Digital Logos Edition
Early Jewish Literature: An Anthology offers more than seventy selections from Second Temple-era Jewish literature, each introduced and translated by a leading scholar in the field. Organized by genre, this two-volume anthology presents both complete works and substantial excerpts of longer works, giving readers a solid introduction to the major works of the era—the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, the writings of Josephus and Philo of Alexandria, and the Septuagint (Apocrypha).
The substantive introduction to each selection includes these elements: narrative description; author/provenance; date/occasion; text, language, sources, and transmission; theology; and reception during the Second Temple period. Additional student aids include a list of further readings on each selection, a section of maps, a glossary of biographical names, and a glossary of terms. With contributors and translators including such noted scholars as James Charlesworth, Sidnie White Crawford, James D.G. Dunn, Peter W. Flint, and James VanderKam, this anthology will be an essential resource for all students of early Jewish literature and emerging Christian traditions.
“a kingdom that exceeded in size those of David and Solomon” (Volume 1, Page 26)
“It also seems that the author of the book of Hebrews used 2 Maccabees—compare Hebrews 11:35–38 to 2 Maccabees 7 and 10:6. Rabbinic tradition shows no knowledge of either work, just as in general it preserves little concerning the Hasmoneans.” (Volume 1, Page 181)
“These prophetic texts portray the struggles the Judeans faced in retaining and fostering their religious and cultural distinctiveness in the midst of the polytheistic context of Babylon.” (Volume 1, Page 21)
“First Maccabees, a history of a human dynasty, evinces very little interest in God, theology, or religion in general” (Volume 1, Page 180)
“a general setting is the period of the early Hellenization of Palestine and Judaism” (Volume 2, Page 179)
Archie T. Wright is associate professor of biblical studies at Regent University.
Brad Embry is associate professor of Hebrew Bible and Old Testament studies at Regent University.
Ronald Herms is dean of the School of Humanities, Religion, and Social Sciences at Fresno Pacific University.