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• I. Folklore, mythology and oral history. The passing of warrior poetry in the era of prosaic heroes ; The fugitive hero narrative pattern in Mesopotamia ; Ending a performance: the tenants in Luke 20:9-19 and Gospel of Thomas 65 ; A story about some stories ; The Gospel of Mark: baptism and Passover initiation ; Orality and writing in the creation of Exilic prophetic literature
• II. Israelite religion and ancient Judaism. Massebot standing for Yhwh: the fall of Yhwistic cult symbol ; "The righteous mind" and Judean moral culture: a conversation between biblical studies and moral psychology ; Ritual inversion in biblical representations of puntitive rites
• III. Warfare and violence. Moral injury and the interdisciplinary study of biblical war texts: the case of King Saul ; Collateral duties: military objectives and civilian protections in Deuteronomy ; The agonistic imagination: the ethics of war in Deuteronomy ; Rahab's valor and the Gibeonites' cowardice
• IV. Gender. The women of the Bible and of ancient Near Eastern myth: the case of the Levite's [pileges] ; Were Israelite women chattel? Shedding new light on an old question ; Crossings, transgressions, and movement in the Jephthah cycle ; Ruth's beginnings: a study in contradictions ; Building power: gender, identity, and conspicuous consumption in Fin de Siècle Tang China ; Rufina refined: a woman archisynagogos from Smyrna, yet again.

• 1. Introduction--
• 2. The Interpretive Framework of Luke-Acts--
• 3. How Luke Transforms the Isaianic Vision--
• 4. Isaiah According to Mark, Matthew and Luke--
• 5. Listen, Learn and Do Lukewise--
• 6. Conclusions.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

An investigative study into where, how and why Luke interacts with Isaiah. References to Isaiah occur at key points in the narrative, typically introducing the mission of main characters and outlining or summarising the overall plot, suggesting that Luke utilises Isaiah as part of his interpretive framework. The overarching theme drawn from Isaiah appears to be the servant's mission to bring salvation to all people (Isa 49:6). Luke's careful selection and radical interpretation of Isaianic texts highlights surprising aspects of this theme. These include the nature and scope of salvation, the necessary suffering role of the Messiah and its connection with the proclamation of salvation, and the unexpected response to the message by Israel and the nations. Mallen's study rehabilitates the importance of the servant motif for Luke, not in terms of atonement or as a christological title but rather in supplying the job description for Jesus' messianic mission and that of his followers.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Preface
• Editions of Textual Sources
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1. Introduction: Some Basic Notions
• A. The aims of the textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible
• B. Collecting variants
• C. The reconstruction of individual elements in the original text of the LXX
• D. The character of the canon of the "LXX"
• E. The categories "literal" and "free"
• F. Understanding the LXX
• G. Editions
• H. Electronic tools
• I. The evaluation of the LXX in biblical research
• Part I
• The Reconstruction of the Hebrew Text Underlying the LXX: Possibilities and Impossibilities
• Chapter 2. When to Reconstruct Variants?
• A. Exegesis
• B. Scribal developments
• Chapter 3. How to Reconstruct the Vorlage of the LXX-Positive and Negative Aspects
• A. Criteria for retroversion
• 1. Greek-Hebrew equivalents
• 2. Intuition
• 3. Textual probability
• 4. Linguistic plausibility
• 5. External support
• B. The nature of retroverted variants
• 1. Some types of reliable retroversions
• 2. Doubtful retroversions
• 3. The existence of retroverted variants
• Excursus 1:The use of concordances in the reconstruction of the Vorlage of the LXX
• Excursus 2:The use of electronic tools in the reconstruction of the Vorlage of the LXX
• Excursus 3:endentious palaeographical exegesis?
• Chapter 4. The Reconstruction of Elements Not Indicated in the Vorlage of the Translators
• A. Vocalization
• 1. Reconstructing "different vocalizations"
• 2. The translators' attitude towards the unvocalized text
• 3. The reconstruction of the vocalization
• 4. The grapheme
• 5. The translators and the reading tradition
• 6. The reliability of the reconstruction
• B. Word Divisions
• C. Sense Divisions
• Chapter 5. Variants, Variants/Non-Variants, and Pseudo-Variants
• A. Variants
• 1. Pluses
• 2. Minuses
• 3. Transpositions
• 4. Differences in words
• Excursus 1:Matres lectionis and final letters
• Excursus 2:Abbreviations?
• Excursus 3:The script of the Vorlage of the LXX
• Excursus 4:Variants retroverted from the revisions of the LXX
• B. Non-Variants
• C. Variants/Non-Variants
• 1. Connective waw/
• 2. Singular/plural forms of nouns and verbs
• 3. Pronouns
• 4. Active/passive forms of verbs
• 5. Prepositions
• 6. The article
• D. Pseudo-Variants
• 1. Interchange of similar letters in "difficult" Hebrew words
• 2. Intrinsically improbable readings
• 3. Deviations from MT in the LXX causing further deviations in the translation
• Excursus:tymological Exegesis
• Part II: The Nature and Evaluation of the Hebrew Text Underlying the LXX
• Chapter 6. The Nature of the Hebrew Text Underlying the LXX
• A. The geographical provenance of the Hebrew text underlying the LXX
• B. The relationship between the Hebrew text underlying the LXX and ancient Hebrew witnesses of the biblical text
• 1. Hebrew scrolls from Qumran
• 2. The Samaritan Pentateuch
• C. Characteristic features of the Hebrew text underlying the LXX
• D. Evaluation of the literary evidence in the LXX
• Chapter 7. The Evaluation of Retroverted Variants in Biblical Research
• A. General
• B. The evaluation of readings
• C. Some rules for evaluation
• Excursus:The evaluation of retroverted variants in the BH series
• Chapter 8. The Contribution of the LXX to the Literary Criticism of the Bible
• Indexes
• Index of authors
• Index of biblical passages.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

This handbook provides a practical guide for the student and scholar alike who wishes to use the Septuagint (LXX) in the text-critical analysis of the Hebrew Bible. It does not serve as another theoretical introduction to the LXX, but it provides all the practical background information needed for the integration of the LXX in biblical studies. The LXX, together with the Masoretic Text and several Qumran scrolls, remains the most significant source of information for the study of ancient Scripture, but it is written in Greek, and many technical details need to be taken into consideration when using this tool. Therefore, a practical handbook such as this is needed for the integration of the Greek translation in the study of the Hebrew Bible. The Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research is based on much background information, intuition and experience, clear thinking, and a solid description of the procedures followed. The author presents his handbook after half a century of study of the Septuagint, four decades of specialized teaching experience, and involvement in several research projects focusing on the relation between the Hebrew and Greek Bibles. The first two editions of this handbook, published by Simor of Jerusalem (Jerusalem Biblical Studies 3 [1981] and 8 [1997]), received much praise but have been out of print for a considerable period. This, the third, edition presents a completely revised version of the previous editions based on the many developments that took place in the analysis of the Septuagint, the Hebrew Bible and the Qumran Scrolls. Much new information has also been added. Eisenbrauns has been involved in the marketing of the previous two editions and is proud to offer now its own completely novel edition. A must for students of the Hebrew Bible, textual criticism, the Septuagint and the other ancient translations, Dead Sea Scrolls, and Jewish Hellenism.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Machine generated contents note:
• Ch. 1 method of analysis
• Ch. 2 rhetoric of the characterization of God
• Ch. 3 rhetoric of the characterization of Jesus
• Ch. 4 rhetoric of the characterization of Jesus' disciples
• Ch. 5 Recapitulation : the women at the tomb
• Ch. 6 Applications, implications, and conclusion
• App. A organization of cultivated beliefs about God
• App. B organization of cultivated beliefs about Jesus.

• Deuteronomy in the Judaism of the Second Temple Period / Timothy H. Lim
• Deuteronomy in Mark's Gospel / Steve Moyise
• Deuteronomy in Matthew's Gospel / Maarten J.J. Menken
• Deuteronomy in Luke-Acts / Dietrich Rusam
• Deuteronomy in John's Gospel / Michael Labahn
• Deuteronomy in Galatians and Romans / Roy E. Ciampa
• Deuteronomy in 1 and 2 Corinthians / Brian S. Rosner
• Deuteronomy in the Pastoral Epistles / Gerd Häfner
• Deuteronomy in Hebrews / Gert J. Steyn
• Deuteronomy in Revelation / Michael Tilly.

Deuteronomy in the New Testament brings together a set of specially commissioned studies by authors who are experts in the field. After an introductory chapter on the use of Deuteronomy in the second temple literature, each of the New Testament books that contain quotations from Deuteronomy are discussed: Matthew, Mark, Luke-Acts, John, Romans & Galatians, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Hebrews, the Pastoral Epistles and Revelation. The book provides an overview of the status, role and function of Deuteronomy in the first century. It considers the Greek and Hebrew manuscript traditions and offers insights into the various hermeneutical stances of the New Testament authors and the development of New Testament theology.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• 1. Introduction--
• 2. The Ancient, Social Context of Dreams--
• 3. The Ancient, Literary Context of Dreams, PART I: The Script of Dreams--
• 4. The Ancient, Literary Context of Dreams, PART II: The Literary Function of Dreams--
• 5. Dreams in the Gospel of Matthew--
• 6. Conclusion-- Appendix: The Matthean Transfiguration as a Dream-Vision Report? Bibliography.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Dodson reads the dreams in the Gospel of Matthew (1:18b-25; 2:12, 13-15, 19-21, 22; 27:19) as the authorial audience. This approach requires an understanding of the social and literary character of dreams in the Greco-Roman world. Dodson describes the social function of dreams, noting that dreams constituted one form of divination in the ancient world, and looks at the theories and classification of dreams that developed in the ancient world. He then moves on to demonstrate the literary dimensions of dreams in Greco-Roman literature. This exploration of the literary representation of dreams is nuanced by considering the literary form of dreams, dreams in the Greco-Roman rhetorical tradition, the inventiveness of literary dreams, and the literary function of dreams. The dreams in the Gospel of Matthew are then analyzed in this social and literary context. It is demonstrated that Matthews use of dreams as a literary convention corresponds to the script of dreams in other Greco-Roman narratives. This correspondence includes the form of the Matthean dreams, dreams as a motif of the birth topos (1:18b-25), the association of dreams and prophecy (1:22-23; 2:15, 23), the use of the double-dream report (2:12 and 2:13-15), and dreams as an ominous sign in relation to an individuals death (27:19). An appendix considers the Matthean transfiguration as a dream-vision report.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Frontmatter
• Acknowledgments
• Contents
• Abbreviations of Common Reference Works and Editions
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Rationale and Approach
• Chapter 2. Narratives for Praise and Blame: Tacitus on Agricola, Philo on Flaccus
• Chapter 3. Governors in Historiography: Josephus' Judean War and Judean Antiquities
• Chapter 4. An Agent of Rome in the Gospel of Luke: Pontius Pilate
• Chapter 5. Paul and Rome: The Governors in Acts
• Bibliography
• Index.

Luke-Acts contains a wealth of material that is relevant to politics, and the relationship between Jesus and his followers and the Roman Empire becomes an issue at a number of points. The author's fundamental attitude toward Rome is hard to discern, however. The complexity of Luke's task as both a creative writer and a mediator of received tradition, and perhaps as well the author's own ambivalence, have left conflicting evidence in the narrative. Scholarly treatments of the issue have tended to survey in a relatively short scope a great amount of material with different degrees of relevance to the question and representing different proportions of authorial contribution and traditional material. This book attempts to make a contribution to the discussion by narrowing the focus to Luke's depiction of the Roman provincial governors in his narrative, interpreted in terms of his Greco-Roman literary context. Luke's portraits of Roman governors can be seen to invoke expectations and concerns that were common in the literary context. By these standards Luke's portrait of these Roman authority figures is relatively critical, and demonstrates his preoccupation with Rome's judgment of the Christians more than a desire to commend Roman rule.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Cover; Editorial Board; Title; Copyright; CONTENTS; Acknowledgments; Preface; Abbreviations; Introduction;
• Chapter 1 MARKAN PRESENT TIME: THE GOSPEL AS PICARESQUE NOVELLA;
• Chapter 2 NARRATIVE AS MEMORY: GOSPEL AS FRAGMENTS;
• Chapter 3 NARRATIVE DURATION: SUSPENDED TIME;
• Chapter 4 THE END OF FEAR: MYTHIC TIME IN THE GOSPEL OF MARK; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index of References; Index of Authors.

Here is a compact study of how Mark's Gospel meditates on time. It examines how the Gospel's contemporary setting in ordinary time defines its genre, and how Mark uses the Hebrew scriptures to remember and recall past teachings, prophecies and histories. The suspended time narratives, Mark's 'intercalations', on the other hand, interrupt the narrative of the critical time present. Finally, by bringing the eternal horizon into the events of the present, Mark's 'mythic time' reveals the crisis events as a momentary interruption of ordinary time. Similarly, during the 'ritual time', the Gospel narrative breaks with its own historical setting in order to unravel the dead-endedness of the crisis story by symbolically taking it outside time.
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• Preface--
• Chapter 1: What is Abuse?--
• 1. Self-Worth-- a. Self-Worth and Justification-- b. Resentment and Sell-Worth--
• 2. Happiness-- a. The Socratic Conception-- b. The Maimonidean Conception-- c. The Wittgensteinian Conception--
• 3. Power-- a. The Intuitive Paradigm-- b. The Moral Paradigm-- c. The Self-Restraint Paradigm--
• Chapter 2: Divine Abuse--
• 1. Job's Conception of Happiness-- a. The Worldly Conception-- b. The Moral Conception--
• 2. Job's Conception of Self-Worth-- a. Divine Abuse: Humiliation and Elevation-- b. Resentment and Moral Hatred of God--
• 3. Power and Power Relations-- a. Job's Conception of Power-- b. Job's Way of Exercising his Power--
• Chapter 3: The Way Out: From Abuse to Suffering--
• 1. Afflictions of Love and Love of Afflictions-- a. Afflictions of Love-- b. Love of Afflictions: The Sadist, the Masochist and the Slave--
• 2. Providence and Intervention-- a. Providence as Intervention-- b. Maimonides-- c. Simone Well--
• 3. Providence Lost-- a. Afflictions of Hate-- b. Malevolent Providence-- c. From Abuse to Suffering--
• Chapter 4: Forgiveness--
• 1. The Victim-- a. Harms, Wrongs and Hostile Emotions-- b. Resentment and Reason-- c. Overcoming Resentment--
• 2. The Assailant-- a. Telling the Moral Story-- b. Telling the Biographical Story-- c. Telling the Same Story--
• 3. Forgiveness-- a. Forgiveness without Reconciliation-- b. Reconciliation without Forgiveness-- c. Forgiveness and Reconciliation--
• Chapter 5: Forgiving God--
• 1. Protest-- a. Roth's Theodicy of Protest-- b. Blumenthal's Theology of Protest--
• 2. Beyond Protest-- a. Protest in Context-- b. Beyond Protest--
• 3. Forgiving God-- a. The Logical Space for Forgiveness-- b. Forgiving God-- c. Subsisting in Brokenness-- Conclusion-- Bibliography.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Divinely Abused engages with the logical features of the experience of divine abuse and the religious difficulties to which it gives rise. Taking Job's trial as a test case, Verbin explores the relation between Job's manner of understanding and responding to his misfortunes and the responses of others such as rabbi Aqiva, Kierkegaard and Simone Weil. She discusses the religious crisis to which the experience of divine abuse gives rise and the possibility of sustaining a minimal relationship with the God who is experienced as an abuser by means of forgiving God.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Introduction-- Contributors-- Abbreviations-- Chronology--
• Part 1 The Earliest Christian Gospels and Their Transmission-- 1 Early Christian Imagination and the Gospels, Sean Freyn-- 2 The Four Gospels and the One Gospel of Jesus Christ, Martin Hengel-- 3 Literacy, Liturgy and the Shaping of the New Testament Canon, Harry Gamble-- 4 Early Christian Preference for the Codex, Graham Stanton-- 5 The Diatessaron and the Fourfold Gospel, William L. Petersen-- 6 The Nag Hammadi Gospels and the Fourfold Gospel, James Robinson-- 7 The Latin Gospels, Martin McNamara--
• Part 2 The Chester Beatty Gospel Codex P45-- 1 The Significance of the Chester Beatty Papyri in Early Church History, Barbara Aland-- 2 Singular Readings in the Gospel Text of P45, J. K. Elliott-- 3 P45 and the Textual History of the Gospel of Mark, Larry Hurtado-- 4 The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri, Charles Horton-- Illustrations-- Maps-- Bibliography-- Index.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

The Earliest Gospels brings together the latest research on the origins of the gospels and their transmission, by many of the leading international New Testament scholars. It also provides the only guide to one of the most important primary sources in New Testament scholarship, the Chester Beatty Codex P45. Part 1 examines the general contextual background to the gospels: an introduction to the gospel genre, literacy among early Christians, and all that is known about the origins and transmission of the gospels. Part 2 focuses on the significance of P45, its place as the earliest Christian gospel-book, its unique readings, the earliest extant version of the gospel of Mark, and how the manuscript was found piece by piece by an American collector.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Reading as a Jew and as a scholar
• What is the Bible, anyway?
• The art of reading the Bible
• A brief history of Israel
• With scissors and paste : the sources of Genesis
• Creation vs. creationism : Genesis 1-3 as myth
• The ancestors as heroes
• Biblical law : codes and collections
• Incense is offensive to me : the cult in ancient Israel
• "In the fortieth year-- Moses addressed the Israelites : Deuteronomy
• "The walls came tumbling down" : reading Joshua
• "May my lord King David live forever" : royal ideology in Samuel and Judges
• "For Israel tore away from the house of David" : reading Kings
• Revisionist history : reading Chronicles
• Introduction to prophecy
• "Let justice well up like water" : reading Amos
• "They shall beat their swords into plowshares" : reading (first) Isaiah
• "I will make this house like Shiloh" : reading Jeremiah
• "I will be for them a mini-temple" : reading Ezekiel
• "Comfort, oh comfort my people" : the exile and beyond
• "Those that sleep in the dust-- will awake" : Zechariah, apocalyptic literature, and Daniel
• Prayer of many hearts : reading Psalms
• "Acquire wisdom" : reading Proverbs and Ecclesiastes
• "Being but dust and ashes" : reading Job
• "Drink deep of love!" : reading Song of Songs
• "Why are you so kind-- when I am a foreigner?" : reading Ruth vs. Esther
• The creation of the Bible.

Annotation Shedding new light on the Bible by reading it as it was meant in the time and place in which it was writtenIn his new book, master Bible scholar and teacher Marc Brettler argues that today?s contemporary readers can only understand the ancient Hebrew scripture by knowing more about the culture that produced it. And so Brettler unpacks the literary conventions, ideological assumptions, and historical conditions that inform the biblical text and demonstrates how modern critical scholarship and archaeological discoveries shed light on this fascinating and complex literature. Brettler surveys representative biblical texts from different genres to illustrate how modern scholars have taught us to?read? these texts. Using the?historical-critical method? long popular in academia, he guides us in reading the Bible as it was read in the biblical period, independent of later religious norms and interpretive traditions. Understanding the Bible this way lets us appreciate it as an interesting text that speaks in multiple voices on profound issues. This book is the first?Jewishly sensitive? introduction to the historical-critical method. Unlike other such introductory texts, the Bible that this book speaks about is the Jewish one?with the three-part TaNaKH arrangement, the sequence of books found in modern printed Hebrew editions, and the chapter and verse enumerations used in most modern Jewish versions of the Bible. In an afterword, the author discusses how the historical-critical method can help contemporary Jews relate to the Bible as a religious text in a more meaningful way.
Annotation In his new book, master Bible scholar and teacher Marc Brettler argues that today's contemporary readers can only understand the ancient Hebrew Scripture by knowing more about the culture that produced it. And so Brettler unpacks the literary conventions, ideological assumptions, and historical conditions that inform the biblical text and demonstrates how modern critical scholarship and archaeological discoveries shed light on this fascinating and complex literature. Brettler surveys representative biblical texts from different genres to illustrate how modern scholars have taught us to "read" these texts. Using the "historical-critical method" long popular in academia, he guides us in reading the Bible as it was read in the biblical period, independent of later religious norms and interpretive traditions. Understanding the Bible this way lets us appreciate it as an interesting text that speaks in multiple voices on profound issues. This book is the first "Jewishly sensitive" introduction to the historical-critical method. Unlike other introductory texts, the Bible that this book speaks about is the Jewish one-with the three-part TaNaKH arrangement, the sequence of books found in modern printed Hebrew editions, and the chapter and verse enumerations used in most modern Jewish versions of the Bible. In an afterword, the author discusses how the historical-critical method can help contemporary Jews relate to the Bible as a religious text in a more meaningful way.

• Cover; Editorial Board; Title; Copyright; CONTENTS; Preface; Miscellany;
• Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION: ''ARE ALL SALES FINAL, OR CAN I RETURN THIS BOOK?'';
• Chapter 2 ''WHAT IS THE LAY OF THE LAND?'' OR ''WHY SHOULD I CARE?'';
• Chapter 3 TOWARD A DEFINITION OF A RHETORIC OF POWER;
• Chapter 4 THE (NEW) RHETORICAL CRITICISM(S) AND NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS;
• Chapter 5 MESSAGES IN A BOTTLE: THE PROMISE(S) OF A RHETORIC OF POWER; ASSORTED BIBLIOGRAPHIES; Index of References; Index of Authors.

Rhetorical criticism promised to bring New Testament studies into a new era that approached the Bible as a document of persuasive discourse. Major proponents of this approach suggested that its potential lies in its democratization of biblical interpretation. To date, that promise has never been fulfilled. The reasons can be found by exploring the rhetoric of these rhetorical critics. Such an exploration uncovers systems of disciplinary constraints and discursive habits that keep rhetoric firmly within traditional units of academic biblical interpretation. The promise of rhetoric can only be f.

• Authorial intention and the Divisio textus / John F. Boyle
• The theological role of the fathers in Aquinas's Super evangelium S. Ioannis lectura / Stephen F. Brown
• Biblical exegesis and the speculative doctrine of the Trinity in St. Thomas Aquinas's Commentary on St. John / Gilles Emery
• What does the Spirit have to do? / Bruce D. Marshall
• Does the paschal mystery reveal the Trinity? / Matthew Levering
• The analogy of mission and obedience: a central point in the relation between Theologia and Oikonomia in St. Thomas Aquinas's Commentary on John / Michael Waldstein
• Creation in St. Thomas Aquinas's Super evangelium S. Joannis lectura / David B. Burrell
• Eternity and time in St. Thomas Aquinas's lectures on St. John's gospel / Matthew L. Lamb
• Divine providence and John 15:5 / Steven A. Long
• The concept of "life" in the Commentary on St. John / Carlo Leget
• Christ the teacher in St. Thomas's Commentary on the gospel of John / Michael Sherwin
• "Come and see" / Janet E. Smith
• And Jesus wept: notes towards a theology of mourning / Richard Schenk
• The extent of Jesus' human knowledge according to the fourth gospel / Benedict M. Ashley
• Anti-docetism in Aquinas's Super Ioannem: St. Thomas as defender of the full humanity of Christ / Paul Gondreau
• Aquinas and Christ's resurrection: the influence of the Lectura super Ioannem 20-21 on the Summa theologiae / Pim Valkenberg
• "That the faithful become the Temple of God": the church militant in Aquinas's Commentary on John / Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt
• "And they shall all be taught by God": Wisdom and the Eucharist in John 6 / Michael Dauphinais
• The role of the apostles in the communication of Revelation according to the Lectura super Ioannem of St. Thomas Aquinas / Serge-Thomas Bonino.

Written by leading experts on Aquinas's theology, the essays in Reading John with St. Thomas Aquinas bear common witness to a central theological conviction: the tasks of biblical exegesis and speculative theology, though distinct, indwell and inform each other. As the first book-length study of the full breadth of Aquinas's Commentary on the Gospel of John, this work illuminates the way in which thinking systematically or speculatively about revelation flows from questions raised within biblical exegesis itself. Like any medieval biblical commentator, Aquinas attempts to understand a biblical text not only in itself but also by appealing to parallel interpretive texts drawn from throughout the Bible as well as the accumulated insights of the Church Fathers. This method enables him to penetrate deeply into the thought of the Bible, recognizing that the biblical authors - speaking from within the context of Israel and the Church - raise questions that are theological and that belong to coherent speculative theological frameworks. The result is, in large part, a speculative theological commentary that is not imposed on the biblical texts but emerges from it. The essays in Reading John with St. Thomas Aquinas seek to illumine the necessary conjunction of the inspired words of Scripture, exegetical commentary, and theological analysis. The volume is both a study of Aquinas's thought and an attempt to foster contemporary exegetical approaches that emphasize the need to interpret Scripture speculatively, through the historical lens of tradition.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Abbreviations
• The Religion of Canaan and the God of Israel The God of the Fathers 'El and the God of the Fathers 'El in the Ugaritic Pantheon The Epithets of 'El 'El in the Canaanite Myth 'El and Ba'l Hamon The Abode of 'El 'El the Divine Patriarch Yahweh and 'El 'El in the Bible 'El Epithets in Patriarchal Narratives The Name Yahweh
• The Cultus of the Israelite League Prolegomena The Myth and Ritual School The History-of- Redemption School The Divine Warrior Psalm 24 and the Warrior-King The "Ritual Conquest" Transformations of the "Ritual Conquest" The Song of the Sea and Canaanite Myth The Mythic Cycle of Ba'l and 'Anat The Song of the Sea
• League and Kingdom Yahweh and Ba'I The Theophany of Ba'l The Storm Theophany in the Bible The Revelation at Sinai History of the Tradition of the Storm Theophany 'El's Modes of Revelation Yahweh and the Council of the Gods Ba'l versus Yahweh The Priestly Houses of Early Israel The Classical View of Israel's Early Priesthood The Function of the Stories of Conflict The Priestly Genealogies The Priests of David's National Shrine
• Kings and Prophets The Ideologies of Kingship in the Era of the Empire: Conditional Covenant and Eternal Decree The Limited Monarchy of Saul and Monarchy in the Northern Kingdom Davidic Kingship The Imperial Rule of Solomon The Judaean Royal Theology The Typology of the Royal Ideology A Brief Excursus on berit, "Covenant" The Themes of the Book of Kings and the Structure of the Deuteronomistic History The Contemporary Discussion of the Structure of the Deuteronornistic History The Two Themes of the First Edition of the Deuteronomistic History (Dtr1) The Theme of the Exilic Edition of the History (Dtr2) The Two Editions of the Deuteronomistic History
• Exile and Apocalyptic The Priestly Work The So-Called P-Source of the Pentateuch The P System of Covenants Is P a Narrative Source? Documents Used by P Archaizing Language in P The Date of P The Composition of the Priestly Work The Early History of the Apocalyptic Community at Qumran The Archaeological Context of the Qumran Qumran and the Essenes The Essenes: Priestly Apocalyptists Essene Origins A Note on the Study of Apocalyptic Origins
• Index of Biblical Citations Index of Ugaritic Citations Index of Technical Terms Index of Authors General Index.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

The essays in this volume address key aspects of Israelite religious development. Cross traces the continuities between early Israelite religion and the Canaanite culture from which it emerged; explores the tension between the mythic and the historical in Israel's religious expression; and examines the reemergence of Canaanite mythic material in the apocalypticism of early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
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• Preface; Acknowledgments; Table of Contents; Abbreviations; Introduction;
• Chapter 1: The Integrity of the Book of Tobit;
• Chapter 2: The Wisdom Instructions in Tob 4:3-19, 21; 12:6-10 and 14:8-11;
• Chapter 3: The Narrative Function of Tobit's Instructions;
• Chapter 4: The Wisdom Tradition and the Instructions of Tobit;
• Chapter 5: Tobit and Wisdom in Exile; General Conclusion; Bibliography; Index of Modern Authors; Index of References.

Despite the resurgence of scholarly interest in the Book of Tobit in recent years, an important aspect of this deuterocanonical book has been largely overlooked. Within it, there is an instruction manual for an effective way of being and living in exile, namely the wisdom instructions in Tobit 4. With glances at Tobit 12 and Tobit 14 where the wisdom instructions are repeated in shorter form, this monograph discusses the function of the wisdom discourse in the literary design of the narrative. Moreover, it examines how the wisdom instructions of Tobit demonstrate the vital role of the sapiential tradition in forming and maintaining Jewish identity in the Diaspora. Contextualizing the wisdom instructions not only within the narrative but also within the realities of Second Temple Judaism, it is argued that the author of Tobit saw the validity and employed the resources of the Jewish wisdom tradition in reinterpreting some of the traditional claims of covenant faith. Using the Sinaiticus as the textual basis of study, it shows that the lengthy wisdom lecture of Tobit displays an inner logic that structures the collection of seemingly unrelated sayings. The instructions reinterpret a major deuteronomic concern to remember the Lord always. For Tobit, the practice of righteousness, the practice of wise behavior, and the practice of prayer realize and concretize such remembrance. Addressed to those in the Dispersion, Tobit's wisdom instructions are meant to foster and shape a distinct ethos of truth, righteousness and mercy.
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• AbbreviationsPreface Part I The Bible and History1 Israel Without the Bible Gary A. Rendsburg2 Bible, Archaeology, and the Social Sciences: The Next Generation Elizabeth Bloch-SmithPart II New Approaches to the Bible3 Literary Approaches to Biblical Literature: General Observations and a Case Study of Genesis 34 Adele Berlin4 Feminist Approaches to the Hebrew Bible Esther FuchsPart III Ancient Practice5 The Laws of Biblical Israel Raymond Westbrook6 The Study of Ritual in the Hebrew Bible David P. WrightPart IV Judaism and the Bible7 By the Letter?/Word for Word? Scripture in the Jewish Tradition Leonard Greenspoon8 From Judaism to Biblical Religion and Back Again Ziony Zevit9 Jewish Biblical Theology Marvin A. SweeneyEpilogue: Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom: Some Re?ections on Reading and Studying the Hebrew Bible Peter MachinistAbout the Contributors Index Index of Biblical Passages.
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In April of 2001, the headline in the Los Angeles Timesread, "Doubting the Story of the Exodus." It covered a sermon that had been delivered by the rabbi of a prominent local congregation over the holiday of Passover. In it, he said, "The truth is that virtually every modern archeologist who has investigated the story of the exodus, with very few exceptions, agrees that the way the Bible describes the exodus is not the way it happened, if it happened at all." This seeming challenge to the biblical story captivated the local public. Yet as the rabbi himself acknowledged, his sermon contained nothing new. The theories that he described had been common knowledge among biblical scholars for over thirty years, though few people outside of the profession know their relevance.New understandings concerning the Bible have not filtered down beyond specialists in university settings. There is a need to communicate this research to a wider public of students and educated readers outside of the academy. This volume seeks to meet this need, with accessible and engaging chapters describing how archeology, theology, ancient studies, literary studies, feminist studies, and other disciplines now understand the Bible.
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• Myth theory, comparison and embedded scripture texts : Ibn Isḥāq's biography of Muhammad and the mythologizing function of Isaiah 7.14 in Matthew 1.23 / M. Anthony Apodaca
• Love as societal vision and counter-imperial practice in Matthew 22.34-40 / Warren Carter
• Matthew's earliest interpreter : Justin Martyr on Matthew's fulfilment quotations / J.R.C. Cousland
• 'The book of the genesis of Jesus Christ' : the purpose of Matthew in light of the incipit / Craig A. Evans
• Mark, Elijah, the Baptist and Matthew : the success of the first intertextual reading of Mark / Mark Goodacre
• Reading Zechariah and Matthew's Olivet discourse / Clay Alan Ham
• From history to myth and back again : the historicizing function of scripture in Matthew 2 / Thomas R. Hatina
• Plotting Jesus : characterization, identity and the voice of God in Matthew's Gospel / Michael P. Knowles
• The king as shepherd : the role of Deutero-Zechariah in Matthew / John Nolland
• Matthew's atomistic use of scripture : Messianic interpretation of Isaiah 53.4 in Matthew 8.17 / Lidija Novakovic
• Matthew's intertexts and the presentation of Jesus as healer-messiah Andries G. van Aarde
• Scribal methods in Matthew and Mishnah Abot / Lawrence M. Wills.

This collection of essays is the second volume in a projected series of five volumes that gather together recent research by leading scholars on the narrative function of embedded Jewish scripture texts (quotations or allusions) in early Christian Gospels. While the contributors employ a diverse range of methods, their research is directed towards considering the function of embedded scripture texts in the context of the Gospels as self-contained narratives written and read/heard in their early Christian settings. The essays are arranged according to their appropriate methodological categories.
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• Introduction (The Editors)--
• Section 1: Biblical perspectives--
• Section 2: Insights from the history of interpretation--
• Section 3: Contemporary hermeneutical possibilities-- Epilogue (The Editors)-- Indexes.
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Leading scholars reflect critically on the kinds of appeal to the Bible that have been made in environmental ethics and ecotheology. "Ecological Hermeneutics" reflects critically on the kinds of appeal to the Bible that have been made in environmental ethics and ecotheoloogy; engages with biblical texts with a view towards exploring their contribution to an ecological ethics; and, explores the kind of hermeneutic necessary for such engagement to be fruitful for contemporary theology and ethics. Crucial to such broad reflection is the bringing together of a range of perspectives: biblical studies, historical theology, hermeneutics, and theological ethics. The thematic coherence of the book is provided by the running focus on the ways in which biblical texts have been, or might be, read. This is not a volume on ecotheology; but rather on ecological hermeneutics. Indeed, some essays may show where biblical texts, or particular approaches in the history of interpretation, represent anthropocentric or even anti-ecological moves. One of the overall aims of the book will be to suggest how, and why, an ecological hermeneutic might be developed, and the kinds of interpretive choices that are required in such a development.
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• Introduction--
• Chapter 1: Survey of the Literature on the Structure of Hebrews--
• Chapter 2: Introduction to Discourse Analysis Theory & Methodology--
• Chapter 3: Jesus-the Apostle of Our Confession: Analysis of Hebrews 1:1-4:16--
• Chapter 4: Jesus the High Priest of Our Confession
• Part 1 - A Priest according to the Order of Melchizedek: Analysis of Hebrews 4:11-7:28.
• Chapter 5: Jesus the High Priest of Our Confession
• Part 2 - A Priest who Equips Us to Draw Near to Near to God: Analysis of Hebrews 8:1-10:25--
• Chapter 6: Partners in a Heavenly Calling - The Priesthood of the Believers: Analysis of Hebrews 10:19-13:25--
• Chapter 7: Conclusion-- Bibliography.
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This study attempts to analyse the text of Hebrews with a method of discourse analysis primarily based on a form of systemic functional linguistics developed for Hellenistic Greek, but it is also informed by other linguistic studies. It begins with a general survey of the literature that is either influential or representative of approaches to the structure of Hebrews. The survey is followed by an introduction to the terminology and definitions of discourse analysis, as well as the theory behind the methodology, and describes a procedure for analysing text. Hebrews is treated as having three sections. The first section of Hebrews (1:1-4:16) demonstrates the organization of the units, the topic of the units, the prominent text, and the relationship of the first section with the rest of the discourse. The second section of Hebrews (4:11-10:25) is described in two parts (4:11-7:28 and 8:1-10:25) because of its length. There is an overlap between the first and second sections in 4:11-16 and between the second and third sections in 10:19-25. Both of these passages have a concluding function for the preceding co-text and a staging function for the following co-text, so that they look backwards and forwards. The third and final section in 10:19-13:25 contains the climax or discourse peak. The study is concluded with a description of the coherence of the discourse and a presentation of a mental representation of the text. JSNTS and Studies in New Testament Greek subseries.
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• Preface; Abbreviations; INTRODUCTION;
• 1. The social setting of the Matthean community in recent studies;
• 2. The question of location;
• 3. Judaism, Christian Judaism and Gentile Christianity; 3.1. Judaism; 3.2. The major types in the Christian Movement; 3.3. Christian Judaism and Gentile Christianity;
• 4. The plan of this book;
• 1. THE DATE AND LOCATION OF THE MATTHEAN COMMUNITY; 1.1. The date of the Gospel; 1.1.1. A date prior to 100; 1.1.2. A date after 70; 1.2. The location of the Gospel; 1.2.1. Jerusalem or Palestine; 1.2.2. Transjordan; 1.2.3. Caesarea Maritima; 1.2.4. Phoenicia.

• 1.2.5. Alexandria1.2.6. Syria (outside Antioch); 1.2.7. Antioch on the Orontes;
• 2. THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT IN ANTIOCH PRIOR TO MATTHEW; 2.1. The Hellenists and Antioch; 2.1.1. The Hellenists and the Hebrews; 2.1.2. The Hellenists in Antioch; 2.1.3. The extension of the mission by Barnabas and Paul; 2.2. The apostolic council; 2.2.1. The events leading to the apostolic council; 2.2.2. The Pauline version of the council; 2.2.3 The Acts version of the council; 2.3. The dispute at Antioch; 2.3.1. James and the circumcision party; 2.3.2. The message from James.

• 2.3.3. Paul''s departure from Antioch2.4. The fate of the Antiochene Church; 2.5. Conclusions;
• 3. THE MATTHEAN COMMUNITY AND FORMATIVE JUDAISM; 3.1. Preliminary questions; 3.1.1. Sects and sectarianism; 3.1.2. Formative Judaism; 3.2. The sectarian nature of the Matthean community; 3.2.1. Sectarian language; 3.2.2. Hostility towards the Jewish leadership; 3.2.3. The centrality of the law; 3.2.4. Further sectarian tendencies; 3.2.5. The Matthean community within Judaism; 3.3. The relations between the Matthean community and the Jewish world; 3.3.1. The cause of the break with formative Judaism.

• 3.3.2. Persecution of the Matthean community3.3.3. The Jewish mission and persecution; 3.4. Conclusions;
• 4. THE MATTHEAN COMMUNITY AND PAULINE CHRISTIANITY; 4.1. The historical background; 4.1.1. The collection; 4.1.2. The deaths of Paul and James; 4.1.3. The effects of the Jewish war; 4.1.4. The Gentile Christian literature; 4.1.5. The Christian Jewish literature; 4.1.6. The implications of the evidence; 4.2. The Matthean community and Pauline Christianity; 4.2.1. James and the relatives of Jesus; 4.2.2. The disciples; 4.2.3. Peter; 4.2.4. Paul and the law-free gospel.

• 4.2.5. The Pauline mission in Antioch4.3. Conclusions;
• 5. THE MATTHEAN COMMUNITY AND THE GENTILE WORLD; 5.1. The Gentiles in the Gospel of Matthew; 5.1.1. The Gentiles in Matthew''s story; 5.1.2. Anti-Gentile statements in Matthew; 5.2. Gentile persecution of the Matthean community; 5.3. The Matthean community and the Gentile mission; 5.4. The Gentiles in the Matthean community; 5.5. Conclusions;
• 6. THE MATTHEAN COMMUNITY AND IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH; 6.1. Ignatius of Antioch as a successor to Paul; 6.1.1. Ignatius and the Pauline Epistles; 6.1.2. The influence of Paul on Ignatius.

In this meticulously researched and compelling study, David Sim reconstructs the social setting of the Matthean community at the time the Gospel was written and traces its full history.Dr Sim argues that the Matthean community should be located in Antioch towards the latter part of the first century. He acknowledges the dispute within the early Christian movement and its importance. He defines more accurately the distinctive perspectives of the two streams of thought and their respective relationships to Judaism. A new and important work in Matthean studies.
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