Josephus (AD 37-?100), a pro-Roman Jew closely associated with the emperor Titus, is one of the earliest systematic commentators on the Bible, as well as one of the foremost historians of the beginning of the Christian era. Politically, Josephus was pro-Roman, and although he had no sympathy for extreme Jewish nationalism, he was a zealous defender of Jewish religion and culture. This text examines the principles that guided Josephus in his understanding of the Bible, investigating his creative contribution in the writing of biblical accounts. The study evaluates Josephus as a historian and demonstrates the originality and consistency of his work as an author.

Exegesis--interpretation and explanation of sacred texts--is the quintessence of rabbinic thought. Through such means and methods, the written words of Hebrew Scripture have been extended since antiquity, and given new voices for new times. In this lucid and often poetic book, Michael Fishbane delineates the connections between biblical interpretation and Jewish religious thought.

How can a canon be open to new meanings, given that it is believed to be immutable? Fishbane discusses the nature and rationale of this interpretative process in a series of studies on ancient Jewish speculative theology. Focusing on questions often pondered in Midrash, he shows how religious ideas are generated or justified by exegesis. He also explores the role exegesis plays in liturgy and ritual. A striking example is the transfer of speculative interpretations into meditation in prayer. Cultivation of the ability to perceive many implicit meanings in a text or religious practice can become a way of living--as Fishbane shows in explaining how such notions as joy or spiritual meditations on death can be idealized and the ideal transmitted through theological interpretation. "The Exegetical Imagination "is a collection of interrelated essays that together offer new and profound understanding of scriptural interpretation and its central role in Judaism.

Using the tools of contemporary semiotic theory to analyze classical rabbinic hermeneutics and medieval mystical exegesis, Betty Rojtman unveils a modernity in these early forms of textual interpretation. The metaphor from rabbinic literature that describes the writing of the Torah - black fire on white fire - becomes, in Rojtman's analysis, a figure for the differential structures that can be found throughout rabbinic discourse. Moving through the successive levels of traditional commentary, from early Midrash to modern Kabbalah, Rojtman examines the tension betweeen the fluidity and nuance of the biblical text and the fixed commitment to ideological and theological content. To examine this strain between open text and sacred language, Rojtman scrutinizes the demonstrative, "this," as a word whose signi-ficance changes with every change in context. Her analysis suggests a double-layered meaning for "this," which refers to the existential world in its multiplicity but also to transcendence and the eternal presence of God.

The Bible is often said to be one of the foundation texts of Western culture. The present volume shows that it goes far beyond being a religious text. The essays explore how religious, political and cultural identities, including ethnicity and gender, are embodied in biblical discourse. Following the authors, we read the Bible with new eyes: as a critic of gender, ideology, politics and culture. We ask ourselves new questions: about God's body, about women's role, about racial prejudices and about the politics of the written word.
Reading Bibles, Writing Bodies crosses boundaries. It questions our most fundamental assumptions about the Bible. It shows how biblical studies can benefit from the mainstream of Western intellectual discourse, throwing up entirely new questions and offering surprising answers. Accessible, engaging and moving easily between theory and the reading of specific texts, this volume is an exciting contribution to contemporary biblical and cultural studies.

This book presents an introduction to the ministry and message of Jesus by combining topical and chronological approaches. Topics discussed include: highlights of the words and teachings of Jesus and the main events of his ministry; background information on Judaism to aid in understanding the context of Jesus' words and actions; main issues and debates in the research of the historical Jesus; the most important ancient documents that help in understanding the Gospels (the Dead Sea Scrolls, Nag Hammadi Scrolls, Talmud, and Josephus).

Judith Abrams, author of the highly acclaimed The Talmud for Beginners, Volumes I & II, creates yet another way of making Talmud study easy and accessible for the novice. Rabbi Abrams has chosen to work with the Steinsaltz Edition of the Talmud, edited and with commentary by Adin Steinsaltz, one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the twentieth century. This volume is a must for both student and teacher.

Environmentalists have turned to Eastern religion, Deep Ecology and Native American religion for alternatives to the Western view that humans should dominate nature. In Economics, Ecology, and the Roots of Western Faith, Robert R. Gottfried persuasively demonstrates that the ancient Hebrew worldview, found in the Torah and the New Testament, is remarkably "green." Drawing on these insights from ancient Western thought and economic understanding of ecosystems and natural processess, Gottfried analyzes the prerequisites for maintaining or improving human welfare and ecological vitality in terms of land economics and management.

With impetus provided by the accumulated historical and textual evidence supporting reincarnation, this book first examines Gospel evidence that Jesus actually taught reincarnation and karma rather than resurrection. Deardorff's compelling analysis bolsters other studies indicating that the concept of resurrection displaced reincarnation in earliest Christianity due to its pre-belief by certain Pharisee converts, and specifies how the Gospels came to reflect this belief. Jesus in India reexamines the evidence that the "lost years" of Jesus' youth were spent in the India. Deardorff's analysis brings out the plausibility of Jesus having gained knowledge about reincarnation and related spiritual matters under certain yogis in India. With the empty tomb on Easter morning not to be explained by resurrection, the book reviews six resuscitation hypotheses and presents a seventh one that withstands previous objections. This well documented research constitutes an important addition to the existing literature on comparative religions and a thought provoking contribution to the on-going debate on the historicity of a wide range of New Testament passages.

A description of how the Mishnah should be read and how the thinking of second century Jewish sages applies to our own time.

The Talmud is filled with knowledge, inspiration, and insights that enrich all facets of Jewish life. Yet many are intimidated by the thought of studying its text, and their hesitancy prevents them from experiencing the wisdom of its words. In this new volume, Rabbi Judith Abrams takes readers with her on a journey through one volume of the Talmud, offering reassuring guidance and making it meaningful and accessible to all. The Talmud for BeginnersDVolume 1: Prayer is the first book in a series by Rabbi Abrams. For lay readers who are unfamiliar with Talmud, this work serves as an introduction to talmudic thought. For those who are familiar with talmudic methodology, this volume will serve as a convenient overview of one book of the Talmud, Berachot (literally, _blessings_).

Rabbi Abrams writes: "When I teach Torah classes to my congregants, sometimes they become very uncomfortable with what they read in the Tanach. Jacob tricks his father. Moses kills a man. David commits adultery. They struggle to come to grips with the difficult passages in the text. They also work on finding meaning in worship services, even though they don't know Hebrew. They strive to define themselves proudly as Jews in a non-Jewish world. They worry about assimilation. And I'm pretty sure that they think their problems are modern ones. Blessedly, the rabbis of the Talmud struggled with these questions, too, and they came up with some terrific answers. "In this introduction to the tractate Megillah of the Babylonian Talmud, we will learn how the rabbis viewed the Torah, and how they teach us to relate to it. They don't shy away from the hard-to-deal with passages, but show us how to meet them head on without sacrificing respect for them. They show us how to make the text our own and how to honor it in our everyday lives. These are ancient answers to modern questions. "In this tractate, the rabbis develop a whole system of honor that is based on respect for the Torah in each person and object in our world. In other words, the true Jewish status system is based on learning and menschlichkeit, rather than money or fame. So while this tractate may be stimulating on an intellectual level, it's also stimulating on the mensch' level. "As the second volume in a series, this book challenges the learner to reach new heights of understanding the Talmud, and the way the rabbis thought. However, don't be afraid, it's still very much for beginners. A general introduction about the Talmud is provided, then selected passages from each of the tractate's four chapters are explained in simple language. A bibliography for further reading, glossary, halachic appendix and descriptions of the rabbis mentioned in the book, are also provided."

Garfield translates Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika and provides a philosophical commentary. Mulamadhyamakakarika is the foundational text for all Mahayana Buddhism and is one of the most influential works in the history of Indian philosophy.

The Hadith are believed to be the words of the Prophet, memorised by his followers and written down in the first or second centuries AH. This is a clear introduction to the arguments surrounding both the Hadith and the documents themselves. Comparing the views put forward in the Hadith with those of the Qur'an, it takes the student through all aspects of the Hadith in clear and accessible terms.

What really happened during Israel's journey from slavery to the promised land? Bible scholar Nicholas Perrin explains the true story of the Exodus while adding helpful background information from biblical history, archaeology, and more. You will . . . *Explore the unvarnished Bible story of the Exodus *Learn about ancient Egypt and Pharaoh *Come to know the man and the mission of Moses *Find out why the Ten Commandments were given *Discover God's promise and plan for his people, then and now *Appreciate why every New Testament writer builds on the Exodus *See how the Exodus story relates to you, todayYou will gain a much richer understanding of what God has done for you and why the Exodus is the pivotal event in the Old Testament.

If you want to understand who Christ is, you have to begin by understanding what Jesus meant when he said in Luke 24:27, "And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (NIV).
In FINDING JESUS IN THE EXODUS, biblical scholar Nicholas Perrin shows that the Bible's story of the Exodus from beginning to end is filled with prophetic foretellings of the person and work of Christ:

Moses as a great deliver and prophetThe voice in the burning bushThe Passover Lamb of GodThe unleavened breadThe rock and pillar of cloudThe red sea crossingThe manna from heaven You will see all of these and more as examples of Christ in the story of the Exodus.

In this eye-opening book, llana Pardes explores the tense dialogue between dominant patriarchal discourses of the Bible and counter female voices. Pardes studies women's plots and subplots, dreams and pursuits, uncovering the diverse and at times conflicting figurations of femininity in biblical texts. She also sketches the ways in which antipatriarchal elements intermingle with other repressed elements in the Bible: polytheistic traditions, skeptical voices, and erotic longings.

Between 1947 and 1956, nearly 900 ancient Jewish manuscripts were found in remote caves near Khirbet Qumran on the edge of the Dead Sea. This authoritative and accessible book explains the nature and significance of these amazing manuscripts and the dramatic impact they have had on our understanding of religion in ancient Palestine. Cutting through scholarly controversies and conspiracy theories, it demonstrates how the Dead Sea Scrolls have transformed our comprehension of the Bible, Judaism in the time of Jesus, and the rise of Christianity.

In the second edition the main text, footnotes and bibliographies have all been thoroughly updated, and a new chapter added that expands the material on the identity of the community behind the scrolls and provides a helpful survey of the manuscripts. The book is an ideal introduction for anyone interested in either the Scrolls themselves, Jewish history and religion in the Second Temple period or the early Christian movement.

Areligion or a culture like Judaism, at least three thousand years old, cannot be expected to be all of one piece, homogeneous, self-contained, consistent, a neatly constructed system of ideas. If Judaism were that, it would have died centuries ago and would be a subject of interest only to the historian and archaeologist. Judaism has been a living force precisely because it is a teeming, thundering, and clamoring phenomenon, full of contrary tendencies and inconsistencies. Although there are no words or phrases in Hebrew Scriptures for "human rights," "conscience," or "due process of law," the ideals and values which these concepts represent were inherent in the earliest Jewish texts.

This volume begins with four essays on the concept of man's being born "free and equal," in the image of God. The underpinning of this concept in Jewish law is explored in Section 2, entitled "The Rule of Law." Section 3, "The Democratic Ideal," traces the foundations of democracy in the Jewish teachings in the Bible and the Talmud, which in turn influenced the whole body of Western political thought. Relations between man and man, man and woman, employer and employee, slave and master are all spelled out. Section 4 presents essays analyzing man's freedom of conscience, and his God-given rights to dissent and protest. Section 5 deals with aspects of personal liberty, including the right of privacy. Section 6, entitled "The Earth is the Lord's," deals with the Jewish view of man's transient tenancy on God's earth, his obligations not to destroy anything that lives or grows, and to share the earth's bounty with the poor, the widowed, and the orphaned. Section 7 delivers an analysis of the "end of days" vision of Micah and man's continuing need to strive for peace and not for war. The volume concludes with three new essays, dealing with contemporary issues: "In God's Image: The Religious Imperative of Equality under Law"; "The Values of a Jewish and Democratic State: The Task of Reaching a Synthesis"; and "Religious Freedom and Religious Coercion in the State of Israel."

This enlarged edition is accessibly written for a general and scholarly audience and will be of particular interest to political scientists, historians, and constitutional scholars.

The Psalms have long brought comfort to those who mourn and have helped us find the spiritual in everyday life. This edition presents a translation based on the original Hebrew text, as well as the entire range of Psalms interpretation and modern linguistic scholarship.

David Stern shows how the parable or mashal - the most distinctive type of narrative in midrash - was composed, how its symbolism works, and how it serves to convey the ideological convictions of the rabbis. He describes its relation to similar tales in other literatures, including the parables of Jesus in the New Testament and kabbalistic parables. Through its innovative approach to midrash, this study reaches far beyond its particular subject, and should appeal to all readers interested in narrative and religion.

The bilingual (Aramaic-Hebrew) concordance to the Targum of the Prophets is the product of an international project based in the Theological University of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, Kampen (ThUK) and supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). With this publication a major research tool becomes available to those engaged in Biblical and Jewish Studies.
For the first time meaningful quotations from the Targum and the Masoretic Hebrew text of the Bible are set out in parallel so that the user of the concordance can study the translation technique of the Targum in much greater detail than was hitherto possible.
The concordance opens up Targum Jonathan to scholars in various fields. It is an indispensable tool not only for research in the fields of textual criticism and the history of interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, but also for the study of early Judaism, the New Testament and patristics.
To facilitate consultation on the basis of the Hebrew, every concordance per book contains a Hebrew-Aramaic index. The final volume will contain additions and corrections, a cumulative Aramaic-Hebrew index, as well as an English-Aramaic index.

This collection of essays challenges the traditional patriarchal approach to sacred literature by highlighting gender parity in sacred texts and envisioning the rise of the matriarchy in the future. The authors redefine Biblical Greek words like malakoi and arsenokoitai used in condemnation of homosexuality, and Qur'anic words like darajah and qawwamun, used for establishing patriarchy. One author reexamines the role of the Nepalese Teej festival of fasting and worship of the god Shiva in promoting male hegemony in Hinduism. Other papers examine passages like Proverbs 31:1-31, the stories of Sarah and Rahab in the Bible, the role of Mary in the Qur'an, and the Dharmic conversion in chapter 27 of the Lotus Sutra. This book makes it clear that sacred literature is subject to human understanding as it evolves through space and time. Today, as more women are educated and actively engaged in political, economic, and social life, religions are challenged to redefine gender roles and norms.

"If he had lived among the Greeks, he would now be numbered among the stars." So wrote Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in his epitaph for Francis Mercury van Helmont. Leibniz was not the only contemporary to admire and respect van Helmont, but although famous in his own day, he has been virtually ignored by modern historians. Yet his views influenced Leibniz, contributed to the development of modern science, and fostered the kind of ecumenicalism that made the concept of toleration conceivable.
The progressive nature of van Helmont's thought was based on his deep commitment to the esoteric doctrines of the Lurianic Kabbalah. With his friend Christian Knorr von Rosenroth, van Helmont edited the "Kabbala Denudata (1677-1684), the largest collection of Lurianic Kabbalistic texts available to Christians up to that time. Because the subject matter of this work appears so difficult and arcane, it has never been appreciated as a significant text for understanding the emergence of modern thought. However, one can find in it the basis for the faith in science, the belief in progress, and the pluralism characteristic of later western thought. The Lurianic Kabbalah thus deserves a place it has never received in histories of western scientific and cultural developments.
Although van Helmont's efforts contributed to the development of religious toleration, his experience as a prisoner of the Inquisition accused of "Judaising" reveals the problematic relations between Christians and Jews during the early-modern period. New Inquisitional documents relating to van Helmont's imprisonment will be discussed to illustrate the difficulties faced by anyone advocating philo-semitism and toleration at the time.

Daisetz Suzuki discusses the influence of the Lankavatara Sutra in the expression of Zen ideas. He examines the legends that Bodhidharma, the supposed founder of Zen in China, took with him only the Lanka text, and that Bodhidharma was only one in a line of teachers of the Lanka Sutra in China. Suzuki explores the fundamental themes of the sutra -- the acceptance of the Void, the career of the Bodhisattva, and the unreality of perception.