Annotation A study of the phenomenon of prophecy as documented in ancient Near Eastern texts and the Hebrew Bible as well as Greek sources, from the twenty-first century BCE to the second century CE.

In this exploration of Jewish wisdom during the Hellenistic period, internationally renowned scholar John J. Collins examines the books of Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon, the Sentences of Pseudo-Phocylides, and the recently discovered Qumran Sapiential A text from the Dead Sea Scrolls - offering one of the first such examinations of this text in print. This commentary is a compelling analysis of these important texts and their continuing traditions.

Both traditions recognize and draw theological and historical lessons from some of the same narrative sources, but this is the first comparative resource to provide interdisciplinary coverage of the history and textual sources associated with prophets and prophecy. This thorough treatment of a difficult and increasingly controversial subject area will encourage and cultivate knowledge and understanding. Entries are drawn from five main fields: 1. Ancient Near Eastern Studies 2. Bible and Biblical Studies 3. Judaism and Jewish Studies 4. The Quran and Quranic Studies 5. Islam and Islamic Studies The A to Z of Prophets in Islam and Judaism treat each entry as a compilation of relevant data culled from these different traditions in order to take the reader beyond the expected parameters of research. Originally envisioned as an initial resource for students of comparative religion, the extensive chronology, bibliography, and the overall accessibility of the passages make the book suitable for a much wider audience.

This volume brings together essays written over two decades by a leading authority in the field. The collection includes 2 recent essays that are published here for the first time. The articles cover major aspects of the discussion of Jewish apocalypticism, in relation to the Hebrew bible, the New Testament and the Hellenistic-Roman world. Distinctive strengths of the volume include clusters of essays on the Sibylline oracles and on the relationship between apocalypticism and wisdom. A section of the book is devoted to studies on Daniel. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.

Martin Hengel gathers an encyclopedic amount of material, ancient and modern, to present an exhaustive survey of the early course of Hellenistic civilization as it related to developing Judaism. The result is a highly readable account of a largely unfamiliar world which is indispensable for those interested in Judaism and the birth of Christianity alike. An extensive section of notes and bibliography is included.

This multidisciplinary study takes a fresh look at Judean history and biblical literature in the late fourth and third centuries BCE. In a major reappraisal of this era, the contributions to this volume depict it as one in which critical changes took place. Until recently, the period from Alexander’s conquest in 332 BCE to the early years of Seleucid domination following Antiochus III’s conquest in 198 BCE was reputed to be poorly documented in material evidence and textual production, buttressing the view that the era from late Persian to Hasmonean times was one of seamless continuity. Biblical scholars believed that no literary activity belonged to the Hellenistic age, and archaeologists were unable to refine their understanding because of a lack of secure chronological markers. However, recent studies are revealing this period as one of major social changes and intense literary activity. Historians have shed new light on the nature of the Hellenistic empires and the relationship between the central power and local entities in ancient imperial settings, and the redating of several biblical texts to the third century BCE challenges the traditional periodization of Judean history. Bringing together Hellenistic history, the archaeology of Judea, and biblical studies, this volume appraises the early Hellenistic period anew as a time of great transition and change and situates Judea within its broader regional and transregional imperial contexts.

In these fictive creations, Jewish writers reinvented their own past, offering us vital insights into Jewish self-perception.

Hellenism and the Unfinished Revolution is a series of twenty addresses delivered by Apostolos Makrakis in Concord Square in Athens Greece in the year 1866. These speeches highlight the early development of his (Eastern Orthodox) Historicist view of the bibilical prophecies, and this historical method of interpreting prophecy was expanded further in his full commentary on the Book of Revelation in 1882, The work shows Makrakis was a major proponent of the "Megali Idea" and the restoration of the Byzantine Empire for the young Greek nation. The ideas expressed herein in this work are just as relevant today as they were in the nineteenth century, fully consistent with the prophecies found in Byzantine Apocalyptic Tradition, which fortell a coming blessed era of Orthodoxy upon the world. Makrakis provides a possible framework to reawaken the spiritural slumber of the nation through the message of the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to finally achieve the completion of the Greek Revolution which began 200 years ago.