InterVarsity Press is proud to present The Lightfoot Legacy, a three-volume set of previously unpublished material from J. B. Lightfoot, one of the great biblical scholars of the modern era. In the spring of 2013, Ben Witherington III discovered hundreds of pages of biblical commentary by Lightfoot in the Durham Cathedral Library. While incomplete, these commentaries represent a goldmine for historians and biblical scholars, as well as for the many people who have found Lightfoot's work bothinformative and edifying, deeply learned and pastorally sensitive. In addition to the material on the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of St. John, published in volumes one and two, respectively, there were fragments on 2 Corinthians and 1 Peter.Lightfoot was well known as a Pauline expert given his commentaries on Galatians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon, and fragments of his work on Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians were published posthumously. It is therefore a delight to have his notes on 2 Corinthians available for the first time. Lightfoot was also interested in the life and work of Peter. The introduction to his commentary on 1 Peter provides insightful analysis of the chronology and context of the epistle. Lightfoot seeks to demonstrate that Peter knew Paul's work and that these two great apostles were in harmony regarding theology and ethics.Now complete, these three commentary volumes reveal a scholar well ahead of his time, one of the great minds of his or any generation.



Ben Witherington III (PhD, University of Durham) is Jean R. Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. He has written over forty books, including The Jesus Quest and The Paul Quest, bothof which were selected as top biblical studies works by Christianity Today. His books also include The Indelible Image, Women and the Genesis of Christianity, The Gospel Code, A Week in the Life of Corinth, and commentaries on the entire New Testament.







Todd D. Still (PhD, University of Glasgow) is Charles J. and Eleanor McLerran DeLancey Dean and the William M. Hinson Professor of Christian Scriptures at the George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University. He is the author of Thinking through Paul: A Survey of His Life, Letters, and Theology (coauthored with Bruce W. Longenecker), Philippians Philemon, and Jesus and Paul Reconnected: Fresh Pathways into an Old Debate.







Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1828–1889), also known as J. B. Lightfoot, was an English theologian, preacher, canon of St Paul's Cathedral and bishop of Durham. His writings include essays on biblical and historical subject matter, commentaries on Pauline epistles and studies on the Apostolic Fathers as well as four posthumously published volumes of sermons. Lightfoot attended King Edward?s School in Birmingham before attending Trinity College in Cambridge where he was elected a Fellow of his college. He became a tutor of Trinity College in 1857 and later a professor of divinity, editing the Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology from 1854 to 1859. In 1871, Lightfoot became canon of St. Paul?s Cathedral, preaching regularly and participating in various ecclesiastical activities. He gained enormous popularity for his work Essays on the Work Entitled Supernatural Religion, a defense of the New Testament in response to Walter Richard Cassel?s Supernatural Religion. In 1870, Lightfoot became Bishop of Durham, where he continued his theological study, writing, and preaching. Lightfoot wrote commentaries on Galatians, Philippians and Colossians and Philemon, and his newly discovered commentary notes on Acts, John, 2 Corinthians and 1 Peter are being published in the three-volume Lightfoot Legacy set.



Foreword

Abbreviations

Editor's Introduction: J.B. Lightfoot as Biblical Commentator



Part One: Pauline Prolegomena: Of Chronology and Context



Part Two: Commentary on 2 Corinthians

The Salutation and the Supplication (2 Cor 1:1-14)

Why a Further Visit Failed to Happen (2 Cor 1:23-2:17)

Excursus: On the use of the First Person Plural in St. Paul's Epistles

The Ministry of Death, and the Ministry of Life (2 Cor 3)

Eternal Treasures in Earthen Vessels (2 Cor 4)

Of Temporary Tents and Eternal Houses (2 Cor 5)

The Ministry of Suffering and Reconciliation (2 Cor 6)

Frank Speech and Fresh Hope (2 Cor 6:11-7:16)

2 Corinthians 7

About the Collection (2 Cor 8)

2 Corinthians 9

2 Corinthians 10

2 Corinthians 11



Part Three: Introduction to the Commentary on 1 Peter



Part Four: Commentary on 1 Peter

A Living Hope, a call to Holy Living (1 Peter 1)

The Living Stone and the Living Stones (1 Peter 2)

Heirs of Life, Followers of Christ's Example of Suffering (1 Peter 3)



Appendix A: The Mission of Titus to the Corinthians

Appendix B: St. Paul's Preparation for Ministry

Appendix C: "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Giveth Life"

Appendix D: Lessons of History from the Cradle of Christianity

Appendix E: The Christian Ministry

Appendix F: J.B. Lightfoot as Biblical Commentator: C.K. Barrett

Appendix G: Lightfoot in Retrospect: J.D.G. Dunn

Published Works by Lightfoot in Chronological Sequence

Monographs on Lightfoot or His Works

Articles or Essays on Lightfoot or His Works

Author Index

Scripture Index