Is the author of Ecclesisastes a determinist? Many readers, from the Targumist and Ibn Ezra up to the present day, have thought so. But there has been no systematic investigation of Qoheleth's determinism, its nature and extent, its relationship to free will and its philosophical background. In separate chapters, Rudman discusses key terms and texts that express a deterministic worldview, then explores the sources for Qoheleth's thought. He concludes that the author was a sage writing in the third quarter of the third century BCE, who was profoundly influenced by Stoic ideas.>

Challenging gnositicizing interpretations of the letter, Terry Griffith explores how the polemic against idols was variously used in Jewish and Christian circles to define self-identity and the limits of community. He shows that the rhetoric of 1 John is not polemical, but pastoral, directed at confirming Johannine Christians in their fundamental confession of faith and preventing further defections of Jewish Christians back to Judaism. Griffith argues that the christological focus in 1 John concerns the identification of Jesus as the Messiah, and that the ending of the letter both contributes to the author's overall pastoral strategy and sheds light on the issues of sin and christology that are raised in this letter.>

Opening with the prophet Elijah's ascent into heaven and closing with the people of Judah's descent to Babylonia, 2 Kings charts the story of the two Israelite kingdoms until their destruction. This commentary unfolds the literary dimensions of 2 Kings, analyzes the strategies through which its words create a world of meaning, and examines the book's tales of prophets, political intrigue, royal apostasy, and religious reform as components of larger patterns.

2 Kings pays attention to the writers' methods of representing human character and of twisting chronological time for literary purposes. It also shows how the contests between kings and prophets are mirrored in the competing structures of regnal synchronization and prophecy-fulfillment. Much more than a common chronicle of royal achievements and disasters, 2 Kings emerges as a powerful history that creates memories and forges identities for its Jewish readers.

"2 Kings" is divided into four parts including Part One The Story of Elisha: 2 Kings 1:1-8:6"; Part Two "Revolutions in Aram, Israel, and Judah: 2 Kings 8:7-13:25"; Part Three "Turmoil and Tragedy for Israel: 2 Kings 14-17"; and Part Four "Renewal and Catastrophe for Judah: 2 Kings 18-25."

"Robert L. Cohn is professor of religion and holds the Philip and Muriel Berman Chair in Jewish studies at Lafayette College. Under the auspices of the American Jewish Committee, he lectured on Jewish interpretations of the Bible as the first American Jewish-scholar-in-residence at four Roman Catholic seminaries in Poland.""

A Bible Commentary on the Book of Hebrews. Sovereign grace emphasis suitable for personal study, devotional, study groups and sermon-help. Don Fortner is an experience Pastor and Teacher whose writings and preached sermons are highly regarded around the world.

Professor Maurice Gilbert SJ is widely acknowledged as one of the leading authorities on biblical wisdom literature, in particular the Book of Ben Sira and the Wisdom of Solomon, on which he has produced many publications. This Festschrift, the third one in his honor, brings together twenty-four essays written by both established scholars who are friends and colleagues of Professor Gilbert and younger members of the field who wrote their doctoral dissertation under his guidance at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. There he was rector (1978-1984) and full professor until his retirement (1975-2011). The volume is divided into six main sections, focusing respectively on Proverbs, Job, Qoheleth, Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon, and Psalms. Some essays display rigorous attention to textual and linguistic issues, whereas others deal with more theological questions (fear before God, joy in Qoheleth, arguments for justice in Wisdom of Solomon) or focus on the comparison between two books (for instance, Qoheleth and Sirach, Sirach and Genesis, Sirach and Tobit).

Luke the Physician was fascinated by people - rich and poor, Jews and Gentiles, men and women, rulers and slaves. In his Gospel he delights to portray Jesus as the Saviour not of an elite group but of any one, in any condition, who turns to him. Jesus is indeed the Saviour of the world. Luke knew exactly what he was doing when he wrote his Gospel. He tells us his goal in the opening verses: to set forth an orderly and accurate account of what had been accomplished by the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. In this engaging exposition, Michael Wilcock gives special attention to these opening words. Then, as he examines the individual deeds and sayings of Jesus, he shows how the structure of Luke's narrative brings out their meaning. The good news of Luke is still true today. None of us are beyond redemption unless we choose to put ourselves there. This message has implications not only for our personal lives but for our churches and society as a whole.

The language, themes and imagery of the Bible have been rewritten into texts across time. In the Revelation of John, the Hebrew Bible echoes and is reinvented, just as in James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824) many explicit and implicit readings and interpretations of the Bible are offered. In Texts Reading Texts, these readings of the Bible, and the ways in which Revelation and Hogg's Confessions have themselves been read, are considered from the two postmodern perspectives of marginalization and deconstruction. By reading the two seemingly unrelated texts side by side from these perspectives, traditional readings of them both are disturbed and challenged.

The first translation into English of all the extant Targums, together with introductions and annotations. Each volume examines the place of a particular Targum or group of Targums in Jewish life, liturgy and biblical interpretation. Each Targum is evaluated in the light of Jewish tradition and of modern linguistic and biblical research. The notes point to parallel passages in other Jewish and Christian biblical and liturgical texts. Each translated Targum has its own apparatus indicating the relationship between the English translation and the Aramaic original and every volume has a useful bibliography.

This book examines the problem of theodicy arising from the fall of Jerusalem (587 B.C.E.) in the book of Jeremiah. It explores the ways in which the authors of the book of Jeremiah tried to explain away their God's responsibility while clinging to the idea of divine mastery over human affairs. In order to trace the development of a particular book's understanding of God's role in meting out punishments, this book analyzes all the passages containing the pivotal word"> (TM) ("to provoke to anger") in Deuteronomistic History and the book of Jeremiah.

Tom Wright has completed a tremendous task: to provide comprehensive guides to all the books of the New Testament, and to furnish them with his own fresh translation of the entire text. Each short passage is followed by a highly readable commentary with helpful background information. The format makes it appropriate also for daily study.

Peng outlines a plausible structure for Romans 12.1 to 15.13. After a brief survey of scholars' opinions about the structure of this passage, three methodologies (structural exegesis, discourse analysis, and rhetorical criticism) are analysed. Having acknowledged that each of these methodologies has its own limitations, an eclectic approach, which is analogous with 'putting together a jigsaw puzzle without the final picture', is suggested. Peng also includes two appendices - the first is an assessment of the historical background of chapter 13.1 to 13.7 in light of the analysis presented; and the second is a short assessment of interpretations of the word 'pistis' in chapter 12.3 and 12.6, in which the rationale behind the interpretation of this term is discussed.

Despite the striking frequency with which the Greek word kyrios, Lord, occurs in Luke's Gospel, this study is the first comprehensive analysis of Luke's use of this word. The analysis follows the use of kyrios in the Gospel from beginning to end in order to trace narratively the complex and deliberate development of Jesus' identity as Lord. Detailed attention to Luke's narrative artistry and his use of Mark demonstrates that Luke has a nuanced and sophisticated christology centered on Jesus' identity as Lord.

In Chapter 1 Paula Gooder discusses the problems of interpreting this text and looks at the major debates of its past interpreters. The most popular modern approach is to compare it with other texts of ascent in the Judaeo-Christian tradition, yet even a brief examination of these texts indicate that differences are present. In the remainder of the book Gooder evaluates the extent and significance of these differences. Part One consists of a detailed consideration of a range of texts which superficially seem closest to 2 Corinthians 12. Chapter 2 presents a history of scholarship on heavenly ascent. Chapters 3 to 8 each examine a text of ascent from a different period and background in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. Chapter 9 draws out the points of similarity between these texts. Part Two considers the text of 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 in the light of the findings of Part One. In the detailed examination of the Pauline ascent in chapter 10, the extent of the differences between this text and the texts examined in Part One becomes clear. Chapter 11 proposes a new interpretation of the account of ascent, arguing that it reports a failed ascent into heaven. The chapter shows that this interpretation makes sense not only of 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 itself but also of chapters 10-13 which surround it. The account is one more example of weakness from the apostle in which he proves that weakness, not strength, is the sign of a true apostle.

Combining three incredibly importantbooks for the teaching of the Church, The Goldsworthy Trilogy offers acomplete and comprehensive guide tounderstanding the gospel throughoutthe whole of Scripture. Hugely popular, this collection is being released in thisspecial format and will be an essentialguide to be used again and again forthose who seek to understand the Biblein the light of who Jesus is.Straightforward in his approach, Goldsworthy looks at how the Bible canonly be understood through the eyesof the gospel. This being the base ofhis interpretation, he studies the OldTestament and its application for today, Israels wisdom literature and its role inthe Christian life and the purpose andcontemporary relevance of the bookof Revelation. This trilogy follows theBible chronologically to give the readera complete overview of evangelicalbiblical interpretation forming anessential one-stop reference that willlast a lifetime.

Recent discussion of biblical law sees it either as a response to socio-economic factors or as an intellectual tradition. In either case it is viewed as the product of elites that form an international community drawing on a common culture. This book takes that fundamental discussion a step further by proposing that 'law' is an inappropriate term for the biblical codes, and that they represent, rather, the 'moral advice' of scribes working independently of the legal framework and appealing to Yahweh as authority. Only by prolonged exegesis and through the transformation of Judaean religion does this 'advice' take the form of divine law binding on Jews.>

Classic IVP series now rejacketed and retypeset

The Psalms of Solomon, the most important early psalm book outside the canonical psalter, reflects the turmoil of events in the last pre-Christian century and gives an apparently eyewitness account of the first invasions of the Romans into Jerusalem. The Psalm of Solomon provides the most detailed expectation of the Jewish Messiah before the New Testament. Wright's critical edition is the first complete critical edition of the Greek texts of the Psalms of Solomon.

The Old Testament Library provides an authoritative treatment of every major and important aspect of the Old Testament. This commentary on Lamentations furnishes a fresh translation and discusses questions of historical background and literary architecture before providing a theologically sensitive exposition of the text.