David deSilva, Archaeology and the World of Jesus: A Visual Guide

deSilva, David. Archaeology and the World of Jesus: A Visual Guide. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2025. xv+306 pp. Pb. $32.99   Link to Baker Academic

In this new book, well-known New Testament scholar David deSilva focuses on the archaeology of sites mentioned in the Gospels pertaining to the life of Jesus. As deSilva explains in his introduction, context is everything in biblical interpretation, especially the historical, cultural, and geographic context of the New Testament. The best way to immerse oneself in culture and geography is to visit locations where events occurred. Since it may not be feasible to visit all the sites mentioned in Acts, this book introduces the most important features for Bible students studying Paul’s missionary journeys. deSilva has led many tours in Turkey and Israel and is a frequent speaker at conferences hosted by Tutku Tours.

As deSilva explains in his foreword, People who have traveled to Israel have two advantages. First, they have a deeper sense of Christianity’s rootedness in its historical and geographical context. Second, they have a “far-better equipped historical imagination when reading the New Testament (ix). Having led many trips to Israel, Jordan, and Turkey, I can attest to this. But deSilva’s book is not a traditional guidebook for pilgrims visiting the Holy Land. Certainly, he is interested in the “holy sites,” but far more than that, deSilva introduces the material culture of the first century. As much as possible, he explains what these locations tell us about life in Israel in the first century. Like his Archaeology and the Ministry of Paul: A Visual Guide, this book sets the ministry of Jesus into the culture and politics of the first century.

The first chapter surveys the historical background of Jesus’s world, beginning I better with Alexander the Great. He focuses on the history of the Seleucids, especially Antiochus III the Great and Antiochus IV Epiphanes, since these kings led to the Maccabean Revolt and the establishment of the Hasmoneans. The Hasmoneans were the Jewish dynasty that resulted from that revolt. After 63 BC, Rome controlled the region and ruled through Herod the Great, a Roman client king. Discusses the Roman governors after Herod the Great’s death. The introduction ends with a brief discussion of the two Jewish revolts in A.D. 70 and 135. Readers interested in additional details of this rich history should read deSilva’s Judea under Greek and Roman Rule (Oxford, 2024). This book is less than 200 pages and covers the same range of history as the first chapter of Archaeology and the Ministry of Jesus, but in far more depth.

After the introduction, the book is divided into three sections. First, chapters 2-10 cover the regions of Antipas and Philip, essentially, the region of Galilee. DeSilva points out that the region is more than just the Sea of Galilee. Nazareth, for example, was a full day’s walk to the western shore of the Sea. There are excavations throughout the region indicating Jewish settlements, but they were surrounded by Greek cities, especially on the eastern side of the lake (the Decapolis, two of this book). The section includes chapters on Nazareth, Cana, the Greco-Roman cities of Sepphoris and Tiberius, Bethsaida and Chorazin, Magdala, Caesarea Philippi, and Machaerus (where John the Baptist was beheaded). The chapter on Magdala includes information on the Galilean fishing industry as well as the recently discovered first-century synagogue.

The second section of the book discusses the Decapolis (chapters 11-15). Like the first section, the part of the book begins with a general introduction to the “ten cities,” the Decapolis. Beginning with Alexander the Great and his successor, Greek cities were established in the region. He provides a brief discussion of what the Greeks considered a city (a polis). Since the Tasmanians expanded into the region (there was a short time when Jews controlled some of the territory), many of the locations have a mixed population. After Pompeii (63 B.C.), the Decapolis became Roman cities with Jewish minorities. The section includes chapters on Gadara, Gerasa (modern Jerash), Hippos, and Beit Shean. If you cannot visit Jordan and see Jerash, then Beit Shean is an excellent location in Israel to get the feel for a Roman city in the first century (theater, baths, etc.)

The third section (about half the book) focuses on the realms of the Roman prefects (chapters 16-28). deSilva begins with a general chapter on Samaria, where several locations covered in this section are located Sebaste and Mount Gerizim). The history of Samaria dates to the Old Testament, as the city was the capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel. He outlines the history of hostility between Jews and Samaritans. The main focus of this section is on locations in Judea and Jerusalem. There are chapters on Judea, Bethlehem, Jericho, and Emmaus. Three chapters cover Herod’s Temple, the city of Jerusalem, and the Via Dolorosa. In addition, there are chapters on two of Herod the Great’s fortresses, Masada and the Herodium, and a chapter on Qumran, the area where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. The chapters on Jerusalem are excellent. He includes sections on the elite priestly homes and Jerusalem’s necropolis (Jerusalem has an incredible number of tombs to visit!)  Most tours miss these important sites in the short time they can spend in Jerusalem. Even the chapter on the Via Dolorosa is not a pilgrimage-oriented one, despite the number of people carrying crosses and worshiping along the way towards the Holy Sepulcher.

The book is richly illustrated with color photographs. These photographs are recent, which is important for active archaeological sites like Magdala. Nothing frustrates me more than a guidebook that has twenty-year-old photographs. The only exception is the Pool of Siloam (235), but the ongoing excavations there change every few months. deSilva’s explanations of the history and the importance of the location are clear, and there are plenty of footnotes to professional academic literature on the location. This is not a “pilgrim’s guide to the holy places.”

Conclusion. Like his book on the archaeology of Paul and his ministry, this book serves two purposes. First, it is a guide for people reading the Gospels. Not everyone can travel to Israel to expand their historical and cultural imagination. Second, this book will be valuable for anyone taking a tour to Israel in the near future. I will ask people on my tours to buy and read this book before we travel and bring it with them to review before visiting the sites. If visiting a site is the best way to understand the cultural and geographical context, preparing well for that visit is essential. deSilva’s Archaeology and the Ministry of Jesus is an excellent first step in understanding the world of Jesus and the Gospels.

I look forward to the third book in this series, Archaeology and the Revelation of John: A Visual Guide (Baker Academic, scheduled for September 2026). That book will cover the “seven churches of Revelation” and much more.

NB: Thanks to Baker Academic for kindly providing me with a review copy of this book. This did not influence my thoughts regarding the work. See also my review of deSilva’s Galatians commentary in the NICNT series (Eerdmans, 2018) and Archaeology and the World of Paul.