In this new commentary Muddiman questions the assumption that if Ephesians is not by Paul it must be wholly accounted for as an example of post-Pauline pseudepigraphy. He explores an alternative: that it is an authentic letter subsequently edited and expanded with the aim of adjusting the Pauline tradition to meet a new situation. All the perspectives of major modern scholars are discussed and assessed particularly on the question of Ephesians' relationship to Colossians. The implications for the question of the authorship on Paul's theology are extensively explored.

From a foremost authority on the New Testament comes a major new commentary on Ephesians -- a letter of truth, love, and unity to our superficial world. This newest volume in the Pillar New Testament Commentary series provides a rich exposition of Ephesians, one of the most significant documents ever written. Using the fruits of recent biblical research, Peter O'Brien shows how Ephesians sums up God's magnificent plan of salvation in Christ and spells out his divine purpose for believers today. A model of the scholarly excellence characteristic of the entire PNTC series (which now features a striking new jacket design), O'Brien's Ephesians will become the standard work on this profoundly influential book. - Publisher.

Cuneiform records made some three thousand years ago are the basis for this essay on the ideas of death and the afterlife and the story of the flood which were current among the ancient peoples of the Tigro-Euphrates Valley. Following up on his previous volume, The Babylonian Genesis, the author interprets the famous Gilgamesh epic and other related Babylonian and Assyrian documents. He compares them with corresponding portions of the Old Testament in order to determine the inherent historical relationship of Hebrew and Mesopotamian ideas.

In this volume in the celebrated New International Greek Testament Commentary series, James D. G. Dunn, author of numerous well-received works on the historical origin and theological interpretation of the New Testament, provides detailed expositions of the text of Paul s letters to the Colossians and to Philemon. Dunn examines each of these letters within the context of the Jewish and Hellenistic cultures in the first century, and he discusses the place of Colossians and Philemon in the relationship between the Pauline mission and the early churches that received these letters. He places particular stress on the role of faith in Jesus Christ within and over against Judaism and on the counsel of these two important letters with regard to the shaping of human relationships in the community of faith.

The Epistle to Ephesians contains powerful statements of Pauline doctrine, but many questions can be raised about its authorship and intended readership. John Muddiman's exposition of this text explores these issues and their theological implications, deploying the latest scholarship to provide a thorough and illuminating commentary on this epistle.