Krista Mournet

Just today I was reminded of The Jewish Annotated New Testament–published back in mid-November by Oxford University Press (just in time for the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting), it is a new version of the New Testament, annotated entirely by the best Jewish scholars in the field today. At the helm were Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Z. Brettler as editors.

Here’s what Amazon.com has to say about it:

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 context of their original authors and audiences. And they explain how these writings have affected the relations of Jews and Christians over the past two thousand years.

Incidentally, I got to hear Dr. Levine speak back at at that annual meeting about “What’s New in Biblical Studies;” a session designed particularly to throw bones out to eager, desperate research students like myself. Never did I imagine I would let out unseemly guffaws in a stuffy biblical studies session in much the same way that one would at Comedy Night at the Improv. But I did. She is hilariously funny, in a “Did she really say that?!” kind of way.

If you are interested in the development of Judaism, in the culture surrounding the New Testament, and in contemporary Jewish understandings of the early Christian texts preserved in the New Testament, you might want to give this one a look.