"An understanding of the Jewish Pseudepigrapha forms an integral part of all courses on New Testament background and Christian origins. This will be the first student introduction to appear for over thirty years. Highlights the key theological themes and significance of each text. Reviews the texts on their own merits as examples of early Jewish religious literature as well as looking at the light they shed on NT theology and scriptural interpretation. This is a concise yet comprehensive guide to the Pseudepigrapha: the Jewish texts of the late Second Temple Period (circa 250 BCE - 100 CE) that are not included in the Hebrew Bible or standard collections of the Apocrypha. Each chapter deals with a specific literary genre (e.g., apocalyptic, testaments, rewritten Bible), encouraging readers to appreciate the texts as literature as well as furthering their understanding of the content and significance of the texts themselves. As well as providing helpful introductions to the different genres, the book surveys key issues such as: date, authorship, original language; purpose; overview of contents; key theological themes and significance."--Amazon.com viewed on November 20, 2014.

This book analyzes a substantial corpus of Old Testament pseudepigrapha, proposing a methodology for understanding them first in the social context of their earliest (Christian) manuscripts and inferring still earlier Jewish or other origins only as required by positive evidence.

In this fully revised and expanded edition, Nickelsburg introduces the reader to the broad range of Jewish literature that is not part of either the Bible or the standard rabbinic works. This includes especially the Apocrypha (such as 1 Maccabees), the Pseudepigrapha (such as 1 Enoch), the Dead Sea Scrolls, the works of Josephus, and the works of Philo.

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Gathers Jewish and early Christian religious writings, including apocalyptic literature and testaments of Biblical figures, and includes critical commentaries

This book analyzes a substantial corpus of Old Testament pseudepigrapha, proposing a methodology for understanding them first in the social context of their earliest (Christian) manuscripts and inferring still earlier Jewish or other origins only as required by positive evidence.

2020 Center for Biblical Studies Book Award (Reference Works) This book introduces readers to a much-neglected and misunderstood assortment of Jewish writings from around the time of the New Testament. Dispelling mistaken notions of "falsely attributed writings" that are commonly inferred from the designation "pseudepigrapha," Daniel Gurtner demonstrates the rich indebtedness these works exhibit to the traditions and scriptures of Israel's past. In surveying many of the most important works, Introducing the Pseudepigrapha of Second Temple Judaism shows how the pseudepigrapha are best appreciated in their own varied contexts rather than as mere "background" to early Christianity or emerging rabbinic Judaism. Foreword by Loren T. Stuckenbruck.