Entering the Passion of Jesus: An Introductory Guide to Holy Week by Amy-Jill Levine

Dave Pettengill: We used this for our small group study for lent and it led to really good conversations. I would definitely recommend it.

United States on Mar 29, 2023

JP: Book was like new except for a small address label. A good price & on time delivery. Great seller.

United States on Feb 17, 2023

Cathryn Conroy: Don't let the subtitle of this incredibly perceptive book mislead you. I am no beginner to Holy Week, but I still learned SO much. This is a short book that sparkles like a rare gemstone. After reading it, I will forever read the Passion stories in the four Gospels in a whole new, more enlightened way.

The author of this book is Amy-Jill Levine, an Orthodox Jew who is a New Testament scholar, professor, and author. Drawing on this unusual dichotomy, Levine explains not only the history behind the stories of Jesus's last week, but also the underlying meanings from the Hebrew scriptures in so much of what he says and does. This is very important. Jesus's first-century audience would have understood those meanings without any kind of explanation because they were Jewish. But we 21st century Christians can't claim the same understanding. In addition, Levine dissects words—words we take for granted as to their meaning—explaining what they mean in Hebrew and Greek. (Example: "Truly" means "Amen" in Greek, so when Jesus begins a sentence with "Truly" as translated in the NRSV, he's really beginning with "Amen.")

The book's six short chapters cover Jesus riding a donkey...

United States on Apr 02, 2021

Grace W: I loved learning more about Jesus’ journey to the cross. It’s so interesting to try to figure out how each of the gospels’ narratives connect.

Canada on Mar 31, 2021

Justin M. Edgar: I very much enjoyed Professor Levine’s work. She did an excellent job with the Scripture text itself. The comparison and contrast of each Gospel writer, and the perspective they bring to Holy Week was very helpful in entering into the narrative of the cross. I appreciated the emphasis on letting the Gospel writers each speak. It also was done in a clear and expedient way.

United States on Apr 19, 2019

Norman Weinstein: This is a book compact enough to be read in a few hours - and then pondered the rest of your life. This is no small claim - yet one easily clarified. The story of the Passion of Jesus rests at the core of Christianity. It is a cornerstone motif of the entire faith in its myriad forms. As such, it has been vulgarized for mass entertainment purposes by filmmaker Mel Gibson, used as a rationale historically by sundry anti-Semites doing their violence tragically against Jews, and has been abstracted into passionless academic and theological discourse or dogma. What Dr. Levine has accomplished is a deep yet easily accessible meditation on the Passion of Jesus useful to Christians and Jews, Believers and Agnostics alike. Through a dramatic retelling of the death of Jesus that brought new life meaning into the world, the author focuses primarily on risk-taking behavior - that of Jesus - and ultimately our own. Her approach opens a door into the psychology of risk-taking behavior when that riskiness is in the service of life-affirming ethical and spiritual values. That makes the book a gift to all readers. For practicing Christians, Dr. Levine de-familiarizes the familiar Passion tale...

United States on Mar 09, 2019