This collection presents innovative research by scholars from across the globe in celebration of Gabriele Boccaccini’s sixtieth birthday and to honor his contribution to the study of early Judaism and Christianity. In harmony with Boccaccini’s determination to promote the study of Second Temple Judaism in its own right, this volume includes studies on various issues raised in early Jewish apocalyptic literature (e.g., 1 Enoch, 2 Baruch, 4 Ezra), the Dead Sea Scrolls, and other early Jewish texts, from Tobit to Ben Sira to Philo and beyond. The volume also provides several investigations on early Christianity in intimate conversation with its Jewish sources, consistent with Boccaccini’s efforts to transcend confessional and disciplinary divisions by situating the origins of Christianity firmly within Second Temple Judaism. Finally, the volume includes essays that look at Jewish-Christian relations in the centuries following the Second Temple period, a harvest of Boccaccini’s labor to rethink the relationship between Judaism and Christianity in light of their shared yet contested heritage.

The series Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Studies (DCLS)is concerned principally with research into those books of the Greek Bible (Septuagint) which are not contained in the Hebrew canon, and into intertestamentary and early Jewish literature from the period around the 3rd century BCE to the 2nd century CE. The series was launched in 2007 in collaboration with the ""International Society for the Study of Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature"". It provides a logical extension to the Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Yearbook, which has been published since 2004.

Move over Augustine! Look out Aquinas! This is the first exegetical work on day one of Genesis to agree with all Scripture. With the profound simplicity of a layman yet the penetrating density of a mystic, this text is a fountain of Scriptural revelation to guide both heart and mind. Unparalleled, "The Revelation of Angelic Creation" for the first time draws back the veil on "what" Wisdom is and its composite origin (the first hypostasis); the angelic creation: how it came to be and its composite nature; the "when," "how," and "why" of the angelic rebellion and fall, along with the restructuring of the unseen cosmos in the aftermath of said rebellion. Also, for good measure, the two-yes two!-gardens of Eden will be exposed. This work will set new theological precedence in all these areas and much more. Scriptural discourse is now forever altered. That which was spoken in the darkness of pre-creation, finally, is brought to light. Joe is the run-of-the-mill regular kind of guy who friends and acquaintances have called a prophet. Born and raised in southern California, his employment background consists of Production Control, Sales, Painting Contracting and a stint as a Drug and Alcohol Counselor. His hobbies include Bonsai, Koi, and stained-glass. Marital Status: still pursuing Sophia (Wisdom).

This monograph interprets the theme of election in the book of Sirach. Previous scholarship has often understood Ben Sira s worldview to be dualistic, and has approached the sage's correlation of Wisdom and Torah as either a nationalization of Wisdom or a universalization of Torah. By probing Ben Sira s ideas about election, this book suggests that Ben Sira does not collapse the traditional sapiential dichotomy wisdom/folly into a dualistic worldview, and that his understanding of the relation between Wisdom and Torah proves to be far more subtle than previous interpretations have allowed. The study demonstrates that the concept of election enables a profitable discussion of the relation of Wisdom and Torah in the thought of this pivotal Second Temple sage.

A new and transforming approach to the Book of Revelation. Margaret Barker bases her study on a fresh reading of the primary sources. As an Old Testament scholar, she can read Revelation as Hebrew prophecy - ancient temple oracles which inspired Jesus and his own prophecies, and influenced the whole Jerusalem Church. Jerusalem was waiting for their Great High Priest to return and complete the Atonement at the end of the Tenth Jubilee. This expectation fuelled the revolt against Rome. Josephus, who deserted to Rome, was the false prophet. John, who escaped to Patmos, compiled Revelation as a record of the first generation. In the future, he taught, the Lord would return to his people in the Eucharist.This work illuminates the formative years of Christianity, in the social, religious and political situation of mid-first-century Palestine, in a quite remarkable way. It will have profound implications for the understanding of Christian origins and the development of Christian liturgy.