Josiah D. Hall

Scholars have long recognized John's dual focus on Jesus's relationship to God's presence and his impending physical absence. Yet attention to Jesus's absence is often restricted to the Farewell Discourse. Josiah D. Hall here provides an innovative reading of John's Gospel, arguing that tension between Jesus's presence and absence develops throughout the narrative and is integral to the Gospel's plot. Drawing on sources from across the ancient Mediterranean basin, Hall contends that John leverages conceptions of how deities would manifest their presence to clarify that Jesus is the enfleshed divine presence. Likewise, John depicts Jesus's absence by drawing on motifs of divine departure, especially those which understand a deity's absence as judgment. Attending closely to the paradoxical import of Jesus's presence and absence in John, Hall provides insights on classic Johannine riddles, including John's perspectives on the temple, the characters he labels as 'the Jews', and the Spirit-Paraclete's relationship to Jesus.

Scholars have long recognized John's dual focus on Jesus's relationship to God's presence and his impending physical absence. Yet attention to Jesus's absence is often restricted to the Farewell Discourse. Josiah D. Hall here provides an innovative reading of John's Gospel, arguing that tension between Jesus's presence and absence develops throughout the narrative and is integral to the Gospel's plot. Drawing on sources from across the ancient Mediterranean basin, Hall contends that John leverages conceptions of how deities would manifest their presence to clarify that Jesus is the enfleshed divine presence. Likewise, John depicts Jesus's absence by drawing on motifs of divine departure, especially those which understand a deity's absence as judgment. Attending closely to the paradoxical import of Jesus's presence and absence in John, Hall provides insights on classic Johannine riddles, including John's perspectives on the temple, the characters he labels as 'the Jews', and the Spirit-Paraclete's relationship to Jesus.

In Acts 15–28: A Handbook on the Greek Text, Martin Culy, Mikeal Parsons, and Josiah Hall provide a foundational examination of the Greek text of Acts. The analysis is distinguished by the detailed yet comprehensive attention paid to the text. The authors' exposition is a convenient pedagogical and reference tool that explains the form and syntax of the biblical text, offers guidance for deciding between competing semantic analyses, engages important text-critical debates, and addresses questions relating to the Greek text that are frequently overlooked or ignored by standard commentaries. Beyond serving as a succinct and accessible analytic key, Acts also reflects the most up-to-date advances in scholarship on Greek grammar and linguistics. This handbook proves itself an indispensable tool for anyone committed to a deep reading of the biblical text. This revised and expanded handbook on the Greek text of Acts, unlike its predecessor, includes comments on the grammar and syntax of every word in the text and incorporates insights from the Editio Critica Maior, now the standard critical Greek text for the Acts of the Apostles.

In Acts 1–14: A Handbook on the Greek Text, Martin Culy, Mikeal Parsons, and Josiah Hall provide a foundational examination of the Greek text of Acts. The analysis is distinguished by the detailed yet comprehensive attention paid to the text. The authors' exposition is a convenient pedagogical and reference tool that explains the form and syntax of the biblical text, offers guidance for deciding between competing semantic analyses, engages important text-critical debates, and addresses questions relating to the Greek text that are frequently overlooked or ignored by standard commentaries. Beyond serving as a succinct and accessible analytic key, Acts also reflects the most up-to-date advances in scholarship on Greek grammar and linguistics. This handbook proves itself an indispensable tool for anyone committed to a deep reading of the biblical text. This revised and expanded handbook on the Greek text of Acts, unlike its predecessor, includes comments on the grammar and syntax of every word in the text and incorporates insights from the Editio Critica Maior, now the standard critical Greek text for the Acts of the Apostles.