The Sage in Israel and the Ancient Near East

John G. Gammie, Leo G. Perdue

Eisenbrauns, 1990 - 545 pages

Judah and the Judeans in the Persian Period 

Oded Lipschitz, Manfred Oeming

Eisenbrauns, 2006 - 721 pages

"In July 2003, a conference was held at the University of Heidelberg (Germany), focusing on the people and land of Judah during the 5th and early 4th centuries B.C.E. - the period when the Persian Empire held sway over the entire ancient Near East. This volume publishes the papers of the participants in the working group that attended the Heidelberg conference." "Participants whose contributions appear here include: Y. Amit, B. Becking, J. Berquist, J. Blenkinsopp, M. Dandamayev, D. Edelman, T. Eskenazi, A. Fantalkin and O. Tal, L. Fried, L. Grabbe, S. Japhet, J. Kessler, E. A. Knauf, G. Knoppers, R. Kratz, A. Lemaire, O. Lipschits, H. Liss, M. Oeming, L. Pearce, F. Polak, B. Porten and A. Yardeni, E. Stern, D. Ussishkin, D. Vanderhooft, and I. Wright." "The conference was the second of three meetings: the first, held at Tel Aviv in May 2001, was published as Judah and the Judeans in the Neo-Babylonian Period by Eisenbrauns in 2003. A third conference focusing on Judah and the Judeans in the Hellenistic era was held in the summer of 2005, at Munster, Germany, and will also be published by Eisenbrauns.

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Traditions of the Magi: Zoroastrianism in Greek and Latin literature

Albert de Jong

BRILL, 1997 - 496 pages

This is the first full treatment of the Greek and Latin references to Zoroastrianism since the pioneering works of Benveniste, Bidez & Cumont, and Clemen. It focuses on the possibilities offered by the classical reports on Zoroastrianism to reconstruct the history of that faith.The book is divided into three sections. The first section deals with introductory problems concerning ancient religious ethnography and current views of the history of Zoroastrianism. The second section consists of commentaries on five selected passages. The third section offers a thematical overview of the materials and their relevance for the history of Iranian religions.Apart from offering introductions to a wide range of debates and topics in Classics and Iranian studies, the book aims to illustrate the diversity of beliefs and practices in ancient Zoroastrianism.

 

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Diodorus Siculus The Persian Wars to the Fall of Athens: Books 11-14.34 (480-401 BCE)

Diodorus (Siculus.), Peter Green

University of Texas Press, 2010-02-15 - 332 pages

Only one surviving source provides a continuous narrative of Greek history from Xerxes' invasion to the Wars of the Successors following the death of Alexander the Great--the Bibliotheke, or "Library," produced by Sicilian historian Diodorus Siculus (ca. 90-30 BCE). Yet generations of scholars have disdained Diodorus as a spectacularly unintelligent copyist who only reproduced, and often mangled, the works of earlier historians. Arguing for a thorough critical reappraisal of Diodorus as a minor but far from idiotic historian himself, Peter Green published Diodorus Siculus, Books 11-12.37.1, a fresh translation, with extensive commentary, of the portion of Diodorus's history dealing with the period 480-431 BCE, the so-called "Golden Age" of Athens.
This is the only recent modern English translation of the Bibliotheke in existence. In the present volume--the first of two covering Diodorus's text up to the death of Alexander--Green expands his translation of Diodorus up to Athens' defeat after the Peloponnesian War. In contrast to the full scholarly apparatus in his earlier volume (the translation of which is incorporated) the present volume's purpose is to give students, teachers, and general readers an accessible version of Diodorus's history. Its introduction and notes are especially designed for this audience and provide an up-to-date overview of fifth-century Greece during the years that saw the unparalleled flowering of drama, architecture, philosophy, historiography, and the visual arts for which Greece still remains famous.

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Cultural Responses to the Persian Wars: Antiquity to the Third Millennium 

Emma Bridges, Edith Hall, Peter John Rhodes

Oxford University Press, 2007-04-12 - 453 pages

Cultural Responses to the Persian Wars addresses the huge impact on subsequent culture made by the wars fought between ancient Persia and Greece in the early fifth century BC. It brings together sixteen interdisciplinary essays, mostly by classical scholars, on individual trends within the reception of this period of history, extending from the wars' immediate impact on ancient Greek history to their reception in literature and thought both in antiquity and in the post-Renaisssance world. Extensively illustrated and accessibly written, with a detailed Introduction and bibliographies, this book will interest historians, classicists, and students of both comparative and modern literatures.

 

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Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars

Jon D. Mikalson

Univ of North Carolina Press, 2003-09-15 - 269 pages

The two great Persian invasions of Greece, in 490 and 480-79 B.C., both repulsed by the Greeks, provide our best opportunity for understanding the interplay of religion and history in ancient Greece on a large scale. Using the Historiesof Herodotus as well as other historical and archaeological sources, Jon Mikalson shows how the Greeks practiced their religion at this pivotal moment in their history. In the period of the invasions and the years immediately afterward, the Greeks--internationally, state by state, and sometimes individually--turned to their deities, using religious practices to influence, understand, and commemorate events that were threatening their very existence. Greeks prayed and sacrificed; made and fulfilled vows to the gods; consulted oracles; interpreted omens and dreams; created cults, sanctuaries, and festivals; and offered dozens of dedications to their gods and heroes--all in relation to known historical events. By portraying the human situations and historical circumstances in which Greeks practiced their religion, Mikalson advances our knowledge of the role of religion in fifth-century Greece and reveals a religious dimension of the Persian Wars that has been heretofore overlooked.

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Biblical Interpretation in Early Christian Gospels, Volume 2 The Gospel of Matthew

Thomas R. Hatina

Continuum International Publishing Group, 2008 - 256 pages

The second title in a proposed five-volume work; volume two, following on from the volume on Mark's Gospel, concentrates on Matthew's Gospel. Contributors consider the function of embedded scripture texts in the context of the Gospels written and read/heard in their early Christian settings. The project is wide ranging, with essays on the function of scripture in the compositional history of the gospels and the collection is broad in scope as a result of current interest in the integration of methods (especially historical and narrative ones).
Advancements over the last 20 years in the study of genre and narrative criticism have left a void in the study of the function of embedded biblical texts in the Gospels. This collection of essays will move the study of scripture within scripture forwards.

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Matthew

Margaret Davies

Sheffield Phoenix Press Ltd, 2009-03-31 - 254 pages

Margaret Davies takes up the insights of reader-response criticism to explore how the conventions and strategies of the Gospel of Matthew draw the reader into the world that the text creates. There is a recognition also of the text's significance as authoritative scripture for modern Christians, and the bias that this gives to any interpretative strategy. This is a reprint of the 1993 edition.

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The Use of the Old Testament in St. Matthew's Gospel: With Special Reference to the Messianic Hope

 

Robert Horton Gundry

E. J. Brill, 1967 - 252 pages

 

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The Concept of Disciple in Matthew's Gospel

 

Michael J. Wilkins

BRILL, 1988 - 261 pages

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The Royal Son of God: The Christology of Matthew 1-2 in the Setting of the Gospel

 

Brian M. Nolan

Éditions universitaires, 1979 - 282 pages

 

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The Theme of Jewish Persecution of Christians in the Gospel According to St Matthew

Douglas R. A. Hare

Cambridge University Press, 2005-10-06 - 220 pages

It has long been recognized that in the Gospel according to St Matthew the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees has been intensified and it has often been suggested that this intensification reflects the continued struggle between the Church and the synagogue. The theme of Jewish persecution of Christians in the Gospel according to St Matthew is examined in this book with two questions in mind: 1. Has Matthew exaggerated the severity of the persecution? 2. How has the persecution influenced Matthew's theology? Professor Hare examines the historical data relating to the suffering imposed upon the Christians and refers to Rabbinic literature and Christian sources other than Matthew in order to evaluate Matthew's portrayal of the persecutions. He concludes that persecution was directed primarily against Christian missionaries, not against rank-and-file Christians.

 

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The New Isaac: Tradition and Intertextuality in the Gospel of Matthew

 

Leroy Andrew Huizenga

BRILL, 2009-09-15 - 337 pages

This work contends that when rightly read as a coherent narrative in its first-century setting, the Gospel of Matthew evinces a significant Isaac typology which coheres well with the Matthean themes of Jesus as new temple and ultimate sacrifice.

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The Halakhah of Jesus of Nazareth According To The Gospel of Matthew

 

Phillip Sigal

Society of Biblical Literature, 2007-07-01 - 262 pages

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The Gospel of Matthew and its Readers: A Historical Introduction to the First Gospel

Howard W. Clarke

Indiana University Press, 2003-07-01 - 297 pages

The Gospel of Matthew and Its Readers is a biblical commentary with a difference. Howard Clarke first establishes contemporary scholarship's mainstream view of Matthew's Gospel, and then presents a sampling of the ways this text has been read, understood, and applied through two millennia. By referring forward to Matthew's readers (rather than back to the text's composers), the book exploits the tensions between what contemporary scholars understand to be the intent of the author of Matthew and the quite different, indeed often eccentric and bizarre ways this text has been understood, assimilated, and applied over the years. The commentary is a testament to the ambiguities and elasticity of the text and a cogent reminder that interpretations are not fixed, nor texts immutably relevant. And unlike other commentaries, this one gives space to those who have questioned, rejected, or even ridiculed Matthew's messages, since Bible-bashing, like Bible-thumping, is a historically significant part of the experience of reading the Bible.

 

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Apocalyptic Eschatology in the Gospel of Matthew

David C. Sim

Cambridge University Press, 2005-10-06 - 304 pages

This study reconstructs the apocalyptic eschatology in Matthew's Gospel so that we may understand his time and concerns. Sociological analysis of apocalypticism in Judaism and early Christianity shows that such a comprehensive world view, which emphasized the final judgement and its aftermath within a dualistic and deterministic framework, was adopted by minority of sectarian groups undergoing a situation of great crisis. The Matthean community, after the first Jewish war against Rome, came into conflict with Judaism, gentiles and the larger Christian movement. Matthew's distinctive and often vengeful vision must be set against both his acute need to enhance his community's sense of itself and his pastoral concern. Dr Sim offers for the first time in English an extended and comprehensive comparison of Matthew's outlook with contemporary eschatological literature.

 

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Matthew's Gospel and Formative Judaism: The Social World of the Matthean Community

 

J. Andrew Overman

Fortress Press, 1990 - 174 pages

 

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The Gospel and Epistles of John: A Concise Commentary

 

 

Raymond Edward Brown

Liturgical Press, 1988 - 136 pages

Revised to the 1986 NAB translation of the Bible.

 

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Church and Cosmos in Early Ottonian Germany: The View from Cologne

Henry Mayr-Harting

Oxford University Press, 2007 - 308 pages

 

Integrating the brilliant biography of Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne (953-65) and brother of Emperor Otto I, by the otherwise obscure monk Ruotger, with the intellectual culture of Cologne Cathedral, this is a study of actual politics in conjunction with Ottonian ruler ethic. Our knowledge of Cologne intellectual activity in the period, apart from Ruotger, must be pieced together mainly from marginal annotations and glosses in surviving Cologne manuscripts, showing how and with what concerns some of the most important books of the Latin West were read in Bruno's and Ruotger's Cologne. These include Pope Gregory the Great's Letters, Prudentius's Psychomachia, Boethius's Arithmetic, and Martianus Capella's Marriage of Philology and Mercury. The writing in the margins of the manuscripts, besides enlarging our picture of thinking in Cologne in itself, can be drawn into comparison with the outlook of Ruotger.

Exploring how distinctive Cologne was, compared with other centres, Henry Mayr-Harting brings out an unexpectedly strong thread of Platonism in the tenth-century intellect. The book includes a critical edition of probably the earliest surviving, and hitherto unpublished, set of glosses to Boethius's Arithmetic, with an extensive study of their content.

 

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Rome in the Bible and the Early Church

 

Peter S. Oakes

Baker Academic, 2002 - 166 pages

Six notable scholars illuminate key aspects of Rome and its impact on early Christianity, emphasizing Roman culture, Roman authority, and the Christian community in Rome.

 

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The Sociology of Pottery in Ancient Palestine: The Ceramic Industry and the Diffusion of Ceramic Style in the Bronze and Iron Ages

 

Bryant G. Wood

Continuum International Publishing Group, 1990 - 148 pages

 

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Jesus the Liberator: A Historical Theological Reading of Jesus of Nazareth

 

Jon Sobrino

Continuum International Publishing Group, 1994 - 324 pages

 

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THE QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL JESUS A CRITICAL STUDY OF ITS PROGRESS FROM REIMARUS TO WREDE

 

ALBERT SCHWEITZER

1910

 

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A Synopsis of the Apocryphal Nativity and Infancy Narratives

J. K. Elliott

Brill, 2006 - 170 pages

"Early Christians built on the stories of Jesus' birth found in the New Testament. Their later accounts, many of them found nowadays among collections of non-canonical ('apocryphal') texts, are important and interesting. They give insights into the growth of Christian theology, especially concerning the role and status of Mary, and also the way in which the earliest stories were elaborated and interpreted in popular folk religion." "A range of the earliest accounts is presented here in fresh translations; it includes some rare Irish material. The texts are arranged in small units and synoptically, in order to permit readers to compare texts and to see the differences and similarities between them." "J. K. Elliott has selected and arranged the texts, and he provides an introductory chapter on the genre. He also includes a full bibliography to benefit readers who may wish to pursue this comparative study more deeply

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Paul and the Crucified Christ in Antioch: Maccabean Martyrdom and Galatians 1 And 2 

Stephen Anthony Cummins

Cambridge University Press, 2001-11-15 - 287 pages

The so-called 'Antioch Incident' - the confrontation between the apostles Peter and Paul in Galatians 2.11-21 - continues to be a source of controversy in both scholarly and popular estimations of the emergence of the early Church and the development of Pauline theology. Paul and the Crucified Christ in Antioch offers an interesting interpretation of Paul's account of and response to this event, creatively combining historical reconstruction, detailed exegesis, and theological reflection. S. A. Cummins argues that the nature and significance of the central issue at stake in Antioch - whether the Torah or Jesus Christ determines who are the people of God - gains great clarity and force when viewed in relation to a Maccabean martyr model of Judaism as now christologically reconfigured and redeployed in the life and ministry of the apostle Paul.

 

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The Historical Jesus in Context

Amy-Jill Levine, Jr. Dale C. Allison, John Dominic Crossan

Princeton University Press, 2008-09-02 - 424 pages

The Historical Jesus in Context is a landmark collection that places the gospel narratives in their full literary, social, and archaeological context. More than twenty-five internationally recognized experts offer new translations and descriptions of a broad range of texts that shed new light on the Jesus of history, including pagan prayers and private inscriptions, miracle tales and martyrdoms, parables and fables, divorce decrees and imperial propaganda. The translated materials--from Christian, Coptic, and Jewish as well as Greek, Roman, and Egyptian texts--extend beyond single phrases to encompass the full context, thus allowing readers to locate Jesus in a broader cultural setting than is usually made available. This book demonstrates that only by knowing the world in which Jesus lived and taught can we fully understand him, his message, and the spread of the Gospel. Gathering in one place material that was previously available only in disparate sources, this formidable book provides innovative insight into matters no less grand than first-century Jewish and Gentile life, the composition of the Gospels, and Jesus himself.

 

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