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Written by known experts and edited by Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter, this reference work with its full bibliographies and cross-references to other volumes in the series is the best for researching the New Testament in its ancient setting.

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About the Author
Craig A. Evans is professor of religious studies and director of the graduate program in biblical studies at Trinity Western University, Langley, British Columbia. He has written extensively on the historical Jesus and the Jewish background of the New Testament era. His numerous publications include Noncanonical Writings and New Testament Interpretation (Hendrickson), Jesus and His Contemporaries: Comparative Studies (Brill) and Mark 8:27--16:20 (Word Biblical Commentary). His edited volumes include (with Bruce Chilton) Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research (Brill) and (with Peter W. Flint) Eschatology, Messianism, and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Eerdmans).

Stanley E. Porter is research professor in New Testament at the University of Surrey Roehampton, London. He is the author of numerous studies in the New Testament and Greek language, including The Paul of Acts: Essays in Literary Criticism, Rhetoric, and Theology (Mohr Siebeck), Idioms of the Greek New Testament (Sheffield) and Verbal Aspect in the Greek of the New Testament, with Reference to Tense and Mood (Peter Lang). His numerous edited volumes include History of Classical Rhetoric in the Hellenistic Period, 330 B.C.-A.D. 400 (Brill) and Handbook to Exegesis of the New Testament (Brill).

Customer Reviews

I like it
I like it. I Used it for most of my papers in the NT Cultural Backgrounds class that I took.

Valuable Compendium
Like the other three volumes in this series (Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, Dictionary of the Later New Testament), Dictionary of New Testament Background is an excellent compendium of generally moderate to conservative scholarship on just about every major topic touching on the New Testament. The articles do a good job integrating the material with the New Testament. For example, the article "Circuses and Games" has a valuable discussion of Paul's use of athletic metaphors.

This work is 1300 pages and so is an excellent value for the money. (The bibliography for each article tends to be a bit lengthy. I don't imagine the typical reader will have access to many of the books and articles cited.)

A Valuable Reference Work
This valuable work of reference, which is a product of assiduous and serious Biblical scolarship presents itself as an indispensible tool for any advanced student,teacher and pastor in understanding and interpretting the message of the New Testament, in its proper context.
What one can appreciate in this work is the objectivity of handling topics without prejudice.It has also at the same time,avoided dealing with sensitive issues that could harm religious suceptibilities and inter-religious harmony.

Its integral approach to the study of the New TestamentBackground, involving Greco-Roman,Rabbinic,Intertestamental,socio-political and archaeological material is praise-worthy.Hence the topics dealt with tend to be comprehensive so that one could save time and energy, in a quick reference,without having to look for material in several sourses.

Dr.Henry Silva