The new Jewish Annotated New Testament is a welcome addition to the variety (cacophany?) of voices weighing in on Christian scripture these days. It is fresh, intelligent, and informed, actually a lot better informed than most of what’s out there. Published by Oxford University Press, it includes comments and insights from Jewish scholars, some of the New Testament. Now, I’m sure there are critics already blustering away about how a Jewish person couldn’t possibly understand Christian texts, but that’s nonsense. For one thing, specifically Christian biblical texts are just a small part of a long continuum of Jewish texts. Listening to the ways that people other than those within one’s religion read one’s sacred texts can be profoundly enriching. I’m grateful to editors Amy-Jill Levine (Vanderbilt University) and Marc Zvi Brettler (Brandeis), contributing writers, and Oxford UP for putting this resource at our disposal. And I’m eager to hear what thoughtful Christians make of it.
