J. T. MILIK was a Polish priest who, after brilliant studies in Rome, worked in Jerusalem from 1952, first at the ƒcole Biblique et ArchŽologique Franiaise, and later in connection with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. He took part in the exploration of the Qumr‰n. From the beginning, he collaborated in the work of publication. With Father D. BarthŽlemy he published the fragments from Cave I, Qumr‰n Cave I (Discoveries in the Judaean Desert), Oxford 1955; he was the most active member of the international team, which prepared for publication the considerable collection from Cave IV. The fragments from Cave V and the copper rolls from Cave III were entrusted to him. He would eventually publish the Hebrew and Aramaic documents from Murabba'‰t; he published some fragments from Hirbet Mird and from unidentified caves in the south. He had been given direct access to all the documents still unpublished, which were kept together in the Palestine Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem. In short, this work was written by a specialist who knew better than anyone the places and documents of which he spoke.

Many of the numbers are translations and/or reprints of previously published works.

The Book of Daniel occupies a unique position in the scriptural canon because of its complex form and the symbolism of its subject matter. The contemporary resurgence of interest in apocalyptic literature has created the need for a new commentary which takes into account the most recent developments in the study of Daniel. Professor Lacocque's book, which combines knowledge of current critical writing about Daniel with original exegesis of the text, is essential reading for students of the Book and of apocalyptic in general. The actual commentary on the Hebrew and Aramaic text is introduced by a discussion of the major problems confronting the reader: the name of Daniel, the apocalyptic genre, the chronology of the Book and its literary composition, the milieu in which apocalyptic was formed, the place of Daniel in the scriptural canon, the use of both Hebrew and Aramaic, the complex plan of the Book, and a chronological table of the events against which the drama of Daniel was supposedly played out, The commentary on the Book of Daniel is printed with Andre Lacocque's English translation of the biblical text and a verse-by-verse exegesis of the Hebrew and Aramaic originals. There is a final section reflecting on the significance of the Book of Daniel for the modern age.

This volume explores nearly every facet of Jesus research -- from eyewitness criteria to the reliability of memory, from archaeology to psychobiography, from oral traditions to literary sources, and from narrative criticism to Gospel criticism. Bringing together a wide variety of topics and perspectives in one volume, this ambitious collaborative enterprise casts light on important debates and encourages creative links between ideas new and old. This distinguished collection of articles by internationally renowned Jewish and Christian scholars originates with the Princeton-Prague Symposium on Jesus Research. It summarizes the significant advances in understanding Jesus that scholars have made in recent years, chiefly through the development of diverse methodologies. Even readers who are already knowledgeable in the field will discover unique angles from well-known New Testament scholars, and all will be brought up to speed on the current state-of-play within Jesus studies.

This book identifies the source of the Colossian error as from within Jewish mystical movements and shows how both the theology and practice which is taught in the epistle is to be understood from this context. The book gives a helpful overview of scholarship that has attempted to identify the nature and source of the Colossian error. The book, unlike many others on the topic, is exegetically driven, and will model thorough and careful exegetical practice. The book interacts with extra-Biblical texts which help the reader to understand the mystical contexts of first century Judaism.

From the time of human beginnings, holy words, chants, liturgy and narratives have enabled individuals to communicate the mysteries of the universe. Bodies of liturgical composition had to survive oral transmission for centuries until calligraphers could inscribe them in pictograph, symbol, or coded cipher or write them in words on stone, mural, scroll, parchment, or paper. Through repetitions of sacred speech and writing, couples enter holy wedlock, infants receive consecration and blessing, youths advance to adulthood, rulers dedicate temporal powers to God, cities pledge themselves to peace, and the dead pass from an earthly existence to the afterlife. The most sacred and influential writings the world has recorded are covered A-Z in this compendium. The entries convey works from the cities of Mecca, Jerusalem, Rome, Delphi, and Salt Lake City; from caves in Qumran and mountains in Japan; from the Indus Valley and the American West; from classical China, Egypt and Greece; and from the Hebrew communities of Iberia and of the German states. Although all of the scriptures speak to a human need, there are many differences in style, purpose, and tone. The entries include holy law (The White Roots of Peace), funeral prescriptions (the Tibetan Book of the Dead), ceremonies (the Lakota Black Elk Speaks), literature (Homeric hymns), hero stories (the Japanese Kojiki), word puzzles (the koans of Zen), Christ lore (the Apocrypha and the New Testament), matrices (I Ching and Tantra), and numerology (the Jewish Kabbala). Writing styles include both the rapture of Rumi's Mathnawi and the spare aphorism of Confucius's Analects. The information given in the texts range from Muhammad's revelations in the Koran, to the everyday advice of Mary Baker Eddy's Christian Science writings. A map locates the germ of sacred revelation and writing in sites all over the globe. A timeline of dateable events from the history of world scripture names events in chronological order, from the beginnings of the I Ching in 2800 B.C.E. to the publication of a child's version of the Popul Vuh in 1999 C.E.. The encyclopedia is comprehensively indexed with ample cross-referencing to assist researchers toward further study of print and electronic sources.

The 'Dictionary of New Testament Background' joins the 'Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels', the 'Dictionary of Paul and his Letters' and the 'Dictionary of the Later New Testament and its Developments' as the fourth in a landmark series of reference works on the Bible. In a time when our knowledge of the ancient Mediterranean world has grown, this volume sets out for readers the wealth of Jewish and Greco-Roman background that should inform our reading and understanding of the New Testament and early Christianity. 'The Dictionary of New Testament Background', takes full advantage of the flourishing study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and offers individual articles focused on the most important scrolls. In addition, the Dictionary encompasses the fullness of second-temple Jewish writings, whether pseudepigraphic, rabbinic, parables, proverbs, histories or inscriptions. Articles abound on aspects of Jewish life and thought, including family, purity, liturgy and messianism. The full scope of Greco-Roman culture is displayed in articles ranging across language and rhetoric, literacy and book benefactors, travel and trade, intellectual movements and ideas, and ancient geographical perspectives. No other reference work presents so much in one place for students of the New Testament. Here an entire library of scholarship is made available in summary form. The Dictionary of New Testament Background can stand alone, or work in concert with one or more of its companion volumes in the series. Written by acknowledged experts in their fields, this wealth of knowledge of the New Testament era is carefully aimed at the needs of contemporary students of the New Testament. In addition, its full bibliographies and cross-references to other volumes in the series will make it the first book to reach for in any investigation of the New Testament in its ancient setting.