”The usual recognition afforded to most of the good PhD theses is that they are published in a monograph series (such an the excellent series of which this volume is part) and then if they have anything worthwhile to say they are cited in the works of other New Testament scholars. Gunnar Samuelsson has a rare distinction, for his work received attention, perhaps even notoriety, prior to its publication. Apart from the reports on subject specific blogs, the content of this thesis was being communicated through global media outlets such as CNN and Pravda... The breadth of primary data assembled will be of great benefit to subsequent generations of scholars.”

Paul Foster in The Expository Times 123 (3), 122-124.

”This study pursues the claim that Jesus never died on the cross. Though sensationalistic (especially in the hands of the media), the claim is ultimately anticlimactic and sober. Samuelsson investigates every instance of the language of crucifixion in ancient Greek, Latin, and Hebrew sources: Homer and Aesop, classical historians and philosophers, playwrights and orators, Hellenistic and Roman historians, ancient papyri, Roman philosophers and poets, as well as texts from the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Jewish literature, and finally the NT... This study is highly persuasive.”

Zeba Crook in Religious Studies Review • Vol. 38 • Num 2 • June 2012.

”In the summer of 2010 there was a brief international media storm, with headlines like 'Jesus did not die on cross, says scholar' or 'Evidence shows: Jesus never crucified'. We now have the thesis that provoked those headlines, so that we can judge for ourselves...

It soon becomes clear that this will be primarily a study of terminology. If you thought you knew what a 'cross' was, or if you thought there was a simple correspondence between Greek stauros, Latin crux and English 'cross', be prepared to be surprised...

Many will no doubt feel uncomfortable with the author's terminological minimalism, and will wish to claim that many of the ancient texts do in fact provide evidence for something very like what we call 'crucifixion', but at least we can no longer plead that we were not warned how slippery the ancient vocabulary for 'suspension punishment' actually is.”

R. T. (Dick) France in Evangelical Quarterly Jan 2013, Vol. 85 Issue 1, p. 72-74.

”Samuelsson hat sein Quellenmaterial fleißig recherchiert und herausgekommen ist eine kompendienartige Sammlung aller einschlägigen Texte zum Thema... Das Buch eignet sich als exzellentes Nachschlagewerk, um sich einen Überblick über die antiken Quellen zu verschaffen.”

Michael Hölscher in Studien zum Neuen Testament und seiner Umwelt 37 (2012), 276-281.

”Once again, it turns up that even the views of internationally acknowledged scholars could be challenged by a young Ph.D student... The book is fascinating reading for should find itself on the desk of all Biblical scholars those who so often speak or write more theologically than factually about the crucifixion of Jesus for the general audience. It is surprising that such a common term as crucifixion has never before been dealt with so thoroughly and so convincingly by a classical or Biblical scholar. We congratulate Dr Samuelsson on a well-chosen subject for his dissertation and wish him success in continuing his research to establish a basis “for colorful depiction of the death of Jesus” (p. 307). Mohr Siebeck Publishers should be thanked for making the dissertation so promptly accessible.”

Zdzislaw Kapera in The Polish Journal of Biblical Research 11 (2012), 162-163.

”Ab sofort wird man beim Studium der einschlägigen Texte nicht mehr die gängigen Übersetzungen und Nachschlagewerke benutzen, sondern vorrangig Samuelssons gründliche philologisch-semantische und durch die Register vorzüglich erschlossene Studie... Das Buch ist in formaler Hinsicht vorzüglich gestaltet und nahezu fehlerfrei geschrieben.”

Günter Röhser in Theologische Revue Nr. 1, Jahrgang 109 (2013), 23-25.

"I was greatly impressed by the meticulous treatment given to this subject. Even more so, I was impressed by the honesty of the author. When he saw that the evidence did not offer clear support for his traditional belief, he accepted the evidence, adjusted his views, and shared the evidence with us. This is good reason for us to consider all the evidence for ourselves. I think that every Bible translator should be required to read this book."

Michael R. Davenport, review at Amazon.fr