The books of Ezra and Nehemiah, treated here as one larger work, continue the story of Israel's experience begun in the biblical books of I and II Chronicles. In the wake of Persia replacing Babylon as the ruling empire in the ancient Near East, the Judahites exiled in Babylon find reason to hope again. Their hope is rooted in the fulfillment of the prophetic promises that they would one day return to their homeland. Not only do the exiles return from Babylon with the support of the Persian ruler, but they renew their commitment to God.

Two remarkable personalities - with strikingly...

Psalms I (1-50) is the first of a three-volume commentary on the biblical book of Psalms. It offers a unique, lively translation of the most beloved collection of poetry in Judeo-Christian sacred Scriptures. Based on his linguistic analysis of both biblical and extrabiblical texts, Mitchell Dahood, S.J., interprets this Hebrew poetry in light of rich linguistic and cultural evidence. Dahood's translation captures the beauty and full texture of Hebrew poetry. It offers an accurate English rendering, framed within the dynamic poetic forms of the Hebrew text. Through the use of Ugaritic and...

The bulk of Israel's religious poetry is preserved in the biblical book of Psalms. In this volume, the second of three on the Psalms, Mitchell Dahood, S.J., interprets this Hebrew poerty in light of a rich ancient collection of Ugaritic texts. Dahood's translation captures the beauty and rich texture of Hebrew poetry. It offers an accurate English rendering, framed within the dynamic poetic forms of the Hebrew text. Through the use of Ugaritic and cognate literature, Dahood corrects mistranslations and illuminates previously obscure phrases. The fruit of a masterful analysis of the original...

This is Volume 17A of The Anchor Bible, a new book-by-book translation of the Bible, each complete with an introduction and notes. Psalms III (101-150) is translated and edited by Mitchell Dahood, S.J., Professor of Ugaritic Language and Literature at The Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. Having closely examined the original text, Father Dahood has attempted a unique translation which relies heavily on contemporary linguistic evidence. His work stresses the relation of the Psalms to the Ugaritic texts found at Ras-Shamra, and to other epigraphic discoveries along the Phoenician littoral....

Writing a commentary on the book of Isaiah in the middle of a paradigm shift in biblical studies, and in the study of the prophetic books in particular, is no easy task. The book of Isaiah has been the object of more scholarly interest over the past two or three decades than during the preceding century. At the same time, much of the received wisdom on the formation of the book has been called into question, including such matters as the date of its several components, the standard tripartite division, the role (if any) to be assigned to the prophet Isaiah himself, and the passages dealing...

The world's leading authority on the prophet Isaiah brings his distinguished three-volume commentary on the book of Isaiah to a conclusion with this new translation and critical discussion of the final eleven chapters.
The concluding section of the book of Isaiah, sometimes referred to as Third or Trito Isaiah, had a profound impact on the Christian movement in its formative phase, including such central issues as the identity of the founder, the profile of the disciple, and the Gentile mission. In this thorough and informative commentary, Joseph Blenkinsopp shows that while these...

Jeremiah, long considered one of the most colorful of the ancient Israelite prophets, comes to life in Jack R. Lundbom's Jeremiah 1-20. From his boyhood call to prophecy in 627 b.c.e., which Jeremiah tried to refuse, to his scathing judgments against the sins and hypocrisy of the people of Israel, Jeremiah charged through life with passion and emotion. He saw his fellow Israelites abandon their one true God, and witnessed the predictable outcome of their disregard for God's word - their tragic fall to the Babylonians.
The first book of a three-volume Anchor Bible commentary, Jack...

In Ezekiel 1-20, the first of two volumes of commentary on the Scripture attributed to the third major Old Testament prophet, Moshe Greenberg uses accessible prose to explain Ezekiel's ecstatic, erratic, almost incomprehensible otherworldly visions and prophecies. One of this century's most respected biblical scholars, Greenberg translates the text, identifies the critical issues raised by the book, and offers an impressively balanced, thoroughly holistic interpretation of Ezekiel. Ezekiel 1-20 rigorously engages the biblical text with all the tools of historical critical analysis. Drawing...

Ezekiel was and is perhaps the most misunderstood and challenging Hebrew prophet. His prophecies and visions transport us to almost indescribable realms, completely uncharted territory this side of heaven. But as one of Israel's three major prophets, the words and symbolic actions of this mouthpiece of God were directed to a people weighed down by the realities of human experience.

In this long-awaited and eagerly anticipated second volume of his commentary on the Book of Ezekiel, Moshe Greenberg exhibits the characteristic care and special sensitivity of a world-renowned scholar. He...

The Anchor Bible series offers new, book-by-book translations of the Old and New Testament and the Apocrypha, with commentary. This volume on the Book of Daniel has been prepared by two distinguished biblical scholars from the faculty of the Catholic University of America: Alexander A. Di Lella, Professor of Old Testament, and the late Louis F. Hartman, Professor of Semitic Languages.
The Book of Daniel was written as resistance literature, to strengthen and console loyal Jews of the second century B.C. who had to endure religious, economic, and social oppression at the hands...