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A Marginal Jew, Rethinking the Historical Jesus: Volume 3, Companions and Competitors. John P. Meier. Yale University Press. 2001. ISBN: 9780300140323.

A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Volume 3 focuses on the groups around Jesus, his followers (the crowds, disciples, and the Twelve), His rivals (the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes/Qumranites, Samaritans, scribes, Herodians, and Zealots), and how those relationships shaped his ministry. Meier's broader argument is that Jesus should be understood as deeply Jewish, not detached from first-century Jewish life. This volume is often noted for showing that Jesus' movement had real structure, including distinct circles of followers, rather than being a loose, purely egalitarian movement.

John P. Meier was an American Catholic priest and biblical scholar, born in New York City in 1942 and died in 2022 at age 80. He taught New Testament and theology at St. Joseph's Seminary, the Catholic University of America, and later the University of Notre Dame, where he became professor emeritus. He was widely regarded as one of the leading historical Jesus scholars of his generation.

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