Discipleship in the Ancient World and Matthew's Gospel, Second Edition

With a comprehensive sweep of the relevant literature--including classical and Hellenistic sources, the Septuagint, and the New Testament--the author defines disciple and related terms as they were used in the ancient world. Pertinent Semitic words from the Hebrew Bible, Rabbinic literature, and Qumran documents provide additional background for the term. A special emphasis is Matthew's use of mathetes and the role of Simon Peter as a model disciple.The study first appeared in 1988 in the prestigious Novum Testamentum Supplements under the title The Concept of Disciple in Matthew's Gospel: As Reflected in the Use of the Term Mathetes. In this second edition, the author includes a new chapter outlining advances in the field since the book was first published.This study explicitly and successfully sets about to avoid the pitfalls of old-fashioned word studies, indeed, to rescue the term in question from such pitfalls. Wilkins makes use of up-to-date lexical semantics, . . . of sociological analysis, and of literary analysis. --Robert H. Gundry, Journal of Biblical LiteratureReaders will find many useful insights in this book. --Lawrence E. Frizzell, Biblical Theology BulletinMichael J. Wilkins is Dean of Faculty and Professor of New Testament Language and Literature at Talbot School of Theology. He is author of Following the Master: Discipleship in the Steps of Jesus, and coeditor of Worship, Theology, and Ministry in the Early Church and Jesus Under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents the Historical. His PhD is from Fuller Theological Seminary.