This is a subset of the Sacred Books of the East Series which includes translations of all the most important works of the seven non-Christian religions which have exercised a profound influence on the civilizations of the continent of Asia. The works have been translated by leading authorities in their field.

Tradition and the Formation of the Talmud offers a new perspective on perhaps the most important religious text of the Jewish tradition. It is widely recognized that the creators of the Talmud innovatively interpreted and changed the older traditions on which they drew. Nevertheless, it has been assumed that the ancient rabbis were committed to maintaining continuity with the past. Moulie Vidas argues on the contrary that structural features of the Talmud were designed to produce a discontinuity with tradition, and that this discontinuity was part and parcel of the rabbis' self-conception. Both this self-conception and these structural features were part of a debate within and beyond the Jewish community about the transmission of tradition. Focusing on the Babylonian Talmud, produced in the rabbinic academies of late ancient Mesopotamia, Vidas analyzes key passages to show how the Talmud's creators contrasted their own voice with that of their predecessors. He also examines Zoroastrian, Christian, and mystical Jewish sources to reconstruct the debates and wide-ranging conversations that shaped the Talmud's literary and intellectual character.

This is a literary and theological study of the Biblical Antiquities of Pseudo-Philo--a long, well-written reinterpretation of the Hebrew Bible written by a Palestinian Jew of the first century C.E. Using the methodologies of redaction and literary criticism, Murphy provides an analysis of the whole of the Biblical Antiquities. After a chapter-by-chapter analysis, Murphy addresses several topics more generally--major characters, major themes, and the historical context of the work. Full concordances to the Latin text are provided to assist future research on Pseudo-Philo. This book will prove an important resource for students of Jewish interpretation of the Bible at the end of the Second Temple period. It also sheds light on Jewish thought of the period regarding covenant, leadership in Israel, women in Israel, relations with Gentiles, divine providence, divine retribution, eschatology, and many other subjects. Furnishing a broad interpretive context for future work on the Biblical Antiquities, this study gives students of the Bible access to an important literary and religious product of first-century Judaism.

This commentary on a selection of daily chants offers an important perspective upon some of the core tenets of Buddhist thought and teaching. The Venerable Myoko-ni surveys some of the key chants, including The Repentance Sutra, The Heart Sutra, and The Four Great Vows, assessing their origins, and the meaning that lies behind their creation and interpretation. An invaluable guide to all engaged in Buddhism and some of its key daily practices.

Isaiah 24-27 has been an enduring mystery and a hotly contested text for biblical scholars. Early scholarship linked its references to the dead rising to the New Testament. These theories have remained influential even as common opinion moderated over the course of the twentieth century. In this volume, Christopher B. Hays situates Isaiah 24-27 within its historical and cultural contexts. He methodically demonstrates that it is not apocalyptic; that its imagery of divine feasting and conquering death have ancient cognates; and that its Hebrew language does not reflect a late composition date. He also shows how the passage celebrates the receding of Assyrian power from Judah, and especially from the citadel at Ramat Rahel near Jerusalem, in the late seventh century. This was the time of King Josiah and his scribes, who saw a political opportunity and issued a peace overture to the former northern kingdom. Using comparative, archaeological, linguistic, and literary tools, Hays' volume changes the study of Isaiah, arguing for a different historical setting than that of traditional scholarship.

In an age when physical books matter less and less, here is a thrilling story about a book that meant everything. This true-life detective story unveils the journey of a sacred text - the tenth-century annotated bible known as the Aleppo Codex - from its hiding place in a Syrian synagogue to the newly founded state of Israel. Based on Matti Friedman's independent research, documents kept secret for fifty years, and personal interviews with key players, the book proposes a new theory of what happened when the codex left Aleppo, Syria, in the late 1940s and eventually surfaced in Jerusalem, mysteriously incomplete. The codex provides vital keys to reading biblical texts. By recounting its history, Friedman explores the once vibrant Jewish communities in Islamic lands and follows the thread into the present, uncovering difficult truths about how the manuscript was taken to Israel and how its most important pages went missing. Along the way, he raises critical questions about who owns historical treasures and the role of myth and legend in the creation of a nation.

English: In Die biblisch-hebraische Partikel Peter Juhas addresses the function of the much-debated particle -na in Biblical Hebrew from the point of view of the most important ancient Bible translations. German: In der vorliegenden Monographie untersucht Peter Juhas die Funktion der viel diskutierten biblisch-hebraischen Partikel -na im Lichte der wichtigsten antiken Bibelubersetzungen.

Since the beginnings of this century western scholars have become familiar with Ignaz Goldziher's hypothesis concerning canonical hadith literature - that religious literary genre of Islam, second in holiness to the Qur'an, which allegedly comprises faithful accounts of what the Prophet of Islam said and did. Goldziher rejected this allegation and maintained that the Hadith rather reflects in the first instance the social, legal, moral and theological debates among the Muslims of the first two and a half centuries after the death of the Prophet. But Goldziher never systematically searched for the real originators of this literature. In this collection of articles, G. H. A. Juynboll deals with the uses Muslims have made of hadith through the ages but studies on chronology, provenance, as well as authorship of the prophetic traditions form the backbone of this anthology. For this purpose the author has developed new methods of analysing the chains of transmitters initially meant to authenticate the individual sayings. His overall position can be summed up as midway between the official Islamic point of view and the stance adopted by his Western predecessors

Offers an in depth comparative look at the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Primeval History, which allows students to view the Genesis within its Near Eastern context. Offers a fresh model for approaching this comparative task, which has at times been stifled by religious dogmatism, on the one hand, or disciplinary insularity on the other. Written in a lucid style with explanation of all key terms and themes, this book is suitable for students with no background in the subjects.

This volume, the second in the series of Marie-Therese d'Alverny's selected articles to be published by Variorum, gathers the majority of her studies on the understanding of Islam in the West from the early Middle Ages until the mid-13th century; some related works will be included in a further selection. In the 12th century, as she shows, a serious effort was for the first time made to learn something of the reality behind the fabulous and scurrilous stories about Muhammad and Islam. A collection of translations from Arabic, including the Koran, was commissioned in 1140 by Peter the Venerable of Cluny, and d'Alverny found the manuscript in which his secretary wrote these out. This discovery led her to explore other translations into Latin of the Koran and other Islamic texts, to identify the work of the translators Hermann of Carinthia, Robert of Ketton and Mark of Toledo, and to depict the milieu in which this work was possible.

What did ancient Jews believe about demons and angels? This question has long been puzzling, not least because the Hebrew Bible says relatively little about such transmundane powers. In the centuries after the conquests of Alexander the Great, however, we find an explosion of explicit and systematic interest in, and detailed discussions of, demons and angels. In this book, Annette Yoshiko Reed considers the third century BCE as a critical moment for the beginnings of Jewish angelology and demonology. Drawing on early 'pseudepigrapha' and Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls, she reconstructs the scribal settings in which transmundane powers became a topic of concerted Jewish interest. Reed also situates this development in relation to shifting ideas about scribes and writing across the Hellenistic Near East. Her book opens a window onto a forgotten era of Jewish literary creativity that nevertheless deeply shaped the discussion of angels and demons in Judaism and Christianity.

In this book, Molly Zahn investigates how early Jewish scribes rewrote their authoritative traditions in the course of transmitting them, from minor edits in the course of copying to whole new compositions based on prior works. Scholars have detected evidence for rewriting in a wide variety of textual contexts, but Zahn's is the first book to map manuscripts and translations of biblical books, so-called 'parabiblical' compositions, and the sectarian literature from Qumran in relation to one another. She introduces a new, adaptable set of terms for talking about rewriting, using the idea of genre as a tool to compare and contrast different cases. Although rewriting has generally been understood as a vehicle for biblical interpretation, Zahn moves beyond that framework to demonstrate that rewriting was a pervasive textual strategy in the Second Temple period. Her book contributes to a powerful new model of early Jewish textuality, illuminating the rich and diverse culture out of which both rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity eventually emerged.

"The Dignity of Man: An Islamic Perspective" provides the most detailed study to date on the subject of the dignity of man from the perspective of Islam. M H Kamali sets out the proclamations on human dignity found in the Qur'an and then discusses topics pertaining to or resulting from human dignity: the physical and spiritual nobility of man; God's love for humanity; the sanctity of life; and the necessity for freedom, equality and accountability. Finally, the author examines the measures that the "Shariah" has taken to protect human dignity and to promote it in social interaction. The discussion is here presented in the light of the debate on the universality of human rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This book goes a long way towards exploring an alternative to Western concepts of human rights. "The Dignity of Man: An Islamic Perspective" is part of a series of studies on fundamental rights and liberties in Islam and should be read with its companion volumes of "Freedom,"" Equality and Justice in Islam," and "Freedom of Expression in Islam,"

'Do you want to improve the world? I don't think it can be done. The world is sacred. It can't be improved. If you tamper with it, you'll ruin it. If you treat it like an object, you'll lose it.' Stephen Mitchell's translation of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching (The Book of the Way) has sold over half a million copies worldwide. In this stunningly beautiful edition of the fundamental modern Taoist philosophy text, Mitchell's words are set against ancient Chinese paintings selected by Asian art expert, Dr Stephen Little.

With the current turmoil in the Middle East, there is a growing interest about Islam--the world's second largest religion and one of the fastest growing--and its holy book, the Koran (or Qur'an). Now, with this easy-to-follow, plain-English guide, you can explore the history, structure, and basic tenets of Islam's sacred scripture.

"The Koran For Dummies" is for non-Muslims interested in the Koran as well as Muslims looking to deepen their understanding. Islamic scholar Sohaib Sultan provides a clear road map, revealing: The meaning of Koran and its basic messageThe Koran's place in history and in Islamic spiritual lifeExplanations of its language, structure, and narrative styleHow to live by the Koran's teachingsThe Koran's role in key global issues, such as Jihad vs. terrorismDifferent interpretations of the Koran

No other book provides such a straightforward look at what the Koran says, how it says it, and how believers live according to its guidance. From how the Koran was received by Mohammed and how it was compiled to how it's interpreted by Islam's two main branches, you'll see how to put the Islamic faith in perspective.

Plus, you'll discover: What the Koran really says about women and civil lawHow Islam relates to Judaism and ChristianityThe Koran's view of God, prophets, mankind, and the selfHow its teachings are lived and recited every day by devout MuslimsCommon misconceptions of the KoranHow to raise a family the Koranic way

Complete with lists of important passages, Koranic terminology, famous quotes, and further reading resources, "The Koran For Dummies" makes it easy and enjoyable for you to grasp the teachings and significance of Islam's holy book.