Bloomsbury Academic Collections: Biblical Studies – serie

This study examines the varieties and continuities of ethical exhortations and ideals in the Jewish and Christian traditions (c. 200 BCE-100 CE) that fall under the rubric of non-retaliation. One of the principal conclusions of this thought-provoking work is that a critical factor in determining the shape of non-retaliatory ethics is whether the exhortation is applied to relations within the local and/or elect community or to relations with oppressors of the elect community. It becomes apparent also that the non-retaliatory ethic of the NT stands solidly in the tradition of non-retaliatory ethics in Early Judaism.

First published in 1916, this volume remains an important contribution to studies on the Book of Job, and is an esteemed text by two of the finest biblical scholars of the beginning of the twentieth century.

Covering the period from the Maccabean revolt to the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus, Fairweather's impressive work should be an important point of reference for those wanting to develop their knowledge on the evolution of Judaism as a spiritual movement.

Ancient Jewish and Christian writers frequently sought to persuade by claiming to understand the past through revelation. Hall shows how the long recitals of past events often found in apocalypses are not to be seen as mere preludes to predictions, but prove integral to the author's argument. This original study concludes that many ancient Jews and Christians found claims to inspiration an acceptable basis for re-telling past events and that early Christian prophets consciously shaped not only the sayings of Jesus but the narrative structure in which the sayings occur.

This is an innovative investigation of the puzzling animal imagery found in three 2nd-century BCE texts: the Animal Apocalypse (1 Enoch 85-90), the Testament of Naphtali and Daniel 7. It urges that a sense of cultural change is required to understand this well-known imagery, and argues in particular that the mentality underlying the kosher legislation played a significant, even if unconscious, role in the imagination of the various authors. A reading of the Animal Apocalypse is offered which argues that the author utilized the unclean precisely because they represent for him the forces of chaos set in opposition to God. Bryan acknowledges that the bizarre creatures of T. Naph. 5 and Daniel 7 belong to a different kind of imagery (Mischwesen), but argues that awareness of the influence of the kosher mentality opens up new explanations. As mixed creatures, they represent a radical break with order. They are an intense form of unclean creature, and those whom they represent are perceived to be living embodiments of the powers of chaos.

Important essays on Gnosis and Gnosticism. Contributors include Rudolph, Pagels, Grant, and Barrett.

The ancient world believed that the universe was made up of elements both material and spiritual. These elemental forces affected human life positively or negatively and any human being who could share their energy was a person of great significance - a human agent of cosmic power. This is a significant part of the background of the life and career of Jesus of Nazareth. The present work is a reappraisal of Synoptic accounts of Jesus and his followers in the light of recent developments in the study of ancient magic.

This volume is an original and important contribution to the study of the earliest Palestinian Jewish Christianity. For the first time all the evidence for the role which relatives of Jesus played in the early church is assembled and assessed. Dr. Bauckham discusses a wide range of evidence, not only from the New Testament but also from the Church Fathers, the New Testament Apocrypha, rabbinic literature and Palestinian archaeology. The letter of Jude, in particular, proves to have much to teach us about the theology of the brothers of Jesus and their circle. It illuminates their exegetical methods and their Christology and shows both to have been influential contributions to the development of early Christianity.This study shows that this neglected New Testament book is far more important for the study of early Christianity than has hitherto been recognized. By setting the letter of Jude within the context of the evidence for the role of relatives of Jesus in the early church, new insights can be revealed into the letter and early Jewish Christianity.

This extensive and detailed analysis compares Paul with the author of 4 Ezra against the background of Sanders's portrayal of early Judaism. 4 Ezra and Paul would seem to have one significant point in common: their common displacement from the covenantal 'pattern of religion' which was so prevalent in Early Judaism. It is from this perspective that Longenecker undertakes his comparison.

A historical examination of the administration in Palestine between 100 BC and AD 70. Detailed case studies of such sources as Josephus, the New Testament and Philo establish who was actually involved in the decision-making process and political manoeuvering. The main issues addressed include: whether there was a system of Jewish government, and whether it included a permanent institution, the Sanhedrin; whether there is evidence that political and religious affairs were separated; whether the Jews were able to convict and execute people under Roman rule; what roles, if any, were played by individuals and social or religious groups in the administration; and what the motivation of those involved in the administration may have been.

This collection of major essays by the distinguished Finnish New Testament scholar will prove an invaluable sourcebook for students of this much-debated complex of problems.

What is an 'echo' of Scripture? How can we detect echoes of the Old Testament in Paul, and how does their detection facilitate interpretation of the Pauline text? These are questions addressed by this collection of essays from the SBL programme unit Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity. The first part of the book reports its vigorous 1990 discussion of Richard Hays's 'Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul', including contributions by Craig Evans, James Sanders, William Scott Green and Christiaan Beker, as well as a response by R.B. Hays. The second part of the book studies specific passages where reference is made to the Old Testament explicitly or allusively. The contributors here are James Sanders, Linda Belleville, Carol Stockhausen, James Scott, Nancy Calvert and Stephen Brown.

In the light of the New Testament's conviction that Jesus Christ died for sins, and that the Cross is a 'once for all' act that makes the Temple cult unnecessary, this challenging work probes the reasons for the emerging doctrine of redemptive almsgiving in early Christianity. Do the New Testament writers themselves (even Jesus!) implicitly endorse the view that a 'supplementary' or alternative means of atonement is necessary? What is the background of this theme in Graeco-Roman sources and in the Hebrew Bible? What are the principal texts in early Christian literature that advocate almsgiving as a 'ransom' for sin? These questions firmly govern this investigation of the social and theological forces that gave legitimacy to a doctrine that at first appears to contradict the primary New Testament soteriology, namely that the death of Jesus Christ is the exclusive means of redemption from sin.

Lieu examines theological and historical issues within the Johannine tradition.

Towner explores traditional and more contemporary interpretations of Christian existence in the Pastoral Epistles, offering a valuable contribution to studies in this area.

The relationship between the messages of Jesus and Paul, once dubbed by one scholar 'the second founder of Christianity', must count as one of the most central issues in the study of the New Testament. The essays collected in this volume first survey the history of the study of this problem, and look at some of the main evidence for supposing that the connection between Jesus and Paul was slight, notably the paucity of Paul's references to Jesus' teachings and his seeming disinterest in the earthly Jesus. Other essays take up the question of the continuity between the teaching and the manner of life of the two men, and raise the question how this continuity may have been mediated from one to the other. A final essay raises the question how far Paul's statements about Christ were related to the earthly life of Jesus. This volume brings together a number of substantial contributions to this question, by Professor V.P. Furnish of Dallas, by two scholars from the German Democratic Republic, Professor N. Walter and Dr C. Wolff, and by the editor.

In this book Fowl examines the role played by three poetic texts, Phil. 2.6-11, Col. 1.15-20, and 1Tim. 3.16 in the arguments of their epistles. Rather than functioning as criteria of christological orthodoxy, these poetic narrations of Christ's person and work are used by Paul to support various ethical positions. For Paul and the Christians he addresses, these stories of Christ are exemplars for the life and practice of the church.

Part I of this work determines where Paul is dependent on Jewish and Hellenistic exegesis of the Moses story where he provides a fresh interpretation. Part II brings form-critical studies of the Greek papyri to bear on the epistolary function of these verses. Part III investigates first-century homiletic patterns, exegetical techniques and material parallels in order to illuminate the sequence of Paul's thought. At issue in these verses is Paul's apostolic credibility. Paul selectively weaves together text, tradition and haggadah, using accepted methods of text interpretation and a common Jewish homiletical form, to provide his readers with reliable standards of apostolic accreditation and to defend himself against those who sought to discredit him as a failure in reaching his own people.

This volume collects the best articles on the Pauline writings from the first fifty issues of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament. The range of the volume reflects the breadth of the journal itself. Here the reader will find ground-breaking studies which introduce new critical questions and move into fresh areas of enquiry, surveys of the state of play in this particular topic of New Testament studies, and articles which engage with each other in specific debates. For students this book offers an invaluable critical introduction to Pauline studies. More advanced students and scholars can use it to find background material or to gain an overview of the research in this area of scholarship. This builds on the reputation of JSNT as a conduit for first-class research and a major influence within the scholarly community.

The overall aim of this investigation of Mark 11.12-14, 20ff. is to ascertain the attitude to the Temple taken by the author of the earliest Gospel and his community. More specifically, it is a meticulous study of the most curious of all the Synoptic miracle-stories, in which the place of the story within the Markan redaction and subsequently in the Synoptic Gospels is explored. The study also entails a detailed exploration of the story's origin, background and Sitz in Leben prior to Mark, involving thorough consideration of the Old Testament and Jewish background of its motifs.

This book addresses a central issue confronting the reader of the Gospel. Professor Bauer describes the impasse that has been reached in recent investigation of the structure of Matthew and demonstrates that an appreciation of literary design can provide a way forward. After identifying rhetorical features that relate to literary structure, he devotes the major part of his book to a systematic examination of such features as they appear in the Gospel in order to gain a fresh insight into the shape of the work. This study is valuable both for its comprehensive and judicious review of the question of structure in Matthew's Gospel and for the new direction which it establishes.

This book offers a fresh perspective on Paul's use of the Abraham story in Galatians by providing a thorough analysis of its epistolary and rhetorical contexts. In Part I, parallels in Galatians to rebuke-request letters in Greek papyri serve as a basis for dividing the letter into two major sections: Rebuke (1.6-4.11) and Request (3.12-6.10), the request formula in 4.12 indicating a major turning point in the letter. The Abraham argument (3.6-29) and the Hagar-Sarah allegory (4.12-31) should be viewed as Paul's biblical rebuke and biblical appeal respectively. Rhetorical analysis classifies 1.1-4.11 as forensic rhetoric, characterized by defence and accusations regarding past actions, and 4.12-6.18 as deliberative rhetoric, marked by exhortation and dissuasion regarding future actions. In Part II, exegetical analysis of 3.1-29 stresses the subordination of the Abraham argument to the framework provided by Paul's expressions of the rebuke. Within this framework, the autobiographical section and the Abraham argument section are parallel developments of the thesis statement (1.11-12). Both sections emphasize Paul's missiological concern to preserve the truth of the Gospel for the freedom of Gentile believers. Analysis of 4.21-31 shows how the allegory functions within the request section of the letter as biblical support for the call to resist the troublemakers, setting the stage for the authoritative appeal of 5.13-6.10. From the perspective provided by this analysis, significant implications which relate to broader theological issues in Pauline theology are set forth; the function of Paul's doctrine of justification by faith as the basis for his Gentile mission, Paul's view of the Gentile church as the Israel of God, and the covenantal structure of Paul's ethics which relates to the response of faith to obedience in the divine will. Three appendices evaluate recent discussion of important background issues: The Opponent's Use of the Abraham Tradition, Abraham in Jewish Literature, and Paul and Jewish Exegesis.

In this careful study, the unparalleled sayings in Matthew (the 'M' sayings) are investigated as a source of evidence for a reconstruction of the history of the community in which the various traditions were preserved. Using a wide range of criteria, Dr Brooks isolates fourteen 'M' sayings from major concentrations of unparalleled material in Matt. 5.17-6.18 and chs. 10 and 23, supplementing these with four additional sayings. The picture of the traditions that emerges provides the basis for a new hypothesis that reconstructs a three-stage history of the Matthean community, thereby accounting for the presence of some mutually exclusive traditions in the Gospel.

The author concentrates on Matthew's explicit references and allusions to the prophet Jeremiah, and as a result sheds fresh light upon an important and distinctive theme in Matthew's Gospel. Taking a theme never examined in detail before, and using the varied resources of sociological criticism and Jewish studies, Knowles makes an original and substantial contribution to Matthaean scholarship.

This volume collects the best articles on the Synoptic gospels from the first fifty issues of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament. The range of the volume reflects the breadth of the journal itself. Here the reader will find ground-breaking studies that introduce new critical questions and move into fresh areas of enquiry, surveys of the state of play in this particular topic of New Testament studies, and articles that engage with each other in specific debates. For undergraduates this book offers an invaluable critical introduction to Synoptic Gospel studies. More advanced students and scholars can use it to find background material or to gain an overview of the research in this area of scholarship. This builds on the reputation of JSNT as a conduit for first-class research and a major influence within the scholarly community.

This book seeks to rehabilitate the Q hypothesis as the most satisfactory explanation of the so-called double tradition.

An extension of Turner's conclusions in Volume III of Moulton's Grammar of New Testament Greek. A positive contribution to the permanent meaning of controversial passages in the New Testament.

A rich collection of essays exploring the meaning of 'apocalyptic' in the New Testament, by a variety of important scholars in the field.

Published originally in 1926, Rost's Die Überlieferung von der Thronnachfolge Davids is fundamental to the study of Samuel and Kings. The story of the ark, the account of the Ammonite war, Nathan's prophecy concerning David's dynasty, and, above all, the succession narrative or 'court history' are singled out for thorough examination, with questions of style, theme and religious viewpoint dominating the discussion. His thesis is brilliantly argued and has sustained a remarkable measure of agreement over many decades, though criticism has grown in recent years. It remains mandatory reading for the study of Samuel and Kings, Hebrew narrative art, and history writing in ancient Israel. There is an extensive introduction by the late Edward Ball.