Jairus’s Daughter and the Female Body in Mark demonstrates that ubiquitous and significant depictions of children in the literature and material culture of the first century CE shaped the mindsets of the Gospel of Mark’s original audience. Through a detailed analysis of the story of Jairus’s daughter in Mark 5 and of the archaeological remains depicting female children, Janine E. Luttick reveals how ancient hearers of this story encountered an image of a female child that communicated ideas of hope to Jesus’s followers and in turn how readers today can understand the authority of Jesus, the domestic structures of early Christianity, and the suffering and loss experienced by some early Christians.

A fresh interpretation of the nature, purpose, and date of Jerome’s Epistle 106

In this volume of the Writings from the Greco-Roman World series, Michael Graves offers the first accessible English translation and commentary on Jerome’s Epistle 106, an important work of patristic biblical interpretation. In his treatise Jerome discusses different textual and exegetical options according to various Greek and Latin copies of the Psalms with input from the Hebrew. Epistle 106 provides insightful commentary on the Gallican Psalter, Jerome’s translation of Origen’s hexaplaric edition. Jerome’s work offers a unique window into the complex textual state of the Psalter in the late fourth century and serves as an outstanding example of ancient philological scholarship on the Bible. Graves’s translation and commentary is an essential resource for scholars and students of patristic exegesis, biblical textual criticism, and late antique Christianity.

Jerome’s Abbreviated Psalter was one of the most important collections of psalm verses in the Middle Ages. Commonly found in primers and books of hours, it was the primary medium for lay people to imitate the monastic divine office, even as it offered concessions to harsh personal circumstances. This edition presents the Middle English versions in parallel, followed by the Latin version in the Lincoln Thornton manuscript. An introductory review considers the psalter in general and the origins of abbreviated psalters in particular. Jerome’s Abbreviated Psalter is the most widespread text in the abbreviated psalter tradition and it illustrates an important aspect of lay devotional life from the eighth to the sixteenth century. The English versions contribute both to the history of English prose and to the history of biblical translation in English.

Explore the diverse character of emerging Christian narratives

This book presents essays that show how prophetic and priestly emphases in Luke and Acts, and emphasis on Jesus’s existence prior to creation in the Gospel of John, are reworked in some second- and third-century Christian literature. Early Christians interpreted and expressed the storylines of Jesus, Mary, and other important figures in ways that created new images and stories. Contributors show the effect of including rhetography, the rhetoric of a text that prompts images and pictures in the mind of a hearer or reader, in interpretation of texts.

Features:

• Readings that attempt to account for the development of richly creative and complicated early Christian traditions
• Essays bridging New Testament studies and interpretation of Early Christian literature
• Interpretations that integrate social and rhetorical interpretations

Jesus Becoming Jesus, Volume 2: A Theological Interpretation of the Gospel of John: Prologue and the Book of Signs follows upon the first volume of this series entitled Jesus Becoming Jesus. The first volume was a theological interpretation of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Unlike many conventional biblical commentaries, Weinandy concentrates on the theological content contained within John’s Gospel. He does this in the light of the Church’s doctrinal and theological tradition, particularly in keeping with the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution, Dei Verbum. This is accomplished through a close reading of John’s Gospel, theologically interpreting each chapter of the Gospel sequentially. In so doing he also takes into account the Johannine corpus as a whole. He also relates John’s Gospel to relevant material found within the Synoptic Gospels, the Pauline Corpus and other New Testament writings. This original theological interpretation focuses primarily on the intertwining theological themes contained within John’s Gospel, specifically within the Prologue and the Book of Signs – light and darkness, the seven miracle-signs, the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist, the seven “I Am” sayings, the contentious dialogues with the Jews, Jesus’ relationship to his Father as the Father’s incarnate Word and Son, etc. Within all of these interlocking themes one finds the importance of Jesus’ saving actions – the salvific works of his Father. The overarching theme of this book, as the title suggests, is that Jesus, being named Jesus, throughout his public ministry is enacting his name and so becoming who he is – YHWH-Saves. Weinandy offers a singular, vibrant, and luminous reading of John’s Gospel; one that reveals the Evangelist’s theological depth and doctrinal sophistication. In so doing, Weinandy makes manifest the particular beauty of the Gospel According to John.

Jesus Becoming Jesus, Volume 3 follows upon the previous two volumes of this series entitled Jesus Becoming Jesus. Volume 1 was a theological interpretation of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and volume 2 was a theological interpretation of the Prologue and Book of Signs of John’s Gospel (chapters 1-12). Unlike many conventional biblical commentaries, Weinandy concentrates on the theological content contained within John’s Gospel. This is accomplished through a close reading of John’s Gospel, theologically interpreting each chapter of the Gospel sequentially. In so doing he also takes into account the Johannine corpus as a whole. He also relates John’s Gospel to relevant material found within the Synoptic Gospels, the Pauline Corpus and other New Testament writings. In this present volume, Weinandy’s original theological interpretation focuses first on the Evangelist’s narrative of the Last Supper, which includes Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet, followed upon his lengthy farewell address and his ensuing High Priestly Prayer (chapter 13-17). Although Jesus speaks of his leaving his disciples, yet their hearts should not be troubled, for he is going to prepare a place for them in his Father’s house, and he will also send them another Counselor, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not only convict the world sin, but he will also empower the disciples to profess their faith in Jesus as the Father’s Son, even in the midst of persecution. All that Jesus tells his disciple in his final discourse, he then prays that his Father will accomplish through his forthcoming death and resurrection – above all that his disciples will share in the same oneness of love that he and his Father possess. Weinandy masterfully treats John’s Passion and Resurrection Narratives. He not only theologically interprets the uniqueness of the Evangelist’s narratives, but also how his narratives insect with the Synoptic accounts. Moreover, Weinandy’s theological reading of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection weaves together John’s soteriology, ecclesiology, and sacramentality – all of which are founded upon the Incarnation, that Jesus is the Father’s Spirit-filled incarnate Son. As the title suggests, Jesus, being named Jesus, in his death and resurrection, definitively enacts his name and so becoming who he is – YHWH-Saves.

Reconstructions of Jesus occurred in Asia long before the Western search for the historical Jesus began in earnest. This enterprise sprang up in seventh-century China and seventeenth-century India, encouraged by the patronage and openness of the Chinese and Indian imperial courts. While the Western quest was largely a Protestant preoccupation, in Asia the search was marked by its diversity: participants included Hindus, Jains, Muslims, Catholics, and members of the Church of the East.

During the age of European colonialism, Jesus was first seen by many Asians as a tribal god of the farangis, or white Europeans. But as his story circulated, Asians remade Jesus, at times appreciatively and at other times critically. R. S. Sugirtharajah demonstrates how Buddhist and Taoist thought, combined with Christian insights, led to the creation of the Chinese Jesus Sutras of late antiquity, and explains the importance of a biography of Jesus composed in the sixteenth-century court of the Mughal emperor Akbar. He also brings to the fore the reconstructions of Jesus during the Chinese Taiping revolution, the Korean Minjung uprising, and the Indian and Sri Lankan anti-colonial movements.

In Jesus in Asia, Sugirtharajah situates the historical Jesus beyond the narrow confines of the West and offers an eye-opening new chapter in the story of global Christianity.

Not a Jew marginally, but centrally

In this book, LaCocque presents the case that Jesus was totally and unquestionably a Jew. He lived as a Jew, thought as a Jew, debated as a Jew, acted as a Jew and died as a Jew. He had no intention of creating a new religion; rather, he was a reformer of the Judaism of his day. True, his critique went far beyond an intellectual subversion. In fact, Jesus progressively thought of himself as the “Son of Man” inaugurating the advent of the Kingdom of God on earth.

Features:

• Focused attention given to the historical Jesus and not Christianity or Christology
• Addresses restricted sources, namely, the Synoptic Gospels
• Close examination of Jesus’s way of thinking, teaching, and behaving

Rebecca K. Esterson explores how Christian methods of biblical interpretation shifted during the eighteenth century, producing a rhetorical rejection of allegory while embracing literalism. Under the influence of Enlightenment concepts of human reason and advances in the experimental sciences, Christian interpreters began casting Jewish biblical interpretation as allegorical, while presenting Christian interpretation as literal. This shift in self-understanding allowed Christians to portray their own interpretations as scientifically, philosophically, and historically superior, resulting in a new way of othering the Jewish people. This study of biblical exegesis, theology, philosophy, and the arts in English, Swedish, and German contexts is an essential resource for scholars interested in biblical reception history and the history of Jewish-Christian relations.

An accessible point of entry into the rich medieval religious landscape of Jewish biblical exegesis s

Medieval Judeo-Arabic translations of the Hebrew Bible and their commentaries provide a rich source for understanding a formative period in the intellectual, literary, and cultural history and heritage of Jews in Islamic lands. The carefully selected texts in this volume offer intriguing insight into Arabic translations and commentaries by Rabbanite and Karaite Jewish exegetes from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE, arranged according to the three divisions of the Torah, the Former and Latter Prophets, and the Writings. Each text is embedded within an essay discussing its exegetical context, reception, and contribution.

Features:

• Focus on underrepresented medieval Jewish commentators of the Eastern world
• A list of additional resources, including major Judeo-Arabic commentators in the medieval period
• Previously unpublished texts from the Cairo Geniza

The first Greek text of the Epistle of Aristeas published in more than a century

The Greek text Epistle of Aristeas is a Jewish work of the late Hellenistic period that recounts the origins of the Septuagint. Long recognized as a literary fiction, the Epistle of Aristeas has been variously dated from the third century BCE to the first century CE. As a result, its epistolary features, and especially those in which the putative author, Aristeas, addresses his brother and correspondent, Philocrates, have largely been ignored. In light of more recent scholarship on epistolary literature in the Greco-Roman world, however, this volume presents for the first time a complete Greek text and English Translation with introduction, notes, and commentary of the Epistle of Aristeas with key testimonia from Philo, Josephus, and Eusebius, as well as other related examples of Jewish fictional letters from the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha.

Features

• Relevant excerpts from Eupolemus, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, and the Greek Additions to Esther with translations and introductions
• A critical introduction to ancient Greek letter-writing
• An outline of epistolary features in the text

For many, the Middle Ages in general evokes a sense of the sinister and brings to mind a world of fear, superstition, and religious fanaticism. For Jews it was a period marked by persecutions, pogroms, and expulsions. Yet at the same time, the Middle Ages was also a time of lively cultural exchange and heightened creativity for Jews. In The Jewish Middle Ages, contributors explore the ways in which the stories of biblical women, including, Eve, Sarah, Hagar, Rebekah, Zipporah, Ruth, Esther, and Judith, make their way into the rich tapestry of medieval Jewish literature, mystical texts, and art, particularly in works emanating from Ashkenazic circles. Contributors include Carol Bakhos, Judith R. Baskin, Elisheva Baumgarten, Dagmar Börner-Klein, Constanza Cordoni, Rachel Elior, Meret Gutmann-Grün, Robert A. Harris, Yuval Katz-Wilfing, Sheila Tuller Keiter, Katrin Kogman-Appel, Gerhard Langer, Aurora Salvatierra Ossorio, and Felicia Waldman. These essays give us a glimpse into the role women played and the authority they assumed in medieval Jewish culture beyond the rabbinic centers of Palestine and Babylonia.

On the Day of Atonement, two goats were brought before the high priest at the temple. One was chosen as the goat for the Lord, a spotless sacrifice, and the other was set aside for Azazel, doomed to bear sins into the wilderness. Jewish Temple Theology and the Mystery of the Cross shows how a theological appreciation for the two movements of Yom Kippur makes it possible to identify the paradox at the heart of Christian soteriology: in his single atoning act, Jesus Christ fulfills the work of both goats, without confusion, without division. Appreciation for this paradox helps illuminate many of the doctrinal debates in the history of Christian soteriology and offers a compelling way forward. Jewish Temple Theology and the Mystery of the Cross begins with a survey of biblical geography: first, a rich theological pilgrimage to Mount Zion, the home of beauty, goodness, and truth, and then to the surrounding desert, the wilderness of sin and sorrow. To appreciate the Yom Kippur liturgy, and to understand the priestly word “atonement,” one must be oriented by this cosmic stage. Drawing on the best modern historical-critical scholarship, this volume reveals the wonders hidden in Leviticus and shows how a sophisticated theological interpretation of this book leads to breakthroughs in our understanding of Christ’s saving work. Seeing the mystery of the cross from the perspective of the ancient Jewish scriptures has surprising results. For example, Richard Barry shows how Hans Urs von Balthasar’s controversial theology of Holy Saturday is a compelling development of Azazel-goat soteriology; it is not only biblically licit but is in some ways mandated by the logic of Yom Kippur. At the same time, David Bentley Hart is celebrated for the way he powerfully advances modern YHWH-goat soteriology, yet obedience to the logic of Yom Kippur also necessitates a nuanced biblical critique of his muscular universalism. How can Christ fulfill the seemingly contradictory movements of both goats in a single saving work? Grappling with that question, Jewish Temple Theology and the Mystery of the Cross seeks to draw nearer to the heart of the mystery of salvation.

A window into early Judaism and Christianity

The Gospel of John was written during the period of the emergence of Christianity and its separation from Judaism and bears witness to their contested relationship. This volume contains eighteen cutting-edge essays written by an international group of scholars who interpret for students and general readers what the book tells us about first-century Judaism, the separation of the church from Judaism, and how John's anti-Jewish references are being interpreted today.

Features:

• A debate over the process that led to the separation of the church from Judaism, and John's place in that process
• A review of recent interpretations of John's anti-Jewish references
• An assessment of the current status of Jewish Christian relations

Pauline Allen translates Frederick Field's text of John Chrysostom's twelve homilies on Paul's Letter to the Colossians. Chrysostom concentrates in part on the apparently prevalent angel worship in Colossae (in modern Turkey). These homilies provide many details about everyday life in the late Roman period, such as the position of slaves and their treatment as well as various aspects of raising healthy, educated children. The themes of conflict between pagans, Jews, and Christians in the community, as well as the distinction between rich and poor in late antiquity, run throughout the homilies. This latest text and translation volume from WGRW is an essential resource for scholars and students interested in the history of the church.

This volume offers a translation of sixteen homilies by the most famous preacher in Christian antiquity, John Chrysostom. These homilies on Paul’s letter to the Philippians constitute the most comprehensive ancient surviving commentary on the letter in any language. The homilies have a direct and conversational style in which examples from daily life abound: children, the elderly, food, agriculture, seafaring, money, commerce, building, furniture, weather, illness, good health, animals, and slavery. Friendship themes, based on Paul’s relationship with the church at Philippi, and Christology also figure largely in these homilies. This volume, with Greek text and English translation on facing pages, situates Chrysostom’s homilies on Paul’s letter to the Philippians in their historical, homiletical, rhetorical, and liturgical contexts.

A readily accessible text and translation for scholars and students of Paul, ancient Christian history, and biblical reception.

In this new volume in the Writings from the Greco-Roman World series, Margaret M. Mitchell collects twenty-five of John Chrysostom's lesser-known sermons on Pauline passages as well as some that focus on Paul himself. Mitchell presents the Greek text and an original translation of each of these fascinating sermons in a fresh, engaging style that seeks to recapture the vibrancy and dynamism of the live oratory behind the homilies. Extensive notes to each homily evaluate how Chrysostom dealt with some of the ethical, theological, historical, political, and literary problems present in Paul's writings. Mitchell's work on Chrysostom offers a model for scholars to explore and understand how ancient Christian interpreters found in Paul’s letters a legacy that was as problematic as it was precious.

This groundbreaking volume draws together an international group of leading biblical scholars to consider one of the most controversial religious topics in the modern era: Is the Gospel of John—the most theological and distinctive among the four canonical Gospels—historical or not? If not, why does John alone among the Gospels claim eyewitness connections to Jesus? If so, why is so much of John’s material unique to John? Using various methodologies and addressing key historical issues in John, these essays advance the critical inquiry into Gospel historiography and John’s place within it, leading to an impressive consensus and convergences along the way. The contributors are Paul N. Anderson; Mark Appold; Richard Bauckham; Helen K. Bond; Richard A. Burridge; James H. Charlesworth; Jaime Clark-Soles; Mary Coloe; R. Alan Culpepper; Craig A. Evans; Sean Freyne; Jeffrey Paul Garcia; Brian D. Johnson; Peter J. Judge; Felix Just, S.J.; Craig S. Keener; Edward W. Klink III; Craig R. Koester; Michael Labahn; Mark A. Matson; James F. McGrath; Susan Miller; Gail R. O’Day; Bas van Os; Tom Thatcher; Derek M. H. Tovey; Urban C. von Wahlde; and Ben Witherington III.

A critical analysis of the historicity of the Gospel of John

Since it began in 2002, the John, Jesus, and History Project has assessed critically the modern disparaging of John's historicity and has found this bias wanting. In this third volume, an international group of experts demonstrate over two dozen ways in which John contributes to an enhanced historical understanding of Jesus and his ministry. This volume does not simply argue for a more inclusive quest for Jesus—one that embraces John instead of programmatically excluding it. It shows that such a quest has already indeed begun. Contributors include Paul N. Anderson, Jo-Ann A. Brant, Peder Borgen, Gary M. Burge, Warren Carter, R. Alan Culpepper, James D. G. Dunn, Robert T. Fortna, Jörg Frey, Steven A. Graham, Colin J. Humphreys, Craig Keener, Andreas Köstenberger, Tim Ling, William Loader, Linda McKinnish Bridges, James S. McLaren, Annette Merz, Wendy E. S. North, Benjamin E. Reynolds, Udo Schnelle, Donald Senior, C.P., Tom Thatcher, Michael Theobald, Jan van der Watt, Robert Webb, Stephen Witetscheck, and Jean Zumstein.

Features

• A state-of-the-art analysis of John’s contributions to the quest for the historical Jesus, including evaluative responses by leading Jesus scholars
• •An overview of paradigm shifts in Jesus scholarship and recent approaches to the Johannine riddles
• Detailed charts that illuminates John's similarities and differences form the Synoptic Gospels as well as the gospel's contributions to the historical Jesus research

The Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. was a watershed event in the history of Judah, the end of the monarchy and the beginning of the exilic period, during which many of the biblical texts were probably written. The conquest left clear archaeological marks on many sites in Judah, including Jerusalem, and the Bible records it as a traumatic event for the population. Less clear is the situation in Judah following the conquest, that is, in the sixth century, a period with archaeological remains the nature and significance of which are disputed. The traditional view is that the land was decimated and the population devastated. In the last two decades, archaeologists arguing that the land was not empty and that the exile had little impact on Judah’s rural sector have challenged this view. This volume examines the archaeological reality of Judah in the sixth century in order to shed new light on the debate. By expanding research into new avenues and examining new data, as well as by applying new methods to older data, the author arrives at fresh insights that support the traditional view of sixth-century Judah as a land whose population, both urban and rural, was devastated and whose recovery took centuries.

Investigate a relatively neglected but momentous period in Judean history

Nadav Sharon closely examines a critical period in Judean history, which saw the end of the Hasmonean dynasty and the beginning of Roman domination of Judea leading up to the kingship of Herod (67-37 BCE). In this period renowned Roman figures such as Pompey the Great, Julius Caesar, Gaius Cassius (a conspirator against Caesar), and Mark Anthony, led the Roman Republic on the eve of its transformation into an Empire, each having his own dealings with—and holding sway over—Judea at different times. This volume explores the impact of the Roman conquest on the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls, enhances the understanding of later Judean-Roman relations and the roots of the Great Revolt, and examines how this early period of Roman domination had on impact on later developments in Judean society and religion.

Features:

• Part one dedicating to reconstructing Judean history from the death of Alexander to the reign of King Herod
• Part two examining the effects of Roman domination on Judean society
• Maps, illustrations, and appendices