The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism
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The Dictionary of Early Judaism is the first reference work devoted exclusively to Second Temple Judaism (fourth century b.c.e. through second century c.e.). The first section of this substantive and incredible work contains thirteen major essays that attempt to synthesize major aspects of Judaism in the period between Alexander and Hadrian. The second ? and significantly longer ? section offers 520 entries arranged alphabetically. Many of these entries have cross-references and all have select bibliographies. Equal attention is given to literary and nonliterary (i.e. archaeological and epigraphic) evidence and New Testament writings are included as evidence for Judaism in the first century c.e. Several entries also give pertinent information on the Hebrew Bible. The Dictionary of Early Judaism is intended to not only meet the needs of scholars and students ? at which it succeeds admirably ? but also to provide accessible information for the general reader. It is ecumenical and international in character, bringing together nearly 270 authors from as many as twenty countries and including Jews, Christians, and scholars of no religious affiliation.
Outside the Bible, 3-Volume Set
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The Hebrew Bible is only part of ancient Israel's writings. Another collection of Jewish works has survived from late- and post-biblical times, a great library that bears witness to the rich spiritual life of Jews in that period. This library consists of the most varied sorts of texts: apocalyptic visions and prophecies, folktales and legends, collections of wise sayings, laws and rules of conduct, commentaries on Scripture, ancient prayers, and much, much more. While specialists have studied individual texts or subsections of this vast library, Outside the Bible seeks for the first time to bring together all the major components into a single collection, gathering portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Septuagint, the biblical Apocrypha, and Pseudepigrapha, and the writings of Philo of Alexandria and Josephus. The editors have brought together these diverse works in order to highlight what has often been neglected; their common Jewish background. For this reason the commentaries that accompany the texts devote special attention to references to Hebrew Scripture and to issues of halakhah (Jewish law), their allusions to motifs and themes known from later Rabbinic writings in Talmud and Midrash, their evocation of recent or distant events in Jewish history, and their references to other texts in this collection. The work of more than seventy contributing experts in a range of fields, Outside the Bible offers new insights into the development of Judaism and Early Christianity. This three-volume set of translations, introductions, and detailed commentaries is a must-have for scholars, students, and anyone interested in this great body of ancient Jewish writings. The collection includes a general introduction and opening essays, new and revised translations, and detailed introductions, commentaries, and notes that place each text in its historical and cultural context. A timeline of the Second Temple Period, two appendixes (Books of the Bible; Second Temple Literature), and a general subject index complete the set.
The Oxford Handbook of Apocalyptic Literature
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Apocalypticism arose in ancient Judaism in the last centuries BCE and played a crucial role in the rise of Christianity. It is not only of historical interest: there has been a growing awareness, especially since the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, of the prevalence of apocalypticbeliefs in the contemporary world. To understand these beliefs, it is necessary to appreciate their complex roots in the ancient world, and the multi-faceted character of the phenomenon of apocalypticism.The Oxford Handbook of Apocalyptic Literature is a thematic and phenomenological exploration of apocalypticism in the Judaic and Christian traditions. Most of the volume is devoted to the apocalyptic literature of antiquity. Essays explore the relationship between apocalypticism and prophecy, wisdomand mysticism; the social function of apocalypticism and its role as resistance literature; apocalyptic rhetoric from both historical and postmodern perspectives; and apocalyptic theology, focusing on phenomena of determinism and dualism and exploring apocalyptic theology's role in ancient Judaism,early Christianity, and Gnosticism.The final chapters of the volume are devoted to the appropriation of apocalypticism in the modern world, reviewing the role of apocalypticism in contemporary Judaism and Christianity, and more broadly in popular culture, addressing the increasingly studied relation between apocalypticism andviolence, and discussing the relationship between apocalypticism and trauma, which speaks to the underlying causes of the popularity of apocalyptic beliefs. This volume will further the understanding of a vital religious phenomenon too often dismissed as alien and irrational by secular westernsociety.
The books of the Apocrypha in translation are available online at: https://stepbible.org.
You can click the "X" for the "window" on the right hand side of the screen, as this won't be helpful for viewing your texts.
Second, change the dropdown menu, found in the upper-left corner, from "ESV" to "KJVA" (King James Version with Apocrypha). You will also want to eliminate the ESV as one of the selected texts.
Now, change the second dropdown menu, found in the upper-left corner, from "Gen 1" to the book you wish to read. Those with asterisks are apocryphal.
The biggest problem is that there are no helps with this "Bible." In many of the other translations there are word study helps/links to lexicons. View some of our ebooks listed on this page for additional commentary and insight into your text.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha
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The premier study Bible used by scholars, pastors, undergraduate and graduate students, The New Oxford Annotated Bible offers a vast range of information, including extensive notes by experts in their fields; in-text maps, charts, and diagrams; supplementary essays on translation, biblical interpretation, cultural and historical background, and other general topics.Extensively revised--half of the material is brand new--featuring a new design to enhance readability, and brand-new color maps, the Annotated Fourth Edition adds to the established reputation of this essential biblical studies resource. Many new and revised maps, charts, and diagrams further clarify information found in the Scripture text. In addition, section introductions have been expanded and the book introductions present their information in a standard format so that students can find what they need to know. Of course, the Fourth Edition retains the features prized by students, including single column annotations at the foot of the pages, in-text charts, and maps, a page number-keyed index of all the study materials in the volume, and Oxford's renowned Bible maps. This timely edition maintains and extends the excellence the Annotated's users have come to expect, bringing still more insights, information, and perspectives to bear upon the understanding of the biblical text. * The renowned New Revised Standard Version Bible translation, the scholarly standard for study of the Bible* Wholly revised, and greatly expanded book introductions and annotations.* Annotations in a single column across the page bottom, paragraphed according to their boldface topical headings. * In-text background essays on the major divisions of the biblical text.* Essays on the history of the formation of the biblical canon for Jews and various Christian churches.* More detailed explanations of the historical background of the text. * More in-depth treatment of the history and varieties of biblical criticism. * A timeline of major events in the ancient Near East.* A full index to all of the study materials, keyed to the page numbers on which they occur.* A full glossary of scholarly and critical terms.* 36-page section of full color New Oxford Bible Maps, approximately 40 in-text line drawing maps and diagrams. Classic but not stodgy, up-to-date but not trendy, The New Oxford Annotated Bible: 4th Edition is ready to serve new generations of students, teachers, and general readers.
The Apocrypha: Fortress Commentary on the Bible Study Edition
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This concise commentary on the Apocrypha, excerpted from the Fortress Commentary on the Bible: The Old Testament and Apocrypha, engages readers in the work of biblical interpretation. Contributors from a rich diversity of perspectives connect historical-critical analysis with sensitivity to current theological, cultural, and interpretive issues. Each chapter (Tobit through 4 Maccabees) includes an introduction and commentary based on three lenses: ancient context, the interpretative tradition, and contemporary questions and challenges. The Apocryphaintroduces fresh perspectives and draws students, preachers, and interested readers into the challenging work of interpretation.
Tobit (Commentaries on Early Jewish Literature series)
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Commentaries on Early Jewish Literature is a new series in English dealing with early Jewish literature between the third century BC and the middle of the second century AD; it is scheduled to encompass a total of 58 volumes. The texts are intended to be interpreted as a textual unity against the background of their particular Jewish and historico-political contexts, with text-based, historical, literary and theological analyses being undertaken. The first volume, by Joseph A. Fitzmyer, is devoted to a commentary on the Book of Tobit (Tobias).
Judith (Hermeneia series)
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Judith tells the story of a beautiful Jewish woman who enters the tent of an invading general, gets him drunk, and then slices off his head, thus saving her village and Jerusalem. This short novella was somewhat surprisingly included in the early Christian versions of the Old Testament and has played an important role in the Western tradition ever since. This commentary provides a detailed analysis of the text's composition and its meaning in its original historical context, and thoroughly surveys the history of Judith scholarship. Lawrence M. Wills not only considers Judith's relation to earlier biblical texts--how the author played upon previous biblical motifs and interpreted important biblical passages--but also addresses the rise of Judith and other Jewish novellas in the context of ancient Near Eastern and Greek literature, as well as their relation to cross-cultural folk motifs. Because of the popularity of Judith in art and culture, this volume also addresses the book's history of interpretation in paintings, sculpture, music, drama, and literature. A number of images of artistic depictions of Judith are included and discussed in detail.
Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah (Wisdom Commentary series)
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Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah are among the so-called deuterocanonical books of the Bible, part of the larger Catholic biblical canon. Except for a short article in the Women's Bible Commentary,no detailed or comprehensive feminist commentary on these books is available so far. Marie-Theres Wacker reads both books with an approach that is sensitive to gender and identity issues. The book of Baruch--with its reflections on guilt of the fathers, with its transformation of wisdom into the Book of God's commandments, and with its strong symbol of mother and queen Jerusalem--offers a new and creative digest of Torah, writings, and prophets but seems to address primarily learned men. The so-called Letter of Jeremiah is an impressive document that unmasks pseudo-deities but at the same draws sharp lines between the group's identity and the "others," using women of the "others" as boundary markers.
2 Maccabees: A Critical Commentary (Hermeneia series)
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The second-century B.C.E. Maccabean revolt against Seleucid oppression was a watershed event in early Jewish history and Second Maccabees is an important testimony to the revolt and its aftermath. Robert Doran's commentary on 2 Maccabees explores the interplay between history and historiography in the document. Providing detailed philological analysis of the elegant Greek of the text, Doran carefully sifts the evidence for the historicity of the events recounted, while giving full attention to the literary and rhetorical qualities that mark this dramatic narrative.
Tobit: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (Anchor Bible series)
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Written five centuries ago by a humble monk named Thomas a Kempis, this timeless message of following Christ's teachings continues to be a source of spiritual strength for people of all needs.
Judith (Anchor Bible series)
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Moving and inspirational thoughts on what aging means (and can mean) to all of us. A warm, caring book that shows how to make the later years a source of hope.
Wisdom of Solomon (Anchor Bible series)
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The Anchor Bible offers new, book-by-book translations of the Old and New Testarnents and Apocrypha, with commentary. This volume on "The Wisdom of Solomon as been prepared by David Winston, Professor of Hellenistic and Judaic Studies and Director of the Center for Judaic Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. "The Wisdom of Solomon is a long and subtly poetic work placed in the mouth of "wise" King Solomon. It blends biblical thought and Middle Platonism. David Winston thoroughly analyzes the book, presenting the philosophical situation clearly and putting forth evidence to suggest that the work was written later than is commonly supposed, during the reign of Caligula (A.D. 37-41), and by a single author. Because of its exclusion from the canon of scripture used by Jews and Protestant Christians, "The Wisdom of Solomon has been neglected by biblical scholars in general. Dr. Winston's commentary is the first to thoroughly cover both previous research and recentdevelopments such as the Qumran scrolls, papyrus discoveries in Egypt, and new knowledge of ancient Iranian religion. It is a major contribution to the study of the apocryphal literature of the Bible.
Wisdom of Ben Sira (Anchor Bible series)
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The Wisdom of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) contains the sayings of Ben Sira, arguably the last of Israel's wise men and its first professional scribe, whose world was defined and dominated by Greek ideas and ideals. This Hellenistic worldview challenged the adequacy of the religion passed down to the Palestinian Jews of the second century B.C.E. by their ancestors. Ben Sira's training in both Judaic and Hellenistic literary traditions prepared him to meet this challenge. He vigorously opposed any compromise of Jewish values; and his teachings bolstered the faith and confidence of his people. Through its elegant poetry and vehement exhortations, The Wisdom of Ben Sira exposes the ill effects of sinful behavior on one's health, status, and spiritual and material well-being. Ben Sira's rigorous code of moral behavior was the measure of Jewish faithfulness in an era of ethical and religious bankruptcy.
1 Maccabees (AB=Anchor Bible series)
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A new translation and commentary on I Maccabees that offers a fresh interpretation of the author's values and purpose First Maccabees, composed in the second century BCE, chronicles four decades of clashes between Hellenistic Syria and Judea, from Antiochus Epiphanes's ascent to the throne in 175 BCE to the Hasmoneans' establishment of an independent Judean state, ruled by Simon and his sons. In this volume, Daniel R. Schwartz provides a new translation of the Greek text and analyzes its historical significance. In dialogue with contemporary scholarship, the introduction surveys the work's themes, sources, and transmission, while the commentary addresses textual details and issues of historical reconstruction, often devoting special attention to the lost Hebrew original and its associations. Schwartz demonstrates that 1 Maccabees, despite its Hebraic biblical style and its survival within the Christian canon, deviates from biblical and Judaic works by marginalizing God, evincing scorn for martyrs, and ascribing to human power and valor crucial historical roles. This all fits its mandate: justification of the Hasmonean dynasty, especially the Simonides.
Apocrypha (ACCS=Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series)
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While the canonical status of the Greek and Latin Old Testament texts commented on within this volume has been understood differently within Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox traditions, their longstanding use within the Christian churches makes them worthy of careful study and reflection. As noted in the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, Jerome says that the church reads the Apocrypha "for example of life and instruction of manners." As a result their influence extends well beyond ecclesiastical use to literature, hymnody, music, and art.Their questioned authority has nevertheless affected the choice of books included here, not by a priori judgment but by the paucity of comment from which to choose. None of the early fathers dedicated commentaries to these texts as a whole. Despite the length of 1 and 2 Maccabees and the model they presented for Christian martyrdom, they were rarely cited or commented on. The Wisdom books received the most comment and are those best represented here.In particular, readers will find ample comment on Tobit, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah, the Prayer of Azariah, and the Song of the Three Young Men, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon (the latter three all found as additions to the Hebrew and Aramaic book of Daniel). Among commentators readers will find Origen, John Chrysostom, Theodoret of Cyr, Hippolytus, Jerome, Augustine, Julius Africanus, Athanasius, Palladius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Clement of Alexandria, Bede, Rabanus Maurus, Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Cassiodorus, Ambrose, and others.This Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume presents a worthy feast of patristic comment on these ancient and important texts, some of which is presented here in English translation for the first time.
Judith
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The Book of Judith has aroused a great deal of scholarly interest in the last few decades.This volume, the first full length commentary on Judith to appear in over 25 years, includes a new translation and a detailed verse-by-verse commentary, which touches upon philological, literary, and historical questions. The extensive introduction discusses the work's date and historical background, and looks closely at the controversial question of the book's original language. Biblical influences on the book's setting, characters, plot, and language are investigated, and the heroine, Judith is viewed against the background of biblical women (and men). The influence of classical Greek writers such as Herodotus and Ctesias on the work is noted, as are the interesting differences between the Septuagint and Vulgate versions of Judith.
Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah
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This work is the first major commentary of LXX Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah in English. Rather than seeing LXX mainly as a text-critical resource or as a window on a now-lost Hebrew text, this commentary, as part of the Septuagint Commentary Series, interprets Baruch and EpJer as Greek texts and from the perspective of Greek readers unfamiliar with Hebrew. Included are a transcription and an English translation of Codex Vaticanus, the oldest extant manuscript of the books, and a detailed commentary. Another major contribution is the utilisation of the sense-delimitation (paragraphs) of Codex Vaticanus and other codices to explore how early readers interpreted the text.
1 Maccabees
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This is a book for anyone interested in the political and cultural results of the entry of the small state of Judah and its capital Jerusalem into the wider Hellenistic world in the second century BCE. In particular it forms a helpful introduction to the biblical writing called 1 Maccabees, which is preserved in the Apocrypha. 1 Maccabees is a history of the rebellion of the Jews against their Syrian rulers in the 160s BCE. The rebellion's leader was Judas Maccabee, and from his family and its success sprang a dynasty that ruled Judah for the century before the arrival of Herod the Great. The author of 1 Maccabees was a keen supporter of that dynasty, and saw their early rulers as made in the mould of the early kings of Israel. The present book introduces the student to modern scholarly research on 1 Maccabees and its author.
4 Maccabees
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Hellenistic Greek society offered many advantages to the Jew who was willing to relax Torah for the sake of easier relations with the dominant culture. 4 Maccabees was written to reassure Jewish readers that Torah was in fact the sole path to the perfection of the virtues honoured in Greek culture, as it freed the diligent devotee from slavery to the desire, emotion and the domination of pain and pleasure. In brief compass, deSilva provides a detailed look at the rhetorical and philosophical strategy of the author of 4 Maccabees, who redirects the hearers' desire for honour and advancement toward those commitments that will preserve his Jewish subculture from assimilation. This often neglected text becomes an engaging window into Hellenistic Judaism and into some of the concerns that were formative influences on the early church.
Sirach
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Sirach is a book that raises a very distinctive set of problems. What should we call it (Sirach, Ecclesiasticus, Ben Sira)? What is the relation between the traditional Greek text and the recently rediscovered Hebrew parts of the book? Where did it stand in relation to Jewish tradition and the Hellenism that was sweeping the Mediterranean world? In this guide, a new addition to Sheffield's series on the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, these questions are discussed, as well as the use the author made of Scripture, and the scholarly placing of the book in the Wisdom tradition. The author's attitude to women is considered and the volume ends with a consideration of some of the chief theological themes of Sirach.
1 Esdras: Introduction and Commentary on the Greek Text in Codex Vaticanus
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In 1 Edras Michael Bird presents a commentary on this much neglected text based on its witness in Codex Vaticanus as part of the next installment of the Septuagint Commentary Series. Containing material that parallels 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, 1 Esdras is featured in the Septuagint and Christian Apocrypha. The commentary presents a survey of critical issues related to the study of 1 Esdras and provides an impressive literary analysis of the contours of 1 Esdras.
Sixth Ezra: The Text and Origin
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6 Ezra is a short oracular writing that is included in the biblical Apocrypha as the final two chapters (15-16) of Ezra, or 2 Esdras. Cast as the words of God mediated through an unnamed prophet, the main part of the work sets forth predictions of impending doom for the world._ There has never been a major study of 6 Ezra or even a complete critical edition of the book, and indeed little has been written about it since the nineteenth century. This book is designed to fill that gap, offering a detailed analysis of the text itself, and addressing the questions ofits social setting, provenance, date, religious affiliation, and recensional situation of the text. It will serve to make this important text accessible to a wider audience, while laying the foundations for its further study.
Introduction to the Apocrypha: Jewish Books in Christian Bibles
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An ambitious introduction to the Apocrypha that encourages readers to reimagine what "canon" really means Challenging the way Christian and non-Christian readers think about the Apocrypha, this is an ambitious introduction to the deuterocanonical texts of the Christian Old Testaments. Lawrence Wills introduces these texts in their original Jewish environment while addressing the very different roles they had in various Christian canons. Though often relegated to a lesser role, a sort of "Bible-Lite," these texts deserve renewed attention, and this book shows how they hold more interest for both ancient and contemporary communities than previously thought.
Fourth Ezra and Second Baruch
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The two Jewish works that are the subject of this volume, 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch, were written around the turn of the first century CE in the aftermath of the Roman destruction of the Second Temple. Both texts are apocalypses, and both occupy an important place in early Jewish literature and thought: they were composed right after the Second Temple period, as Rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity began to emerge. The twenty essays in this volume were first presented and discussed at the Sixth Enoch Seminar at the Villa Cagnola at Gazzada, near Milan, Italy, on June 26-30, 2011. Together they reflect the lively debate about 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch among the most distinguished specialists in the field. The Contributors are: Gabriele Boccaccini; Daniel Boyarin; John J. Collins; Devorah Dimant; Lutz Doering; Lorenzo DiTommaso; Steven Fraade; Lester L. Grabbe; Matthias Henze; Karina M. Hoogan; Liv Ingeborg Lied; Hindy Najman; George W.E. Nickelsburg; Eugen Pentiuc; Pierluigi Piovanelli; Benjamin Reynolds; Loren Stuckenbruck; Bal zs Tam si; Alexander Toepel; Adela Yarbro Collins
The Book of Daniel and the Apocryphal Daniel Literature
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This volume illuminates the full extent of the corpus of ancient and mediaeval apocryphal Daniel literature. It is the first study to examine the Daniel legenda, the apocryphal apocalypses, and the prognostica as discrete categories of texts and to evaluate their generic relationship to the biblical Book of Daniel. Special emphases include the identification of the texts and their manuscript evidence as well as the study of late antique and early mediaeval apocalyptic literature attributed to Daniel. This volume will be of particular interest to biblical scholars and to those who specialise in biblical apocrypha and pseudepigrapha.
Creation, Covenant, and the Beginnings of Judaism
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This study examines the relationship between time and history in Second Temple literature. Numerous sources from that period express a belief that Jewish history began with an act of covenant formation and proceeded in linear fashion until the exile, an unprecedented event which severed the present from the past. The authors of Ben Sira, Jubilees, the Animal Apocalypse, and 4 Ezra responded to this theological challenge by claiming instead that Jewish history began at creation. Between creation and redemption, history unfolds as a series of static, repeating patterns that simultaneously account for the disappointments of the Second Temple period and confirm the eternal nature of the covenant. As iterations of timeless, cyclical patterns, the difficult post-exilic present and the glorious redemption of the future emerge as familiar, unremarkable, and inevitable historical developments.
Deuterocanonical Additions to the Old Testament Books
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The volume publishes papers presented at the International Conference on the Deuterocanonical Books (Pápa, Hungary). This conference dealt with the deuterocanonical additionsof theOld Testament books. As such, this was one of the most extended discussions of these writings that has ever taken place at a scholarly meeting. The volume contains articles on the traditions and theology of the additions, and demonstrates their relationship with the contemporary literature of early Judaism. Several writings of the Hebrew Bible - such as Esther, Daniel and Jeremiah - have different textual forms in the Greek Bible, and these forms display amplified material compared to the Hebrew versions. These additions testify to the creative reflection of early Jewish circles on the basic traditions of these Books and the textual fluidity of the writings in question. The essays of this volume explore these additions, their relationship to the Hebrew parent texts, and their impact on the effective history of the interpretation of later centuries.
Gender in the Book of Ben Sira
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Gender in the Book of Ben Sira is a semantic analysis and, also, an investigation of hermeneutical pathways for performing such an analysis. A comparison of possible Greek and Hebrew gender taxonomies precedes the extensive delineation of the target-category, gender. The delineation includes invisible influences in the Book of Ben Sira such as the author's choices of genre and his situation as a member of a colonized group within a Hellenistic empire. When the Book of Ben Sira's genre-constrained invectives against women and male fools are excluded, the remaining expectations for women and for men are mostly equivalent, in terms of a pious life lived according to Torah. However, Ben Sira says nothing about distinctions at the level of how "living according to Torah" would differ for the two groups. His book presents an Edenic ideal of marriage through allusions to Genesis 1 to 4, and a substantial overlap of erotic discourse for the female figures of Wisdom and the "intelligent wife" creates tropes similar to those of the Song of Songs. In addition, Ben Sira's colonial status affects what he says and how he says it; by writing in Hebrew, he could craft the Greek genres of encomium and invective to carry multiple levels of meaning that subvert Hellenistic/Greek claims to cultural superiority.
God, Grace, and Righteousness in Wisdom of Solomon and Paul's Letter to the Romans
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In God, Grace, and Righteousness in Wisdom of Solomon and Paul's Letter to the Romans, Jonathan A. Linebaugh places the Wisdom of Solomon and the Letter to the Romans in conversation. Both texts discuss the relationship of Jew and Gentile, the meaning of God's grace and righteousness, and offer readings of Israel's scripture. These shared themes provide talking-points, initiating a dialogue on anthropology, soteriology, and hermeneutics. By listening in on this conversation, Linebaugh demonstrates that while these texts have much in common, the theologies they articulate are ultimately incommensurable because they think from different events - Wisdom from the pre-creational order crafted by Sophia and exemplified in the Exodus; Paul from the incongruous gift of Christ which justifies the ungodly.
The Tree of Life: An Exploration of Biblical Wisdom Literature
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Since 1990 Roland Murphy's Tree of Life has been a standard introduction to the wisdom literature of the Bible. Now The Tree of Life is available in a third edition, complete with a new preface by the author and a special supplement that surveys the latest developments in wisdom research. This superb study thoroughly explores the wisdom writings of the Bible, interpreting this literature in a way that illumines the development of Israel's search for wisdom throughout its tumultuous history. Murphy looks at each wisdom book individually -- Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiasticus, and Wisdom of Solomon -- and adds to them a discussion of wisdom from other parts of the Old Testament. His careful investigations expose the various guises that wisdom adopts -- the "fear of the Lord," moral formation, the universality of human experience, the mysteries of creation, and others.
The Metaphorical Use of Language in Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature
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Metaphors are a vital linguistic component of religious speech and serve as a cultural indicator of how groups understand themselves and the world. The essays compiled in this volume analyze the use, function, and structure of metaphors in Jewish writings from the Hellenistic-Roman period (including the works of Philo and the texts of Qumran), as well as in apocryphal early Christian texts and inscriptions.
Snapshots of Evolving Traditions
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Scholars of early Christian and Jewish literature have for many years focused on interpreting texts in their hypothetical original forms and contexts, while largely overlooking important aspects of the surviving manuscript evidence and the culture that produced it. This volume of essays seeks to remedy this situation by focusing on the material aspects of the manuscripts themselves and the fluidity of textual transmission in a manuscript culture. With an emphasis on method and looking at texts as they have been used and transmitted in manuscripts, this book discusses how we may deal with textual evidence that can often be described as mere snapshots of fluid textual traditions that have been intentionally adapted to fit ever-shifting contexts. The emphasis of the book is on the contexts and interests of users and producers of texts as they appear in our surviving manuscripts, rather than on original authors and their intentions, and the essays provide both important correctives to former textual interpretations, as well as new insights into the societies and individuals that copied and read the texts in the manuscripts that have actually been preserved to us.
The Torah in 1Maccabees
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This volume addresses two pivotal questions surrounding the composition of 1Maccabees. It sets out to discern the place and function of the torah within the community described by the book. However, before addressing the main problem, the author must first determine the composition history of the text. Given that the former orthodoxy of a unitary authorship seems to be breaking down, and no consensus has taken its place, a literary critical investigation occupies a necessary and lengthy portion of the work. Once a recommendation for the book's composition history is reached, attitudes toward the inherited Judean tradition are described in each of the strata discovered. The resulting study reveals a wide variety of opinions on the Judean traditions and their function in society. This contributes to the current trend in scholarship of the Hellenistic period questioning the dichotomy between Judaism and Hellenism by demonstrating the different attitudes within even one text.
Helpmates, Harlots, and Heroes: Women's Stories in the Hebrew Bible, Second Edition
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This best-selling book, now revised and updated, shares the work of many feminist biblical scholars who have examined women's stories for several years. These stories are powerful accounts of women in the Old Testament--stories that have profoundly affected how women understand themselves as well as men's perception of them. Here, Alice Bellis shares the research of feminist biblical scholarship during a quarter of a century, which renders a vast amount of refreshing, exciting, sometimes disturbing material.
