The period of Early Judaism beginning with the return from the Babylonian Exile in 538 B.C.E. to the destruction of the second temple in 70 C.E. is an enigma to many students of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. This era has often been overlooked as unimportant or been the victim of strongly confessional overgeneralizations. Christians have often touted the absolute uniqueness of their faith as something that replaced a jaded, outmoded Jewish religion. Jews, on the other hand, have often tended to identify Christianity as something entirely unique, a phenomenon totally unrelated to Judaism. However, the Second Temple period was one of the most prolific and creative in all of Israel's history. It was a time of unparalleled literary and theological diversity that gave rise to the powerful religious movements of Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity. The Internal Diversification of Second Temple Judaism provides a broad overview of the history, constituent communities, and theological innovations of the Second Temple period.

This newly revised all-encompassing textbook is a guide to the history, beliefs and practice of Judaism. Beginning with the ancient Near Eastern background, it covers early Israelite history, the emergence of classical rabbinic literature and the rise of medieval Judaism in Islamic and Christian lands. It also includes the early modern period and the development of Jewry in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Extracts from primary sources are used throughout to enliven the narrative and provide concrete examples of the rich variety of Jewish civilization. Specially designed to assist learning, Judaism: • Introduces texts and commentaries, including the Hebrew Bible, rabbinic texts, mystical literature, Jewish philosophy and Jewish theology • Provides the skills necessary to understand these step-by-step with the help of a companion website • Explains how to interpret the major events in nearly four thousand years of Jewish history • Supports study with discussion questions on the central historical and religious issues, and includes key reading for each chapter, an extensive glossary and index • Illustrates the development of Judaism, its concepts, observances and culture, with maps, photos, paintings and engravings • Links each chapter to a free companion website at www.routledge.com/cw/cohnsherbok which provides things to think about, things to do and tips for teachers as well as other online resources

This volume of essays addresses from a variety of vantage points the relation of scriptures and community that has been so central to the canonical critical work of James A. Sanders. The first part of the volume focuses on the formation of the Jewish and Christian canons and texts in them, while the second part looks at ancient and modern appropriations of canonical texts. Together these essays show the multiple potential links between canonical criticism and historical, literary, feminist and other approaches in contemporary biblical studies.

The recovery of 800 documents in the eleven caves on the northwest shores of the Dead Sea is one of the most sensational archeological discoveries in the Holy Land to date. These three volumes, the very best of critical scholarship, demonstrate in detail how the scrolls have revolutionized our knowledge of the text of the Bible, the character of Second Temple Judaism, and the Jewish beginnings of Christianity.

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement series, 291

This book represents the fruit of a long process of study and reflection, a powerful but subtle synthesis, by one of the most eminent scholars of Second-Temple Judaism. Far from a conventional narrative history, it is organized around themes and seeks to uncover the essence of Hebraic/Jewish religious thinking while confronting the phenomenon of its division into several 'parties' and traditions. Drawing also on recent studies of Christianity as a 'Judaism', Sacchi provides a stimulating perspective on the nature of ancient Oriental and Occidental thought and the intellectual and spiritual heritage of European civilization.

The rediscovery of Enochic Judaism as an ancient movement of dissent within Second Temple Judaism, a movement centered on neither temple nor torah, is a major achievement of contemporary research. After being marginalized, ancient Enoch texts have reemerged as a significant component of the Dead Sea Scrolls library unearthed at Qumran. Enoch and Qumran Origins is the first comprehensive treatment of the complex and forgotten relations between the Qumran community and the Jewish group behind the pseudepigraphal literature of Enoch. The contributors demonstrate that the roots of the Qumran community are to be found in the tradition of the Enoch group rather than that of the Jerusalem priesthood. Framed by Gabriele Boccaccini's introduction and James Charlesworth's conclusion, this book examines the hypotheses of five particularly eminent scholars, resulting in an engaging and substantive discussion among forty-seven specialists from nine countries. The exceptional array of essays from leading international scholars in Second Temple Judaism and Christian origins makes Enoch and Qumran Origins a sine qua non for serious students of this period. Contributors: William Adler Matthias Albani Jeff S. Anderson Albert I. Baumgarten Andreas Bedenbender Stefan Beyerle Gabriele Boccaccini James H. Charlesworth John J. Collins Michael A. Daise James R. Davila Torleif Elgvin Mark A. Elliott Hanan Eshel Peter W. Flint Ida Fröhlich Florentino Garca Martnez Claudio Gianotto Lester L. Grabbe Ithamar Gruenwald Charlotte Hempel Matthias Henze Martha Himmelfarb Michael A. Knibb Klaus Koch Helge S. Kvanvig Armin Lange Erik W. Larson Timothy H. Lim Corrado Martone George W. E. Nickelsburg Pierluigi Piovanelli Émile Puech Annette Yoshiko Reed John C. Reeves Henry W. Morisada Rietz Paolo Sacchi Lawrence H. Schiffman Loren T. Stuckenbruck David W. Suter Shemaryahu Talmon Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar Patrick Tiller Liliana Rosso Ubigli James C. VanderKam Jacques van Ruiten Benjamin G. Wright III

The essays in Sacred Texts and Disparate Interpretations shed new light on core themes in Qumran studies, such as the textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible, history of the Qumran community, Hebrew philology and paleography, Wisdom and religious poetry.

This book presents the authoritative print bibliography of current scholarship on the Dead Sea Scrolls, Qumran, and related fields (including New Testament studies); source, subject, and language indices facilitate its use by scholars and students within and outside the field.

Traditions at Odds explores the Pentateuch's literary influence on other biblical texts. There exist a number of content discrepancies between pentateuchal and non-pentateuchal texts that treat the same subject. Through a detailed analysis, the author argues that the discrepancies are not alterations of pentateuchal material, as is generally argued, but rather indications of independent traditions. Thus, much of biblical literature was written outside of the Pentateuch's purview. Corroborating evidence is found in literature from the Second Temple Period, which also exhibits a lack of conformity to the Pentateuch. After demonstrating this independence, this study explores its implications on the composition of biblical texts and the process of canonization. Marked by an interdisciplinary approach, the study incorporates recent theoretical developments in literary and ideological criticism, as well as ritual, historiography and textual citation. It not only provides a broader base of study, but serves to address a deficiency in biblical studies: most studies of intertextuality operate with little theoretical grounding, while studies in ritual or historiography are based on models from the late 19th/early 20th centuries.