Honora Howell Chapman

The Pharisees, Jesus, and the Politics of Roman Palestine, Volume 1

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“In The Pharisees, Jesus, and the Politics of Roman Palestine, renowned scholar Richard Horsley draws on six decades of research to build new understanding of the Pharisees’ documented actions for two centuries within an unstable imperial environment. After tracing the evolution of both New Testament studies and his own intellectual journey, Horsley reconstructs the Pharisees’ complex political, economic, and religious role in the Judean temple-state through close and innovative analysis of ancient narratives, especially the works of Josephus, the Jewish priest who was not a Pharisee. Volume 1 stands as a vital companion to recent scholarship and paves the way for Volume 2, which will examine the Gospels in depth to complete Horsley’s fascinating study of the Pharisees, the most prominent pre-70 CE Jewish group whose legacy remains misunderstood and misrepresented to this day.”