The formation of the Book of the Twelve is one of the most vigorously debated subjects in Old Testament studies today. This volume assembles twenty-four essays by the world s leading experts, providing an overview of the present state of scholarship in the field. The book s contributors focus on questions of method, history, as well as redactional and textual history."

Besides two hitherto unpublished papers, this collection contains 15 of Rainer Albertz' papers from the period 1978 - 2000. They reflect the author's concern to understand biblical developments against the background of the religious and socio-historical developments and currents in Israel and the Ancient Orient. The volume includes, for example, reflections on the development of the tradition of prehistory, of the commandment to honour one's parents, of the issue of monotheism, or of the significance of personal piety. The collection is completed with socio-historical studies on the social background to the Book of Job or the moving forces behind the Deuteronomistic History, together with approaches to the editorial history of the Books of Jeremiah and Deuteroisaiah.

English summary: ELIJAH: A Fiery Warrior of GodOnly six chapters of the Old Testament tell about the prophet Elijah, and yet he rose in early Judaism and Christianity to become the most important prophet of all. Next to the law-giver Moses he now represents the entire group of Israelite prophets. This volume traces the reasons for this unparalleled reception and depicts its various stages. The expectation that the prophet who had ascended into heaven would return at the end of time influenced both John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth decisively. Thus Elijah is mentioned in the New Testament more often than any other prophet. To this day this fascinating figure has spellbound painters, musicians, and writers such as Lukas Cranach, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, and Paul Coelho. German text. German description: Nur sechs Kapitel des Alten Testaments berichten vom Propheten Elia, dennoch stieg er im fruehen Juden- und Christentum zum wichtigsten aller Propheten auf. Neben dem Gesetzgeber Mose reprasentiert er nunmehr die gesamte Prophetie Israels. Der Band spuert die Gruende fuer diese beispiellose Wirkungsgeschichte auf und zeichnet deren Stadien nach. Die Erwartung, dass der Prophet, den Gott zu sich entrueckte, am Ende der Zeiten wiederkommen wuerde, hatte auf Johannes den Taufer und auch auf Jesus von Nazareth einen pragenden Einfluss. So ist von Elia im Neuen Testament haufiger die Rede als von allen anderen Propheten. Die von ihm ausgehende Faszination zog Maler, Musiker und Schriftsteller wie Lukas Cranach, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy und Paulo Coelho in ihren Bann.

During the past decade, the period from the 7th century B.C.E. and later has been a major focus because it is thought to be the era when much of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament was formed. As a result, there has also been much interest in the historical developments of that time and specifically in the status of Judah and its neighbors. Three conferences dealing roughly with a century each were organized, and the first conference was held in Tel Aviv in 2001; the proceedings of that conference were published as Judah and the Judeans in the Neo-Babylonian Period. The second volume was published in early 2006, a report on the conference held in Heidelberg in July 2003: Judah and the Judeans in the Persian Period. Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E. is the publication of the proceedings of the third conference, which was held in Muenster, Germany, in August 2005; the essays in it focus on the century during which the Persian Empire fell to Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic kingdoms came to the fore. Participants whose contributions are published here are: R. Achenbach, R. Albertz, B. Becking, E. Ben Zvi, J. Blenkinsopp, E. Eshel, H. Eshel, L. L. Grabbe, A. Kloner, G. N. Knoppers, I. Kottsieper, A. Lemaire, O. Lipschits, Y. Magen, K. Schmid, I. Stern., O. Tal, D. Vanderhooft, J. Wiesehöfer, J. L. Wright, and J. W. Wright.

"Interpreting Exile" considers forced displacement and deportation in ancient Israel and comparable modern contexts in order to offer insight into the realities of war and exile in ancient Israel and their representations in the Hebrew Bible. Introductory essays describe the interdisciplinary and comparative approach and explain how it overcomes methodological dead ends and advances the study of war in ancient and modern contexts. Following essays, written by scholars from various disciplines, explore specific cases drawn from a wide variety of ancient and modern settings and consider archaeological, anthropological, physical, and psychological realities, as well as biblical, literary, artistic, and iconographic representations of displacement and exile. The volume as a whole places Israel s experiences and expressions of forced displacement into the broader context of similar war-related phenomena from multiple contexts. The contributors are Rainer Albertz, Frank Ritchel Ames, Samuel E. Balentine, Bob Becking, Aaron A. Burke, David M. Carr, Marian H. Feldman, David G. Garber Jr., M. Jan Holton, Michael M. Homan, Hugo Kamya, Brad E. Kelle, T. M. Lemos, Nghana Lewis, Oded Lipschits, Christl M. Maier, Amy Meverden, William Morrow, Shelly Rambo, Janet L. Rumfelt, Carolyn J. Sharp, Daniel L. Smith-Christopher, and Jacob L. Wright.