Vision, Narrative, and Wisdom in the Aramaic Texts from Qumran


Book Description

The Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls from Qumran have attracted increasing interest in recent years. These texts predate the “sectarian” Dead Sea scrolls, and they are contemporary with the youngest parts of the Hebrew Bible. They offer a unique glimpse into the situation before the biblical canons were closed. Their highly creative Jewish authors reshaped and rewrote biblical traditions to cope with the concerns of their own time. The essays in this volume examine this fascinating ancient literature from a variety of different perspectives. The book grew out of an international symposium held at the University of Copenhagen in August 2017.




The Aramaic Levi Document


Book Description

The fragments of Aramaic Levi Document are presented for the first time as a single coherent whole. This book, which will move the study of this pivotal document to a new level, includes original texts, translation, introduction and extensive and detailed commentary.




A Handbook of the Aramaic Scrolls from the Qumran Caves


Book Description

This book provides the first comprehensive treatment of the Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls from the caves of Qumran. These nearly one hundred scrolls open a window onto a vibrant period of Jewish history for which we previously had few historical sources. Scholars and advanced students will find a general introduction to the corpus, detailed, richly-illustrated profiles of individual scrolls, and up-to-date studies of their Aramaic language and scribal practices. The goal of the book is to foster and support further study of these scrolls against the historical backdrop of early Judaism and ancient Mediterranean scribal cultures.




Vision, Narrative, and Wisdom in the Aramaic Texts from Qumran


Book Description

This volume is a collection of scholarly articles on the Aramaic Dead Sea scrolls, some of the oldest and most fascinating literary compositions among the ancient Jewish manuscripts found in the Qumran caves.




4QInstruction


Book Description

The wisdom tradition of ancient Israel, represented in the Hebrew Bible by Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes and in the Apocrypha by Ben Sira and the Wisdom of Solomon, is also well-attested in the texts from Qumran. 4QInstruction (1Q26, 4Q415–418, 4Q423), the largest wisdom text of the Dead Sea Scrolls, is considered a sapiential text primarily because of its explicit and insistent pedagogical nature. To make this significant wisdom text more widely available, this volume offers a critical edition, translation, and commentary on the main fragments of 4QInstruction. It examines particular texts of 4QInstruction as well as broader issues, including its date, genre, main themes, and place in Second Temple Judaism. Finally, in order to contextualize this pivotal work, 4QInstruction’s relationship to the sapiential and apocalyptic traditions is also explored.




Aramaica Qumranica


Book Description

The articles in this book tackle important linguistic, exegetical and historical questions concerning the Aramaic scrolls from Qumran, addressing for instance the issue of their relevance to the development of apocalypticism and messianism in the Jewish tradition.




Discerning Wisdom


Book Description

"Discerning Wisdom" provides an overview of all the Qumran wisdom texts. The Dead Sea Scrolls offer crucial evidence for understanding the wisdom of the late Second Temple period and the reception of traditional wisdom in Early Judaism.




Wisdom Texts from Qumran


Book Description

This is the first full analysis of the Qumran wisdom texts. New translations and a full explanation of the background and context of wisdom literature introduce the reader to an important part of the Dead Sea Scrolls.This study is the first full analysis of the Qumran wisdom texts. New translations and a full explanation of the background and context of wisdom literature introduce the reader to an important and hitherto little discussed part of the Dead Sea Scrolls.After surveying biblical and extrabiblical wisdom books, the author considers the best and most fully preserved wisdom texts from Qumran. The centrepiece of the book is a discussion of the large wisdom instruction known as Sapiential Work A. Also, the author reflects on the relevance of those texts for the study of early Judaism and Christianity. An appendix treats the Ben Sira scroll from Masada.




A Companion to Biblical Interpretation in Early Judaism


Book Description

Presents eighteen commissioned articles on biblical exegesis in early Judaism, covering the period after the Hebrew Bible was written and before the beginning of rabbinic Judaism. -- from publisher description




Heavenly Tablets


Book Description

This volume brings together a wide range of international scholars of Ancient Judaism, whose essays explore various issues surrounding Jewish communities and Jewish identity in late antiquity. The essays are organized into three sections: Interpreting Ritual Texts, Mapping Diaspora Identities, and Rewriting Tradition.