Bibliography

User Guide

Commentaries

Primary Sources and Related Works

Textual Criticism

Lexicons

Theological Dictionaries and Word Studies

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Atlases, Geography and Topography

OT Introductions

Old Testament Background, History, and Archaeology

Old Testament Theology

Biblical Theology

The Greek NT

Greek Grammar

NT Introductions

NT Background Studies

New Testament Theology

Gospels Studies

Studies on Acts

Pauline Studies

Studies on the General Epistles, Hebrews, and Revelation

Hermeneutics and Exegesis

Homiletics

NT Background Studies

The literature here is vast, so only a brief, suggestive selection is listed. See also under “Dictionaries and Encyclopedias” above.

Barnett, Paul. Jesus and the Rise of Early Christianity: A History of New Testament Times. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1999.

Bruce, F. F. New Testament History. New York: Doubleday, 1991. A good overview of the history of Israel from the return from exile to the fall of Jerusalem.

*Evans, Craig A., and Stanley E. Porter. Dictionary of New Testament Background. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2000. The best single resource for the wide range of historical/religious/cultural issues that impinge upon the New Testament text.

*Ferguson, Everett. Backgrounds of Early Christianity. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2003.

Green, Joel B., and Lee Martin McDonald. The World of the New Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2017.

Hanson, Kenneth C., and Douglas E. Oakman. Palestine in the Time of Jesus: Social Structures and Social Conflicts. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2008. An introduction to first-century Palestine from a social science perspective, instead of more common historical, literary, or theological treatments. Helpful for understanding a wide range of social institutions and phenomena, e.g., kinship, marriage/divorce, patronage, crucifixion, political economy, etc.

Hengel, Martin. Judaism and Hellenism. 2 vols. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2003.

Jeffers, James S. The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era: Exploring the Background of Early Christianity. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2009.

Jeremias, Joachim. Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus. London: SCM, 1991.

Malina, Bruce J. The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2001.

Meeks, Wayne A. The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul. 2nd ed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2003. 

Neusner, Jacob, and William Scott Green. Rabbinic Judaism: Structure and System. Atlanta: Scholars, 1999.

Sanders, E. P. Judaism Practice and Belief, 63 BCE-66 CE. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2016.

Schurer, Emil, and F. Millar, eds. The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ 175 B.C. - A.D. 135. Vol. 4. 4 vols. Edinburgh, Scotland: T&T Clark, 1973.