The renowned biblical scholar, author of The Misunderstood Jew, and
general editor for The Jewish Annotated New Testament interweaves
history and spiritual analysis to explore Jesus' most popular teaching
parables, exposing their misinterpretations and making them lively and
relevant for modern readers.
Jesus was a skilled storyteller and perceptive teacher who used parables
from everyday life to effectively convey his message and meaning. Life
in first-century Palestine was very different from our world today, and
many traditional interpretations of Jesus' stories ignore this disparity
and have often allowed anti-Semitism and misogyny to color their
perspectives.
In this wise, entertaining, and educational book, Amy-Jill Levine offers
a fresh, timely reinterpretation of Jesus' narratives. In Short Stories
by Jesus, she analyzes these "problems with parables," taking readers
back in time to understand how their original Jewish audience understood
them. Levine reveals the parables' connections to first-century economic
and agricultural life, social customs and morality, Jewish scriptures
and Roman culture. With this revitalized understanding, she interprets
these moving stories for the contemporary reader, showing how the
parables are not just about Jesus, but are also about us--and when read
rightly, still challenge and provoke us two thousand years later.
