The variety of ways in which Jews in Israel responded to and appropriated Greek culture is the subject of this volume. The contributors provide corroborating evidence of the influence of Greek culture in Judea and Galilee, from before the Maccabean revolt on into the rabbinic period.

This important book for use in Old Testament courses is also a valuable resource for those exploring the role of the Bible in culture today. The articles include: Theoretical Issues "Is a Critical Biblical Theology Possible?" "Biblical Theology and the History of Israelite Religion" "The Politics of Biblical Interpretation" The Pentateuch "Faith without Works: Biblical Ethics and the Sacrifice of Isaac" "The Development of the Exodus Tradition" "The Exodus and Biblical Theology" "The Biblical Vision of the Common Good" Wisdom and Biblical Theology "The Biblical Precedent for Natural Theology"...

Biblical scholars today often sound as if they are caught in the aftermath of Babel -- a clamor of voices unable to reach common agreement. Yet is this confusion necessarily a bad thing? Many postmodern critics see the recent profusion of critical approaches as a welcome opportunity for the emergence of diverse new techniques. In The Bible after Babel noted biblical scholar John J. Collins considers the effect of the postmodern situation on biblical, primarily Old Testament, criticism over the last three decades. Engaging and even-handed, Collins examines the quest of historical criticism to...

Apocalypticism has been the source of hope and courage for the oppressed, but has also given rise, on many occasions, to fanaticism and intolerance. The essays in this volume seek neither to apologize for the extravagance of apocalyptic thinkers nor to excuse the perverse actions of some of their followers. Rather, they strive to understand a powerful, perhaps even indispensable, element in the history of Western religions that has been the source of both good and evil, and still is yet today.The Editors The Continuum History of Apocalypticism is a 1-volume, select edition of the 3-vol....

A collection of twelve essays on the Jewish encounter with Hellenism, both in the Diaspora and in the land of Israel, including studies of several individual texts.

This book provides an overview of the current debate about the early Enoch literature and its place in ancient Judaism, especially in relation to the Torah of Moses and to the Dead Sea Scrolls.

This book traces the history of the idea that the king and later the messiah is Son of God, from its origins in ancient Near Eastern royal ideology to its Christian appropriation in the New Testament.

Both highly regarded scholars, Adela Yarbro Collins and John J. Collins argue that Jesus was called -the Son of God- precisely because he was believed to be the messianic king. This belief and tradition, they contend, led to the identification of Jesus as preexistent, personified Wisdom, or a heavenly being in the New Testament canon. However, the titles Jesus is given are historical...

With the full publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls, fresh analysis of the evidence presented can be -- and indeed, should be -- made. Beyond the Qumran Community does just that, reaching a surprising conclusion: the sect described in the Dead Sea Scrolls developed later than has usually been supposed and was never confi ned to the site of Qumran. / John J. Collins here deconstructs -the Qumran community- and shows that the sectarian documents actually come from a text spread throughout the land. He examines the Community Rule, or Yahad, and considers the Teacher of Righteousness, a pivotal fi...

John J. Collins here offers an up-to-date review of Jewish messianic expectations around the time of Jesus, in light of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
He breaks these expectations down into categories: Davidic, priestly, and prophetic. Based on a small number of prophetic oracles and reflected in the various titles and names assigned to the messiah, the Davidic model holds a clear expectation that the messiah figure would play a militant role. In sectarian circles, the priestly model was far more prominent. Jesus of Nazareth, however, showed more resemblance to the prophetic messiah during his...