"A first class new site exploring the world in which Jesus lived by means of well-organised, newly translated primary texts and other material. A major new web resource, strongly recommended." -- Mark Goodacre, Department of Theology, University of Birmingham UK. [New Testament Gateway].

"Thorough and scholarly, but still aimed at an audience of non-experts, this resource is an excellent teaching and introductory research tool." -- Eva De Visscher, University of Leeds, UK [Intute: Arts & Humanities, U of Oxford].

"I want to congratulate you on your website "Into His Own": it is a tremendously useful resource in providing context and linkages regarding the beginnings of Christianity... it is really a treasured moment to find a large solid set of accurate and minimally interpreted data on a field of vital relevance to those interested in the late Second Temple and origins of Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism." -- Terrence Kaufman, Professor of Anthropology & Linguistics, University of Pittsburgh (personal e-mail quoted with permission).

"The electronic pages provided by Prof. Mahlon H. Smith are an excellent source for the early Mishnaic period. The correlation with apocryphal and pseudo-apocryphal works is especially useful since some of these texts are available only in sometimes difficult to obtain journals... This sort of information is particularly useful for a scholar such as myself who in addition to some 60 publications in scientific journals also publishes articles on veterinary science and Jewish law." -- Lawrence S. Shore, Israel (personal e-mail quoted with permission).

March 2001 -- Ranked third most important high-quality website related to the study of Jesus by Google Web Directory (part of the Open Directory project).

"I'm adding your map to the [Jewish Virtual] Library and as I go through your links I'm finding an incredible wealth of material. I hope you don't mind that I'm also adding the descriptions of places on the map (those I don't have already) and some of the bios of the major figures that are referenced in those links (e.g., Hyrcanus, Mattathias, etc). This is filling in some major historical gaps in the Library and is a huge help." - Mitchell G. Bard, Executive Director, American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (personal e-mail cited with permission).

"...go to Mahlon Smith's website "Into His Own: Perspectives on the World of Jesus", which contains a wealth of information on ancient Judaism, including excerpts from numerous primary texts, introductory material on Josephus, on the Dead Sea Scrolls (including a timeline of the story of their discovery and publication), and on rabbinic literature, and much more. It could be a very useful resource for your undergraduate and even postgraduate students." -- James R. Davila, Lecturer in Early Jewish Studies, St. Mary's College, U of St. Andrews UK [PaleoJudaica: A Weblog on Ancient Judaism in its Context].

"Thorough and scholarly, but still aimed at an audience of non-experts, this resource is an excellent teaching and introductory research tool." - ARCH: Arts and Humanities Community Resource record 91325 [Oxford U, UK].

"This is a massive book-sized project" - David Instone-Brewer (Tyndale House, U of Cambridge UK), author of Traditions of the Rabbis from the Era of the New Testament.

 "An award-winning resource" - Thomas Power (Trinity College Library & Archives, U of Toronto, Ontario).

"[A] rich collection of texts from early sources" -- Peter P. Kenny, Irish Theological Association [Biblical Resources, Theology.ie].