Drawing on a lifetime of study and teaching the book, J. Alec Motyer presents a landmark, single-volume commentary on the prophecy of Isaiah. He emphasizes the grammatical, historical, structural, literary, and theological dimensions of the text, and pays particular attention to three central and re...

In this revised and expanded edition of the 1993 Christianity Today Critics' Choice Award winner in theology and biblical studies, Grant Osborne provides seminary students and working pastors with the full set of tools they need to move from sound exegesis to the development of biblical and systematic theologies and to the preparation of sound, biblical sermons.

This 2-volume bundle includes the award-winning Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch and the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books. These dictionaries bring together hundreds of top Old Testament scholars under the editorship of T. Desmond Alexander, David W. Baker, Bill T. Arnold, and H. G. M. Williamson.

Tremper Longman helps us overcome the distance between the psalmists’ world and ours. He explains the various kinds of psalms, the way they were used in Hebrew worship, and their relationship to the rest of the Old Testament. He looks at how Christians can appropriate their messages and insights today. He explains the use of parallelism and imagery.

In recent years there have been many new developments in biblical scholarship, some challenging and some affirming scriptural accounts. This authoritative reference work brings together many of the finest scholars of our day to meet the needs of the church well into the twenty-first century. This re...

The narratives, genealogies, laws, poetry, proverbs, and prophecies of the Old Testament are deeply rooted in history. Archaeologists, historians, and social scientists have greatly advanced our knowledge of the ancient world of the Bible. When we illuminate the stories of Abraham or David, the imagery of the Psalms or Proverbs, or the prophecies of Isaiah or Jeremiah with this backlight of culture and history, these texts spring to new life. The unique commentary joins The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament in providing historical, social and cultural background for each passage of the Old Testament. From Genesis through Malachi, this single volume gathers and condenses an abundance of specialized knowledge—making it available and accessible to ordinary readers of the Old Testament.

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." "Thy word is a lamp to my feet." "Search me, O God, and know my heart!" Such phrases leap to mind each time a Christian lifts his heart to God. For many, in fact, the Psalms are the richest part of the Old Testament. Derek Kidner provides a fresh and penetrating guide to Psalms 1-72. He analyses each psalm in depth, comments on interpretative questions and brings out the universal relevance of the texts. He also gives special help on the psalmists' cries for vengeance. Together with its companion volume (Psalms 73-150) this introduction and commentary will inspire and deepen personal worship.

In 'The Authority of the Bible,' John Stott explains why the Old and New Testaments still form the authoritative basis for Christian faith and practice.

Unique among reference books on the Bible, the volumes of the IVP Bible Dictionary Series bridge the gap between scholars and pastors, teachers, students and lay people desiring in-depth treatment of biblical topics in an accessible format. Articles cover traditional and contemporary topics, including cross-sectional themes, methods of interpretation, significant historical or cultural background, and each Old and New Testament book as a whole.

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." "Thy word is a lamp to my feet." "Search me, O God, and know my heart!" Such phrases leap to mind each time a Christian lifts his heart to God. For many, in fact, the Psalms are the richest part of the Old Testament. Derek Kidner provides a fresh and penetrating guide to Psalms 73-150. He analyses each psalm in depth, comments on interpretative questions and brings out the universal relevance of the texts. He also gives special help on the psalmists" cries for vengeance. Together with its companion volume (Psalms 73-150) this introduction and commentary will inspire and deepen personal worship.

Every reader of the Bible has encountered the powerful, comforting, and sometimes puzzling imagery of Scripture. These concrete pictures with their hidden force have struck sharp and lasting impressions on our minds. Their imprint has etched itself on the language and grammar of Christian faith and Western culture.

“I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross—In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?” With compelling honesty John Stott examines the centerpiece of the Christian faith in this classic study. He explores a crucial question: why should an object of Roman distaste and Jewish disgust be the emblem of our worship and the axiom of our faith? And what does it mean for us today?

The 'New Dictionary of Biblical Theology' will quickly establish itself as an essential building block of every library of basic biblical reference books. Building on its companion volumes, the 'New Bible Dictionary' and 'New Bible Commentary,' this work takes readers to a higher vantage point where they can view the thematic terrain of the Bible in its canonical wholeness.

G K Beale argues that the Old Testament tabernacle and temples were symbolically designed to point to the end-time reality that God’s presence, formerly limited to the Holy of Holies, would be extended throughout the cosmos. Hence, John’s vision in Revelation 21 is best understood as picturing the new heavens and earth as the eschatological temple. His stimulating exposition traces the theme of the tabernacle and temple across the Bible’s storyline, illuminating many texts and closely-related themes along the way. He shows how the significance and symbolism of the temple can be better understood in the context of ancient Near Eastern assumptions. He offers new insights into the meaning of the temple in both Old and New Testaments.

Author F. F. Bruce presents a thorough reexamination of the historical evidence for acceptance of the canon, focusing on the central issues of criteria of canonicity, the idea of a canon within a canon, and canonical criticism. Adept in both Old and New Testament studies, Bruce brings a rare comprehensive perspective to his task, as well as the wisdom of a lifetime of reflection and biblical interpretation to bear in answering the questions and clearing away the confusion surrounding the Christian canon of Scripture. Winner of two 1990 Christianity Today Awards and a 1989 ECPA Gold Medallion Award, this impressive work remains a significant landmark and touchstone for further studies.

What was clear to the original readers of Scripture is not always clear to us as modern readers. Because of the cultural distance between the biblical world and our contemporary setting, we often bring modern Western biases to the text that influence how we read Scripture. Sometimes these influences lead to utterly misreading Scripture. In this highly readable book, the insights of biblical scholars Brandon O'Brien and E. Randolph Richards shed light on the ways Western readers often misunderstand the cultural dynamics of the Bible. They identify nine key areas where modern Westerners have significantly different assumptions about what is going on in a text than what the context actually suggests. Drawing on their own cross-cultural experience in global missions, the authors show how greater understanding of cultural differences in language, time, and social mores allow us to see the Bible in fresh and unexpected ways—helping us to avoid misreading Scripture. Throughout this tex...

Millions have caught Karl Marx's vision of a New Man and a New Society. "Paul presents a greater vision still," writes John Stott. In his letter to the Ephesians the apostle "sees the human predicament as something even deeper than the injustice of the economic structure and so propounds a yet more radical solution. He writes of nothing less than a 'new creation.'"

One of humanity’s most basic and common practices—eating meals—was transformed by Jesus into an occasion of divine encounter. In sharing food and drink with His companions, He invited them to share in the grace of God. He revealed His redemptive mission while eating with sinners, repentant and unrepentant alike. Jesus’ “table fellowship” with sinners in the Gospels has been widely agreed to be historically reliable. This consensus, however, has recently been challenged, for example, by the claim that the meals in which Jesus participated took the form of Greco-Roman symposia—or that the “sinners” involved were the most flagrantly wicked within Israel’s society, not merely the ritually impure or those who did not satisfy strict Pharisaic standards of holiness. Craig L. Blomberg engages with the debate and opens up the significance of the topic. He surveys meals in the Old Testament and the intertestamental period. He then examines all the Gospel texts relevant to Jesus’ eating with s...

The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (ACCS) does what very few of today’s students of the Bible can do for themselves. The vast array of writings from the Church Fathers—including many that are available only in the ancient languages—have been combed for their comment on Scripture. From these results, scholars with a deep knowledge of the fathers and a heart for the Church have hand-selected material for each volume, shaping, annotating, and introducing it to today’s readers. Each portion of commentary has been chosen for its salient insight, its rhetorical power, and its faithful representation of the consensual exegesis of the early Church.

To understand and apply the Bible well, you need two crucial sources of information. One is the Bible itself. The other is an understanding of the cultural background of the passage you're reading. In verse-by-verse format, the IVP Bible Background Commentaries provide the crucial historical, social and cultural background you need for responsible—and rich—Bible study. They each include a glossary of cultural terms and important historical figures, maps and charts, up-to-date bibliographies, and introductory essays about cultural background information for each book of the Old and New Testaments.

In many ways, this is the fundamental question of Old Testament Israel’s cult—and, indeed, of life itself. How can creatures made from dust become members of God’s household “forever”? The question of ascending God’s mountain to his house was likely recited by pilgrims on approaching the temple on Mount Zion during the annual festivals. This entrance liturgy runs as an undercurrent throughout the Pentateuch and is at the heart of its central book, Leviticus. Its dominating concern, as well as that of the rest of the Bible, is the way in which humanity may come to dwell with God. Israel’s deepest hope was not merely a liturgical question, but a historical quest.Under the Mosaic covenant, the way opened up by God was through the Levitical cult of the tabernacle and later temple, its priesthood and rituals. The advent of Christ would open up a new and living way into the house of God—indeed, that was the goal of his taking our humanity upon himself, his suffering, his resurrection and...

No other single reference work presents as much information focused exclusively on Pauline theology, literature, background, and scholarship. In a field that recently has undergone significant shirts in perspective, the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters offers a summa of Paul and Pauline studies.

Peter G. Bolt explores why the cross is so prominent in Mark’s Gospel. He asks what contribution Mark’s teaching can make to our understanding of the atonement. He shows how this teaching can inform, correct, and enrich our own preaching of the gospel in the contemporary world. He helps us to stand in wonder before God who has come close to us in the cross of Jesus Christ and to live in hope for the better things to come.

The massive diversity and complexity of the Bible can make it a daunting project for anyone to tackle. Getting a grasp on the unity of the Bible, its central message from Genesis to Revelation, helps immensely in understanding the meaning of any one book or passage. That is the goal of this book by Graeme Goldsworthy. • How do the Old and New Testaments fit together? • What is the point of biblical theology? • What is the overall story of the Bible? • What difference does it make? G...

The Dictionary of New Testament Background joins the growing collection of landmark Bible reference materials from InterVarsity Press. In a time when our knowledge of the ancient Mediterranean world has grown by leaps and bounds, this volume sets out for readers the wealth of Jewish and Greco-Roman background that should inform our reading and understanding of the New Testament and early Christianity. No other reference work presents so much in one place for students of the New Testament.

Presenting an overview of the history and methods, aims and results of textual criticism. The Bible has been on a long historical journey since its original composition. Its texts have been copied and recopied. And despite the most careful and painstaking efforts of scribes and publishers down through the centuries, errors of one sort or another have crept in and have been reproduced. Sorting out the errors and determining the original wording is the task of textual criticism. Thanks to this concise book, readers gain an appreciation for the vast work that has been accomplished in preserving the text of Scripture and find a renewed confidence in its reliability.

If God is in control of everything, can Christians sit back and not bother to evangelize? Or does active evangelism imply that God is not really sovereign at all? J I Packer shows in this new edition to the popular IVP Classics how both of these attitudes are false. In a careful review of the biblical evidence, he shows how a right understanding of God's sovereignty is not so much a barrier to evangelism as an incentive and powerful support for it. With over 100,000 copies in print, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God is truly a classic that should be read by every Christian.

If you preach or teach from Scripture, the Bible Speaks Today series will help you apply the timeless biblical message to the everyday experiences of your listeners. And if you study the Bible on your own, these volumes will be a helpful resource focusing on the significance of God's Word for your own life and work.

John Stott joins a chorus of distinguished voices of the church who have pondered and lived the great themes of Romans, and who have tuned our ears to hear its rich harmonies and meditate on its broad vision. In the classic tradition of great Christian leaders who have commented on Romans, Stott expounds Paul's words, themes and arguments. The power of the gospel, the righteousness of God revealed from heaven, is clearly addressed to today's men and women who have answered its summons.

The Spirit moves the church into the world. That is how it has always been since the day of Pentecost when the Spirit brought thousands from many countries into the body of Christ. With the breadth and scholarly care that have marked John Stott's years of ministry, this book opens to us the early days of the church as recorded by Luke in the book of Acts.