Israeli professor praises Hebrew book on New Testament, says most Israelis know almost nothing about Christianity’s shared roots with Judaism

Few in Israel take an interest in the Christian Scriptures or in the deep, symbiotic connection between Judaism and Christianity.

In a detailed review, Professor Ishay Rosen-Zvi of Tel Aviv University recently introduced Hebrew readers to The Writings of the New Testament as Jewish Literature, a new and exceptional book by Dr. Serge Ruzer, a leading scholar of comparative religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Ruzer’s work traces the profound ties between early Christian texts and Jewish tradition, shedding light on the rich presence of Hebrew and Jewish ideas within the New Testament.

According to Rosen-Zvi’s enthusiastic review, the book is not merely a valuable academic contribution but a true milestone in the field of Jewish studies. Rather than engaging in apologetics or polemics, Ruzer focuses on the theological ideas reflected in the various New Testament writings.

His work presents a broad spectrum of first-century CE ideas with clarity and sobriety, showing how deeply they are rooted in the Jewish milieu of the time, according to Rosen-Zvi. This approach makes the book not only academically significant but also remarkably accessible to Hebrew-speaking readers.

Rosen-Zvi commends Ruzer’s command of Second Temple sources, especially the Dead Sea Scrolls. He highlights striking parallels between New Testament figures such as Jesus and the leader described in the Qumran scrolls – someone who suffers, is persecuted, and acts as the ultimate interpreter of Scripture. Jesus reading Isaiah in the synagogue and proclaiming the passage fulfilled in his listeners' ears, Rosen-Zvi notes, echoes Qumran’s eschatological expectations.

The book further demonstrates that early Christian writings share deep structural affinities with Jewish sectarian thought – belief in a chosen remnant, possession of the Holy Spirit, apocalyptic hopes, and the reinterpretation of Scripture. In Rosen-Zvi’s view, the writer convincingly shows why the early Church should be seen as one among several expressions of first-century Judaism.

He is particularly impressed by the book’s nuanced examination of how early Christians coped with the delayed arrival of the end times. While some texts reflect urgent apocalyptic expectation, others pivot to emphasize inner transformation and spiritual entry into the Kingdom of Heaven. Rosen-Zvi draws comparisons with similar shifts in Qumran writings, reinforcing the shared context.

But beyond its scholarly value, Rosen-Zvi stresses that a Hebrew book like this is, first and foremost, written for a Hebrew-speaking audience. The ignorance of the New Testament – and of Christianity in general – among Israeli students is, in his words, “almost total.” Most learn only about the persecutions, the Crusades, or occasionally hear in the news about the sale of Patriarchate properties in Jerusalem – or, if someone bothers to report it, about Haredim spitting on priests in the Old City. The Hebrew-speaking public, Rosen-Zvi argues, needs this book now more than ever.

Finally, Rosen-Zvi appreciates the light that Ruzer sheds not only on early Christianity but also on rabbinic literature. He notes, for example, the connections between the baptismal stories of Jesus and much later Midrashic depictions of divine presence and repentance through water. Ruzer demonstrates that theological ideas later preserved in rabbinic tradition already appear in first-century Christian writings.

In Rosen-Zvi’s estimation, this book marks a turning point in Hebrew scholarship. It is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the New Testament not as an external or foreign text, but as a Jewish one – deeply rooted in the traditions, tensions, and hopes of Second Temple Judaism.