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Jesus in Context: Background Readings for Gospel Study. Edited by Darrell L. Bock and Gregory J. Herrick. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005, 286 pp., $22.99 paper.
One of the editors of this book should be well known to the readers of this Journal, not only for his many books but also for his past presidency of ETS. Darrell Bock is currently Research Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. His co-editor, Greg Herrick, has completed his Ph.D. at Dallas Theological Seminary and works as a researcher and writer with the Biblical Studies Foundation. This book is a supplement to Bock's recent work, Jesus according to Scripture (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002). The justification for the volume is described best by the editors themselves: "Jesus according to Scripture travels through the Gospels, scene by scene, explaining the meaning of the text with references to the words and works of Jesus. In the course of the discussion, many Greco-Roman and Jewish sources are referred to that offer relevant background to the biblical text. However, due to space limitations, the extrabiblical texts themselves could not be included in that volume. The present volume, Jesus in Context, supplies the texts cited in Jesus according to Scripture and, to facilitate cross-referencing, includes the number of the unit where the reference appears in Jesus according to Scripture" (p. 13). Thus this volume is a compilation of ancient pagan, Jewish, and Christian texts to provide illuminating backgrounds for specific passages discussed in Jesus according to Scripture. It provides the full texts of all the extrabiblical references in the book.
The book is user-friendly in both its...