New Testament
History

A Narrative Account

Ben Witherington III

© 2001 by Ben Witherington III

Published by Baker Academic

a division of Baker Book House Company

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516–6287

www.bakeracademic.com

Paperback edition published in 2003

ISBN 10: 0-8010-2769-1

ISBN 978-0-8010-2769-7

Second printing, August 2006

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

Witherington, Ben, 1951–

New Testament history : a narrative account / Ben Witherington III.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN 0-8010-2293-2 (cloth)

1. Bible. N.T.—History of Biblical events. 2. Bible. N.T.—History of contemporary events. I. Title.

BS2410 .W55 2001

225.9´5—dc21

To those institutions and their faculties that have nurtured me—

the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,

Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary,

Harvard Divinity School,

Princeton Theological Seminary,

Duke Divinity School,

and the University of Durham

Also to A. J., a good friend and colleague,

and to R. D. H., who has been the hands of Jesus in my life.

With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion who stood there in front of Jesus heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, “Surely, this man was the Son of God.”

—Mark 15:37–39

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets partially and piecemeal, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.

—Hebrews 1:1–2

Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

Prolegomenon: Of History, Historians, and Biographers

1 From Alexander to Alexandra and Beyond (356–67 b.c.)

2 The Rise of the Herodians, the Birth of Jesus, and the Dawn of an Empire (63–4 b.c.)

3 The Herodians and Their Prophetic Adversaries: John and Jesus (4 b.c.–a.d. 27)

4 The Coming of the Prefect and of the Perfect: Pilate of Rome and Jesus of Nazareth (a.d. 26–29)

5 The Trials and Tribulations of Jesus (a.d. 29–30)

6 The Rising of the Son and the Birth of the Church (a.d. 30–33)

7 The Roads from Jerusalem (a.d. 33–37)

8 Dark Passages (a.d. 37–47)

9 The Gentile Mission and the Jerusalem Council (a.d. 48–49)

10 Good News Heading West (a.d. 50–52)

11 The Expansion of the Enterprise (a.d. 53–57)

12 Trials and Executions: Signs upon the Earth (a.d. 58–62)

13 Through the Refiner’s Fire (a.d. 63–68)

14 The Dawn of the Age of Inspiration (a.d. 68–70)

15 Beyond Jerusalem, Jamnia, and the Julio-Claudians (a.d. 70–81)

16 The Dominion of Domitian (a.d. 81–96)

Scripture Index

Ancient Writings

Subject Index