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The prestige of the pagan prophet Balaam in Judaism, early Christianity and Islam /
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This volume deals with the pagan prophet Balaam who figures in the book of Numbers. By the very nature of his stature as a non-Israelite, pagan prophet, the figure of Balaam raises important questions with regard to the nature of prophecy and the relation between the Israelite God and the pagan nations. The conflicting stories and potent oracles of Balaam in Numbers 22-24 and other parts of the Jewish Scriptures prompted extensive reflection on this ambiguous figure. Thus the leading perspective developed in this volume is the often simultaneous praise and criticism of Balaam as a prestigious pagan prophet throughout ancient Judaism, early Christianity and the early Koranic commentaries. The papers are clustered in four sections which deal with (1) Balaam in the Old Testament and the Ancient Near East, and comparable figures in Ancient Greece; (2) Balaam in Ancient Judaism; (3) Balaam in the New Testament andamp; Early Christianity; and (4) Balaam in the Koran and early Koranic commentaries. The reception of this enigmatic figure can be characterized as the simultaneous praise and criticism of a pagan prophet. The book is particularly useful as it also contains Émile Puech's newly reconstructed text, translation and commentary of the first combination of the Deir 'Alla inscriptions which contain an excerpt of the book of the historical Balaam. Combined with the other papers, the volume pictures a fascinating continuum between paganism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
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"Volume contains the reworked papers of the 2005 Themes in Biblical Narrative Conference which took place at the University of Groningen on 17-18 June 2005"--P. [xi]. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047433132 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Studies in the book of Ben Sira : papers of the Third International Conference...
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This volume contains the proceedings of the third international conference on the deuterocanonical literature organised by the Shime'on Centre in Pápa, Hungary. Renowned international scholars of the field treat questions of text in the Book of Ben Sira, the underlying traditions and theological questions. In the first part, the authors deal with introductory problems of the complex oeuvre of Ben Sira; the second main part of the volume focuses primarily on the wisdom part of book; finally, the reader will find papers dealing with particular pericopae of the Praise of the Fathers section of Ben Sira.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047443643 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Israel in the wilderness : interpretations of the biblical narratives in Jewish and Christian traditions /
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This collection of essays examines how stories from the biblical narrative of Israel in the Wilderness (Exodus 16-Deuteronomy 34) were interpreted by later Jewish and Christian writers (ca. 400 BCE-500 CE). Stories such as those about manna and water from a rock, the Golden Calf incident, Korah's rebellion, and the death of Moses provided later Jewish and Christian writers with a treasure trove of material for reflection and interpretation. Whereas individual essays investigate how particular literary works, such as Ben Sira, Qumran documents, New Testament writings, the Apostolic Fathers, and Targums, appropriated the biblical text, taken together the essays form an exercise in uncovering the hermeneutical imagination of interpreters during formative periods of Jewish and Christian thought. This volume will be valuable to those interested in ancient Judaism and early Christianity, the history of interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, and the hermeneutical appropriation of sacred texts.
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"All of the essays were written in conjunction with the Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity Section of the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature"--Introd. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047432494 :
1388-3909 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
A companion to second-century Christian "heretics" /
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The book illuminates "the other side" of early Christianity by examining thinkers and movements that were embraced by many second-century religious seekers as legitimate forms of Christianity, but which are now largely forgotten, or are known only from the characteristics attributed to them in the writings of their main adversaries. The collection deals with the following teachers and movements: Basilides, Sethianism, Valentinus' school, Marcion, Tatian, Bardaisan, Montanists, Cerinthus, Ebionites, Nazarenes, Jewish-Christianity of the Pseudo-Clementines , and Elchasites. Where appropriate, the authors have included an overview of the life and significant publications of the "heretics," along with a description of their theologies and movements. Therefore, this volume can serve as a handbook of the second-century "heretics" and their "heresies." Since all the chapters have been written by specialists who wrestle daily with their research themes, the contributions also offer new perspectives and insights stimulating further discussion on this fascinating-but often neglected-side of early Christianity.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004186866 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Tobit : the Book of Tobit in Codex Sinaiticus /
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Tobit is one of the Apocrypha, a collection of books rejected from their canon by the Jews but accepted by some of the Christian church fathers. Ever since the 4th century CE, commentaries have been written on Tobit. The original Hebrew and Aramaic versions of Tobit were lost, until fragments were discovered as part of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947. The present work is the first Greek text and commentary of Tobit to be published since the publication of the Hebrew and Aramaic fragments. This edition contains the text from two fourth century CE manuscripts, the Codex Sinaiticus (long version) and Codex Vaticanus (short version) as well as a translation into English and a commentary.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [195]-203) and indexes. :
9789047424383 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Bene Israel : studies in the archaeology of Israel and the Levant during the Bronze and Iron Ages in honour of Israel Finkelstein /
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This collection of twelve papers, dedicated to Professor Israel Finkelstein, deals with various aspects concerning the archaeology of Israel and the Levant during the Bronze and Iron Ages. Although the area under discussion runs from southeastern Turkey (Alalakh) down to the arid zones of the Negev Desert, the main emphasis is on the Land of Israel. This collection provides the most recent evaluation of a number of thorny issues in Israeli archaeology during the Bronze and Iron Ages and specifically addresses chronology, state formation, identity, and agency. It offers, inter alia, a fresh look at the burial practices and iconography of the periods disscussed, as well as a re-evaluation of the subsistence economy and settlement patterns. This book is finely illustrated with more than sixty original drawings. "...I cannot but emphasize that this volume contains a collection of very interesting and, in some cases, important studies on the archaeology of the Bronze and Iron Age Levant, a fitting tribute to a consummate teacher and researcher." Aren M. Maeir, Bar-Ilan University
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047441946 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Flavius Josephus, translation and commentary /
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Volume 1b in Brill's Josephus Project contains Book 2 of Josephus' Judean War (translation and commentary). This book deals with a period of enormous consequence: from King Herod's death (4 BCE) to the first phase of the war against Rome (66 CE). It covers: the succession struggle, the governments of Herod's sons, Judea's incorporation as a Roman province, some notable governors (including Pilate), Kings Agrippa I and II, the Judean philosophical schools (featuring the Essenes), various rebel movements and the Sicarii, tensions between Judeans and their neighbors, events leading up to the revolt, the failed intervention of the Syrian legate Cestius Gallus, and preparations for war in Judea and Galilee. The commentary aims at a balance between historical and literary issues.
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Issued also in a smaller paperback edition with imprint: Boston : Brill Academic Publishers with titles of individual works only.
Vol. 9 includes maps on 2 folded leaves (24 x 68 cm.) in pocket. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047442219 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The temporal mechanics of the Fourth Gospel : a theory of hermeneutical relativity in the Gospel of John /
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Spiritual but broken, theological but flawed-these are the words critics use to describe the Gospel of John. Compared to the Synoptics, John's version of the life of Jesus seems scrambled, especially in the area of time and chronology. But what if John's textual and temporal flaws have more to do with our implicit assumptions about time than a text that is truly flawed? This book responds to that question by reinventing narrative temporality in light of modern physics and applying this alternative temporal lens to the Fourth Gospel. From the singularity in the epic prologue to the narrative warping of event-like objects, this work explodes the elemental temporalities simmering below the surface of a spiritual yet superior Gospel text.
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Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nottingham, 2006. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [255]-297) and indexes. :
9789047433231 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Theologies in conflict in 4 Ezra : wisdom, debate, and apocalyptic solution /
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Recent scholarship on 4 Ezra has taken two divergent approaches, the first reading the dialogues between Ezra and Uriel as a reflection of theological debates in the author's time, and the second focusing on the psychological development of the protagonist. Combining the two approaches, this book offers a new interpretation of the dialogues as a literary representation of a debate between covenantal and eschatological wisdom, two branches of Jewish wisdom that emerged in the late Second Temple period. The inconclusive quality of the dialogues indicates the author's dissatisfaction with Uriel's attempt at a rational theodicy. Ezra's subsequent transformation points to the symbolic visions as the locus of the author's apocalyptic solution to the intractable theological problems raised in the dialogues.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [237]-252) and indexes. :
9789047441809 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The character of the Syriac version of Psalms : a study of Psalms 90-150 in the Peshitta /
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This book investigates the character of the Peshitta in Psalms 90-150 in order to facilitate the proper use of this version in textual criticism. It identifies the Peshitta's translation techniques and it discusses the version's interpretation of difficult passages in the Hebrew text. The question of the Hebrew Vorlage behind the Peshitta Psalter is raised. Also investigated here is the relationship between the Peshitta Psalms and the LXX and Targum, and an assessment of the supposed influence of these versions on the Peshitta Psalter is offered. Inquiry is made into the theology of the translation, the identity of the translators, and the relationships among the manuscripts of the Peshitta Psalter. This text is designed as a tool for scholars who, when confronted by critical questions in the Psalter, seek to understand the readings preserved in the Peshitta.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [397]-410) and index. :
9789047412052 :
0169-9008 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Gnostica, Judaica, Catholica : collected essays of Gilles Quispel /
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This volume brings together a rich and varied collection of essays by Gilles Quispel (1916-2006), Professor of the History of the Early Church at Utrecht University from 1951 until his retirement in 1983. During his illustrious career, Professor Quispel was also visiting Professor at Harvard University in 1964/65, and visiting Professor at the Catholic University of Leuven from 1969 until 1974. The fifty essays collected in this volume testify to most of the prominent themes from Professor Quispel's scholarly career: the writings of the Nag Hammadi library in general and the Gospel of Thomas in particular; Tatian's Diatessaron and its influences; the Hermetica ; Mani and Manichaeism; the Jewish origins of Gnosticism; and Gnosis and the future of Christianity. This volume also makes a number of his less known earlier publications (mainly presented under the heading 'Catholica') available to the international community. Until shortly before he died, Professor Quispel remained active in his study of the Gospel of Thomas . He had been one of the first to acquire the Coptic text of the Gospel of Thomas , of which he published the first translation in 1959 and his final translation in 2005. He was also active in researching the Diatessaron , and Valentinus 'the Gnostic'. One of his most recent essays - published for the first time in this volume - is on 'the Muslim Jesus.'
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047441823 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
From a virgin womb : the Apocalypse of Adam and the virgin birth /
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Scholarly researches on the virgin birth have often focussed rather narrowly on the theological and historical difficulties it tends to raise. The Nag Hammadi Apocalypse of Adam, however, provides for the first time a glimpse into the wider background of ideas and myths to which it belonged. Prophecies there concerning a universal 'Illuminator' mention his birth 'from a virgin womb'. Several of the stories, drawn from Iranian and other sources , also appear in apocalyptic and testamental literature contemporary with Christian origins. The book centrally analyses a body of extraordinarily detailed narrative parallels between a cluster of stories in the Apocalypse and the infancy narratives of Mt. 1-2, concluding that these stories serve to identify Jesus as the True Prophet who is the fulfilment of history - though not as Son of God. The question of Mt.'s special tradition and its relation to Lk. is also cast in a new light.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [211]-217) and index. :
9789047423577 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The significance of Sinai : traditions about Sinai and divine revelation in Judaism and Christianity /
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This volume of essays is concerned with ancient and modern Jewish and Christian views of the revelation at Sinai. The theme is highlighted in studies on the Dead Sea Scrolls, Paul, Josephus, rabbinic literature, art and philosophy. The contributions demonstrate that Sinai, as the location of the revelation, soon became less significant than the narratives that developed about what happened there. Those narratives were themselves transformed, not least to explain problems regarding the text's plain sense. Miraculous theophany, anthropomorphisms, the role of Moses, and the response of Israel were all handled with exegetical skills mustered by each new generation of readers. Furthermore, the content of the revelation, especially the covenant, was rethought in philosophical, political, and theological ways. This collection of studies is especially useful in showing something of the complexity of how scriptural traditions remain authoritative and lively for those who appeal to them from very different contexts.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047443476 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Sight and blindness in Luke-Acts : the use of physical features in characterization /
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The ancient world often thought in terms of physiognomics-the idea that character can be discerned by studying outward, physical features. That physical descriptions carry moral freight in characterization has been largely missed in modern biblical scholarship, and this study brings that to the forefront. Specifically, this is a study of one particular physical marker-blindness. When we look at Greco-Roman literature, a kind of literary topos begins to emerge, a set of assumptions that ancient audiences would typically make when encountering blind characters. Luke-Acts makes use of such a topos in a way that becomes programmatic, serving as a kind of interpretive key to Luke-Acts that is generally unnoticed in modern scholarship.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047432968 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The reception and interpretation of the Bible in late antiquity : proceedings of the Montréal colloquium in honour of Charles Kannengiesser, 11-13 October 2006 /
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The volume is a Festschrift offered to Charles Kannengiesser on the occasion of his 80th birthday and honours him for his numerous scholarly accomplishments. Its twenty-five contributions discuss some of the major issues pertaining to the reception and interpretation of the Bible in late antique Christianity and Judaism. They focus on the ways in which communities and individuals understood the Bible and interpreted its traditions to address their historical, social, and theological requirements. Since the Bible was by far the most important book during these centuries, a discussion of its influence in such contexts will illuminate significant aspects of the formation of western civilisation.
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1 online resource. :
"Bibliography of the works of Charles Kannengiesser": pages [543]-560).
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047442127 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Continuity and innovation in the Aramaic legal tradition /
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Ever since the Elephantine papyri were first published over a century ago, scholars have speculated on the origins of the well-developed legal formularies used in these documents. Since then, many more Aramaic deeds of conveyance both from Elephantine and from elsewhere have been published, especially within the last decade or so. With this expanded text base now available, the time is ripe for a comprehensive re-assessment of these legal formularies. This book endeavors to show that these disparate Aramaic documents, whose chronological scope spans several centuries, form a discrete and coherent tradition. It isolates and identifies the distinctive elements that form the core of this tradition and traces the histories of these elements back through the cuneiform record.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [204]-226) and index. :
9789047442226 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Scripture in transition : essays on Septuagint, Hebrew Bible, and Dead Sea scrolls in honour of Raija Sollamo /
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Altogether 46 essays in honour of Professor Raija Sollamo contribute to explore various aspects of the rich textual material around the turn of the era. At that time Scripture was not yet fixed; various writings and collections of writings were considered authoritative but their form was more or less in transition. The appearance of the first biblical translations are part of this transitional process. The Septuagint in particular provides us evidence and concrete examples of those textual traditions and interpretations that were in use in various communities. Furthermore, several biblical concepts, themes and writings were reinterpreted and actualised in the Dead Sea Scrolls, illuminating the transitions that took place in one faction of Judaism. The topics of the contributions are divided into five parts: Translation and Interpretation; Textual History; Hebrew and Greek Linguistics; Dead Sea Scrolls; Present-Day.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047442479 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Wisdom in transition : act and consequence in Second Temple instructions /
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This volume considers a major shift among Jewish sages during the Second Temple period, as certain authors moved from an earthly focus to a belief in individual immortality. Egyptian instructions and the book of Proverbs are examined for necessary background. The colorful responses of Qoheleth and Ben Sira to an emergent belief in the afterlife are also discussed. 4QInstruction, the largest Wisdom text from the Dead Sea Scrolls corpus, demonstrates this shift to an eschatological understanding. This book considers the diverse reasons for the changes that one finds in 4QInstruction, especially the issue of social context. It will prove useful to those interested in Wisdom literature, the Dead Sea Scrolls, apocalypticism, and the development of beliefs in the afterlife.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [279]-293) and indexes. :
9789047433149 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
A glossary of Targum Onkelos according to Alexander Sperber's edition /
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Targum Onkelos is the oldest complete Jewish Aramaic translation of the Pentateuch, and it has played a major role in Jewish exegesis throughout the centuries. Although the vocabulary of Onkelos has been included in the major rabbinic dictionaries, there has never been a volume devoted solely to the vocabulary of Onkelos. This glossary, based on the standard critical edition, includes all of the vocabulary of the targum, plus geographical names, with bibliographical references to cognates in other Aramaic dialects. It will be a major help both to students first encountering the language of the Targum, as well as to specialists seeking a thorough treatment of its lexical features.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789047442134 :
1570-1336 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Echoes of Scripture in the letter of Paul to the Colossians /
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While the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament has captured the attention of biblical scholars over the years, no study has been devoted to the presence of Scripture in Colossians, largely because there are no explicit quotations in Colossians. With the introduction of literary intertextuality into the discipline, however, scholars have begun to devote more attention to the NT authors' less explicit references to Scripture, often labelled as 'allusions' and/or 'echoes.' Scholars, however, continue to debate what constitutes an allusion or echo, or how one validates a given proposal as such. This study proposes new definitions of these terms and offers a methodology on how to detect and validate them, using Colossians as a test case.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [277]-292) and indexes. :
9789047424123 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.