John
Pages
568
Publisher
Westminster John Knox
Published
11/6/2015
ISBN-13
9780664221119
Almost from the earliest days of the church, John's distinctive presentation of Jesus has provoked discussion about its place among the other Gospels. One cannot help but see the differences from the Synoptics and wonder about the origins and character of John. In this new volume in the New Testament Library series, Marianne Meye Thompson explores the ministry and significance of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the Gospel of John, paying special attention to the social, cultural, and historical contexts that produced it. John's Gospel, Thompson posits, is the product of a social-cultural world whose language, commitments, and contours must be investigated in order to read John's narrative well. In doing so, Thompson studies the narrative, structure, central themes, and theological and rhetorical arguments found in the Fourth Gospel. Thompson's expert commentary unpacks and illuminates John's unique witness to Jesus-who he was, what he did, and what that means.
Collections
This book appears in the following featured collections.
- Commentaries by Female Scholars by John Dyer
- Women and BIPOC by Jamie Davies
- New Testament Commentaries & Monographs by Princeton Theological Seminary
- Nijay Gupta's Top NT Commentaries by Nijay K. Gupta
- Recommended New Testament Commentaries for Evangelical Pastors by Thomas R. Schreiner
Reviews
Exceptional in every respect. An incredible talent in Johannine studies, Thompson deserves so much credit for her work, and years of research which comes together to present what I suspect will become a classic, essential reading on John for years to come. This is what a great commentary should be. More than sufficiently detailed, with excursuses providing further reading for those looking to dive into broader discussions of themes coming out of the text. Although the intro is short, Thompson states her desire to not rehash the established points of discussion, and provides plenty of references to other sources.
The work of a seasoned interpreter of John whose commentary is sensitive both to the evangelist’s narrative artistry and to his theology.
This commentary strikes a great balance between readability, thoughtful interpretation, and technical precision. It is much more approachable than most technical commentaries such as AB, WBC, ICC, Herm., or even NICNT. However, it contains much of the important information found in the technical commentaries (sometimes more). This information is often relegated to the footnotes so that the body of the text can focus on interpretation. As a PhD student studying John, I suggest that this commentary will be helpful for people from the interested lay person to Johannine scholars.