Johnson's study of Hebrews is unusual in adopting a social-scientific analysis. By examining the implicit sociological data in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and locating the implied society within the context of the larger Graeco-Roman world, he concludes that the author of Hebrews advocates an ideal society that is both more open to outsiders and more willing to assimilate fully new members than was first-century ce hellenistic Judaism. According to the group/grid paradigm developed by Mary Douglas, the implied society can be categorized as +weak' group/'weak' grid, in contrast to +strong' group/'strong' grid Hellenistic Judaism. The critique of the levitical system in Hebrews can be seen as supporting the author's advocacy of that implied open society.

This book discusses the theory that the Psalter was compiled with the specific intention that it should be used as a book for private spiritual reading. It is argued that if this were so, the work of the final editors would not have been confined to arranging the psalms in a particular order but would have included additions and interpolations intended to give the whole book a new orientation. An investigation of selected psalms shows that although the Psalter may have become a book for private devotion not long after its compilation, there is little evidence that it was compiled for that purpose.

Let's face it. Just the word exegesis puts some of us on edge. We are excited about learning to interpret the Bible, but the thought of exegetical method evokes a chill. Some textbooks on exegesis do nothing to overcome these apprehensions. The language is dense. The concepts are hard. And the expectations are way too high. However, the skills that we need to learn are ones that a minister of the gospel will use every week. Exegesis provides the process for listening, for hearing the biblical text as if you were an ordinary intelligent person listening to a letter from Paul or a Gospel of Mark in first-century Corinth or Ephesus or Antioch. This book by Richard Erickson will help you learn this skill. Thoroughly accessible to students, it clearly introduces the essential methods of interpreting the New Testament, giving students a solid grasp of basic skills while encouraging practice and holding out manageable goals and expectations. Numerous helps and illustrations clarify, summarize and illuminate the principles. And a wealth of exercises tied to each chapter are available on the web. This is a book distinguished not so much bywhat it covers as by how: it removes the "fear factor" of exegesis. There are many guides to New Testament exegesis, but this one is the most accessible--and fun

This study examines the rhetoric of the Old Testament Miriam references and their socio-historical contexts, and processes the history of research into Miriam from a feminist perspective. Previous research into Miriam was largely determined by prior decisions on literary history, and was thus only able to make rudimentary statements about Miriam. In contrast, a feminist rhetorical analysis inquiring into the aesthetics of reception and production reveals new contexts for what Miriam represents in the text. She can no longer be regarded as a 'prophetess' from the early history of Israel, but instead represents a particular theo-political position in Persian times.

This two-part commentary argues that Chronicles, placed as it is among the 'historical books' in the traditional Old Testament of the Christian church, is much misunderstood. Restored to its proper position as the final book in the canon as arranged in the order of the Hebrew Bible, it is rather to be understood as a work of theology essentially directed towards the future. The Chronicler begins his work with the problem facing the whole human race in Adam-the forfeiture of the ideal of perfect oneness with God's purpose. He explores the possibility of the restoration of that ideal through Israel's place at the centre of the world of the nations. This portrayal reaches its climax in an idealized presentation of the reign of Solomon, in which all the rulers of the earth, including most famously the Queen of Sheba, bring their tribute in acknowledgment of Israel's status (Volume 1). As subsequent history only too clearly shows, however, the Chronicler argues (Volume 2), that Israel itself, through unfaithfulness to Torah, has forfeited its right to possession of its land and is cast adrift among these same nations of the world. But the Chronicler's message is one of hope. By a radical transformation of the chronology of Israel's past into theological terms, the generation whom the Chronicler addresses becomes the fiftieth since Adam. It is the generation to whom the jubilee of return to the land through a perfectly enabled obedience to Torah, and thus the restoration of the primal ideal of the human race, is announced.>

This volume contains twelve articles that shed new light on the Book of Isaiah, covering a wide array of historical, linguistic and theological topics. The various aspects of God's intervention at different points of human history is a main focus of the studies. The collection is marked by a broad diversity in approaches and theological background, and is a useful tool especially for scholars, students and pastors.

This is designed for use in public and private worship, for reading and instruction. It is generally a formal correspondence, or word-for-word, translation. The RSV is ideal for scholarly use, where words and passages require theological analysis. Features *Revised Standard Version translation *Subject index *Easily understood because it uses simple and enduring words

Despite being recognized as the most 'Jewish Gospel, many argue that Matthew was penned by someone who sought to distance himself from Judaism. Scholars have used diverse approaches for determining the relationship between Matthew and the variegated Judaism of the first century, but few recognize the important piece that the Evangelists Christology - in particular the shepherd motif - brings to the puzzle of his socio-religious orientation. Wayne Baxter contends that there are distinctive tendencies in the shepherd metaphors appropriation by non-Christ-believing Jewish and Graeco-Roman authors as well as Christ-believing authors approximately contemporary with Matthew, which reflect distinct patterns of thought. By comparing these uses of the shepherd metaphor Baxter unearths clues about the Evangelists socio-religious orientation. Baxter is able to use this to determines the metaphors contribution to the overall theological framework of the Gospel, specifically, its Christology, soteriology, and the Evangelists view of mission. Moreover, he is able to ascertain Matthews socio-religious orientation, and thus, and its implications for the debate surrounding the 'parting of the ways between Judaism and Christianity.

This book is about attribute mathematics, in which nothing ever gets bigger or smaller. More specifically, it is about some of what attribute mathematics can do toward the full digitalization of thought and language. The matter is relevant not only directly to linguistics and philosophy but also indirectly to electrical engineering and neuroscience. The twenty-first century will be that of the brain. Human existence will gradually be turned inside out as tools such as genetics and Boolean algebra allow us to see ourselves function on the smallest scale while it is happening.

In our image-based culture, people need to visualize something to understand it. This has never been more true about our communication of the gospel. But sometimes our understanding of the gospel gets stuck in a rut, and all we know is a particular outline or one-size-fits-all formula. While we hold to only one gospel, the New Testament uses a wealth of dynamic, compelling images for explaining the good news of Jesus, each of which connects with different people at different points of need. Neil Livingstone provides a guided tour of biblical images of the gospel and shows how each offers fresh insight into God's saving work. Walking through Scripture's gallery of pictures of salvation from new life to deliverance, from justification to adoption, Livingstone invites us to deepen our understanding of the gospel. By letting the truth and power of each permeate our lives, we will be better able to articluate the life-changing gospel of Christ to a world that needs to taste--and see--that the Lord is good.

Given the dearth of non-messianic interpretations of Psalm 110:1 in non-Christian Second Temple Jewish texts, why did it become such a widely used messianic prooftext in the New Testament and early Christianity? Previous attempts to answer this question have focused on why the earliest Christians first began to use Ps 110:1. The result is that these proposals do not provide an adequate explanation for why first century Christians living in the Greek East employed the verse and also applied it to Jesus's exaltation. I contend that two Greco-Roman politico-religious practices, royal and imperial temple and throne sharing-which were cross-cultural rewards that Greco-Roman communities bestowed on beneficent, pious, and divinely approved rulers-contributed to the widespread use of Ps 110:1 in earliest Christianity. This means that the earliest Christians interpreted Jesus's heavenly session as messianic and thus political, as well as religious, in nature.

Study of the book of Isaiah has in recent times been strongly marked by a tension between synchronic and diachronic approaches. The first is favoured mainly by English-speaking, the second by German-speaking scholars. Berges's book attempts to mediate between the two poles, arguing that the final form analysis and the tracing of the development of that form are deeply interdependent. This new research paradigm is applied here to the entire text of the book of Isaiah. Berges works consistently from the synchronic to the diachronic and back again to the evolved synchronous final form. Features that have been repeatedly observed-the cross-connections, key word associations, resumption of themes, and especially the bracketing of the book by chaps. 1 and 66-are traces of a deliberate interweaving of various small compositions as well as of larger literary redactions. The paradigm most suited to the book of Isaiah in all its complexity is not that of one comprehensive overall structure or final redaction, but that of smaller compositions that build on one another, come into conversation with one another, and, each in its own way, bring into play specific contemporary problems. We should not force a common thematic denominator on the book, but it becomes clear that Jerusalem and Zion belong to the basic tenor of the book of Isaiah as it was developed and refashioned through the centuries. The Book of Isaiah: Its Composition and Final Form is translated by Millard C. Lind from its German original, Das Buch Jesaja: Komposition und Endgestalt (Freiburg: Herder, 1998).