New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus: Insights from His Jewish Context

This is the second book which David Bivin has authored. His first book was co-authored with Roy Blizzard. This book is quite different in that it is a series of articles Mr. Bivin has written about Jesus' viewpoint on Scripture as related to Jewish society dictated by Torah. The articles are short, easy to read and understand and definitely provide a new perspective on familiar topics, e.g., discipleship, prayer, divorce and remarriage, to name a few. Since I have been exploring Hebrew roots through Messianic theologians and exegetists, I've come to realize how much heritage is missing from my spiritual life. Mr. Bivin's book has contributed more information and I would recommend this book to anyone interested in expanding their knowledge about their religous heritage and traditions.

This book is very eye opening because it reminds you that, although there were other cultrual influences around Jesus, Jesus was a Hebrew and a Jew. Therefore, he should be understood as he was in the the Second Temple period. Bivin does repeat some of the things he says in the other version of this book. Therefore, buying this book is sufficient to see his point of view on Jesus. Great buy!!

The volume is subtitled, "Insights from His [Jesus] Jewish Context," and it lives up to its subtitle. Plenty of stimulating insights here. David Bevin has collected and revised 22 articles he wrote for a "Jewish Roots" journal, The Jerusalem Perspective, and compiled them into a most interesting book. The book is subdivided into four main heading, the first of which is "A Jewish Rabbi Name Jesus." This section includes articles about Jesus' formal education, the common practice of discipleship in first century Judaism, and the accuracy of Oral Tradition. The second section is titled, "Jesus' First Century Jewish Context" and includes information about hems, tassels, Jewish prayers, and examples of rabbis who remained single until later in life. The third section is titled, "New Light on Jesus' Teachings" and address Jesus' view of riches, pacifism, and divorce. The fourth section is titled, "The Kingdom is Here" and addresses Jesus as the Messiah-Prophet, the requirements for gentile believers (Acts 15), and Paul's Olive Tree Analogy. The positives of this book far outweigh the negatives. Just reading relevant portions from the Talmud, for example, amplifies many Biblical passages. The information about discipleship was especially enlightening. I never realized that there were several hundred other rabbis roaming throughout Israel with bands of disciples during the time of Christ. The Talmudic ruling that a man who was going to follow a rabbi for more than 30 days needed permission from his wife evidences how common discipleship was during that era. The author frequently suggests that while many of Jesus' practices were main stream for that time, others - such as claiming to be Messiah and working miracle after miracle - were not! The chapter about why Jesus did not get married is particularly relevant in the light of the popularity of the fictional "Da Vinci Code." The examples of famous rabbis who married later in life are helpful (even if a footnote suggests some assume Jesus was married because of the Bible's silence; such a viewpoint ignores the issue of offspring fathered by a man without a sin nature). I do have some reservations with this material, however. Whereas many Christians have divorced Jesus from His Jewish context and present all of Jesus' teachings as original, this book (and some others) present too many of Jesus' teaching as not original at all. If one is determined to align all but a few of Jesus' teachings with those of the rabbis, an artificial template inhibits the true interpretation of Jesus' words. You make it fit because you think it is supposed to fit -- whether it really fits or not. The author also does not seem to give much creedance to the Gospel of John (as though it has no bearing on the synoptics). Another example of where I disagree includes the author's belief that Jesus viewed the "heavy" and "light" commandments as bearing equal weight. Then what about Jesus' criticism toward those who st

I would like to affirm the other review here, and add just a couple thoughts of my own. Many writers take scripture as it speaks to them and offer very compelling and helpful applications for Christian thought and life. But often those insights are drawn from the writers own experience and personality as they engage and apply the straightforward teaching of scripture. David Bivin offers more than speculation/interpretation about the familiar text (our preferred translation) in his writing. He opens the reader to the world of the translation itself. His teaching about the person of Jesus Christ, his mode of teaching, the meaning of his words, are drawn from a great depth of understanding of Jesus' time, culture, place, language, and audience. A number of passages that might have been meaningless or seemingly opaque are illuminated.

This is one of those books you wish you had read a long time ago. David Bivin does an excellent job of "taking you there," back to the time of what it would be like to hear the words of Yeshua (Jesus) back in the second temple period. Bivin makes frequent use of rabbinical sources to help explain some of the more challenging aspects of the life of Yeshua. Although the text is nothing new per se, it draws from a vast pool of knowledge of great scholars such as David Flusser and Brad Young who make extensive use of ancient Jewish writings to shed light and provide context to the New Testament. For anyone not familiar with Jewish sources, Bivin is not suggesting that the Talmud is inspired as the Scripture, but that it contains important clues and commentary that shows that Yeshua was vary familiar with these texts. Many of Yeshua's words parallel those in the Talmud, as Bivin shows. Bivin does a good job of explaining Jewish customs that affect our understanding of Yeshua. The opening chapters on discipleship, the life of a rabbi, and taking on a teacher's "yoke" are required reading for anyone who seeks a solid historical analysis of the background to the gospels. The section on the prayers of Yeshua is also very critical, but too short; you will definitely want to research this further after reading it. And the analysis on the famous Acts 15 passage is also quite insightful (although again not necessarily new, but quite clear and concise). In all each section is pretty brief, easy to read, and answers a basic question such as "Why didn't Yeshua marry," or addresses a confusing point such as "Miracle on the Sea of Galilee." In fact, each chapter is basically a summary of articles that you can find on his website, entitled "Jerusalem Perspective." David Bivin previously wrote a book, "Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus." Although I kind of liked that book, I was very disappointed with it because Bivin didn't make the case for the Hebrew gospels (i.e., written in Hebrew) that well and the use of Jewish idioms didn't really help explain some of Jesus's difficult words. The selected verses weren't that impressive. This time around however, Bivin's choice of difficult words was impressive. This time he really picked some tough ones (such as divorce, pacifism, the rich young ruler) that often frustrate Christian commentators. Although he doesn't advance the case for the Hebrew gospels per se, you will feel that at the very least the gospel writers thought in Hebrew because so many things fit well when viewed Hebraically. In all, this is a very useful book that I think Messianic believers will find fruitful. It would be helpful for those new to the Jewish background of the gospels. For those who have been around, I think you might find some of the references and the arguments pretty helpful, even if you already agree with the positions. Assuredly a great read for anyone who seeks better background knowledge to the gospels, and