A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ

for the study of the jews in the time of Jesus this is a great resource.

great set. Excellent resource even if a bit dated. Still referenced by most scholars of this period. Worth every penny.

I recently purchased this series for my 20 year old son who studies history of the Christian church and the Jewish people.

This a very well written series of books for anyone exlploring and searching for the time and history of Jesus and the Jewish people.

I only would prefer these books to be slightly larger with a slightly larger font. However their size makes them very easy to pack up and take with you anywhere you want to go and continue studying them.

An excellent value and addition to ones collection and library

A must for any serious historian of Palestine

I am concerned about how many reviewers are glowing about this set as the way into the time of Jesus. As a professor of New Testament and a specialist in Second Temple Period Judaism, I simply have to say, "no." This is an attractive and affordable edition of a "classic" work (hence the high marks there), but the work was completed a decade before World War I. Have we learned nothing about Second Temple Period Judaism in the century (plus) since Schurer wrote this? The Dead Sea Scrolls, that library of Jewish texts apparently used and hidden by the Qumran community (and quite likely representing a branch of the Essenes) would only be discovered forty-some years after Schurer died. Archaeology of the region has made significant advances in the century since Schurer. The study of ancient Judaism itself has been revolutionized by thinking of it no longer as the legalistic foil to Christianity, but as a religion of grace and response (a re-thinking of Judaism and the old stereotype motivated not least by the fact of the Holocaust).

I'm not advising against buying this set; I am advising against approaching it as if, in the 21st century, it is still the go-to resource for the study of "the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus." Far better: An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism by Lester Grabbe; Early Judaism: A Comprehensive Overview, edited by John Collins and Daniel Harlow; Greeks, Romans, Jews by James Newsome. Perhaps best (though costlier): The Cambridge History of Judaism (volumes 2 and 3 will cover this period well).

Note: there is a grossly overpriced revised edition of this available. I wouldn't recommend that either, in large measure because you could get the two Cambridge volumes for less, and they'd be far better.