This collection offers an up-to-date assessment of the great historian and his key works. Brimming with insight, the five titles critically examine Josephus’ work entitled Life, analyze his portrayal of the Pharisees throughout his canon, and present a new translation of and commentary on his Judean Antiquities. This set will be an invaluable addition to the libraries of all Biblicists, scholars of ancient Judaism, and anyone wishing to delve-deeply into the world of the preeminent Jewish chronicler.

In Josephus and the New Testament, Steve Mason, an internationally acknowledged authority on Josephus, introduces readers to this first-century Jewish historian, allowing them to explore Josephus’ witness to the formative environment of early Judaism and Christianity.

The Baker Academic New Testament Backgrounds collection brings you 27 volumes from today’s finest New Testament, Greek, and Judaic scholars, including Craig S. Keener, Michael F. Bird, Graham H. Twelftree, Ben Witherington III, Bruce Metzger, and others. It provides insight into the cultural, social, and religious contexts surrounding the Greco-Roman World, analyzes the credibility of the biblical canon, miracles, and exorcisms, and explores the history and impact of Judaism. Each volume is clear, comprehensive, and readable; each tackles skeptics’ tough questions; and each includes helpful resources like indexes, bibliographies, and photos.

The Baker Academic New Testament Backgrounds collection brings you 57 volumes from today’s finest New Testament, Greek, and Judaic scholars, including Craig S. Keener, Michael F. Bird, Graham H. Twelftree, Ben Witherington III, Bruce Metzger, and others. It provides insight into essential New Testament topics. This collection offers a look at the cultural, social, and religious contexts surrounding the Greco-Roman World, analyzes the credibility of the biblical canon, miracles, and exorcisms, and explores the lives and ministries of Christ’s apostles—Simon Peter, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Build your library with the Baker Academic Biblical Studies Bundle (190 vols.). Bringing together a wide variety of scholarship by some of the leading biblical scholars today, this collection provides an academically rigorous addition to your Bible software library. Covering everything from the cultural and historical context of the Old and New Testaments through difficult interpretive questions raised by the original languages, and even dealing with serious questions in biblical theology, the Baker Academic Biblical Studies Bundle makes available essential resources for anyone serious about studying scripture.

No field of study is livelier than the history of Roman-era Judaea (ca. 200 BC to AD 400). Bold reinterpretations of texts and new archaeological discoveries prompt us constantly to rethink assumptions. What kind of religion was Judaism? How did Jews--and Christians--relate to Roman imperial power? Should we speak of Judaism or Judaisms? How should the finds at Qumran affect our understanding? Did Paul and other early Christians remain within Judaism? Should we translate Ioudaioi as "Jews" or "Judaeans"? These debates can leave students perplexed, this book argues, because the participants share only a topic. They are actually investigating different questions using disparate criteria. In the hope of facilitating communication and preparing advanced students, this book explores two basic but neglected problems: What does it mean to do history (if history is what we wish to do)? And how did the ancients understand and describe their world? It is not a history, then, but an orientation…

Our largest package, the 2025 Ultimate Library, provides an incredible library for biblical research and theological reflection. Whether focused on Church history or biblical exegesis, the vast collection of resources and titles at your fingertips cover the gamut—from most devotionals to practical discussions of pastoral ministry to the most rigorous scholarly and academic research. This package has everything you need to engage in the serious study of Scripture and its world, with respected resources like the Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies | LHBOTS (382 vols.) and top-tier exegetical commentaries like the New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament | NIC (51 vols.).

Flavius Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, is unquestionably among the most important writers from classical antiquity. The significance of the works of Josephus as sources for our understanding of biblical history and of the political history of Palestine under Roman rule can scarcely be overestimated. This is the first volume published in this commentary series, which is the first comprehensive literary-historical commentary on the works of Flavius Josephus in English.

Mason has answered the call of scholars for a new, critical history of the Pharisees. Required is a careful analysis of each source's evidence as a prior condition of historical judgments. By analyzing Flavius Josephus' portrayal of the group, this study clarifies some of the crucial evidence that any hypothesis must explain. Josephus writes about the Pharisees in three of his four extant works, describing their actions under the Hashmoneans, Herod the Great, and during his own tenure as Galilean commander of the revolt against Rome. This study tries to show how his discussions of the Pharisees contribute to his literary aims. With the help of K.H. Rengstorf's new concordance, the author explores the ten pertinent passages in their contexts, supplying also introductory chapters on the Jedean War, the Jewish Antiquities, and the Life. This analysis yields the conclusion that, although the Pharisees were the most popular party in first-century Judaism, Josephus was consistently hostil...

Refocusing our attention from the personal character and psychological motives of Josephus (which we cannot know) to the work itself (which is before us), Steve Mason brings this crucial narrative to life in new historical and literary contexts. He shows that it is a carefully structured appendix to Josephus' magnum opus, the Judean Antiquities, and that Josephus uses it to unashamedly celebrate his character according to the values and standards of his time. In the process, Josephus explains much about the geography of Galilee and about the social and political world of Judea in crisis. Most importantly, however, he emerges as a Judean statesman trying to communicate with his peers from other Mediterranean centers.

This volume provides a new English translation of and commentary on Josephus' Judean Antiquities 5-7 in which he retells the history of Israel from the entry into the land down to the death of King David. The commentary devotes special attention to the ways in which Josephus deals with the data of his biblical sources, i.e. the Books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, and 1 Chronicles. It likewise looks to the question of the biblical text-forms used by Josephus and calls attention to Jewish and Greco-Roman parallels to his presentation. The book is intended primarily for Biblicists and scholars of ancient Judaism.

This volume provides a new English translation and commentary on Josephus' Judean Antiquities 8-10 in which he retells the history of Israel from the time of the latter divided monarchy down through the exilic period. As with the previous titles in this series, the commentary devotes particular attention to Josephus' use of his many biblical sources for this period, e.g., the books of Kings, Chronicles, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah and Nahum and Daniel. Similarly to the previous series titles, the commentary also examines the question of the textual forms of these books used by him, and notes parallels to his presentation in both ancient Jewish and Greco-Roman literature.

This far reaching collection includes many of the premiere resources available for biblical study, theology, ministry, history, and more. These resources from Baker Publishing Group feature stand alone volumes as well as dedicated series, with contributions from leading scholars such as Douglas Moo, D.A. Carson, Darrell Bock, Peter Leithart, Thomas Schreiner, and many more. With these resources from trusted guides you will discover new and challenging insights as you dig even deeper in your studies.