Essays representing ten years of John J. Collins's expert reflection on Scripture and the Qumran community are here collected in a volume that is sure to be of interest to students and scholars of Early Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Collins opens with the introductory chapter "What Have We Learned from the Dead Sea Scrolls?" before offering essays on the authority and interpretation of Scripture, historiography and the emergence of the Qumran sect, and specific aspects of the sectarian worldview: covenant and dualism, the angelic world, the afterlife, prayer and ritual, and wisdom. A concluding epilogue considers the account of the Suffering Servant and illustrates the relevance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for early Christianity.

These essays reflect the lively debate about the sectarian movement of the Scrolls. They debate the degree to which the movement was separated from the rest of Judaism, and whether there was one or several watershed moments in the separation. Notable contributions include a cluster of essays on the Teacher of Righteousness and a thorough survey of the archaeology of Qumran. The texts are problematic in historical research because they rely on biblical stereotypes. Nonetheless, possible interpretations can be compared and degrees of probability debated. The debate is significant not only for the sect but for the nature of ancient Judaism.

A renowned scholar of the Dead Sea Scrolls argues for reading the Gospel of Matthew as the product of a Jewish sect In this masterful study of what has long been considered the “most Jewish” gospel, John Kampen deftly argues that the gospel of Matthew advocates for a distinctive Jewish sectarianism, rooted in the Jesus movement. He maintains that the writer of Matthew produced the work within an early Jewish sect, and its narrative contains a biography of Jesus which can be used as a model for the development of a sectarian Judaism in Lower Syria, perhaps Galilee, toward the conclusion of the first century CE. Rather than viewing the gospel of Matthew as a Jewish-Christian hybrid, Kampen considers it a Jewish composition that originated among the later followers of Jesus a generation or so after the disciples. This method of viewing the work allows readers to understand what it might have meant for members of a Jesus movement to promote their understanding of Jewish history and law that would sustain Jewish life at the end of the first century.

Religion ist untrennbar mit der Frage nach heiligen Stätten und religiösen Räumen verbunden. Dabei gewinnen diese Orte ihre Bedeutung weniger aus bestimmten physischen Gegebenheiten als durch sprachliche und gesellschaftliche Konstruktion. Dieser Bedeutung versuchen die Beiträge dieses Bandes an ausgewählten Texten des Alten und des Neuen Testaments und zu Philo von Alexandrien nachzugehen. Dabei fördern sie in der Beschreibung der virtuellen Topographie zugleich theologische und religiöse Kernaussagen der Texte zutage. Geographisch gesprochen bewegt sich der Band zwischen Mesopotamien und der Arabischen Halbinsel über Jerusalem bis zu den Griechischen Inseln – wobei auch Orte wie der Berg, der Tempel – aber auch das Bett des Beters enthalten sind.

‘Identity’ and ‘sectarianism’, two crucial and frequently used concepts in Qumran studies, are here problematized, appraised, and redefined. Two social-scientific theories inform the investigation of the serakhim (rule documents) and pesharim (commentaries). The sociology of sectarianism is presented in retrospect in order to identify appropriate methodological tools for speaking about sectarianism in the ancient context, and for comparing sectarian stances in the serakhim. Furthermore, a social-psychological perspective into identity is introduced for the first time for appreciating the dynamic and context-dependent nature of a person’s social identity. The final chapter takes a fresh approach to the study of the pesharim, arguing for the need to read each Pesher as a whole. It analyses the prototypical ‘teacher’ and brings forward new interpretations of this captivating and cloudy figure.

Built on a unique combination of biblical exegesis, sociological analysis, and contemporary applications, this book traces the influence of Word-Christology throughout the Gospel of John, unpacking its implications for North American evangelicalism. Sure to create discussion are Gundry's adoption of a sectarian interpretation of John and his evaluation of contemporary North American evangelicalism.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1840.