This new commentary ? part of Eerdmans?s acclaimed NICNT series ? gives primary attention to John?s gospel in its present form rather than the sources or traditions behind it.J. Ramsey Michaels assume
This new commentary ? part of Eerdmans?s acclaimed NICNT series ? gives primary attention to John?s gospel in its present form rather than the sources or traditions behind it.
J. Ramsey Michaels assumes that the John who authored the book is someone very close to Jesus and, therefore, that the gospel is a testimony to events that actually happened in the life of Jesus. Yet Michaels does not ignore the literary character of the gospel of John or its theological contribution to the larger Christian community from its own time to the present day. Through a detailed verse-by-verse commentary, Michaels reveals how the gospel of ?the disciple whom Jesus loved? is a unified composition, intertwined with the synoptics, yet drawing on material none of them cover.
?This is a commentary for which it was well worth waiting. The fruit of a lifetime?s engagement with John?s Gospel, it manages to be both conservative and original. Above all, it does superbly what the best commentaries do ? immerse readers in the text itself. Michaels takes us with him deep into this Gospel?s story of Jesus, expertly probing the narrative, asking questions about it that we may not have thought of, and pointing out details, nuances, and connections we may have missed, all the while ensuring we do not avoid the text?s larger, sometimes uncomfortable, truth claims. Readers will emerge invigorated, enlightened, and inspired. . . . The excellence of Michaels?s substantial and intriguing close reading makes his commentary one to which readers will return again and again for continuing stimulus in their own study of John.?
? Andrew T. Lincoln
University of Gloucestershire
?A senior Johannine scholar here weaves together fresh thinking on John?s Gospel with his years of engagement with the Gospel and its earlier scholarly interpreters. This new commentary is attentive to the details of the text, to structural clues, and to the cohesiveness of John?s narrative as a whole; while clearly sensitive to the Greek text, it is written to be intelligible for English readers.?
? Craig Keener
Palmer Theological Seminary
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