"Evans's introduction is more than a map to terra incognita; it is a helpful companion for all who study Judaism and Christianity before the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire."
--James H. Charlesworth, George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, Princeton Theological Seminary

"As someone who has worked in a great number of fields cognate to New Testament studies, Craig Evans is eminently qualified to produce a guide to these various adjacent areas. . . . [He] has clearly done an excellent job of covering a vast amount of material. Each work or corpus is introduced succinctly and clearly and is accompanied by bibliographies of editions, translations, and well-chosen secondary literature. . . . This very comprehensive and clearly written book . . . will be extremely useful to a large number of students and scholars."
--Simon Gathercole, Journal of Theological Studies

"Many doctoral students would have loved to have this reference work on their desks during graduate studies. All of the standard exegetical questions (date, provenance, author, historical situation) are answered in a few enlightened sentences. . . . Evans's book is a success, providing vast amounts of information in a minuscule space with extensive leads for further study. His choice of bibliography to continue research is lean and pointed. The very scope of his introduction to Israelite and rabbinic literature make[s] this book worthy of a place on any shelf."
--Jerome H. Neyrey, Review of Biblical Literature

"This volume encompasses an amazing amount of material, and successfully orients readers to the texts under consideration. It is a major revision and expansion of the author's earlier volume Noncanonical Writings and New Testament Interpretation. . . . Even for those that possess the earlier edition this revised form is worth purchasing for the up-to-date bibliographical references, yet it also provides a more comprehensive coverage of texts. This is an important reference work that should become a standard volume in libraries and on the shelves of scholars and students alike."
--Paul Foster, Expository Times