The State of Jewish Studies


Book Description

Contributors describe the key points of controversy and concern that currently engage scholars in most areas of Judaic research. Respondents discuss the contributors' views, marking out areas of disagreement and delineating avenues for further research and debate. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR




The Cambridge History of Judaism: Volume 8, The Modern World, 1815–2000


Book Description

The eighth and final volume of The Cambridge History of Judaism covers the period from roughly 1815–2000. Exploring the breadth and depth of Jewish societies and their manifold engagements with aspects of the modern world, it offers overviews of modern Jewish history, as well as more focused essays on political, social, economic, intellectual and cultural developments. The first part presents a series of interlocking surveys that address the history of diverse areas of Jewish settlement. The second part is organized around the emancipation. Here, chapter themes are grouped around the challenges posed by and to this elemental feature of Jewish life in the modern period. The third part adopts a thematic approach organized around the category 'culture', with the goal of casting a wide net in terms of perspectives, concepts and topics. The final part then focuses on the twentieth century, offering readers a sense of the dynamic nature of Judaism and Jewish identities and affiliations.




The Footprints of God


Book Description

This book traces one exegetical, interpretative principal, divine accommodation, in Jewish and Christian thought from the first to the nineteenth century. The focus is upon major figures and the place of accommodation in their work. Divine accommodation, the idea that divine revelation had to be attuned to the human condition, is a vital interpretive device in the history of both Judaism and Christianity. Accommodation is present not only in the language, style, and tone of Scripture but in all of human history. This is the first systematic study of the concept of accommodation, and shows how both religions employed the same interpretative tool for different purposes and to different ends.




A New Heart and a New Soul


Book Description

This book examines, in greater detail than previously undertaken, the presence of Priestly and Deuteronomic language and concepts in the book of Ezekiel. It asks: what is the nature of the relationship between Ezekiel and the Priestly Source? What is the nature of the relationship between Ezekiel, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic History? Where does the book of Ezekiel stand in the evolution of Israelite history, theology and literature-specifically, what can Ezekiel teach us about the composition of the Torah?




The Levitical Authorship of Ezra-Nehemiah


Book Description

The study of Ezra-Nehemiah has been revolutionized in recent years by a growing rejection of the long-established belief that it was composed as part of the Chronicler's work. That shift in scholarly paradigms has re-opened many questions of origin and purpose, and this thesis attempts to establish an answer to the most important of these: the question of authorship. Here, Kyungjin Min argues that Ezra-Nehemiah most likely originated in a Levitical group that received Persian backing during the late-fifth century BCE and that valued the ideologies of decentralization of power, unity and cooperation among social groups, and dissatisfaction with the religious status quo.




Judges, Volume 8


Book Description

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship. Overview of Commentary Organization Introduction—covers issues pertaining to the whole book, including context, date, authorship, composition, interpretive issues, purpose, and theology. Each section of the commentary includes: Pericope Bibliography—a helpful resource containing the most important works that pertain to each particular pericope. Translation—the author’s own translation of the biblical text, reflecting the end result of exegesis and attending to Hebrew and Greek idiomatic usage of words, phrases, and tenses, yet in reasonably good English. Notes—the author’s notes to the translation that address any textual variants, grammatical forms, syntactical constructions, basic meanings of words, and problems of translation. Form/Structure/Setting—a discussion of redaction, genre, sources, and tradition as they concern the origin of the pericope, its canonical form, and its relation to the biblical and extra-biblical contexts in order to illuminate the structure and character of the pericope. Rhetorical or compositional features important to understanding the passage are also introduced here. Comment—verse-by-verse interpretation of the text and dialogue with other interpreters, engaging with current opinion and scholarly research. Explanation—brings together all the results of the discussion in previous sections to expose the meaning and intention of the text at several levels: (1) within the context of the book itself; (2) its meaning in the OT or NT; (3) its place in the entire canon; (4) theological relevance to broader OT or NT issues. General Bibliography—occurring at the end of each volume, this extensive bibliography contains all sources used anywhere in the commentary.




The Early Modern Hispanic World


Book Description

Iberia stands at the center of key trends in Atlantic and world histories, largely because Portugal and Spain were the first European kingdoms to 'go global'. The Early Modern Hispanic World engages with new ways of thinking about the early modern Hispanic past, as a field of study that has grown exponentially in recent years. It focuses predominantly on questions of how people understood the rapidly changing world in which they lived - how they defined, visualized, and constructed communities from family and city to kingdom and empire. To do so, it incorporates voices from across the Hispanic World and across disciplines. The volume considers the dynamic relationships between circulation and fixedness, space and place, and how new methodologies are reshaping global history, and Spain's place in it.




The Covenant in Judaism and Paul


Book Description

The Covenant in Judaism and Paul deals with biblical and intertestamental uses of covenant and related rituals, challenging the view that baptism replaces circumcision, since baptism is entry into the new covenant, and showing that ritual boundaries are replaced or redefined since identity has changed. The investigation uses social categories, “identity” as a term that offers an explanation for a group's selfunderstanding and “boundary” as a term for entry rite of affirmation marker. Part A looks at the Old Testament background to aspects of the covenant. Part B examines covenant identity and rituals in Palestinian Judaism as featured in Jubilees, the Temple Scroll, the Damascus Document, and the Community Rule. It includes a brief analysis of the baptism administered by John the Baptist. Part C analyses Paul's views on covenant, circumcision, and baptism against this background.




In Defence of Judaism: Abraham Ibn Daud


Book Description

This study presents a thematic investigation of Ibn Daud's philosophical treatise ha-Emunah ha-Ramah [The Exalted Faith]. It examines the question whether current interpretation is correct in assuming that the thesis is primarily concerned with working out a synthesis between philosophy and religion, or whether, as Ibn Daud indicates at te beginning of the book, it is basically concerned with the problem of free will. In order to answer this question the author examines the structure of Ibn Daud's philosophical work by analysing its topics and their interrelation, and by paying attention to Ibn Daud's use of Biblical verses. Furthermore the study focuses on the Jewish and Islamic sources on which Ibn Daud drew, as well as the way in which he incorporated the philosophy of the Islamic Aristotelians al-Farabi and Ibn Sina into his own thought.




T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism Volume Two


Book Description

The T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism provides a comprehensive reference resource of over 600 scholarly articles aimed at scholars and students interested in Judaism of the Second Temple Period. The two-volume work is split into four parts. Part One offers a prolegomenon for the contemporary study and appreciation of Second Temple Judaism, locating the discipline in relation to other relevant fields (such as Hebrew Bible, Rabbinics, Christian Origins). Beginning with a discussion of terminology, the discussion suggests ways the Second Temple period may be described, and concludes by noting areas of study that challenge our perception of ancient Judaism. Part Two presents an overview of respective contexts of the discipline set within the broad framework of historical chronology corresponding to a set of full-colour, custom-designed maps. With distinct attention to primary sources, the author traces the development of historical, social, political, and religious developments from the time period following the exile in the late 6th century B.C.E. through to the end of the Bar Kokhba revolt (135 C.E.). Part Three focuses specifically on a wide selection of primary-source literature of Second Temple Judaism, summarizing the content of key texts, and examining their similarities and differences with other texts of the period. Essays here include a brief introduction to the work and a summary of its contents, as well as examination of critical issues such as date, provenance, location, language(s), and interpretative matters. The early reception history of texts is also considered, and followed by a bibliography specific to that essay. Numerous high-resolution manuscript images are utilized to illustrate distinct features of the texts. Part Four addresses topics relevant to the Second Temple Period such as places, practices, historical figures, concepts, and subjects of scholarly discussion. These are often supplemented by images, maps, drawings, or diagrams, some of which appear here for the first time. Copiously illustrated, carefully researched and meticulously referenced, this resource provides a reliable, up-to-date and complete guide for those studying early Judaism in its literary and historical settings.