In this new contribution to the New Testament Library, renowned New Testament scholar Beverly Roberts Gaventa offers a fresh account of Paul's Letter to the Romans as an event, both in the sense that it reflects a particular historical moment in Paul's labors and in the sense that it reflects the event God brings about in the gospel Paul represents.
Attention to that dual sense of event means that Gaventa attends to the literary, historical, and theological features of the letter.
Throughout the commentary, Gaventa keeps in view central questions of what Paul hoped the letter might accomplish among its listeners in Rome and how his auditors might have heard it when read by Phoebe. In posing potential answers to these questions, Gaventa touches on vital themes such as the intrusion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that prompts Paul to write in the first place, what that event reveals about the situation of all creation, how it relates to both Israel and the Gentiles, and what its implications are for life in faith.
The New Testament Library series offers authoritative commentary on every book and major aspect of the New Testament, providing fresh translations based on the best available ancient manuscripts, critical portrayals of the historical world in which the books were created, careful attention to their literary design, and a theologically perceptive exposition of the biblical text. The contributors are scholars of international standing. The editorial board consists of C. Clifton Black, Princeton Theological Seminary; John T. Carroll, Union Presbyterian Seminary; and Susan E. Hylen, Candler School of Theology, Emory University.
Reviews
"In this superb commentary, Beverly Gaventa skillfully cuts her own path through the thicket of scholarly debates about Romans, offering many fresh readings of the letter in a clear and uncluttered style. Her deep resonance with Paul and her many theological insights provide a compelling interpretation of Romans, presented in an accessible form that will be highly welcome to scholars, students, and church leaders alike." — John M.G. Barclay, Lightfoot Professor of Divinity, Durham University
"This commentary offers significant understandings of the literary, historical, and theological dimensions of Paul's letter to the Romans. Romans is an occasional letter, but what does it look like to read Romans in light of the ultimate occasion of the correspondence—God’s decisive liberating action in the Christ event? In this volume, Beverly Gaventa demonstrates well what such an interpretive posture looks like. An impressive tour de force, this commentary is an invaluable contribution to Pauline studies." — Lisa M. Bowens, Associate Professor of New Testament, Princeton Theological Seminary
"The fruit of a life shaped by conversation with Paul and his interpreters, Beverly Gaventa's magisterial commentary on Romans constantly surprises the reader with new insights into a letter that never gets old. With her characteristic clarity and close attention to the text, Gaventa ushers her readers into a thoroughgoing apocalyptic reading of Romans marked by theological passion and pastoral acumen. This is a must-read for every serious student of Paul and Paul's gospel." — Susan Eastman, Associate Research Professor Emerita of New Testament, Duke Divinity School
"This is a landmark of contemporary biblical exegesis. Written with great economy and even greater understanding, Gaventa's commentary sparkles with insight, argument, and instruction. Here serious scholarship serves a singular purpose, namely, that we might hear again what Paul’s Roman auditors heard in his words and so confront afresh the truly urgent occasion of the apostle's letter: the advent of the redeeming power of God in the gospel of Christ Jesus. Gaventa's achievement as an interpreter of Paul places her firmly among those 'sisters of Phoebe' to whom the book is dedicated." — Philip G. Ziegler, Professor of Christian Dogmatics, University of Aberdeen
"This commentary on Romans is more than a resource; it is a reading born of a sustained relationship. Beverly Gaventa's lifetime of engagement with Paul's letter results in something other than a record of possible interpretations. This is an encounter: an encounter with Romans, and also, by way of Gaventa's patient and deep historical and theological interpretation, an encounter with what Paul calls 'the power of God' that, through Romans, encounters us in the gospel of Jesus Christ." — Jonathan Linebaugh, Professor of New Testament, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University
Beverly Roberts Gaventa is Helen H. P. Manson Professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey. She has published a number of books including Mary: Glimpses of the Mother of Jesus, one of the few books written about Mary by a Protestant woman.
