The application of modern linguistics to biblical study is proving to be increasingly fruitful in understanding the next, but is has been difficult for the student to find a clear, reliable introduction to these new methods. This need has now been met in the delightfully written work of Peter Cotterell and Max Turner, who happily bring together the respective insights of the linguist and the exegete. Their book is characterized by frequent reference to biblical texts, showing how their understanding can be illumined by a knowledge of linguistics, and how confusion and error in interpretation on a linguistic level can be avoided. This book should be regarded as essential reading for all students of the New Testament, and the reader with some previous knowledge of the subject will also find great profit in the discussion of different types of approach to the understanding of texts.