Jesus in His Jewish Context

This edition adds some chapters to Geza Vermes' (1983) Jesus and the World of Judaism. Most of the essays date back to the 70s and 80s. The Qumran related ones are more recent (1996, 1999) and the reflection in the final chapter is taken from Vermes' autobiography, published in 1998.Vermes is now mainstream, though it appears that thirty years ago this was not the case. He argues for an historical approach, in contrast to what he calls a theological approach. Whereas the latter would focus on Jesus in his New testament context and regard the rest of what was happening in the intertestamental years as background, Vermes takes the opposite view. It is more historically valid and enlightening, in his view, to begin with what we know of the temporal and spatial setting and work back to the representation of Jesus in the synoptic gospels. From that point we can excavate what we think represents actual speech and events in the life of Jesus and what is constructed by the evangelists (ie the synoptics, not John, which Vermes believes has almost no historical validity at all).I have said that I believe that Vermes is now mainstream - not necessarily that all his conclusions are accepted by the scholarly community, but that a more historically deductive approach is now common. By historical deduction I refer to the process of discovery proceeding from the general historical context to the particular events and characters to be discovered. My belief is not based on expertise, and is open to challenge from those who know better. However, I recently completed a course in biblical studies at a Catholic university that used extensively recent scholarship that did exactly what Vermes was arguing for in the 70s and 80s, ie placed gospel-based interpretations firmly in the context of the time and place of their writing and of the broader contemporary Jewish world. I would think it difficult for New Testament scholars now writing for a wider community to begin with a theological position and then proceed simply to find justification for it.Vermes writes well and with a degree of passion. There is a degree of polemicism in his style. His wit and pleasure in pith have got him into trouble with sober scholars who have taken him to task for insufficient deference to method or unsubtle summative statements. This book begins with a self-defence from criticism by John Meier arising from a Vermes attempt to be humorous. At another time he argues that people misrepresent him for understanding statements such as "Jesus was a Galilean Hasid" (p. 10) as implying that that's all he was, but it's not an unreasonable inference when considered in the light of Vermes' argument as a whole. On other occasions, Vermes does make the explicit point that he thinks Jesus was in fact a Galilean Hasid, like Honi and Hanina ben Dosa, but much more as well (though still within the parameters of Hasidism).I have found the three books I've read by Vermes on Jesus enlightening and very readable. They have helped me greatly to understand Jesus in his Jewish context without in any way lessening my faith in the value of Jesus' mission and its subsequent development in the mission of the Church. I believe Vermes would see this as a reasonable outcome of his message to the reader.Unfortunately, my Fortress Press paperback copy ordered through Amazon fell apart almost immediately. I've not come across such a poorly bound book in many years. I hope it was a one-off, as I know Fortress Press is a quality publisher. I have let them know.

This book is not for the faint of heart. It would be a difficult read for a seriously conservative or fundamentalist Christian. However, Vermes' admiration for Jesus and his fairness in his assessments come through very forcefully and very clearly. He calls for placing the New Testament...and other First Century Christian literature...within the whole complex of Jewish literature and evaluating it together. He seeks out the Aramaic and Hebrew elements of language that lie behind the New Testament Greek. He seeks to understand the impact of the Semitic elements on the Greek. For example he shows quite clearly that the element "Son of Man" does not refer to a celestian individual who operates behind the Christian scene or even to Jesus himself. He shows the history of the expression in other Jewish literature and, importantly, in the Dead Sea literature. In essence the phrase is a circumlocution pointing to the speaker himself...a substitute for the word "I".As one reads this book, one comes to see Jesus more clearly and to sense his humanity and his struggles. One sees his objections to certain Jewish elements and certainly to the domination of the Romans. Jesus becomes a struggling human who faces a cruel and untimely death at the hands of conspirators who kill him for their own reasons. What one wishes to do with the resurrection and with the divinity of Jesus is, certainly, up to the individual believer, but after reading this volume one comes away feeling much closer to the Man from Nazareth who had great aspirations for his fellow Jews. It helps one understand that Jesus was indeed a Jew struggling with First Century Jewish concerns.

Vermes is one of the foremost experts on the Jewish world that produced Jesus. This book is a good summary of much of his research into the language and the customs of Judaism and early Christianity during the intertestamental period. Fully annotated for the scholar, it still allows an informative reading by the interested layperson.

NOT HEARD IN THE PEWSJesus was an apocalyptic Jewish prophet preparing the lost sheep of Israel for God's imminent intervention in history. He would be utterly baffled by the dogma and ritual that now bears his name.