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Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary
Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Volume 4; Hebrews to Revelation
An image rich, passage-by-passage commentary that integrates relevant historical and cultural insights, providing a deeper dimension of perspective to the words of the New Testament. Discoveries await you that will snap the world of the New Testament into new focus. Things that seem mystifying, puzzling, or obscure will take on tremendous meaning when you view them in their ancient context. With the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary , you' In this volume, detailed exegetical notes are combined with background information of the cultural settings that will help you interpret the writings of the last nine books of the Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, Jude, and Revelation. THE ZONDERVAN ILLUSTRATED BIBLE BACKGROUNDS COMMENTARY SERIES Invites you to enter the world of the New Testament with a company of seasoned guides, experts who will help you understand and teach the biblical text more accurately.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published July 30, 2002
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Zondervan
1,676 books99 followersZondervan is an international Christian media and publishing company. Zondervan is a founding member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). They are a part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc. and has multiple imprints including Zondervan Academic, Zonderkidz, Blink, and Editorial Vida. Zondervan is the commercial rights holder for the New International Version (NIV) Bible in North America.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 19, 2021
At the start of this year, I decided to do a rather intensive read-through of the New Testament. I’ve had the four-volume Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary on my shelf for a while and hadn’t read much of it. I’d also been wanting to read the entire New Testament for Everyone series by N. T. Wright (I’d read and enjoyed several volumes over the past few years). So on January 1, I launched into it, perhaps not realizing quite what a daily investment it would sometimes be. Today I finished the final volume, and I look back on what’s been an excellent time diving more deeply into the background and context of the New Testament than I’ve done before. I have learned so much, and my understanding of the New Testament at so many levels has been greatly enhanced.
What’s on my mind as I finish volume 4 is, of course, Revelation, which marked the conclusion of my read-through. (I read the rest of the NT out of order, in part because I always wanted to look forward to returning to a Gospel, rather than reading all four at once right at the beginning.) The commentary here is very good, relying especially on symbolic interpretation, but also taking into account the aspects that were fulfilled at the time John wrote Revelation (preterist) and aspects that continue to be fulfilled and are yet to be accomplished (historicist). Much less is said about a literal futurist viewpoint, and that’s fine with me; I grew up with more of that approach, and the ways it works out practically now make less sense to me overall. My overall impression of this commentary is to be encouraged as I read this complex book, and I believe that’s the right response.
As with the previous volumes in this commentary, the “illustrated” aspect is a little less exciting now than it probably was at the time of publication. The photos are small, sometimes dated, sometimes only tangentially related to the commentary (so many pictures of Roman-era coins . . .). Occasionally a photo would be really helpful, though, and it’s a nice way to break up what would otherwise be a whole lot of text. I recommend this commentary set as an even, balanced guide through each book of the NT. It doesn’t get into a lot of word study—that would be another kind of commentary or reference book—but it provides excellent contextual information about the world in which the NT was written.
What’s on my mind as I finish volume 4 is, of course, Revelation, which marked the conclusion of my read-through. (I read the rest of the NT out of order, in part because I always wanted to look forward to returning to a Gospel, rather than reading all four at once right at the beginning.) The commentary here is very good, relying especially on symbolic interpretation, but also taking into account the aspects that were fulfilled at the time John wrote Revelation (preterist) and aspects that continue to be fulfilled and are yet to be accomplished (historicist). Much less is said about a literal futurist viewpoint, and that’s fine with me; I grew up with more of that approach, and the ways it works out practically now make less sense to me overall. My overall impression of this commentary is to be encouraged as I read this complex book, and I believe that’s the right response.
As with the previous volumes in this commentary, the “illustrated” aspect is a little less exciting now than it probably was at the time of publication. The photos are small, sometimes dated, sometimes only tangentially related to the commentary (so many pictures of Roman-era coins . . .). Occasionally a photo would be really helpful, though, and it’s a nice way to break up what would otherwise be a whole lot of text. I recommend this commentary set as an even, balanced guide through each book of the NT. It doesn’t get into a lot of word study—that would be another kind of commentary or reference book—but it provides excellent contextual information about the world in which the NT was written.
July 19, 2022
This is a solid, readable introduction to the last books of the New Testament. There are some areas that I don't agree with, but for the most part, this book is informative rather than opinion-based, so it is useful to most students of the Bible. Its relatively compact size also lends itself to a quick overview and a resource for students of scripture.
I will be looking for more volumes from this series.
I will be looking for more volumes from this series.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews