The renowned biblical scholar, author of The Misunderstood Jew, and general editor for The Jewish Annotated New Testament interweaves history, spiritual analysis, and masterful biblical scholarship to explore Jesus’ most popular teaching parables, exposing their misinterpretations and making them lively and relevant for modern readers.Jesus was a skilled storyteller and perceptive teacher who used parables from everyday life to effectively convey his message and m...

This highly engaging book invites the reader to learn about how South Korean activists, intellectuals and various reformers approach the role of civil society in a post-colonial, post-Cold War, post-dictatorship, and post-IMF neoliberal democracy. In particular, it provides a detailed description of civil movement organisations in Seoul leading up to, during and after the Roh Moo Hyun era (2003–8). The book engages the entangled hopes, crises and pragmatic transitions that animated this er...

Examine the most difficult teachings of Jesus with Dr. Amy-Jill Levine.Jesus provided his disciples teachings for how to follow Torah, God’s word; he told them parables to help them discern questions of ethics and of human nature; he offered them beatitudes for comfort and encouragement. But sometimes Jesus spoke words that followers then and now have found difficult. He instructs disciples to hate members of their own families (Luke 14:26), to act as if they were ...

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 ...

A multidisciplinary appraisal of the Pharisees: who they were, what they taught, and how they've been understood and depicted throughout historyFor centuries, Pharisees have been well known but little understood—due at least in part to their outsized role in the Christian imagination arising from select negative stereotypes based in part on the Gospels. Yet historians see Pharisees as respected teachers and forward-thinking innovators who helped make the Jewish tradition m...

Explore the Bible’s first stories of creation, conflict, judgment, and mercy.Genesis: A Beginner’s Guide to the Beginning invites readers into the foundational stories of the Old Testament with clarity, depth, and imagination. Amy-Jill Levine presents Genesis as a living text, one that continues to shape faith, identity, and our understanding of what it means to be human. These familiar stories are often heard in fragments; here, they are explored with car...

In the years since the initial publication of The Jewish Annotated New Testament (JANT) in 2011, interest among scholars and general readers in the Jewish roots of the early Jesus movement and the ongoing influence that Jewish thought and experience have had on Christian history has only grown. In that time, JANT has established itself as an essential resource for anyone, of any faith or none, interested in the New Testament and the world from which it emerged. T...

Discover the Good News in the Bible’s earliest GospelWalk through the Bible’s earliest source for the life of Jesus with scholar Amy-Jill Levine as she examines John the Baptizer, the Little Apocalypse, the Transfiguration, and several of Jesus's most notable stories and parables. The Good News of the gospel message comes alive in this book as readers see Jesus as divine and human, powerful and weak, approachable yet mysterious. The book features an in-depth study ...

Although major New Testament figures--Jesus and Paul, Peter and James, Jesus' mother Mary and Mary Magdalene--were Jews, living in a culture steeped in Jewish history, beliefs, and practices, there has never been an edition of the New Testament that addresses its Jewish background and the culture from which it grew--until now. In The Jewish Annotated New Testament, eminent experts under the general editorship of Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Z. Brettler put these writings back into the...

This anthology presents a broad range of primary sources and expert commentary that contextualize the historical Jesus in his world.This landmark volume places the gospel narratives in their full literary, social, and archaeological context. More than twenty-five internationally recognized experts offer new translations and descriptions of texts that shed new light on the Jesus of history, including pagan prayers and private inscriptions, miracle tales and martyrdom...

Uncover the roots of the Christmas story.Amy-Jill Levine's classic Light of the World: A Beginner's Guide to Advent is back in a newly revised and expanded edition. Award-winning biblical scholar and New Testament professor Amy-Jill Levine invites readers on an accessible, thought-provoking journey through the biblical texts surrounding the story of the birth of JesusPerfect for individual study, small groups, or church Advent programs, Light o...

The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, contains some of Jesus most profound and most memorable teachings. What might these teachings have mean to his disciples, and to the others who first heard them? How do they enhance our reading of the rest of the Gospel of Matthew, and how do they speak across the centuries to listeners today? How, if we pay careful attention to his words, does Jesus provide us a road map to living as God would have us live?In Sermon on the Mount: A Beginne...