This volume contains papers from the third symposium held by the University of Tel Aviv, Israel, and the Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany, with the aim of furthering dialogue between Jewish and Christian biblical scholars. The papers examine the ways in which political issues and events are reflected in the Bible and in the postbiblical literature, the term 'theopolitics' expressing the conviction of both communities that the politics of human life have always been and continue to be subject to the rule and providence of God. The hope of the symposium is that through examination of the ways in which Jews and Christians have reflected upon political and ethical theories there may arise new possibilities for better mutual understanding.

These papers were presented to a unique conference held in Israel in December 1985, sponsored by Tel Aviv University and the University of Bochum in the Federal Republic of Germany. Discussion of Christian and Jewish exegesis in historical perspective was not only mutually illuminating, but also laid the foundations for a new level of Jewish-Christian dialogue. The papers presented in this volume are: H. Graf Reventlow, Humanist Exegesis: The famous Hugo Grotius. Y. Hoffman, The Technique of Quotation as an Interpretative Device. D. Flusser, Past and Future according to the Creative Exegesis of the Hebrew Bible in Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews. P. Carny, Uniqueness And Particularity in Philo's Exegesis. J.S. Levinger, Maimonides' Exegesis of the Book of Job. M. Banitt, Exegesis and Metaphrasis. A. Touitou, Courants et contre-courants dans l'exTgFse biblique juive en France au moyen Gge. R. Liwak, Literary Individuality as a Problem of Hermeneutics. M. Dubois, Mystical and Realistic Elements in the Exegesis and Hermeneutics of Thomas Aquinas. H. Smolinsky, The Bible and its Exegesis in the Controversies about Reform and Reformation. J. Wallmann, Martin Luther's Judaism and Islam. C. Frey, The Function of the Bible in Recent Protestant Ethics. B. Uffenheimer, Trends in Modern Jewish Biblical Research. K. Raiser, A New Reading of the Bible? Ecumenical Perspectives from Latin America and Korea.