Is the Hebrew Bible purely a product of Jerusalem or were there various social groups who each played a role in its development during the Second Temple period? This is the guiding question of the present volume, which fills a crucial gap in recent research by combining current literary-historical, redactional and text-historical analysis of the Hebrew Bible with the latest results pertaining to the pluriform social and religious shape of early Judaism. For the first time, the thirteen articles in this volume address the phenomenon of religious plurality by bringing together archaeological, (religious-) historical, and literary-critical approaches. The articles by internationally renowned scholars cover the panorama of currently known social groups of Yahwistic character and the impact of this phenomenon on the making of the Hebrew Bible - from the Persian period to the time of Qumran.

The book demonstrates that the books of Samuel-Kings, taken together, are a result of one, highly creative, hypertextual reworking of the book of Deuteronomy. This detailed reworking consists of almost 2000 strictly sequentially organized, conceptual, and at times, also linguistic correspondences between Samuel-Kings and Deuteronomy. The strictly sequential, hypertextual dependence on Deuteronomy explains numerous surprising features of Samuel-Kings. The critical analysis of Samuel-Kings as a coherently composed Judaean hypertextual work disproves the hypothesis of the existence of the Deuteronomistic history and its variants. It also sheds entirely new light on the question of the origin of the so-called Enneateuch Genesis-Kings.

This monograph demonstrates that the book of Deuteronomy is a result of highly creative, hypertextual reworking of the book of Ezekiel. Likewise, it shows that the books of Joshua-Judges, taken together, are a result of one, highly creative, hypertextual reworking of the book of Deuteronomy. In both cases, the detailed reworking consists of almost 700 strictly sequentially organized conceptual, and at times also linguistic correspondences. The strictly sequential, hypertextual dependence on the earlier works explains numerous surprising features of Deuteronomy and Joshua-Judges. This critical analysis of Deuteronomy and Joshua-Judges sheds entirely new light on the question of the origin of the Pentateuch and the whole Israelite Heptateuch Genesis-Judges.

This monograph demonstrates that the books of Exodus-Numbers, taken together, are the result of one, highly creative, hypertextual reworking of the book of Deuteronomy. This detailed reworking consists of around 1,200 strictly sequentially organized conceptual, and at times also linguistic correspondences between Exodus-Numbers and Deuteronomy. The strictly sequential, hypertextual dependence on Deuteronomy explains numerous surprising features of Exodus-Numbers. The critical analysis of Exodus-Numbers as a coherently composed hypertextual work disproves hypotheses of the existence in these writings of Priestly and non-Priestly materials or multiple literary layers.

This monograph demonstrates that the book of Genesis is a result of highly creative, hypertextual reworking of the book of Deuteronomy. This detailed reworking consists of around 1,000 strictly sequentially organized conceptual, and at times also linguistic correspondences between Genesis and Deuteronomy. The strictly sequential, hypertextual dependence on Deuteronomy explains numerous surprising features of Genesis. The critical analysis of Genesis as a coherently composed hypertextual work disproves hypotheses of the existence in this writing of Priestly and non-Priestly materials or multiple literary layers.

This monograph demonstrates that the Fourth Gospel is a result of highly creative, hypertextual reworking of the Acts of the Apostles. The detailed reworking consists of around 900 strictly sequentially organized thematic, and at times also linguistic correspondences between John and Acts. The strictly sequential, hypertextual dependence on Acts explains John's modifications of the synoptic material, relocations thereof, additions to it, and many other surprising features of the Fourth Gospel. Critical explanations of such features, which are offered in this study, ensure the reliability of the new solution to the problem of the relationship between John and the Synoptics.

This commentary demonstrates that the Gospel of Luke is a result of twofold, strictly sequential, hypertextual reworking of Paul's Letter to the Galatians. The ideas of this letter were sequentially illustrated by Luke with the use of numerous literary motifs, taken from other Pauline and post-Pauline letters, the letters of James, Peter, and Jude, the Gospel of Mark, well-known classical Greek and Hellenistic works, the Septuagint, the Damascus Document, and the works of Flavius Josephus. Consequently, the Lucan Jesus narratively embodies the features of God's Son who was revealed in the person, teaching, and course of life of Paul the Apostle. The Gospel of Luke should therefore be regarded as a strictly theological-ethopoeic work, rather than a biographic one.

This commentary demonstrates that the Gospel of Mark is a result of a consistent, strictly sequential, hypertextual reworking of the contents of three of Paul's letters: Galatians, First Corinthians and Philippians. Consequently, it shows that the Marcan Jesus narratively embodies the features of God's Son who was revealed in the person, teaching, and course of life of Paul the Apostle. The analysis of the topographic and historical details of the Marcan Gospel reveals that they were mainly borrowed from the Septuagint and from the writings of Flavius Josephus. Other literary motifs were taken from various Jewish and Greek writings, including the works of Homer, Herodotus, and Plato. The Gospel of Mark should therefore be regarded as a strictly theological-ethopoeic work, rather than a biographic one.

This book demonstrates that the Gospels originated from a sequential hypertextual reworking of the contents of Paul's letters and, in the case of Matthew and John, of the Acts of the Apostles. Consequently, the new quest for the historical Jesus, which takes this discovery into serious consideration, results in a rather limited reconstruction of Jesus' life. However, since such a reconstruction includes, among others, Jesus' messiahship, behaving in a way which was later interpreted as pointing to him as the Son of God, instituting the Lord's Supper, being conscious of the religious significance of his imminent death, dying on the cross, and appearing as risen from the dead to Cephas and numerous other Jewish believers, it can be reconciled with the principles of the Christian faith.