Description
A helpfully concise commentary on Paul’s letter to the early Christians in Rome, which the Apostle wrote just a few years before the outbreak of Nero’s persecution. Keener examines each paragraph for its function in the letter as a whole, helping the reader follow Paul’s argument.
Where relevant, he draws on his vast work in ancient Jewish and Greco-Roman sources in order to help modern readers understand the message of Romans according to the way the first audience would have heard it. Throughout, Keener focuses on major points that are especially critical for the contemporary study of Paul’s most influential and complex New Testament letter.
About the Author
Craig Keener (PhD, Duke University) is Professor of New Testament, Palmer Seminary of Eastern University, and is author of fourteen books, including a number of commentaries.
Contents
Outline of Romans
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
Romans 1
Excursus: Dikaiosunē in Romans
Fusing the Horizons: Homosexual Activity
Romans 2
Romans 3
Romans 4
Romans 5
Romans 6
Romans 7
Excursus: Paul and the Law in Romans
Excursus: The “Flesh” (sarx) in Romans
Romans 8
Fusing the Horizons: Faith and Righteousness
Fusing the Horizons: Suffering
Romans 9
Romans 10
Romans 11
Fusing the Horizons: Boasting against Other Branches
Romans 12
Romans 13
Fusing the Horizons: Church and State
Romans 14
Excursus: Ancient Mediterranean Food Customs
Romans 15
Romans 16
Bibliography
Scripture Index
Index of Ancient Sources
Author Index
Subject Index
Endorsements and Reviews
By grounding his exposition of Romans in the world of the first century, yet keeping his eye on the needs and concerns of the contemporary world, Keener offers here a rare commodity: a lucid commentary that is simultaneously conversant with the latest biblical scholarship and pastorally sensitive.
John T. Fitzgerald, University of Miami, USA and North-West University, South Africa
Craig Keener has written a marvelous commentary that will prove to be a valuable tool for ministers, students, and scholars alike. By insightfully introducing and contextualizing, as well providing excurses that guide the reader from ancient to modern times, Keener has done with excellence what a commentary should do.
Manfred Lang, Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg
Do not let its brevity deceive you, dear reader. This book is excellent. Craig Keener has done an amazing job of bringing out the main point of each pericope in the book of Romans.
Jason L. Skipper, in Pastoral Musings, August 2011
Keener here offers 176 pages of commentary on Romans (including six pages on homosexuality in Ch. 1). His wide knowledge of Graeco-Roman literature and background is evident (the textual indices alone comprise 56 pages), and the work features some short sections helping to fuse the horizon of Paul and the modern reader. Keener’s approach is eclectic, with a slight emphasis on insights from rhetorical criticism.
Michael B. Thompson, in Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Vol 34 (5)
Keener’s Romans would serve well both as a broader, simpler commentary or as a second opinion alongside a large work.
Lindsay Kennedy, at www.mydigitalseminary.com, 9 June 2014
