Publisher Fact Sheet Argues that there was a "messianic forerunner" to Jesus named Menachem who lived a generation earlier & served as a sort of role model for Jesus & his messianic movement.

A major new work on the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest sacred documents of Judaism, which reveals their surprising connections to early Christianity. “A luminous treatment of a fascinating subject! Highly recommended!”—Scott Hahn, author of The Fourth Cup From award-winning scholar John Bergsma comes an intriguing book that reveals new insights on the Essenes, a radical Jewish community predating Christianity, whose existence, beliefs, and practices are often overlooked in the annuls of history. Bergsma reveals how this Jewish sect directly influenced the beliefs, sacraments, and practices of early Christianity and offers new information on how Christians lived their lives, worshipped, and eventually went on to influence the Roman Empire and Western civilization. Looking to Hebrew scripture and Jewish tradition, Bergsma helps to further explain how a simple Jewish peasant could go on to inspire a religion and a philosophy that still resonates 2,000 years later. In this enriching and exciting exploration, Bergsma demonstrates how the Dead Sea Scrolls—the world's greatest modern archaeological discovery—can shed light on the Church as a sacred society that offered hope, redemption, and salvation to its member. Ultimately, these mysterious writings are a time machine that can transport us back to the ancient world, deepen our appreciation of Scripture, and strengthen our understanding of the Christian faith. “An accessible introduction . . . This is a handy entry point for readers unfamiliar with Essenes or those interested in the Dead Sea Scrolls.”—Publishers Weekly

Winner of the 2014 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature A thousand years ago, the most perfect copy of the Hebrew Bible was written. It was kept safe through one upheaval after another in the Middle East, and by the 1940s it was housed in a dark grotto in Aleppo, Syria, and had become known around the world as the Aleppo Codex. Journalist Matti Friedman’s true-life detective story traces how this precious manuscript was smuggled from its hiding place in Syria into the newly founded state of Israel and how and why many of its most sacred and valuable pages went missing. It’s a tale that involves grizzled secret agents, pious clergymen, shrewd antiquities collectors, and highly placed national figures who, as it turns out, would do anything to get their hands on an ancient, decaying book. What it reveals are uncomfortable truths about greed, state cover-ups, and the fascinating role of historical treasures in creating a national identity.

""This volume is exemplary of evangelical scholarship at its best. The theme is pertinent, indeed basic, to all expressions of Christianity, and the contributors engage their subject with the passionate inquiry and critical acumen it deserves. The essays are comprehensive in scope but unpredictable in conclusion, displaying a diversity of perspective united only by common allegiance to the advancement of biblical understanding. Anyone interested in biblical prophecy or a historical understanding of Jesus will find here a useful survey of the relevant materials and some surprising new insights."" --Mark Allan Powell, Trinity Lutheran Seminary ""Israel's Messiah is a very timely, helpful work on one of the more important topics for our day. In fairly short compass, it manages to cover nearly everything the student will want to know about the development of the messianic idea in Judaism and the early church. It is a must reading "" --Grant R. Osborne, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School ""There has been a notion circulating in certain circles of New Testament scholarship that the concept of a messiah was of little significance in early Judaism. This volume helps dispel that notion and in the process gives us some keen insight into how the messianic material in the New Testament fits into the larger matrix of Old Testament and early Jewish messianic thought. Highly recommended."" --Ben Witherington III, Asbury Theological Seminary ""The complexities of biblical scholarship are all too often hidden from most students of the Bible. This collection of essays, however, opens up contemporary issues concerning the concept of the messiah. The main authors and respondents offer helpful and insightful presentations on the messiahship of Jesus Christ. The format of essays and responses enriches the volume by permitting the reader to weigh differing viewpoints on the vitally important topic. Here we have constructive, critical, evangelical scholarship of the highest quality."" --T. D. Alexander, Union Theological College, Belfast, Ireland Richard S. Hess (Ph.D., Hebrew Union College) and M. Daniel Carroll R. (Ph.D., University of Sheffield) are professors of Old Testament at Denver Seminary.

When the ancients talked about "messiah", what did they picture? Did that term refer to a stately figure who would rule, to a militant who would rescue, or to a variety of roles held by many? While Christians have traditionally equated the word "messiah" with Jesus, the discussion is far more complex. This volume contributes significantly to that discussion. Ten expert scholars here address questions surrounding the concept of "messiah" and clarify what it means to call Jesus "messiah." The book comprises two main parts, first treating those writers who preceded or surrounded the New Testament (two essays on the Old Testament and two on extrabiblical literature) and then discussing the writers of the New Testament. Concluding the volume is a critical response by Craig Evans to both sections. This volume will be helpful to pastors and laypersons wanting to explore the nature and identity of the Messiah in the Old and New Testament in order to better understand Jesus as Messiah.

In this book, two of the world's leading experts on the scrolls reveal the complete and fascinating story in all its detail: the amazing discovery, the intense controversies, and the significant revelations. This comprehensive, up-to-date guide is the def

"In The Scepter and the Star, John J. Collins turns to the Dead Sea Scrolls to shed new light on the origins, meaning, and relevance of messianic expectations. The first Christians were Jews who believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the messiah - the Christ; Christians could be called "followers of the messiah." Other Jews did not accept this claim, and so the Christians went their own way and grew into a separate religion. The disagreement about the identity of the messiah is the root difference between Judaism and Christianity." "The recent disclosure of the full corpus of the Dead Sea Scrolls now makes it possible to see this disagreement in a fuller context than ever before. The most stunning revelation of the new evidence is the diversity of messianic expectations in Judaism around the beginning of the common era. The Hebrew word "messiah" means "anointed one." According to the scrolls, the messiah could be a warrior king in the line of David, a priest, a prophet, or a teacher. He could be called "the Son of God." Jesus of Nazareth fitted the expectations some Jews of the time had of the messiah. The majority of Jews, however, had quite different expectations."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Helps readers consider the importance of contemporary archaeological discoveries and juxtapose them with the biblical narrative to understand ancient Israelite religions.

This monograph is written in the form of a handbook on the scribal features of the texts found in the Judean Desert (the Dead Sea Scrolls). It deals in detail with the material, shape, and preparation of the scrolls; scribes and scribal activity; scripts, writing conventions, errors and their correction, scribal signs; scribal traditions; differences between different types of scrolls (e.g., biblical and non-biblical scrolls), the possible existence of scribal schools, such as that at Qumran. In most categories, the analysis is meant to be exhaustive. The detailed analysis is accompanied by tens of tables as well as annotated illustrations and charts of scribal signs. The findings have major implications for the study of the scrolls and the understanding of their relationship to scribal traditions in Israel and elsewhere.