Book Review: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary. Volume 2A: John,by Craig S. Keener

This book serves as the opening installment (2A) of the second of four volumes in Zondervan's New Testament illustrated commentary series (general editor: Clinton E. Arnold). Other volumes include the Synoptic Gospels, Romans to Philemon, and Hebrews to Revelation. Part 2B focuses on Acts of the Apostles. There also exists an analogous Old Testament series.

Craig Keener brings his well known expertise on the subject to the task. Similar to his 2003 two-volume 1500-page commentary on the fourth Gospel (and his equally colossal Acts commentary), the present volume pays close attention to the Jewish and Greco-Roman setting of John. The difference, of course, is the scope of the discussion and the intended audience (the 2003 commentary had over 330 pages of introduction alone). The Zondervan volume is best viewed as an illustrated summary of that earlier work and is aimed at a general reader. Still, the commentary remains highly informative and to the point, even if here Keener's knowledge is presented in an abbreviated form. Most pages contain excurses. As one has come to expect, the author consistently grounds even this more general discussion in relevant scripture, pseudepigrapha, rabbinical, classical, and Christian literature.

The volume contains high resolution color photographs of Bethsaida (p. 18), Nazareth (p. 19), Tel Salim (p. 32), Mt. Gerizim (p. 40), the traditional site of the garden of Gethsemane (p. 168), Kidron Valley (p. 172), the alternative site of Jesus' tomb (the so-called “garden tomb”—p. 198), and numerous gorgeous images of the sea of Galilee in different locations and at different times of day (pp. 2–3, 54, 209). Holy Land Christian pilgrimage sites featured in John's Gospel or relevant to the story are captured as well, including the Bir Ya'qub monastery entrance (p. 36), the Church of Nativity complex (p. 75), and the Tomb of Lazarus (the interior is shown on p. 114; depicted on p. 112 is the Roman Catholic church of St. Lazarus). Noteworthy material culture from the first-century or early ce Galilee and Jerusalem includes leather sandals (p. 15), stone water jars (p. 22), seals (p. 59), a basalt synagogue seat that has come to be known as the “seat of Moses” (p. 60, see Matt 23:2), and dice (p. 192). There are multiple images of coins that were used across Palestine, some dating back to 333 bce (pp. 25, 34, 55, 189). The images of the Capernaum synagogue remains are correctly accompanied by the caveat that the excavated structure dates to the second or third century ce (p. 64).

The volume's most intriguing illustration is the hypothetical reconstruction of Jesus' (Joseph of Arimathea's) tomb on pp. 202–03. Relying on the research of Eugenia L. Nitowski (see especially J. A. Kritzeck and E. L. Nitowski, “The Rolling-Stone Tomb F.1 at Tell Ḥesbân,” AUSS 18/1 [1980]: 77–100) and utilizing an artistic reconstruction by the late great Hugh Claycombe († 2017), Keener offers a schematic of the sepulchre incorporating all four canonical empty tomb stories (note the number, location, and position of the angels inside the crypt). The question countless readers may have asked themselves (what were the angels in Mark 16:5 and John 20:12 sitting on?) is given a clear answer. See Kritzeck and Nitowski, “Rolling-Stone Tomb,” pp. 84–86, for a detailed discussion of the central chamber pit. (Note that Claycombe's illustration may be somewhat optimistic with regard to the height of the chamber's ceiling; note also that Mark 16:4 problematizes the rolling stone track's depiction as located at the bottom of the hypothetical staircase leading to the tomb in the reconstruction).

Claycombe's splendid work is also featured on p. 25, in the form of the more familiar cutaway view of the high sanctuary in Herod's temple (pp. 24–25 are dedicated to the Temple Mount; see also pp. 110, 155, 179–80). Other important artistic reconstructions and models include the pools of Bethesda (pp. 46–47) and Siloam (p. 94), both of which are accompanied by modern-day photographs of the remains, and Golgotha (p. 190), the traditional location of the modern-day Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The volume is very generously indexed. The introductory matter features a list of sidebars, an index of photos and maps, a list of ancient source abbreviations (scripture, Jewish sources, Greco-Roman sources, Apostolic Fathers), a list of modern academic source abbreviations, and a list of general abbreviations. The closing pages contain endnotes and credits for photos and maps.

The principal objectives of a book like this (and other entries in Zondervan's OT and NT series) are: (a) to supply the reader with scientifically informed visuals to accompany the narrative and (b) to serve as a guide on a journey through the Holy Land. Both are accomplished here. The book's price makes it an incredible bargain. Not only this entry but the entire four-volume NT set will make a great addition to the libraries of lay persons and biblical scholars. The latter may find this book to be an excellent resource for undergraduate teaching.