Commentaries on Books of the Pseudepigrapha
1 Enoch 2: A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch, Chapters 37-82 (Hermeneia series) by
1 Enoch presents interpreters with a complex knot of interrelated puzzles concerning the history of early Judaism, the trajectories of wisdom and apocalyptic traditions, and the role of astronomical observation in cosmological speculation-all tied up with the bewildering history of the book's composition and transmission, in different languages and manuscript traditions, over centuries. Two of the world's preeminent scholars offer masterful judgments on all of these questions out of the erudition gained over long and distinguished careers. The result is a remarkably lucid and accessible commentary that will be the definitive resource on 1 Enoch for decades.
ISBN: 9780800698379Publication Date: 2011-10-01
1 Enoch: A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch, Chapters 1-36; 81-108 (Hermeneia series) by
The first exhaustive commentary on this work since 1773 1 Enoch is one of the most intriguing books in the Pseudepigrapha (Israelite works outside the Hebrew canon). It was originally written in Aramaic and is comprised of several smaller works, incorporating traditions from the three centuries before the Common Era. Employing the name of the ancient patriach Enoch, the Aramaic text was translated into Greek and then into Ethiopic. But as a whole, it is a classic example of revelatory (apocalyptic) literature and an important collection of Jewish literature from the Hellenistic and Roman periods. This volume represents the culmination of three decades' work on the Book of 1 Enoch for Nickelsburg. He provides detailed commentary on each passage in chapters 1-36 and 81-108, and an introduction to the full work. The introduction includes sections on overviews of each of the smaller collections, texts and manuscripts, literary aspects, worldview and religious thought, the history of ideas and social contexts, usage in later Jewish and Christian literatures, and a survey of the modern study of the book. (Volume 2 will cover chapters 37-80 and will be written by Nickelsburg and James VanderKam.)
ISBN: 9780800660741Publication Date: 2001-11-19
4 Ezra and 2 Baruch. Translations, Introductions, and Notes by
Fresh translations of early Jewish texts 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch, written in the decades after the Judean War, which saw Jerusalem conquered, the temple destroyed, and Judaism changed forever. This handy volume makes these two important texts accessible to students, provides expert introductions, and illuminates the interrelationship of the texts through parallel columns.
ISBN: 9781451452334Publication Date: 2013-11-01
Book of Jubilees by
The Book of Jubilees, a Jewish retelling of Genesis and the first half of Exodus, was an important work for the community of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This Guide, following the format of this successful series, gives an introduction to Jubilees that covers its dating, its textual history and its purpose; a survey of its theological teachings and themes; and a section-by-section commentary that includes a comparison of its divergences from Genesis and the meaning and emphasis of each section. This volume, by the leading authority on Jubilees, provides the very best introduction for the student and scholar to one of the most important texts of Early Judaism.
ISBN: 9781850757672Publication Date: 2001-07-01
Fourth Ezra: A Commentary on the Books of Fourth Ezra (Hermeneia series)) by
Fourth Ezra is a magnificent commentary, the definitive and standard work for generations to come.
ISBN: 9780800660260Publication Date: 1990-11-09
Joseph and Aseneth by
This volume is a comprehensive but accessible guide to the major questions raised by the Hellenistic Jewish work, Joseph and Aseneth. Joseph and Aseneth is an excellent example of the controverted issues of text, dating and Sitz im Leben, when such decisions must be largely based on internal evidence. It provides an entre into the vexed question of genre, given the numerous literary links that have been suggested for it. Its mysterious but engaging plot, and its female protagonist, evoke ongoing sociological and feminist debate. It is thus strongly commended for careful study to students and scholars of Judaism, New Testament, sociology and narratology. Intended as a sound basis for such exploration, this guide also offers a fresh narrative reading in which the revelatory character of Joseph and Aseneth is brought to the forefront.
ISBN: 9781841270838Publication Date: 2000-07-01
The Letter of Aristeas by
The Letter of Aristeas has been an object modern scholarly interest since the seventeenth century. It is best known for containing the earliest version of the translation of the Hebrew Law into Greek, and this story accounts for much of the scholarly attention paid to the work. Yet, this legend only takes up a small percentage of the work. Looking at Aristeas as a whole, the work reveals an author who has acquired a Greek education and employs both Jewish and Greek sources in his work, and he has produced a Greek book. Even though Aristeas has garnered scholarly attention, no fully fledged commentary has been written on it. The works of R. Tramontano, M. Hadas and others, often referred to as commentaries, only contain text and annotated notes. This volume fills the gap in the scholarship on Aristeas by providing a full, paragraph-by-paragraph commentary, containing a new translation, text-critical notes, general commentary, and notes on specific words, phrases and ideas.
ISBN: 9783110439045Publication Date: 2015-09-25
Life of Adam and Eve and Related Literature by
The Life of Adam and Eve once belonged to the most popular literature in the Christian world. Retelling the Genesis 3 story, it gives an elaborate description of Adam's death and his assumption to Paradise in the third heaven. His continued existence, as well as his future resurrection, are as much a paradigm for humanity as his transgression, condemnation and death. For a long time attention was focused on the Greek and Latin versions only. More recently, editions of Georgian and Armenian versions have become available, occupying a middle position between the Greek and the Latin. This new material now makes it necessary to sort out the relationships between no less than five clearly related but in many respects different documents. Taken together they present a complex but interesting mosaic of reflections on the human plight, inspired by the Genesis story.
ISBN: 9781850757641Publication Date: 1997-04-01
The Odes of Solomon (Hermeneia series) by
Known until the 18th century only from fragmentary quotations and references in patristic literature, more recent discoveries of Greek, Coptic, and Syriac manuscripts have drawn fresh interest and attention to the Odes of Solomon, a collection of Christian poetry from the second century rich in imagery and exhibiting an exotic spirituality. Internationally renowned expert on the Odes Michael Lattke provides a meticulous translation and discussion of the textual transmission of the Odes, along with judicious commentary on the place of the Odes in the development of Gnosticism, Logos theology, and early Christian worship. Historians and students of early Christianity will find this commentary a valuable resource for years to come.
ISBN: 9780800660567Publication Date: 2009-06-26
Testament of Abraham by
This first verse-by-verse commentary on the Greek text of the Testament of Abraham places the work within the history of both Jewish and Christian literature. It emphasizes the literary artistry and comedic nature of the Testament, brings to the task of interpretation a mass of comparative material, and establishes that, although the Testament goes back to a Jewish tale of the first or second century CE, the Christian elements are much more extensive than has previously been realized. The commentary further highlights the dependence of the Testament upon both Greco-Roman mythology and the Jewish Bible. This should be the standard commentary for years to come.
ISBN: 9783110178883Publication Date: 2003-07-17
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs by
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is of especial interest to students of early Judaism and Christianity, though this importance is not always recognized. This collection preserves extra-biblical traditions about the sons of Jacob, it reflects a moral worldview of Jews and Christians around the turn of the era, and it casts light on its authors' eschatological imagination. Robert A. Kugler introduces the student to the Testaments' contents, their relationship to other texts of the era, textual witnesses and sources, and rehearses the debate regarding authorship, compositional history and purpose. He also examines the Testaments from the fresh perspective of rhetorical strategy, asking what sort of theological notions the Testaments would have conjured in the minds of early Jewish and Christian listeners or readers.
ISBN: 9781841271934Publication Date: 2001-08-01
About the Pseudepigrapha
Bread, Wine, Walls and Scrolls by
This volume of essays by Magen Broshi, formerly Curator of the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem and a veteran archaeologist, covers various aspects of both the material and spiritual life of ancient Palestine in the biblical and post-biblical periods. Among the topics addressed in this entertaining and illuminating book are wine and food consumption, studies of population, the ancient city of Jerusalem, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the use and abuse of archaeology in historical and biblical research. This volume is designed for scholars and for any non-specialists with a keen interest in ancient life in the Holy Land.
ISBN: 9781841272016Publication Date: 2002-01-09
Creation, Covenant, and the Beginnings of Judaism by
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.
ISBN: 9789004281059Publication Date: 2014-10-22
The Epistle of Second Baruch by
The Epistle of Second Baruch (EP2B) is found at the end of Second Baruch, a long-lost apocalyptic book that is part of the ancient syriac biblical tradition. EP2B is the message of the seer 'Baruch' to the diaspora. This book contends that EP2B constitutes an authoritative document that Baruch and his group used. EP2B is carefully crafted through its narrative context and its genre to appeal to the religious sensibilities of its audience. Paradoxically, this appeal to religious sensibilities explains why the letter is separated from second baruch in its textual history. Further, EP2B seems to offer some clues about the silent era between the two Jewish wars, 70-132 C.E. when Judaism was assuming radical new forms. This Epistle tells Diaspora Jews how to live in a world without the Jerusalem Temple.
ISBN: 9780826462169Publication Date: 2003-05-01
Essays on the Book of Enoch and Other Early Jewish Texts and Traditions by
This volume brings together twenty-one essays by Michael Knibb on the Book of Enoch and on other Early Jewish texts and traditions, which were originally published in a wide range of journals, Festschriften, conference proceedings and thematic collections. A number of the essays are concerned with the issues raised by the complex textual history and literary genesis of 1 Enoch, but the majority are concerned with the interpretation of specific texts or with themes such as messianism. The essays illustrate some of the dominant concerns of Michael Knibb's work, particularly the importance of the idea of exile; the way in which older texts regarded as authoritative were reinterpreted in later writings; and the connections between the apocalyptic writings and the sapiential literature.
ISBN: 9789004167254Publication Date: 2008-11-27
Jewish Apocalyptic and Its History by
This translation of L'apocalittica giudaica e la sua storia makes Professor Sacchi's innovative thesis on Jewish apocalyptic available to a wider, English-reading audience. Sacchi argues that the term 'apocalyptic' is a modern invention, deriving from the wish to conceptualize the field of research on the affinities between the Apocalypse of John and other works of its time. These affinities do not just relate to literary character and form but also in part to content. Focusing on the material of 'Enoch' Sacchi concludes that what is needed is a more precise, literary and historical definition of 'apocalyptic'.
ISBN: 9781850755852Publication Date: 1996-12-01
Jewish Local Patriotism and Self-Identification in the Graeco-Roman Period by
This volume of essays explores the broad theme of the relationship between Jewish identity and patriotism in the period between the destruction of the First Temple and late antiquity, with special attention to the Graeco-Roman period. The authors focus on Jewish local identification with particular lands, including the Land of Israel, and the existence of local forms of patriotism. The approaches represented are interdisciplinary in nature and draw on a wide range of sources, including archaeological remains, literary material, and inscriptions. These essays share a comparative perspective on the diverse social and historical contexts in which the Jews of antiquity lived.
ISBN: 9781850758327Publication Date: 1998-03-01
Knowing the End from the Beginning by
Much study has taken place of the prophetic and apocalyptic writings in recent decades, but the relationship between the two has been little explored. A major explicit debate on the question is very much needed and is now provided. This collection of essays addresses the subject from a variety of points of view, including studies on the issues of definitions, ancient Near Eastern "prophecies", social anthropology and modern apocalyptic movements. In the introduction, Lester Grabbe argues that many scholars operate with subconscious assumptions about how apocalyptic writings relate to the prophetic writings, but that many of these assumptions now need to be questioned in the light of the essays in this volume. Such a comprehensive attempt to tackle the main theoretical issues arising from the study of the prophetic and the apocalyptic has not been attempted for some time. This volume brings fresh questions and insights that both specialists and students will want to consider.
ISBN: 9780567084620Publication Date: 2004-04-27
The Pseudepigrapha and Christian Origins by
In the Seminar "The Pseudepigrapha and Christian Origins" of the "Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas", chaired from 2000 to 2006 by Professors James H. Charlesworth (Princeton) and Gerbern S. Oegema (McGill), the relation between the Pseudepigrapha and the New Testament has been discussed systematically and intensively in a way never seen before. The Pseudepigrapha investigated included the Old Testament ones and those found in the Qumran as well as the Pseudepigrapha of the New Testament and the ones used in the Early Church. The seminar and its participants, who were all internally renowned experts from around the world, have focused on the use, adaptation, reinterpretation and further development of non-canonical traditions (except for Philo, Josephus, the Essene and early Rabbinic writings) in the canonical writings of Early Christianity. The seminar has met in total five times in various locations, while systematically being arranged around the following topics: The Pseudepigrapha and the Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John, the Epistles of Paul, the Other New Testament Writings, and the Revelation of John.
ISBN: 9780567027191Publication Date: 2008-11-01
Seeking the Favor of God by
Paperback edition available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org).
ISBN: 9781589832787Publication Date: 2007-10-01
Various Aspects of Worship in Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature by
The volume contains papers read at the International Conference of the ISDCL, held in Budapest in 2015. The contributors explore various aspects of worship as reflected in the literature of Judaism from the Second Temple period to Late Antiquity. The volume provides a fresh reading of various crucial issues especially within Old Testament Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, Rabbinic literature, Gnostic traditions, and the emerging synagogue. The papers analyse texts and artefacts that reveal how various groups of Judaism understood the concept of worship--a pre-eminent form of expressing religious identity and interpreting fundamental traditions.
ISBN: 9783110465648Publication Date: 2017-06-26
The Watchers in Jewish and Christian Traditions by
At the origin of the Watchers tradition is the single enigmatic reference in Genesis 6 to the "sons of God" who had intercourse with human women, producing a race of giants upon the earth. That verse sparked an explosion of cosmological and theological speculation in early Judaism. Here leading scholars explore the contours of the Watchers traditions through history, tracing their development through the Enoch literature, Jubilees, and other early Jewish and Christian writings. This volume provides a lucid survey of current knowledge and interpretation of one of the most intriguing theological motifs of the Second Temple period.
ISBN: 9781451465136Publication Date: 2014-02-01
Apocalyptic Literature
The Oxford Handbook of Apocalyptic Literature by
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.
ISBN: 9780199856497Publication Date: 2014-04-14
