians, and Others - Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert

Jews and Gentiles
Jewish Views of Gentiles - Meir Ben Shahar
The Concept of Neighbor in Jewish and Christian Ethics - Michael Fagenblat
Food and Table Fellowship - David M. Freidenreich
Birkat ha-Minim: A Jewish Curse of Christians? - Ruth Langer

Religious Practice
The Law - Jonathan Klawans
Sacrifice and the Temple - Naphtali Meshel
The Synagogue - Lee I. Levine
Prayer - Avigdor Shinan
Time, Calendars, and Festivals - Sacha Stern
Circumcision - Lawrence Hoffman
Baptism and Eucharist - Isaac W. Oliver
The Burial of Jesus: Between Texts and Archaeology - Steven Fine

Religious Belief
Jewish Miracle Workers and Magic in the Late Second Temple Period - Geza Vermes & Gideon Bohak
Supernatural Beings - Rebecca Lesses
Logos, A Jewish Word: John's Prologue as Midrash - Daniel Boyarin
Afterlife and Resurrection - Martha Himmelfarb

Literature
The Canon of the New Testament - Michael R. Greenwald
The Language of the New Testament and the Translation of the Bible - Naomi Seidman
The Septuagint - Leonard Greenspoon
Midrash and Parables - David Stern
The Dead Sea Scrolls - Menahem Kister
Philo of Alexandria - David Satran
Josephus - Jack Pastor
The New Testament between the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and Rabbinic Literature - Marc Zvi Brettler
A Jewish Reflection on Christian Claims - Jacob Neusner
Scripture Fulfillment - Ruth Sheridan

Responses to the New Testament
Jewish Responses to Believers in Jesus - Claudia Setzer
Jesus in Rabbinic Tradition - Burton L. Visotzky
Jesus in Medieval Jewish Tradition - Martin Lockshin
Jesus in Modern Jewish Thought - Susannah Heschel
Paul in Jewish Thought - Daniel R. Langton
Mary in Jewish Tradition - Daniel J. Lasker
Jesus and the New Testament in Modern Yiddish and Hebrew Culture - Matthew Hoffman
The New Testament in the Jewish Arts - Marc Michael Epstein
Christology - Randi Rashkover
Messianic Judaism - Yaakov Ariel
Bearing False Witness: Common Errors Made about Early Judaism - Amy-Jill Levine
The New Testament and Jewish-Christian Relations - Ed Kessler

Thoroughly revised and greatly expanded

The Jewish Annotated New Testament

Second Edition

Edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler

Author Information

Amy-Jill Levine is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies, and Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School and College of Arts and Sciences.

Marc Zvi Brettler is Bernice and Morton Lerner Professor in Judaic Studies at Duke University.

Contributors:

Editors and Contributors

Yaakov Ariel - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Alan J. Avery-Peck - College of the Holy Cross
Herbert Basser - Queen's University
Meir Ben Shahar - Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Gideon Bohak- Tel Aviv University
Alejandro F. Botta - Boston University
Daniel Boyarin -University of California-Berkeley
Marc Zvi Brettler, Duke University
Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus - Wheaton College (Massachusetts)
Shaye J.D. Cohen - Harvard University
Michael Cook - Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Pamela Eisenbaum - Iliff School of Theology
Marc Michael Epstein - Vassar College
Michael Fagenblat - Monash University
Steven Fine - Yeshiva University
Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert - Stanford University
David Frankfurter - Boston University
Paula Fredriksen - Hebrew University of Jerusalem
David M. Freidenreich - Colby College
Julie Galambush - College of William and Mary
Aaron M. Gale - West Virginia University
Joshua D. Garroway - Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Barbara Geller - Wellesley College
Gary Gilbert - Claremont McKenna College
David Goodblatt - University of California-San Diego
Martin Goodman - University of Oxford
Leonard Greenspoon - Creighton University
Michael R. Greenwald - Saint Lawrence University
Adam Gregerman - Saint Joseph's University (Philadelphia, PA)
Erich S. Gruen - University of California-Berkeley
Susannah Heschel - Dartmouth College
Martha Himmelfarb - Princeton University
Lawrence Hoffman - Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Matthew Hoffman - Franklin & Marshall College
Tal Ilan - Freie Universität Berlin
Andrew S. Jacobs - Scripps College
Ed Kessler - University of Cambridge
Menahem Kister - Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Jonathan Klawans - Boston University
Naomi Koltun-Fromm - Haverford College
Jennifer L. Koosed - Albright College
David Kraemer - Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Ross S. Kraemer - Brown University
Shira Lander - Southern Methodist University
Ruth Langer - Boston College
Daniel R. Langton - University of Manchester
Daniel J. Lasker - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Marcie Lenk - Shalom Hartman Institute
Rebecca Lesses - Ithaca College
David B. Levenson - Florida State University
Amy-Jill Levine - Vanderbilt University
Lee I. Levine - Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Martin Lockshin - York University
Jodi Magness - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Naphtali Meshel - Princeton University
Michele Murray - Bishop's University
Mark D. Nanos - University of Kansas - Lawrence
Jacob Neusner (z''l) - Bard College
Isaac W. Oliver - Bradley University
Eric M. Orlin - University of Puget Sound
Jack Pastor - Oranim College
Randi Rashkover - George Mason University
Adele Reinhartz - Université d'Ottawa - University of Ottawa
David Fox Sandmel - Anti-Defamation League
Michael L. Satlow - Brown University
David Satran - Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Lawrence H. Schiffman - New York University
Daniel R. Schwartz - Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Naomi Seidman - Graduate Theological Union
Claudia Setzer - Manhattan College
Ruth Sheridan - Independent Scholar
Avigdor Shinan - Hebrew University of Jerusalem
David Stern - University of Pennsylvania
Sacha Stern - University College London
Sarah J. Tanzer - McCormick Theological Seminary
Gila Vachman - Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Geza Vermes (z''l) - University of Oxford
Burton L. Visotzky - Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Lawrence M. Wills - Episcopal Divinity School
Peter Zaas - Siena College

Thoroughly revised and greatly expanded

The Jewish Annotated New Testament

Second Edition

Edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler

Reviews and Awards

"This annotated version of their New Testament forces Christian readers to rethink some of their perceptions about New Testament texts, together with their presuppositions and prejudices. All those who teach the New Testament and who preach from its pages would do well to ponder Amy-Jill Levine's survey, Bearing False Witness: Common Errors Made about Early Judaism." -- Christoph Stenschke, Neotestamentica

"Any reader who wishes to study the text of the New Testament from a scholarly perspective will find plenty of engaging, illuminating readings guaranteed to make it worth their while Highly recommended."--Jenny Webb, Association for Mormon Letters

Praise for the first edition: "A magnificent achievement... The Jewish Annotated New Testament is a marvelously bounteous compilation." -- Commonweal

"An admirable piece of scholarship... Much contemporary writing on Scripture is faddish or tendentious. This book is a disciplined work of clarification and illumination." -- Marilynne Robinson, Wall Street Journal

"To see the fruits of the ongoing interchange between Jewish and Christian biblical scholars, one need look no further than this volume...this volume shows how the deepening knowledge of late antique Judaism enriches one's view of the New Testament."--CHOICE

"A vivid and thick description of issues, practices, ideas, and events of the Second Temple period, with the Gospels in particular looking more and more like extensions of Jewish life and textuality. The result is a bridge of connection between the cultures, almost to the point of losing sight of the chasms of (mis)understanding that have divided them for centuries." --Common Knowledge

"This unique groundbreaking reference book fills a needed void...A must purchase for any school, synagogue, or university library."--Association of Jewish Libraries

"This new commentary on the New Testament certainly adds an important voice to modern NT commentary and is essential reading not only for biblical scholars but seminarians and preachers."--Catholic Books Review

"A monument to past achievements in New Testament scholarship and a beacon for future study...The Annotated Jewish New Testament should be either a primary text or required accompanying work in every seminary and upper-division course in New Testament and should leave its mark on all preaching."--America

"This comprehensive volume provides a more critical and in-depth look at the Jewish context of the NT for both scholars and laypeople."--Religious Studies Review

"The Jewish Annotated New Testament makes a wonderful contribution to Jewish appreciation of the New Testament, on the one hand, and Christian appreciation of the Jewish dimension of New Testament literature, Jesus, and his disciples, on the other...We owe [the editors and their many contributors] our thanks for putting together such a useful and positive contribution to New Testament interpretation and to much better, more accurate, and fairer Jewish and Christian understanding. I recommend this book enthusiastically and without reservation."--Craig A. Evans, Journal of the Jesus Movement in its Jewish Setting

"An historic volume of extraordinary scholarship that can transform Christian-Jewish relations. . . . A must-read for both clergy and laity. . . . A significant achievement."--Rabbi A. James Rudin, Senior Interreligious Advisor, The American Jewish Committee

"This exciting collection by leading Jewish scholars not only annotates the New Testament but also brings out its themes, context, and interpretation over the centuries. Essential for libraries of scholars in Christian-Jewish studies, academic institutions offering degrees in theology, and dialogue groups at all levels."--Dr. Eugene J. Fisher, Distinguished Professor of Catholic-Jewish Studies, Saint Leo University; Former Associate Director, Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

"One volume must find its way to seminarians, preachers, and other students of Scripture: The Jewish Annotated New Testament. With insightful essays and page-by-page notes and sidebars on each book, this volume fills a huge gap in the world of biblical interpretation, providing an accessible guide to how this most Jewish document from antiquity is understood by Jewish scholars today."--The Rev. William Brosend, School of Theology, Sewanee, TN and Executive Director, Episcopal Preaching Foundation