The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Matthew-Luke

A biblical examination of the historical, geographical, cultural, and economic background of the New Testament for a 21st century understanding of the first century world.

This is not theology, nor is it a word study; rather it's opening a window to transport the reader back into the setting of the New Testament to see, touch, and hear as much of the world of that time as possible. Behind every scene in the Bible is a wealth of information that sheds light on the truths that are told. As the maxim goes, "Any text apart from its context is a misunderstood text." Background information is a key component to correct interpretation, and thus correct application.

Craig A. Evans received his Ph.D. (1983) in New Testament from Claremont Graduate University and is the Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Acadia Divinity College in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. He also taught for twenty-one years at Trinity Western University in British Columbia, Canada. He has authored many books, including Luke (Hendrickson, 1990), Noncanonical Writings and New Testament Interpretation (Hendrickson, 1992), Word and Glory (Sheffield, 1993), Jesus and His Contemporaries (Brill, 1995), and Mark, in the Word Biblical Commentary (Thomas Nelson, 2001). He is the editor of the Bulletin for Biblical Research and the Dictionary of New Testament Background (IVP, 2000). He has lectured at Cambridge, Durham, and Oxford Universities and frequently speaks at scholarly and popular conferences in North America and around the world. He also has appeared several times on the television program "Faith and Reason," and has recently appeared in a History Channel presentation of the Historical Jesus.

Evans's specialties include the historical Jesus, the Synoptic Gospels, and the relation of the Dead Sea Scrolls to the New Testament. Recently he has contributed to the Jewish Believers in Jesus project and has participated in a television documentary on the historical Jesus to air on the History channel.