Written in the 1880s, Alfred Edersheim's The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah has been described as the definitive book on the background to Jesus’s ministry from a Jewish perspective.

19th century classic

It is a storehouse of information on the background of the New Testament. Through vivid, thoroughly painted historical research, you are invited to walk down the dusty streets of ancient Palestine, enter the dwellings, the Temple and the Synagogue, visit the Academy, marketplace and workshops, associate with the locals in familiar discourse and discover the world that bore Jesus, and the world that decided to kill him.

Edersheim sought to construct a fresh, independent and impartial investigation into the historical development of philosophy and religion which bore the seeds of Christianity, and yet which was irreconcilably antagonistic to it.

Edersheim felt that by transporting the reader into this historical scene, the Gospels become real; the people populating its pages become recognisable, speaking and acting how you would expect them to act, the scenarios and dramas playing out as products of a greater environment. Ultimately, the author hoped to produce a richer and clearer understanding of the life of ‘Him Who is the Life of all our life.’

Maltz’s makeover

What Steve Maltz – a Messianic author of over thirty Christian books – seeks to do is keep the flavour of Edersheim’s original, while at the same time perform a significant makeover of the four-volume magnus opus in an attempt to find a new audience for the studious work from the Victorian age. He has reduced 1,700 pages to 340 and I think he has done it in a considerably appealing way.

He has reduced 1,700 pages to 340 and I think he has done it in a considerably appealing way

Edersheim was a converted Jew. Born in Vienna, he had been soundly converted and was chosen as a translator for the Scottish divine John Duncan. He trained as a minister serving in Aberdeen before transferring to Torquay due to ill health. His abundant works give a Jewish perspective on all the scriptures – in this case the gospels.

Maltz divides the whole work into 54 chapters which chronologically follow the ministry of Jesus. He gives all the references you need to study Edersheim’s commentary. As many as eleven chapters cover the final week of the Messiah’s life.

Quotations

To give a flavour of the book I have chosen to reflect on three events described by the author. First the calming of the storm and the deliverance of the demoniac. I quote:

• Jesus rebukes the wind just as he had formerly rebuked the creatures and the fever.
• Evil had challenged the manifestation of the divine just as evil did in the lives of Elijah and Elisha.
• The confession of the delivered man is the outward expression of a mind conscious of sin.

Next the transfiguration:

• Jesus could not be alone, and yet was alone with those three chosen ones, those most receptive to Him and most representative of the Church.
• Henceforth it is a descent into the Valley of Humiliation and Death.

Finally, the Last Supper, where the author shares insights from the Passover meal and the specific way Jesus uses the elements to teach about His new covenant:

• Judas sits in the chief place to the left of the Lord … but it is the devil not the human heart alone which causes the betrayal.

The problem with harmonising the gospel accounts, which Edersheim has sought to do, is that it loses the particular emphasis that each gospel writer is seeking to make

Summing up

Maltz modernises the language, and removes obscure references and unnecessary appendices. Nevertheless, some lengthy quotes from the original are retained, which might sound long-winded and flowery to modern ears. A small point I find annoying is that although there is copious use of capital letters, the pronouns for the Lord remain lower case.

The problem with harmonising the gospel accounts, which Edersheim has sought to do, is that it loses the particular emphasis that each gospel writer is seeking to make.

I asked an elderly mature believer in my church, who was familiar with the original work, what he thought of this reworking. He perceived that seriously editing a written work in this way, despite its advantages, can adversely affect the unity of the whole; while, inevitably also, some details of incidents or dialogue are lost.

Nevertheless, we both agree that this book should be warmly recommended as a worthwhile commentary providing fresh insights. In our view Maltz's labour of love is a true success.