The third release in a major new series of guides to the books of the Old Testament written in an accessible and anecdotal style. The series is suitable for personal or group use and the format is also appropriate for daily study. This series offers a natural progression from the successful 'For Everyone' series of New Testament translations and commentaries.

The Bible is simply a love letter compiled into sixty-six books and written over a period ofsixteen hundred years by more than forty authors living on three continents. Although theauthors came from different backgrounds, there is one message, one theme, one thread that runs throughout the entire Bible from the first book, Genesis, to the last book, Revelation. That message is God's redeeming love for mankind--a message that is as relevant for us today as it was two thousand years ago.The Pentateuch was most likely written by one man, Moses. It consists of the books ofGenesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy and is also known as the Law,the Torah (Hebrew for "Law"), or the Law of Moses. These books are the first fivebooks of the seventeen Historical Books of the Old Testament and are foundationalfor the rest of the Bible. One book easily flows into another, developing biblical historyfrom Creation to about 1500 BC as well as the history of Israel from the call ofAbraham through the death of Moses. Here you will meet Adam, Noah, Abraham,Isaac, Jacob and his twelve sons, Moses, Aaron, and Joshua. You will travel from theGarden of Eden to Ur, Haran, Canaan, and Egypt, through the Red Sea, and on toMount Sinai.But the center of every book in The Pentateuch is God Almighty. Your adventure withHim will begin in the first sentence of the first book, and from there on it is a wild rideas He intervenes on behalf of men and women throughout history. You will witness Hisawesome power in Genesis, His desire to bring His children into liberty in Exodus, Hisperfect holiness in Leviticus, His justice in Numbers, and His faithfulness inDeuteronomy. You will be humbled by His mercy, awed by His compassion, frightenedby His wrath, and wooed by His loving-kindness. And in every book you will come tosee that Jesus Christ is concealed, ready to be revealed in the New Testament

Deuteronomy is a book about a community being prepared for a new life. Hardship and the wilderness lie behind; the promised land lies ahead. But in the present moment, there is a call for a new commitment to God and a fresh understanding of the nature of the community of God's people. Though the scene is set more than three thousand years in the past, Deuteronomy is still a book of considerable contemporary relevance. The book of Deuteronomy, however, is not only a book of contemporary relevance. It has been, and continues to be, one of the most important and debated works in modern biblical scholarship. - Author's preface.

Many good intentions to read the entire Bible have foundered on the rocks of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Do these books have literary qualities? How does the storyteller tell the story? In Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Stephen Sherwood, C.M.F., applies the tools of narrative criticism to look for the literary qualities of these three biblical books. Sherwood identifies the narrative art of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy not only in such colorful stories as the Sabbath breaker, the threat from Sihon and Og, the deaths of Nadab and Abihu, the story of Balaam, the bronze serpent, Aaron's rod, Miriam's leprosy, and the water from the rock, but also through the extended discourses made by characters in the story. Sherwood studies the voices of several of these characters: the narrator, the Lord, Moses, Aaron, the Israelites, Balaam and Barak, and others, to see how each is characterized" by their words and actions. In Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Sherwood also shows how each of the three books has its own characteristics as part of a larger story. Leviticus deals mainly with divine speech. Numbers also contains divine speech but the voices of Moses and the narrator are more recurrent. Deuteronomy is presented in the form of a farewell speech of Moses before his death. The story is then retold from Moses' point of view, with different emphases and even some changes. Chapters are *General Introduction, - *Leviticus, - *Numbers, - and *Deuteronomy. - Each chapter contains a general introduction to a biblical book which is followed by notes which make observations on the literary qualities of smaller units of each book.

Christians read the Jewish Scriptures in the light of what God did in Jesus the Christ. This ACCS volume on Exodus through Deuteronomy bears ample witness to this new way of reading these ancient texts. Varied in texture and nuance, the interpretations included in this volume display a treasure house of ancient wisdom, speaking with eloquence and intellectual acumen to the church today.

“The book of Deuteronomy can rightly be called a compendium of the most important ideas of the Old Testament.” So begins this commentary on the book of Deuteronomy, which Bill Arnold treats as the heart of the Torah and the fulcrum of the Old Testament—crystallizing the themes of the first four books of the Bible and establishing the theological foundation of the books that follow. After a thorough introduction that explores these and other matters, Arnold provides an original translation of the first eleven chapters of Deuteronomy along with verse-by-verse commentary (with the translation and commentary of the remaining chapters following in a second volume). As with the other entries in the New International Commentary on the Old Testament, Arnold remains rooted in the book’s historical context while focusing on its meaning and use as Christian Scripture today. Ideal for pastors, students, scholars, and interested laypersons, this commentary is an authoritative yet accessible companion to the book of Deuteronomy.

The book of Numbers tells a story with two main characters—God and Israel. The way the story is told sounds odd and often harsh to readers today. The main point of the book is nevertheless of immense importance for God’s people in any age: exact obedience to God is crucial. This comprehensive and erudite commentary presents a thorough explication of this significant Hebrew text. Timothy Ashley’s introduction discusses such questions as structure, authorship, and theological themes, and it features an extended bibliography of major works on the book of Numbers. Then, dividing the text of Numbers into five major sections, Ashley elucidates the theological themes of obedience and disobedience, which run throughout. His detailed verse-by-verse comments primarily explain the Hebrew text of Numbers as it stands rather than speculate on how the book came to be in its present form. This second edition includes revisions that reflect Ashley’s decades of experience with the book of Numbers, as well as updates to the footnotes and bibliography, which add many important works published in the last thirty years. With these new features, Ashley’s commentary solidifies its place as the church’s most faithful and definitive reference on the book of Numbers.