Scholars of Hebrews have repeatedly echoed the almost proverbial saying that the book appears to its reader as a "Melchizedekian being without genealogy". For such scholars the aphorism identified prominent traits of Hebrews, its enigma, its otherness, its marginality. Although Franz Overbeck might unintentionally have stimulated such correlations, they do not represent what his dictum originally meant. Writing during the high noon of historicism in 1880, Overbeck lamented a lack of historical context, one that he had deduced on the basis of flawed presuppositions of the ideological frameworks prevalent of his time. His assertion made an impact, and consequently Hebrews was not only "othered" within New Testament scholarship, its context was neglected and by some, even judged as irrelevant altogether. Understandably, the neglect created a deficit keenly felt by more recent scholarship, which has developed a particular interest in Hebrews’ contexts. Hebrews in Contexts, edited by Gabriella Gelardini and Harold W. Attridge, is an expression of this interest. It gathers authors who explore extensively on Hebrews’ relations to other early traditions and texts (Jewish, Hellenistic, and Roman) in order to map Hebrews’ historical, cultural, and religious identity in greater, and perhaps surprising detail.

Study Hebrews in its Second Temple Context Following the proven model established in Reading Romans in Context, Reading Mark in Context, and Reading Revelation in Context, this book brings together a series of accessible essays that compare and contrast the theology and hermeneutical practices of the book of Hebrews with various early Jewish literature. Going beyond an introduction that merely surveys historical events and theological themes, this textbook examines individual passages in Second Temple Jewish literature in order to illuminate the ideas and emphases of Hebrews' varied discourses. Following the rhetorical progression of Hebrews, each chapter in this textbook: pairs a major unit of Hebrews with one or more sections of a thematically related Jewish text introduces and explores the historical and theological nuances of the comparative text shows how the ideas in the comparative text illuminate those expressed in Hebrews In addition to the focused comparison provided in the essays, Reading Hebrews in Context offers other student-friendly features that help them engage broader discussions, including an introductory chapter that familiarizes students with the world and texts of Second Temple Judaism and a glossary of important terms. The end of each chapter contains a list of other thematically-relevant Second Temple Jewish texts recommended for further study and a focused bibliography pointing students to critical editions and higher-level discussions in scholarly literature they might use to undertake their own comparative studies.

For half a century Jan P. Lettinga (1921), Professor emeritus of Semitic Languages at the Theological University Kampen (Broederweg), greatly influenced the teaching of Biblical Hebrew in the Faculties of Theology, Religious Studies and Semitic Languages in the Netherlands and Belgium by his widely used grammar. This volume honours his legacy and reputation as a Semitist. Lettinga always asked how a historical approach of the Semitic languages and literature would contribute to their understanding, and how this elucidates our reading of the Hebrew Scriptures. Biblical Hebrew in Context applies this approach to issues reflecting the full breadth of Lettinga’s interests: Mesopotamian and Biblical Law, the history, grammar and teaching of Hebrew and Aramaic, and the translation and interpretation of Ugaritic and Old Testament texts.

Paul's epistle to the Hebrews is one of the most detached and polemical letters in the whole Bible, making it one of the most difficult documents to study. In the letter to the Hebrews, we find the basic concept of the author’s theology on the topics of the sanctuary and the high priest in the temple. What made Hebrews a special letter is a sermon and refined oral style. Another feature of Hebrews is its originality and Paul's use of the Old Testament. The Christology in Hebrews focuses on Christ's preexistence and divine status, as well as the humility that makes him our example. Hebrews portrays Jesus as ultimate high priest, who sacrificed himself once for all to atone for human sins.

The study of Hebrews and the Catholic Epistles was never truly confined to their place in fraught ecclesiastical disputes. Recent decades have witnessed a resurgence of interest in these writings. The present volume seeks to assess the relevance of these works to various questions that are often posed to other parts of the New Testament canon, to report on the current state of scholarship devoted to the interpretive issues they raise, and to survey their rich and often-overlooked afterlives.

The Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament (EGGNT) closes the gap between the Greek text and the available lexical and grammatical tools, providing all the necessary information for greater understanding of the text. The series makes interpreting any given New Testament book easier, especially for those who are hard pressed for time but want to preach or teach with accuracy and authority. Each volume begins with a brief introduction to the particular New Testament book, a basic outline, and a list of recommended commentaries. The body is devoted to paragraph-by-paragraph exegesis of the Greek text and includes homiletical helps and suggestions for further study. A comprehensive exegetical outline of the New Testament book completes each EGGNT volume.

This superb work is sure to win a name for itself as one of the major commentaries on the Epistle to the Hebrews. The principal purpose of this substantial volume is to clarify the meaning of Hebrews, long considered a complicated and obscure book. Paul Ellingworth's fine-tooth-comb coverage of Hebrews looks at the text up close and in a broad light, enabling the reader to see the forest as well as the trees. In his determined quest to understand Hebrews, Ellingworth begins with a detailed study of the Greek text, working outward to consider the wider context, linguistic questions, and the relation of Hebrews to other early Christian writings and to the Old Testament. Nonbiblical writings such as Philo and the Dead Sea Scrolls, though less directly related to Hebrews, are considered where appropriate. Unveiling the discourse structure of this carefully written letter, Ellingworth's commentary helps make coherent sense of the complexities of Hebrews. As a result of his exhaustive study, Ellingworth finds Hebrews to be primarily a pastoral, not a polemical, writing. Showing how Hebrews beautifully emphasizes the supremacy of Christ, Ellingworth concludes that the essential purpose of the epistle - which maintains the continuity of God's people before and after Christ - is to encourage readers to base their lives on nothing other and nothing less than Jesus. A substantive bibliography and a comprehensive introduction precede Ellingworth's commentary, and three indexes - of subjects, authors, and Greek words discussed - conclude the volume.

Explorations of language development in different types of learner populations and across various languages. This volume examines language development in different types of learner populations and across various languages. The contributors analyze experimental studies of child and adult language acquisition, heritage language development, bilingualism, and language disorders. They consider theoretical and methodological issues; language development in children, discussing topics that range from gestures to errors in person and number agreement; and development and attrition of (morpho)syntactic constructions in second language learners, bilinguals, and Alzheimer's patients. The approach is "crosslinguistic" in three senses of the word: the contributors offer analyses of acquisition phenomena in different languages; they consider "crosslinguistic influence," or the potential effects of multiple languages on one another in the mind of the same speaker; and (in a novel use of the term, proposed by the editors) the chapters bring together theoretical and methodological approaches pertinent to the linguistics of language development in children, adults, and heritage speakers.

With the torrent of publications on the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament, the time is ripe for a dictionary dedicated to this incredibly rich yet diverse field. This companion volume to the well-received Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (CNTUOT) brings together leading evangelical biblical scholars to explore and explain the many facets of how the New Testament writers appropriated the Old Testament. This definitive resource covers a range of interpretive topics and includes summary articles on each biblical book and numerous themes. It also unpacks concepts mentioned in the CNTUOT, demonstrates how the Old Testament uses the Old Testament, and addresses a wide range of biblical-theological, hermeneutical, and exegetical topics. This handy reference book is for all serious students of the Bible as they study how and why Old Testament texts reappear and are reappropriated throughout the Bible.

This study of the word «people» in the biblical context touches one of the central issues of biblical literature. The author addresses the semantic and literary-critical problems involved in interpreting the Hebrew word םע within the complex texts of 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings. While the word is often rendered by the English word «people» and its cognates in the modern languages, it is also shown that the idea of «people», together with its semantic range in the modern usage, is not identical to the ancient Hebrew. Concerted effort is thus made to identify the basic factors and patterns that explain its meaning in various Hebrew contexts. The study explains how םע expresses both Israel's identity as a secular polity as well as its identity as a religious entity. The discussion is carried out in the light of a number of chosen texts, and these are analyzed both synchronically and diachronically.