The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (IVP Bible Background Commentary Set) Hardcover – Illustrated, January 3, 2014

Good

If you're looking for a great commentary, look no further! This commentary gives you a tremendous amount of detail about each of the passages in the New Testament. It is incredibly informative and very helpful. The information is much more factual than many commentaries. The author presents factual information and not a lot of opinion.

When reading the Bible, we sometimes lose sight of what the culture was like before and while Jesus walked the earth. For instance, knowing the backgrounds of the early Christians, the political forces upon the peoples, the historic background of the area, vegetation, markets, social norms--all this enriches the experience of reading and understanding the words of the Bible. Brings the bible to life. broadens understanding.

My favorite is when the preacher explains some facet of First Century life that shifts and quickens your grasp of a familiar passage. Quick trade secret? This book is probably where the preacher got that cultural nugget.It's impossible to read 2,000-year-old texts with the perspective of the original audience. This reference work restores much of the missing knowledge that adds a subtle but powerful depth when reading the New Testament—especially the offhand bits of cultural fluency that folks probably didn't think much of: The way the Roman government worked. The subtleties of synagogue life. The shared assumptions and opinions that were seldom written down because they were simply in the First Century air.If there's another secret, it's that collecting and organizing all of the knowledge behind a project like this was hard, slow work with dense Greek and Latin and probably German sources. This is the kind of resource that makes me think we have riches that centuries of believers could only dream of.

If you want to understand the Bible and the culture deeper.

Excellent resource and I put it to use immediately! It was recommended by his colleague, and what better recommendation is that! Now I need to find an old testament scholar who has done similar work.

the info on passages is helpful but very brief. I think the remarks need to be longer with more detail

This commentary is a great reference that helps to clarify some of the cultural issues of Biblical times that are so different or alien from what we experience in our own lives today. I have found it to be a valuable resource in my personal Bible study. The author's introduction is very clear about the purpose of the book: not to interpret the scriptures per se, but to inform about the cultural norms of ancient times. I appreciate the distinction and feel, in the parts I have used to date, that he achieves this goal.