This work is a look at the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament, written for a popular audience by one of the nineteenth century's greatest Old Testament scholars.

The ultimate, all-in-one resource on what the Old Testament says about Jesus As Jesus walked the Emmaeus road, he showed his companions how the whole of Scripture foretold his coming. Yet so often today we’re not quite sure how to talk about Jesus in the Old Testament. How do you know what applies to Jesus? And how do you interpret some of the strange prophetic language? Get answers and clarity in this authoritative and reliable guide to messianic prophecy from some of the world’s foremost evangelical Old Testament scholars. In this in-depth, user-friendly one volume resource you get: -essays from scholars on the big ideas and major themes surrounding Messianic prophecy -A clear and careful commentary on every passage in the Old Testament considered Messianic -Insights into the original Hebrew and helpful analysis of theological implications Watch the Scriptures come into full color as you see new meaning in familiar passages and further appreciate God’s masterful handiwork in preparing the way for Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah.

In The Messianic Hope, book six of the New American Commentary Studies in Bible & Theology series, Jewish Studies professor Michael Rydelnik puts forth a thesis that the Old Testament was intended by its authors to be read as a messianic primer. He explains at length how the text reveals significant direct messianic prophecy when read in its final form. Users will find this topical study an excellent extension of the long-respected New American Commentary series.

Christians in general—and preachers of prophecy in particular—attribute the fulfillment of hundreds of Old Testament messianic prophecies to Jesus of Nazareth. Often these claims arise in the uncritical environment of Christian churches or popular literature that is treating messianic prophecy. People with critical thinking abilities, and those endowed with a skeptical nature, often have key questions that remain unaddressed in such environments. These thinkers and skeptics are the people that will be most interested in this work. The primary question addressed is this: “Do critically acceptable historical-evidential reasons exist for believing that Jesus Christ is the direct fulfillment of some specific Old Testament messianic texts?” Approaching this question within a framework that eliminates any possibility of staged prophetic fulfillment, and those that may occur by mere chance or collusion, produces results that must be taken seriously. Even with these strict criteria, Jesus emerges as the only viable candidate to fulfill some of the prophecies included in this study. For other prophetic texts, the evidence is not as abundant or convincing. However, even these texts yield several minimal facts that directly impinge on New Testament claims about Jesus.