The publication of the King James version of the Bible, translated between 1603 and 1611, coincided with an extraordinary flowering of English literature and is universally acknowledged as the greatest influence on English-language literature in history. Now, world-class literary writers introduce the book of the King James Bible in a series of beautifully designed, small-format volumes. The introducers' passionate, provocative, and personal engagements with the spirituality and the language of the text make the Bible come alive as a stunning work of literature and remind us of its overwhelming contemporary relevance.

They say the Bible is true, but does it ring true? Does it resonate? In this journey through the Gospel of Matthew, Matt Woodley considers the audacious idea of a God with us--confronting us in the midst of all we've invested ourselves in and dedicated ourselves to, and encouraging us with the promise that the God who made us has a better life in mind for us. The Resonate series recovers the ancient wisdom of Scripture for a complex world. The stories and insights of each book of the Bible are brought into conversation with contemporary voices of hope and lament--the cultural messages we interact with on a daily basis. The Scriptures become a meeting ground where God is confronted with the pressing concerns of our day, and we are confronted in turn with a fresh experience of God's truth.

Contrary to the prevailing view that βασιλεία is a verbal noun signifying God’s rule, this study demonstrates how the term’s pragmatic range in Matthew’s Gospel covers both five distinct types of use and their integration into a coherent concept. The study, which is the first to examine all occurrences of βασιλεία in the First Gospel from the perspective of semantic monosemy, extends and enhances our appreciation of the Matthean Zentralbegriff, and engenders a more accurate apprehension of the nature and aims of the Matthean narrative and the theological views it conveys.

A lively, readable and up-to-date guide to the Synoptic Problem, ideal for undergraduate students, and the general reader.

In this work, Joshua Leim attempts to bring greater clarity to the articulation of Jesus' identity in Matthew by attending more precisely to two linguistic patterns woven deeply into the entire narrative's presentation of Jesus: Matthew's christological use of "worship/obeisance" language (proskyneo) and his paternal-filial idiom. Along with exploring the role these linguistic patterns play in the narrative, the author attempts to hear such language in relation to early Judaism and its articulation of the identity of the God of Israel. The study of these various elements yields the conclusion that the identity of God and Jesus Christ are inseparably related in Matthew's Gospel. Matthew articulates the identity of Israel's God around the Father-Son relation.

The Good News according to Matthewis a brilliant, passage-by-passage investigation of the longest Gospel. By comparing Matthew with his sources--Mark, the Saying Source, early liturgies, and with parallels like Luke, earlier wisdom literature, and Qumran texts, Schweizer is able to isolate Matthew's distinctive view of Christ.

The earliest of the four Gospels, the book portrays Jesus as an enigmatic figure, struggling with enemies, his inner and external demons, and with his devoted but disconcerted disciples. Unlike other gospels, his parables are obscure, to be explained secretly to his followers. With an introduction by Nick Cave