I received a new book from IVP that I am very happy to blurb today:

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels
Kenneth E. Bailey
IVP, 2008
443 pages
Purchase from Amazon.COM or Amazon.CA

Here is the TOC:
Part 1: The Birth of Jesus
1. The Story of Jesus’ Birth: Luke 2:1-20
2. The Genealogy and Joseph the Just: Matthew 1:1-21
3. The Savior, the Wise Men and the Vision of Isaiah: Matthew 2:1-12; Isaiah 60:1-7
4. Herod’s Atrocities, Simeon and Anna: Matthew 2:13-18; Luke 2:22-36

Part 2: The Beatitudes
5. The Beatitudes 1: Matthew 5:1-5
6. The Beatitudes 2: Matthew 5:6-12

Part 3: The Lord’s Prayer
7. The Lord’s Prayer: God Our Father: Matthew 6:5-9
8. The Lord’s Prayer: God’s Holiness: Matthew 6:9
9. The Lord’s Prayer: God’s Kingdom and Our Bread: Matthew 6:10-11
10. The Lord’s Prayer: Our Sins and Evil: Matthew 6:12-13

Part 4: Dramatic Actions of Jesus
11. The Call of Peter: Luke 5:1-11
12. The Inauguration of Jesus’ Ministry: Luke 4:16-31
13. The Blind Man and Zacchaeus: Luke 18:35-19:11

Part 5: Jesus and Women
14. Jesus and Women: An Introduction
15. The Woman at the Well: John 4:1-42
16. The Syro-Phoenician Woman: Matthew 15:21-28
17. The Lady Is Not for Stoning: John 7:53-8:11
18. The Woman in the House of Simeon the Pharisee: Luke 7:36-50
19. The Parable of the Widow and the Judge: Luke 18:1-8
20. The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Young Women: Matthew 25:1-13

Part 6: Parables of Jesus
21. Introduction to the Parables
22. The Parable of the Good Samaritan: Luke 10:25-37
23. The Parable of the Rich Fool: Luke 12:13-21
24. The Parable of the Great Banquet: Luke 14:15-24
25. The Parable of the Two Builders: Luke 6:46-49
26. The Parable of the Unjust Steward: Luke 16:1-8
27. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector: Luke 18:9-14
28. The Parable of the Compassionate Employer: Matthew 20:1-16
29. The Parable of the Serving Master: Luke 12:35-38
30. The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man: Luke 16:19-30
31. The Parable of the Pounds: Luke 19:11-27
32. The Parable of the Noble Vineyard Owner and His Son: Luke 20:9-18

The book includes a bibliography, a persons index, and scripture index.

Here are a few of the many jacket endorsements:
“Among the many New Testament scholars interpreting the Gospels today, few offer new and dramatic insights like Kenneth E. Bailey. From a childhood in Egypt to a career working within the Middle East, Bailey has established himself as the premier cultural interpreter of the life of Jesus. Using insights from cultural anthropology and skilled exegesis, suddenly the Gospels come alive as the Middle Eastern stories that they are. Long after other scholars’ books are forgotten, Bailey’s work on the Gospels will continue to be a timeless resource into the world of Jesus. This newest volume, written for the nonspecialist, is a splendid place to begin. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes is guaranteed to become a favorite on many Christians’ bookshelves.” —Gary M. Burge, professor of New Testament, Wheaton College & Graduate School
“I have long been an admirer of Kenneth Bailey’s helpful insights. As in his earlier works, his breadth of knowledge of Middle Eastern culture sheds rich light on numerous points in the Gospels, providing fresh perspectives and often illumining details we have rarely considered. He provokes those of us who depend mostly on ancient written sources to consider new approaches, often cohering with but often supplementing such research.” —Craig Keener, professor of New Testament, Palmer Theological Seminary

“Kenneth Bailey’s Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes is rich with interpretive and cultural insight. He sheds light on what is so often missed in most commentaries and books about Jesus written from a Western perspective. Indeed, Bailey’s book provides the much-needed corrective to the dubious results of the Jesus Seminar, whose distorted Jesus is a product of Greco-Roman culture and literature, instead of the Judaic culture and literature of Palestine. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes is easy to read–students and pastors will benefit from it tremendously–but there is also much for scholars.”— Craig A. Evans, Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Acadia Divinity College

As is IVP’s practice, you can read an excerpt, in this case chapter one of the book — The Story of Jesus’ Birth: Luke 2:1-20.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2008 at 6:53 pm by Danny Zacharias and is filed under IVP, Book Blurbs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.