Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies: A Guide to the Background Literature - Paperback

by Craig A. Evans (Author)

One of the daunting challenges facing the New Testament interpreter is achieving familiarity with the immense corpus of related literatures. Scholars and students alike must have a fundamental understanding of the content, provenance, and utility for New Testament interpretation of a wide range of pagan, Jewish, and diversely Christian documents.

Ancient Texts for the Study of the New Testament provides descriptions of all ancient literature that is relevant for serious study of the New Testament writings. Readers can quickly survey the literature clustered under various headings (such as the Apocrypha, Dead Sea Scrolls, or early Rabbinic literature), easily access brief definitions and descriptions, and then consider examples of how the literature sheds light on the background and interpretation of specific passages in the New Testament. There are several helpful appendices, including one that lists, beginning with Matthew and ending with Revelation, potentially significant parallels between New Testament passages and the ancient writings treated in the book.

This thoroughly revised and significantly expanded edition of Noncanonical Writings and New Testament Interpretation examines a vast range of ancient literature, masterfully distilling details of date, language, text, and translation into an eminently usable handbook. Craig Evans evaluates the materials' relevance for interpreting the New Testament and provides essential biographies. Although the book is written at an introductory level, its comprehensive scope makes it useful even for the seasoned scholar.

Back Jacket

Evans's introduction is more than a map to terra incognita; it is a helpful companion for all who study Judaism and Christianity before the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire.
--James H. Charlesworth, George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, Princeton Theological Seminary

"As someone who has worked in a great number of fields cognate to New Testament studies, Craig Evans is eminently qualified to produce a guide to these various adjacent areas. . . . [He] has clearly done an excellent job of covering a vast amount of material. Each work or corpus is introduced succinctly and clearly and is accompanied by bibliographies of editions, translations, and well-chosen secondary literature. . . . This very comprehensive and clearly written book . . . will be extremely useful to a large number of students and scholars."
--Simon Gathercole, Journal of Theological Studies

"Many doctoral students would have loved to have this reference work on their desks during graduate studies. All of the standard exegetical questions (date, provenance, author, historical situation) are answered in a few enlightened sentences. . . . Evans's book is a success, providing vast amounts of information in a minuscule space with extensive leads for further study. His choice of bibliography to continue research is lean and pointed. The very scope of his introduction to Israelite and rabbinic literature make[s] this book worthy of a place on any shelf."
--Jerome H. Neyrey, Review of Biblical Literature

"This volume encompasses an amazing amount of material, and successfully orients readers to the texts under consideration. It is a major revision and expansion of the author's earlier volume Noncanonical Writings and New Testament Interpretation. . . . Even for those that possess the earlier edition this revised form is worth purchasing for the up-to-date bibliographical references, yet it also provides a more comprehensive coverage of texts. This is an important reference work that should become a standard volume in libraries and on the shelves of scholars and students alike."
--Paul Foster, Expository Times

Author Biography

Craig A. Evans (PhD, Claremont Graduate University) isJohn Bisagno Distinguished Professor of Christian Origins at Houston Baptist University in Houston, Texas. He is a frequent contributor to scholarly journals and the author or editor of numerous publications.