The Fourth Gospel is at the same time a sublime work that has inspired and enriched the faith of countless Christians and a problematic text that has provided potent anti-Jewish imagery exploited in anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic discourse over the course of two millennia. The Fourth Gospel contains approximately 70 references to hoi ioudaioi, a designation most often (and best) translated as "the Jews." Several of these references are neutral or descriptive, referring to Jewish festivals or specific practices, and some depict individual Jews or Jewish groups as interested in Jesus' message. The vast majority, however, express a negative or even hostile stance towards the Jews. These passages express several themes that became central to Christian anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic discourse. These include the charge of deicide - killing God - and the claim that the Jews have the devil as their father (8:44). The essays in this book address both the Gospel's stance towards the Jews and the Gospel's impact on Jewish-Christian relations from antiquity to the present day, in a range of media, including sermons, iconography, art, music, and film. A short volume of collected essays cannot hope to address the full history of the Fourth Gospel's impact on Jewish-Christian relations. Nevertheless, it is hoped that this volume will contribute to the efforts of Christians and Jews alike to find ways to appreciate what is good and life-affirming about the Gospel of John, while also acknowledging the damaging impact of its portrayal of Jews as the children of Satan and the killers of Christ. Only when Christians disavow this portrayal can the Gospel of John continue to be a true source of inspiration and perhaps even a path forward in the relationships between Jews and Christians in the modern world.

This volume contains a collection of prayers, hymns, psalms, and liturgies from Cave 4 at Qumran. Among them, 4Q Shirot Olat HaShabbat ("Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice") was preserved also in a copy from Cave 11. The other compositions include 4QNon-Canonical Psalms, 4Q Berakhot ("Blessings"), 4QApocryphal Psalm, and 4QPrayer for King Jonathan. This collection of texts greatly enhances our understanding of intertestamental poetry, adding a rich continuation to the biblical tradition of praise and worship of God in poetry. Among other things, these compositions reveal more fully the Qumran community's understanding of the link between heavenly and earthly worship and the interaction of men and angels in the praise and service of God.

1QHodayota is one of the large scrolls taken from Cave 1 by the Bedouin and has always been recognized as one of the most important of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It contains a collection of psalms, addressed to God, in which the author(s) give thanks to God for deliverance, salvation, knowledge and divine mercy. This document is key for understanding the specific worldview and piety of its author(s), and at least some of the psalms may be compositions of the Teacher of Righteousness.
This volume presents the Hebrew text as reconstructed and read by the late Hartmut Stegemann, with text preserved in 4QHa-f and 1QHb incorporated. Extensive Notes on the Readings discuss difficult readings and alternate proposals for readings; much of this material was written by Stegemann in his 1968 unpublished commentary, and has been supplemented and updated by Eileen Schuller. A detailed description, written by Stegemann, explains the process and rationale for the reconstruction of the manuscript. The complete text has been translated, with brief notes, by Carol Newsom.
Many important questions still remain resolved about the Thanksgiving Psalms, particularly the origin and authorship of these psalms, the explanation of the different collections that are found in some of the 4Q manuscripts, their relationship to the Teacher of Righteousness, their function in establishing sectarian and community identity, and their possible liturgical use. This volume provides scholars with an edition of 1QHodayota that can be the basis for ongoing scholarly research on this important text.