Basic Reference Works
Popular Level:
The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 2nd Edition by Craig Keener (2014)
The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary edited by Clinton E. Arnold (2002)
Intermediate to Advanced:
A History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ, Revised Edition by Emil Schurer, edited by Vermes and Miller (T&T Clark, 2015) *This edition is important because it significantly updates Schurer’s older work.
Pocket Dictionary for Biblical Studies by Anthony Petrotta and Arthur Patzia (2002)
Pocket Dictionary for the Study of New Testament Greek by Matthew DeMoss (2001)
The IVP Dictionary of New Testament Background edited by Craig Evans and Stanley Porter (2000)
Dictionary of Daily Life in Biblical and Post-Biblical Antiquity edited by Edwin Yamauchi & Marvin Wilson (2016)
Sourcebooks:
The New Testament Backgrounds: Writings from Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire that Illuminate Christian Origins by C.K. Barrett (1998)
St. Paul’s Corinth: Texts and Archaeology by Jerome Murphy-O’Connor (2008)
St. Paul’s Ephesus: Texts and Archaeology by Jerome Murphy-O’Connor (2002)
Christopher Marsh 