"Per Jarle Bekken engages in a series of comparative studies of aspects of the motif found in various Philonic treatises as well as P.Oslo II 17. The results of these studeis are presented with great attention to method and logic [...] For those who study the forensic debates, the efforts of the Jewish authorities to seek Jesus out and entrap him, the numerous attempts to stone or apprehend him, and then finally the steps taken to have him crucified, Bekken’s book will be a valuable reference work." Jo-Ann A. Brant, Goshen College, Indiana, The Journal of Theological Studies 66/2 "The book as a whole will help to unravel the complex ambiguity involved in the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of John’s Jesus by gradually probing both human and divine aspects of his identity in the Hellenistic Jewish and Roman imperial context. This work will be appealing to those readers interested not only in the Jewish and Greco-Roman context of John’s lawsuit motif but also in the colonial and imperial context of Jesus’ death as a crucified emperor." Sung Uk Lim, Yonsei University, Republic of Korea, Biblical Interpretation 24"The book is a careful examination of the sources. It provides valuable background material for the Johannine narrative in the context of ancient legal practice, historical experience, but also of narrative conventions and cultural expectations." Jutta Leonhardt-Baltzer, Journal for the Study of the New Testament 38/5
