Concise and accessible, this one-volume edition of the New Collegeville Bible Commentary: New Testament allows readers to explore any or all of the books with just one resource alongside their Bibles. The individual commentaries collected here are written by respected scholars, and they break open the biblical texts in a lively fashion. Readers will be able to engage Scripture more deeply and reflect on its meanings, nuances, and imperatives for living a Christian life in the twenty-first century. Continuing Liturgical Press's long tradition of publishing biblical scholarship and interpretation, this commentary also answers the Second Vatican Council's call to make access to Scripture "open wide to the Christian faithful." Daniel Durken, OSB, is a Benedictine monk and priest of Saint John's Abbey. He taught Scripture and speech classes at Saint John's University for almost five decades and served as director of Liturgical Press from 1978-88. He still writes homily hints and daily reflections for the Loose-Leaf Lectionary and is the founding editor of Abbey Banner, the magazine for the relatives, friends, and oblates of the monastic community.

The completion of all thirty-seven volumes of the New Collegeville Bible Commentary means an important new resource is fully available to all who wish to delve more deeply into the word of God. Now the one-volume, hardcover edition brings together every volume into a single, accessible guide to the entire Bible in a convenient and attractive format. This comprehensive resource contains the same expert commentary that characterizes the complete series of individual books. Contributors include some of today’s most highly regarded Scripture scholars, as well as some of the freshest young voices in the field. The commentaries, while reflecting the latest in biblical scholarship and study, are written in easy-to-understand language and bring expert insight into the Old and New Testament to Bible study participants, teachers, students, preachers, and all readers of the Bible. Includes full-color maps.

Comprehensive and understandable, these books bring the relevance of the Old Testament to Bible study participants, teachers, students, preachers, and all readers of the Bible. The series is filled with recent scholarship, provides vital background, and addresses important questions such as authorship and cultural context. Often neglected, the books of First and Second Maccabees are important for Christians, as in them is told how the Jewish people established the political and religious culture into which Jesus was born. The martyr stories inform the early Christian martyrdoms, and the books are written in Greek, the language in which the Jews of Jesus time read the scriptures. More importantly, as Father Harrington notes, without the Maccabees the fate of Judaism (and with it Christianity and Islam) was uncertain.

The book of Psalms plays a significant role in the public and private prayer of both the Jewish and Christian communities today, helping to shape the minds and hearts of modern believers. In two commentaries, one covering Psalms 1-72 and the other Psalms 73-150, Dianne Bergant examines the theological and historical circumstances from which the psalms originated. She reveals how the psalms were intended for instruction as well as prayer, and helps us experience their lyrical nature. In a fresh encounter with these poems of lament, hymns of praise, and prayers of thanksgiving, readers gain a new appreciation for these ancient texts, remembering that God - who dwells with us still - is "gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in mercy" (Pss 145:8).

Concise and accessible, this one-volume edition of the New Collegeville Bible Commentary: Old Testament draws together the individual contributions to the Old Testament series and offers them to readers in a convenient and attractive format. Written by an array of respected scholars, the individual commentaries collected here bring expert insight into the Old Testament to Bible study participants, teachers, students, preachers, and all readers of Scripture. A first-rate, reliable resource for Bible study and reflection, the New Collegeville Bible Commentary: Old Testamentanswers the Second Vatican Council's call to make access to Scripture "open wide to the Christian faithful."

Standing at the start of the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew provides a bridge from the Jewish world awaiting a Messiah to the emerging Christian world of Jesus and his followers. This Gospel introduces us to Jesus as the Master Teacher whose words of instruction are captured in large teaching sections. Part One covers Matthew 1:1−16:28, from the birth of Jesus through much of his public teaching life, to the first prediction of his passion. Commentary, study and reflection questions, prayer and access to recorded lectures are included. 5 lessons.