Study of the Geography of 1 Enoch 17-19 examines the travels of the patriarch Enoch who is given a guided tour of extraordinary and at times terrifying places located throughout the cosmos. Coblentz Bautch clarifies the text of 1 Enoch 17-19 by explaining how the sites described relate to one another geographically and by reconstructing the mental map of the geography that lies behind the textual descriptions. Especially provocative is the consideration of sources from the ancient Near East, Hebrew Bible and the world of Hellenistic Judaism that may have informed the world view of 1 Enoch...

The essays in this Festschrift honor James L. Kugel for his contribution to the field of biblical studies, in particular early biblical interpretation.The essays are organized in three roughly chronological categories.The first group treats some part of the Tanakh, ranging from the creation and Abraham stories of Genesis to the evolving conception of sacred writing in the prophetic literature.The second set of essays focuses chiefly on the literature of Second Temple Judaism, including Qumran and extra-biblical literature.The last group concerns the scriptural imagination at work in rabbinic...

In these volumes, top scholars in the study of religion celebrate the enduring heritage in learning bequeathed to coming generations by Anthony J. Saldarini (1941-2001). Twenty-nine commemorative essays focus on the topical areas of formative Christianity and Judaism to which Dr. Saldarini devoted his efforts: earliest Christianity, with special attention to the Gospels; Judaism in late antiquity; and the interchange between Judaism and Christianity then and now. So too the disciplines represented in these pages match his history (including archaeology), literature, religion, and theology....

This book contributes to the study of Hosea 6:6 ("For what I desire is love and not sacrifice, and I prefer knowledge of God to burnt offerings") and its reception in ancient Jewish and Christian writings. Some of the articles contained in this book address the verse itself and the use made of it in the Sibylline Oracles, Gospel of Matthew, rabbinic writings, and patristic literature. Other articles deal with the notion of sacrifice in Philo and with the notion of mercy in the Septuagint, the Gospel of Luke, and Greek literature.

This volume deals with the Aramaic Levi Document, also known as Aramaic Levi or the Aramaic Testament of Levi. Chapter one contains a systematic reflection on the content of this Aramaic work, situates it in the historical context of the Second Temple period, and looks for an answer as to its literary structure and genre. Then in chapter two the manuscripts from Cairo Genizah, Mount Athos, and Qumran are edited together with their English translation, paleographical notes, and philological comments. Chapter three comments on each literary unit of the Document, its relation to the biblical...

This book analyzes how humanism was conceived of in different philosophical schools during the Hellenistic and early Roman period, and how these ideas were debated in ancient Jewish thought. The term humanism refers to the idea that every person has duties towards his/her fellow human beings, for the sole reason that they all share a common nature or are bound by a form of kinship. The book also tries to determine to which extent Gen 1:26-27 (creation of human beings in God's image) and Lev 19:18 (the commandment to love one's neighbour, who is like oneself) could be interpreted in a...

The essays in this volume focus on the relationship between Josephus' Judean and Jewish identity on the one hand, and his life and writings in the context of Flavian Rome on the other. From very different points of view the various contributions to this volume, which is the fruit of an international colloquium entitled 'Josephus between Jerusalem and Rome' held in the city of Rome in 2003, shed light on the complex cultural interplay in Josephus' writings. After examining more general historiographical and literary questions, the volume proceeds to address specific issues of Josephus'...

This book shows that the disputes that characterize Rabbinic writings in the formative age underscore the coherence of Rabbinic Judaism. It is in three separate monographs. The first shows that disagreements concern secondary and tertiary issues. They therefore reinforce the primary norm by identifying as moot only trivial details. The second demonstrates, alternatively, that Halakhic disputes articulate unresolved conflict over generative principles. Sometimes, in the presentation of topics of the law, disputes not only indicate the range of consensus but bring to expression conflicting...

This volume deals with calendar and liturgical times on the one hand. It discusses questions related to the establishment of the calendar and the observance of traditional and new feasts in Palestine and in the diaspora. On the other hand this book deals with the predetermined organization of the times. It considers the periodization of times and the idea of a revelation being carried out from one period to another; the irruption of the fixed Time and the concomitant representation of a recovery of the times; and the expectation of the last times. In particular, the texts from Qumran, the New...