Annotated Jewish New Testament–first impressions

Update 10/27/11 :  See also this post.

Well, I have the (Oxford) Jewish Annotated New Testament in my hot little hands this afternoon.  It is formatted in the style of New Oxford Annotated Bible, 4th edition – the Biblical text (NRSV) is set in a double-column serif font that is not right-justified, the annotations and commentary are set in a single-colum sans-serif font.  I have elsewhere complained about the readability of this format, but for this volume, the paper is thick, substantially improving readability (although it is not as handsome as the New Oxford Annotated Apocrypha, 4th edition – which is laid out in the same style.

Here is a table indicating some of the differences physically and in content between the three volumes:

The list of contributors is star studded (essays are italicized):

• Alan J. Avery-Peck (Holy Cross C.):  2 Corinthian
• Herbert Basser (Queens U.):  James
• Daniel Boyarin (U. California, Berkeley):  Logos, A Jewish Word:  John’s Prologue as Midrash
• Marc Zvi Brettler (Brandeis U.):  Editor; The New Testament between the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and Rabbinic Literature
• Jonathan Brumber-Kraus (Wheaton C., Mass.):  3 John
• Shaye J. D. Cohen (Harvard U.):  Galatians; Judaism and Jewishness; Josephus
• Michael Cook (Princeton U.):  Philippians
• Pamela Eisenbaum (Iliff S. Th.):  Hebrews
• Michael Fagenblat (Monash U.):  The Concept of Neighbor in Jewish and Christian Ethics
• Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert (Stanford U.):  Judaizers, Jewish Christians, and Others
• David Frankfurter (Boston U.):  Revelation
• David M. Freidenreich (Colby C.):  Food and Table Fellowship
• Julie Galambush (William & Mary C.):  2 John
• Aaron M. Gale (West Virginia U.):  Matthew
• Joshua D. Garroway (Hebrew Union C.):  Ioudaios
• Barbara Geller (Wellesley C.): Philemon
• Gary Gilbert (Claremont McKenna C.):  Acts
• Martin Goodman (Oxford U.): Jewish History, 331 BCE – 135 CE
• Leonard Greenspoon (Creighton U.):  The Septuagint
• Michael R. Greenwald (St. Lawrence U.):  2 Peter; The Canon of the New Testament
• Adam Gregerman (Loyola U., Maryland): 2 Thessalonians
• Maxine Grossman (U. Maryland, College Park): Ephesians; The Dead Sea Scrolls
• Susannah Heschel (Dartmouth C.):  Jesus in Modern Jewish Thought
• Martha Himmelfarb (Princeton U.):  Afterlife and Resurrection
• Tal Ilan (Free U., Berlin):  2 Timonthy
• Andrew S. Jacobs (Scripps C.):  Jude
• Jonathan Klawans (Boston U.):  The Law
• Naomi Koltun-Fromm (Haverford C.):  1 Timothy
• Jennifer L. Koosed (Albright C.):  Titus
• Ross S. Kraemer (Brown U.):  Jewish Family Life in the First Century CE
• Shira Lander (Rice U.):  1 Corinthians
• Daniel R. Langton (Manchester):  Paul in Jewish Thought
• Rebecca Lesses (Ithica):  Divine Beings
• Daniel B. Levenson:  Messianic Movements
• Amy-Jill Levine (Vanderbilt U.):  Editor; Luke; Bearing False Witness:  Common Errors Made about Early Judaism
• Lee I. Levine (Hebrew U.):  The Synagogue
• Martin Lockshin (York U., Toronto):  Jesus in Medieval Jewish Tradition
• Michele Murray (Bishop’s U.):  1 John
• Mark D. Nanos (Rockhurst U.):  Romans; Paul and Judaism
• Adele Reinhartz (U. Ottawa):  John
• David Fox Sandmel (Catholic Theological Union):  Thessalonians
• David Satran (Hebrew U.):  Philo of Alexandria
• Daniel R. Schwartz (Hebrew U.):  Jewish Movements of the New Testament Period
• Naomi Seidman (Pacific S. Religion):  Translation of the Bible
• Claudia Setzer (Manhattan C.):  1 Peter, Jewish Responses to Believers in Jesus
• David Stern (U. Pennsylvania):  Midrash and Parables in the New Testament
• Geza Vermes (Oxford U.):  Jewish Miracle Workers in the Late Second Temple Period
• Burton L. Visotzky (Jewish Th. Seminary):  Jesus in Rabbinic Tradition
• Lawrence M. Wills (Episcopal Divinity S.):  Mark
• Peter Zaas (Sienna C.):  Colossians

I have only skimmed the volume so far, but my initial impressions are that the volume seems intriguing, is clearly more heavily annotated than the New Oxford Annotated Bible, and seems to have extensive coverage of philosophical and historical matters.  I previously mentioned the volume here, and I hope to post a review in due course.