• Tracking the trail of scent: an introduction
• The aroma of daily life: aromatics in Roman and rabbinic culture
• Election and the erotic: biblical portrayals of perfume and incense
• Spicy ideologies: fragrance and rabbinic beliefs
• Soothing odors: death, suffering, and sacrifice
• Ephemerality and fragrance: desire for divine immanence.

"Studies aroma in Jewish life and literature in Palestine in the late Roman and early Byzantine periods. Uses the history and material culture of perfume and incense as a lens to view daily activities"--Provided by publisher.

• 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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• Acknowledgments Read Me First Whose Bible Is It?
• 1. The Sound of the Biblical Voices
• 2. Historical Voices
• 3. Theological Voices
• 4. Legal Voices
• 5. Prophetic Voices
• 6. Women's Voices
• 7. Voices of the Wise
• 8. Foreign Voices
• 9. Voices of Song and Legend
• 10. Echoes and Reverberations Index.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

The most common English translations of the Bible often sound like a single, somewhat archaic voice. In fact, the Bible is made up of many separate books composed by multiple writers in a wide range of styles and perspectives. It is, as Michael Carasik demonstrates, not a remote text reserved for churches and synagogues but rather a human document full of history, poetry, politics, theology, and spirituality. Using historic, linguistic, anthropological, and theological sources, Carasik helps us distinguish between the Jewish Bible's voices-the mythic, the historical, the prophetic, the theological, and the legal. By articulating the differences among these voices, he shows us not just their messages and meanings but also what mattered to the authors. In these contrasts we encounter the Bible anew as a living work whose many voices tell us about the world out of which the Bible grew-and the world that it created. Listen to the author's podcast.
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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.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

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.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Cover; Contents; Preface;
• 1. PRELIMINARY REMARKS;
• 2. INTRODUCTION; 2.1 From what context do we consider the Old Testament?; 2.2 What is the status of the Old Testament writings?; 2.3 What are our aims in interpreting the ancient traditions?;
• 3. A SKETCH OF THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF ISRAEL; 3.1 Family and clan; 3.2 Village and small town; 3.3 Tribal alliances; 3.4 The monarchical state; 3.5 Confessional and parochial communities;
• 4. THE DEITY IN THE CIRCLE OF FAMILY AND CLAN; 4.1 The horizon of faith; 4.2 Cultic actions; 4.3 Ideas of God; 4.4 The ethic of family and clan.

• 4.5 Theology from the family
• theology of the individual5. DEITIES OF THE VILLAGE (SMALL-TOWN) COMMUNITY; 5.1 The social history of Palestine; 5.2 Village structures; 5.3 Rituals and cults; 5.4 Ethics and the administration of justice; 5.5 The theology of the settled community;
• 6. GOD AND GODDESS IN THE TRIBAL ALLIANCE; 6.1 The biblical picture of the tribal system; 6.2 The origin of Israel; 6.3 The structure of the tribes; 6.4 Cultic actions; 6.5 Ideas of God; 6.6 Faith and ethics; 6.7 Ideologies of war? Liberation theology?; 6.8 How were larger societies organized?

• 7. KINGDOM THEOLOGIES IN ISRAEL7.1 The sources; 7.2 Internal organization; 7.3 Foreign policy; 7.4 Theology of king and state; 7.5 The opposition from peripheral groups (prophecy); 7.6 Were there special features in the northern kingdom of Israel?; 7.7 The theology of the southern kingdom after David (Jerusalem theology); 7.8 Popular belief; 7.9 National religion?;
• 8. THE FAITH COMMUNITY OF ''ISRAEL'' AFTER THE DEPORTATIONS; 8.1 The political and social situation: internal structures; 8.2 The origin of the holy scriptures; 8.3 Yahweh, the only God; The name and exclusiveness of Yahweh.

• The legacy of family and village religionThe power and impotence of God; Justice and peace; Creation and history; Guilt and atonement; Summary; 8.4 The cult: temple and synagogue; 8.5 Popular belief; 8.6 The ethic of the Yahweh community; 8.7 What remains?;
• 9. POLYTHEISM, SYNCRETISM AND THE ONE GOD; 9.1 Conceptual clarifications; 9.2 Changes: the accumulation and interdependence of images of God; 9.3 Tensions between the theologies of ancient Israel;
• 10. EFFECTS AND CONTROVERSIES; 10.1 Christian perspectives?; 10.2 The ecumenicity of our theology; 10.3 The autonomous human being.

• 10.4 The unjust, unredeemed world10.5 God: personal or impersonal?; 10.6 The liberating God; 10.7 An ethic of responsibility; 10.8 Images of God today; 10.9 Parallel theologies (pluralism)?; 10.10 Relativity, absoluteness, globalization; 10.11 Monism and dualism; 10.12 Anthropology; 10.13 History and eschaton; 10.14 Our God today; 10.15 God for all; APPENDIX: GOD IN OUR TIME; Abbreviations; Bibliography; Index of Biblical References; Index of Modern Authors; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; R; S; T; U; V; W; Z.

The author here offers a radical departure from traditional treatments of Old Testament theology. Rather than offering a systematic approach, he discusses the various theological voices coming from different social settings within ancient Israel: the family and the clan, village, tribal alliance, and kingdom. Gerstenberger concludes with his reflections on how the biblical witness informs contemporary theology, and must be contextual and ecumenical in order to be authentic.

• 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.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Acknowledgments;
• Chapter 1 Introduction; 1.1 Biblical Hebrew: Variety in the Face of Unifying Forces; 1.2 Fundamental Difficulties in the Description of Biblical Hebrew; 1.3 Historical Development as a Factor in Biblical Hebrew Variety; 1.4 Non-Diachronic Factors and Linguistic Variety in the Hebrew Bible; 1.5 Recent Criticism of the Diachronic Approach to Biblical Hebrew and the Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts;
• Chapter 2 The Language of the Book of Jeremiah; 2.1 History of Research; 2.2 The Language of the Book of Jeremiah from a Diachronic Perspective.

In Ancient Hebrew Periodization and the Language of the Book of Jeremiah, Aaron Hornkohl defends the diachronic approach to Biblical Hebrew and the linguistic dating of biblical texts. Applying the standard methodologies to the Masoretic version of the biblical book of Jeremiah, he seeks to date the work on the basis of its linguistic profile, determining that, though composite, Jeremiah is likely a product of the transitional time between the First and Second Temple Periods. Hornkohl also contributes to unraveling Jeremiah's complicated literary development, arguing on the basis of language that its 'short edition', as reflected in the book's Old Greek translation, predates that 'supplementary material' preserved in the Masoretic edition but unparalleled in the Greek. Nevertheless, he concludes that neither is written in Late Biblical Hebrew proper.
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• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• List of Abbreviations
• Chapter 1
• Introduction
• 1.1. Situating the Issue
• 1.2. Relevance
• 1.3. Goals and Methodology
• Chapter 2
• The Zion Text of Isaiah 28:16 in the History of Exegesis
• 2.1. Introduction
• 2.2. Septuagint
• 2.3. New Testament
• 2.3.1. Romans 9:32b 8211; 33 and 10
• 2.3.2. 1 Peter 2:6
• 2.3.3. Evaluation
• 2.4. Judaism
• 2.4.1. Qumran
• 2.4.2. Targum
• 2.4.3. Talmud
• 2.4.4. Evaluation
• 2.5. Early Church
• 2.5.1. The Letter of Barnabas
• 2.5.2. Tertullian and Cyprian
• 2.5.3. Jerome and Augustine
• 2.5.4. Cyril and Theodoret
• 2.5.5. Evaluation
• 2.6. Middle Ages
• 2.7. Reformation
• 2.8. Modern Biblical Research
• 2.8.1. The future kingdom of God
• 2.8.2. The new Israel
• 2.8.3. The true religion of yhwh
• 2.8.4. The new temple / new Zion
• 2.8.5. Metaphorical interpretation
• 2.8.6. The existing temple / Zion
• 2.9. Conclusions
• Chapter 3
• The Literary and Historical Context of the Zion Text of Isaiah 28:16
• 3.1. Introduction
• 3.2. Colometric Subdivision of Isaiah 28
• 3.3. Pericope Delineation within Isaiah 28
• 3.4. Isaiah 28:148211; 22 as Original Unity
• 3.5. Isaiah 28:148211; 22 as Isaianic Prophecy
• 3.6. Dating Isaiah 28:148211; 22
• 3.7. Dating the Reign of Hezekiah
• 3.8. Hezekiah's revolt and Sennacherib's campaign
• Excursus
• 1: Prophetic historiography in 2 Kings 188211; 19
• Chapter 4
• Exegesis of Individual Pericopes within Isaiah 28 and their Reciprocal Relationships
• 4.1. Introduction
• 4.2. Isa. 28:148211; 22
• 4.2.1. Isa. 28:148211; 15
• 4.2.2. Isa. 28:16
• 4.2.3. Isa. 28:17a
• 4.2.4. Isa. 28:17b8211; 18
• 4.2.5. Isa. 28:198211; 21
• 4.2.6. Isa. 28:22
• 4.3. Isa. 28:78211; 13
• 4.3.1. Isa. 28:78211; 8
• 4.3.2. Isa. 28:98211; 10
• 4.3.3. Isa. 28:118211; 13
• 4.4. Evaluation
• 4.5. Is a . 28:18211; 6 and 28
• 4.5.1. Isa. 28:18211; 6
• 4.5.2. Isa. 28:238211; 29
• 4.5.3. Evaluation
• Chapter 5
• The Place and Function of Isaiah 28:148211; 22 in the Context of Isaiah 288211; 33
• 5.1. Introduction
• 5.2. Isaiah 288211; 33 as a Redactional Unit
• 5.2.1. Structural Cohesion
• 5.2.2. Content Based Cohesion
• 5.2.3. Evaluation
• 5.3. Isaiah 28 as Overture
• 5.4. Isaiah 28:148211; 22 as key text and guide
• Chapter 6
• The Zion Text of Isaiah 28:16 and the Zion Tradition in Isaiah
• 6.1. Introduction
• 6.2. Zion in the First Part of the Book of Isaiah (18211; 39)
• 6.3. Results of the Exegesis of the Zion Text of Isaiah 28:16
• 6.4. The Place of the Zion Tradition in the Preaching of Isaiah
• 6.4.1. Research into the Zion Tradition
• 6.4.2. Further Research into the Zion Preaching of Isaiah
• Chapter 7
• Summary and Conclusions
• 1. The Zion Text of Isa. 28:16 in the Septuagint, the New Testament and Judaism
• 2. The Zion Text of Isa. 28:16 in the History of Interpretation
• 3. The Zion Text of Isa. 28:16 in its Literary and Historical Context
• 4. Exegetical Conclusions with Respect to the Zion Text of Isa. 28:16
• 5. The Covenant with Death
• 6. Isa. 28:148211; 22 in the Context of Isaiah 28 and Isaiah 288211; 33
• 7. Zion in Isaiah 18211; 39
• 8. Research into the Zion Tradition and its Origins.

No other biblical book ascribes such a prominent place to the theme of `Zion' as the book of Isaiah does. One of the most important statements regarding Zion is to be found in Isa. 28:16. The text speaks of the laying of a foundation stone in Zion and enjoys an important place in New Testament preaching since it is associated with the advent of Jesus Christ. The present study addresses the interpretation of Isa. 28:16 in its Old Testament context. Its significance lies in the fresh contribution it makes to our understanding of the Zion text in question and its importance for establishing the role played by Zion and the so-called Zion tradition in the preaching of Isaiah.
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• Acknowledgments Abbreviations Translation Chapter One Introduction 1.1. Introduction 1.2. Poetics 1.2.1. The Relationship between Form and Function 1.2.2. Structure or Progression in Addition to the Acrostic Form 1.3. Genre 1.3.1. A Lament Psalm? 1.3.2. A Wisdom Psalm? 1.3.3. A Torah Psalm? 1.3.4. An Anthological Psalm? 1.3.5. Conclusion Chapter Two The Use of Traditional Religious Language 2.1. Introduction 2.2. The Language of Piety 2.2.1. Clinging to Torah- 2.2.2. Trusting in Torah- 2.2.3. Hoping in Torah- 2.2.4. Believing in Torah- 2.2.5. Loving Torah- 2.2.6. Fearing Torah- 2.2.7. Seeking Torah- 2.2.8. Setting Torah Before Me 2.2.9. Raising My Hands to Torah 2.3. The Language of Lament 2.3.1. Petitions 2.3.2. Enemies 2.3.3. Claims of Innocence 2.3.4. Adaptations 2.4. The Language of Wisdom Literature 2.4.1. Locutions Borrowed from Wisdom Literature 2.4.2. Metaphors and Motifs that are Characteristic of Wisdom Literature Chapter Three The Exemplary Torah Student 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Exemplary Types 3.2.1. The Righteous in Psalms 3.2.2. David 3.2.3. Exemplary Women in Proverbs 3.2.4. The Wise in Proverbs 3.2.5. The Suasive Force of Exemplary Types 3.3. The Portrayal of the Exemplary Torah Student-Its Construction 3.3.1. The Introductory Function of Verses 1-3 3.3.2. The Use of First-person Language 3.3.3. The Language of Devotion 3.3.3.1. Adverbial Phrases 3.3.3.2. Verbs of Emotion 3.3.3.3. The Speaker's Relationship with God 3.3.4. The Language of Distress 3.3.4.1. Repeated Petitions 3.3.4.2. Enemies as a Foil 3.3.4.3. The Speaker's Longing for Torah 3.3.5. The Language of Character Formation 3.3.6. Inconsistencies in the Portrayal 3.3.7. The Portrayal of Settings 3.3.8. Repetition 3.4. The Portrayal of the Exemplary Torah Student-Its Suasive Force 3.4.1. Advantages and Benefits of Torah Observance 3.4.2. A Secondary Function of Traditional Religious Language 3.4.3. The Suasive Force of Logical Gaps Chapter Four The Concept of Torah 4.1. Introduction 4.2. What Psalm 119 Expresses 4.2.1. The Torah Terms 4.2.1.1. Excursus-
• 4.2.1.2. Instantiations and an Abstract Concept 4.2.1.3. Interchangeable Usage? 4.2.1.4. "According to Your Word"-
• 4.2.1.5. "Word"-
• 4.2.1.6. "Regulations"-
• 4.2.2. Attributes of Torah 4.2.3. Torah Study 4.3. What Psalm 119 Does Not Express 4.3.1. Concepts that are Avoided 4.3.2. The Relationship Between Torah and Wisdom 4.3.3. Torah as a Hypostasis? 4.4. A Concept that is Greater than the Sum of the Parts 4.4.1. Definition 4.4.2. Evidence that the Concept is Greater than the Sum of the Parts Chapter Five Psalm 119 in Context 5.1. Introduction 5.2. The Place of Psalm 119 in the Psalter 5.2.1. The Problem of Integrating Psalm 119 into the Structure of the Psalter 5.2.2. The Frequency and Placement of the Theme of Torah in the Psalter 5.2.3. Zenger's Proposal 5.2.4. Psalm 119's Contribution to the Theology of the Psalter 5.3. The Place of Psalm 119 in the Hebrew Bible 5.4. The Place of Psalm 119 in Developing Judaism Conclusion Commentary Bibliography Index of References Author Index Subject Index.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Despite extensive study of the poetic features of Psalm 119, the conceptions it advocates and its contribution to developing Judaism have not been well understood; indeed some scholars have dismissed the psalm as containing little more than wearisome repetition. Reynolds distinguishes between the psalmist and the speaker within the psalm. The psalmist portrays the speaker as an exemplary Torah student and thereby promotes the contemplation of Torah as a facet of ethical instruction. Using this new perspective, Reynolds contributes a fresh and coherent understanding of the ideas in Psalm 119. He explains the function of its length and highlights its emphasis on Torah study that became axiomatic in Rabbinic Judaism.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Preface; Abbreviations; List of Major Manuscripts; Map; Introduction; The Book of Tobit in Codex Sinaiticus; The Book of Tobit in Codex Vaticanus; Illustration: A Fish from the Tigris River; Bibliography; General Index; Index of Biblical References.

"Tobit" is one of the "Apocrypha", a collection of books rejected from their canon by the Jews but accepted by some of the Christian church fathers. This work contains the text from two fourth century CE manuscripts, the Codex Sinaiticus (long version) and Codex Vaticanus (short version) as well as a translation into English and a commentary.

• Early Christianity in its Hellenistic context : a critical survey of 20th century research / Reinhard Feldmeier
• Early Christianity in its Jewish context : a brief look at 20th century research / Gerbern S. Oegema
• Finding a basis for interpreting New Testament ethos from a Greco-Roman philosophical perspective / Anders Klostergaard Petersen
• Some issues behind the ethics in the Qumran scrolls and their implications for New Testament ethics / George J. Brooke
• The relevance of Jewish inscriptions for New Testament ethics / Andrew Chester
• The importance of Hellenistic Judaism for the study of Paul's ethics / Thomas H. Tobin
• "Ethical" traditions, family ethos, and love in the Johannine literature / Jörg Frey
• Good as a moral category in the early Jesus tradition / Hermut Löhr
• Ethics and anthropology in the letter of James : an outline / Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr
• Essentials of ethics in Matthew and the Didache : a comparison at a conceptual and practical level / Huub van de Sandt.

Early Christian Ethics in Interaction with Jewish and Greco-Roman Contexts focuses upon the nexus of early Christian Ethics and its contexts as a dynamic process. The ongoing interaction with Jewish, Greco-Roman or early Christian traditions as well as with the social-historical context at large continuously transformed early Christian ethics. The volume proposes a dynamic model for studying culture and its various expressions in a society composed of several ethnic and religious groups. The contributions focus on specific transformations of ethics in key documents of early Christianity, or take a more comparative perspective pointing to similar developments and overlaps as well as particularities within early Christian writings, Hellenistic-Jewish writings, Dead Sea Scrolls and Jewish inscriptions.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Shechem in Deuteronomy: a seemingly hidden polemic / Yairah Amit
• Menachem's massacre of Tiphsah: at the crossroads of grammar and memory (2 Kings 15:16) / Bob Becking
• Male royals and their ethnically foreign mothers: the implications for textual politics / Athalya brenner-Idan
• Images of tranquility in the Book of Judges / Susanne Gillmayer-Bucher
• When the foreign monarch speaks about the Israelite tabernacle / Gary N. Knoppers
• Putting the neighbors in the place: memory and mindscape in Deuteronomy 2:10-12. 20-23 / William morrow
• Righteous kings, evil kings, and Israel's non-monarchic identity: different voices on the failure of Israelite kingship in the Book of Kings / Reinhard Müller
• A request for blessing and prosperity in an inscription from Samaria / Nadav Na'aman
• Solomon's administrative districts: a scholarly illusion / Richard D. Nelson
• Conceptions of the past and sociocultural grounding in the Books of Samuel / Frank H. Polak
• "In the house of Judah, my father's house": The character of Joab in the Book of Chronicles / Kenneth A. Ristau
• Chronicles and Utopia: likely bedfellows? / Ian Douglas Wilson
• When God's voice breaks through: shifts in revelatory rhetoric in Zechariah 1-8 / Mark J. Boda
• The chronological limits of reshaping social memory in the presence of written sources: the case of Ezekiel in late Persian and early Hellenistic Yehud / Philippe Guillaume
• Who's speaking? On whose behalf? The Book of Haggai from the perspective of identity formation in the Persian Period / Louis Jonker
• Mind the gap: reading Isa 39:8-Isa 40:1 within early Second Temple Judah / Sonya K. Kostamo
• The nāśiʼ and the future of royalty in Ezekiel / Christiohe Nihan
• These seventy years: intertextual observations and postulations on Jeremiah and the Twelve / James Nogalski
• The metaprophetic God of Jonah / Carey Walsh
• Some sort of "chronistic" additions to the Torah? New perspectives in the formation of Exod 19-20 / Rainer Albertz
• Sites of memory and the presence of the past in Ehud Ben Zvi's "social memory" / Kåre Berge
• The Jerusalem literary circle / Philip R. Davies
• The metaphor of Torah as a life-giving well in the Book of Deuteronomy / Diana V. Edelman
• The ritual of reading andt he dissemination of prophetic and other authoritative texts in Second Temple Judaism / Michael H. Floyd
• History and the nature of cultural memory: The Alamo and the "Masada complex" / Lester L. Grabbe
• Between the words I write / Francis Landy
• Hybrids, purification, and multidirectional memory in Exra-Nehemiah / Tim Langille
• Is DEhud also among the prophets? Prophecy in the Book of Judges / Christoph Levin
• Mythoprophetics: some thoughts / James R. Linville
• More geminate ballast and clustering in biblical Hebrew / Scott B. Noegel
• Blurred boundaries in the Lot story / P.J. Sabo.

Ehud Ben Zvi is one of the foremost scholars in the field of Hebrew Bible today. He has had a global impact both as a researcher and as a teacher, and he continues to create cutting-edge research that is helping to shape the future of the field. This volume marks his upcoming retirement from the University of Alberta and honors him and his career as a scholar and educator. Thirty-one papers written by a select group of colleagues, including several former students and a former teacher, are presented under three sub-headings: History and Historiography; Prophecy and Prophetic Books; and Methods, Observations, (Re)Readings. These categories represent the wide-ranging interests of Ehud himself and include contributions on the Bible as social memory, for which he has been a leading advocate and theorist in the past decade. Contributors include R. Albertz, Y. Amit, B. Becking, K. Berge, M. J. Boda, A. Brenner-Idan, P. R. Davies, D. V. Edelman, M. H. Floyd, S. Gilmayr-Bucher, L. L. Grabbe, P. Guillaume, L. Jonker, G. N. Knoppers, S. Kostamo, F. Landy, T. Langille, C. Levin, J. R. Linville, W. Morrow, C. Nihan, S. B. Noegel, J. Nogalski, R. M ller, N. Na?aman, R. Nelson, F. Polak, K. Ristau, P. J. Sabo, C. Walsh, and I. D. Wilson. Readers, regardless of their areas of specialization, will find many stimulating and thought-provoking contributions in the collection, which is fitting, given the boundary-pushing work of the honoree.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)