The Gospel of Luke (New Cambridge Bible Commentary)

Excellent scholarly and accessible commentary- I love how Amy Jill and Ben graciously disagree with each other in places. “Amy Jill thinks….. Ben disagrees” . It’s a great reminder that people do not have to see completely eye to eye to do great work together

It's written by two authors, and one of them, Ben Witherington, is from Asbury Seminary and is (I think) absolute tops in his field of research. The female author, Amy-Jill Levine, is a Jewish NT scholar, and she and Ben like and respect each other. Both are members of SNTS (Studiorum Novi Testimenti Societas). They don't quarrel but they do argue courteously and with deference, which makes this a million dollar work. The result is the most detailed kind of discussion that I have ever seen. It is William Barclay cubed as far as background of the text is concerned. It is light years above every other scholarly work, and is on a level, I think, with Old Testament scholars Keil and Delitzsch. It doesn't have the apparatus of an R.H. Charles, and is not about judging every line of the Greek like a Bruce Metzger or a Kurt Aland. Nor does it have a Greek interlinear. The text of Luke is in the NRSV, but when the NRSV is off they will tell you it is, and why. I'm just saying this is a true scholarly conversation between two professors, about Luke, such as you have never read before. It's practically line by line. You get the respectful arguments between a top NT professor and this top Jewish professor unlike anything else I've ever seen. Delicious.

The best part of this commentary is the regular back-and-forth between two amazing scholars who offer points and counterpoints to textual readings along the way. I would love to see more commentaries done this way and I applaud NCBC for providing this. Props, too, to the scholars for organizing agreement, divergence, and shades of nuance in such an engaging and helpful way

Overall I am pleased with this 715 page commentary and would recommend it to clergy, teachers, and earnest students of Luke's Gospel. One of its appealing features is that the reader is offered the insights of two outstanding New Testament scholars. Ben Witherington III is Christian whilst Amy-Jill Levine is Jewish. In their commentaries on individual passages they may agree or disagree, but even in their disagreements they remain amicable. For example, Witherington will see traces of Jesus of Nazareth behind Luke's account, e.g., in Jesus invoking of God as "Father" in the Lord's Prayer. Levine is not so sure. Levine is known for her wit and is highly sought after as a public speaker. On p. 423 in their lively debate about the repentance of the prodigal son of Luke 15 Witherington maintains that there is some personal transformation involved. On the other hand, Levine "doubts this … although she would be delighted to know that the young man has opted for a life of fidelity rather than foolishness (and she would still be worried if he decided to date her daughter).""Bridging the Horizons," a section which occurs at the end of each Lukan chapter, is most helpful. These reflections come from various points of view and nudge the reader along different, and perhaps unfamiliar paths of thought. See, for instance, the two powerful, lengthy reflections upon Forgiveness after Luke 6 (pp. 190-93). Another useful feature is Levine's frequent admonition to Christians. It is found, e.g., in her comments on Christian interpretations of the shepherds of Luke 2: "As we continue to note: one does not need to create an ugly picture of Judaism in order to derive a beautiful picture of Jesus" (p. 59). The commentators engage their readers in many of the current discussions about Luke's theology and ecclesiology, e.g., of how Luke treats women. To me Witherington's observations on Luke's positive viewpoint are winsome. Placed within the commentary proper are treatments of a dozen issues for "further reflection." The shortest deals with the parables and is too short. The longest treats Miriam of Magdala and is too long. Three more issues should have been singled out for "further reflection": Prayer, Possessions, Food/Table Fellowship.There are other shortcomings. I would have liked Levine to provide a full argument for her use of later Jewish materials (Mishnah and Talmud) to interpret the Gospel of Luke. What she says on p. 391 is informative, but needs expansion: "... the rabbinic comments postdate the New Testament and are descriptive of what the rabbis think people should do rather than descriptive of what they do..." The other negatives about this commentary largely deal with format and lack of editing. A most appealing feature of the commentary are new titles/headings given to sections and chapters. For example, the heading for Luke 11 is "Prayer, Petitions, Parables, and Polemic." These new headings may force readers to take another look at most familiar material. The drawback of this approach is that the publisher/editor has put these new chapter headings as running headings at the top of the page, but has forgotten to indicate the chapter in Luke's Gospel to which these headings belong. This writer is quite familiar with Luke's Gospel, but found it very frustrating to pick up this huge volume, open it, and not know where exactly in the Gospel he was. A glance at the innovative running heading provided little assistance. The table of contents does not list the twelve sections for "further reflection." Although the front matter (p. iii) noted that one of the goals of this commentary series is to provide an annotated "Selected Readings" section, there is no such annotated bibliography in this commentary.In sum, I am happy to add this commentary to my personal library and to recommend it. It may often shake preachers and teachers out of their staid interpretive positions, esp. with regard to Luke's parables.

I was looking for a different voice, and I found it. This is a unique commentary that truly is a wonderful resource. Each voice is distinctive and wonderful. The dialogue is absolutely a joy to read and enter into through the way this is written. I feel as though I am able to enter the conversation with the authors.

A Jewish and an evangelical biblical scholar swap perspectives on a pivotal biblical book. I love the way they present their data -- a kind of conversational style. (Despite their warnings against this, I find myself saying, "Go, Amy-Jill!"

Ben and AJ bring their common as well as divergent views of this Gospel in immense detail. They were unafraid to go Point-Counterpoint at times. This will be my go to for Luke moving forward.

I am using this book for a class and ordered the hard cover because I wanted it to last, but the pages began to fall out in the front of the book. I bought some book glue and attempted to repair it but they just keep separating. Unfortunately the time has passed for a return and I am disappointed. I think the content in the book is worth studying but the construction of the book is poor.