Reprint of the original, first published in 1924.

In The Deuteronomist’s History, Hans Ausloos provides for the first time a detailed status quaestionis concerning the relationship between the books Genesis–Numbers and the so-called Deuteronom(ist)ic literature. After a presentation of the origins of the 18th and 19th century hypothesis of a Deuteronom(ist)ic redaction, specific attention is paid to the argumentation used during the last century. Particular interest also is paid to the concept of the proto-Deuteronomist and the mostly tentative approaches of the Deuteronom(ist)ic ‘redaction’ of the Pentateuch during the last decades. The book concludes with a critical review and preview of the Deuteronom(ist)ic problem. Each phase in the Deuteronomist’s history is illustrated on the basis of the epilogue of the Book of the Covenant (Exod. 23:20-33).

Historical accounts of Jewish violence--particularly against Christians--have long been explosive material. Some historians have distorted these records for anti-Semitic purposes. Others have discounted, dismissed, or simply ignored the evidence, often for apologetic purposes. In Reckless Rites, Elliott Horowitz takes a new and forthright look at both the history of Jewish violence since late antiquity and the ways in which generations of historians have grappled with that history. In the process, he has written the most wide-ranging book on Jewish violence in any language, and the first to fully acknowledge and address the actual anti-Christian practices that became part of the playful, theatrical violence of the Jewish festival of Purim. He has also examined the different ways in which the book of Esther, upon which the festival is based, was used by Jews and Christians over the centuries--whether as an ancient mirror of modern tribulations or as the scriptural basis for anti-Semitic claims regarding the bloodthirstiness of the Jews. Reckless Rites reassesses the historical interpretation of Jewish violence--from the alleged massacre of thousands of Christians in seventh-century Jerusalem to later medieval attacks on Christian symbols such as the crucifix, transgressions that were often committed in full knowledge that their likely consequence would be death. A book that calls for major changes in the way that Jewish history is written and conceptualized, Reckless Rites will be essential reading for scholars and students of history, religion, and Jewish-Christian relations.

Robert Schaeffer and Douglas West are best friends living in Oklahoma in 1963when they discover that they both sense a calling to become ministers in a mainline Christian denomination. But from seminary and their early years in ministry to their golden years looking back on what it takes to lead a congregation, a stimulating, sometimes puzzling, yet often inspirational world of theological controversies and congregational concerns would unfold for these two men of God. A Church Wide Enough for Everyone follows these two men on their journey to demonstrate the continuing relevance of the Christian faith in a postmodern world. After moving to Berkeley, California, to attend college and seminary, they have little time to ponder the vast social changes taking place before they immediately enter into intensive critical study of the Bible and Christian theology. And as Robert is then thrust into the ordained ministry with his wife, Faye, both men must in their own ways face the political, cultural, and ideological pressures of each passing decade, responding to challenges from both within the church and from outsiders. Are mainline churchesand Christian theologydead? Or might they be revitalized in the current century? A Church Wide Enough for Everyone and the inspired journeys of two ministers offers a window into how this revitalization and new understanding is possible.

Smith examines the history of Hebrew law from its beginning in the Decalogue to its close in the Priestly Code, considers its relation to contemporary social history and compares it to the Hittite, Assyrian and Babylonian codes. Originally published: Chicago: University of Chicago Press, [1931]. ix, 285 pp. The extensive appendices contain complete translations of the Code of Hammurabi and the Assyrian and Hittite codes, providing a background to the study of Hebrew law. Recommended by Roscoe Pound in the Outlines of Lectures on Jurisprudence (5th. Ed.) 233. "Professor Smith traces the history of the Hebrew law as it is found in the Pentateuch. He repudiates the Mosaic origin of the contents of the Old Testament with the exception of the primitive Decalogue, the authorship of which he does ascribe to Moses. He discusses the Covenant Code, the Deuteronomic Code, Ezekiel's Code, the Holiness Code, and the Priestly Code; and he presents a new translation of the Code of Hammurabi, the Assyrian Code and the Hittite Code, thus bringing together in one body the records of the legislation of all the great peoples of Western Asia. A vivid background is thus afforded for the study of Hebrew law." --Louis E. Levinthal, 7 Temp. L.Q. 126 1932-1933 J[ohn].M[erlin]. Powis Smith [1866-1932] was a professor of Old Testament language and literature at the University of Chicago. In The Bible: An American Translation (1935), the Old Testament was translated by a group of scholars under his editorship. He was the author of The Moral Life of the Hebrews (1923) and other works.

This includes the evolution of the Hebrew religion as a projective response to the inner conflicts produced by the human family; the sociopsychological development of the Israelite kingdoms in Canaan; the fascinating duality of Jewish life in the "Diaspora"; and the emotional ties of the Jews to their idealized motherland from the Babylonian exile to modern political Zionism.

Reimagining the Bible collects a dozen essays by Howard Schwartz. Together the essays present a coherent theory of the way in which each successive phase of Jewish literature has drawn upon and reimagined the previous ones. The book is organized into four sections: The Ancient Models; The Folk Tradition; Mythic Echoes; Modern Jewish Literature and the Ancient Models. Within these divisions, each of the essays focuses on a specific genre, ranging from Torah and Aggadah to Kabbalah, fairy tales, and the modern Yiddish stories of S.Y. Agnon and Isaac Bashevis Singer. Arguing the important thesis that there is a continuity in Jewish literature which extends from the Biblical era to our own times, over a period of more than 3,000 years, this collection also serves as a guide to the history of that literature, and to the genres it comprises.

Ancient cultures, such as that of the Hebrews, commonly associated wisdom with advanced years. In A Biblical Theology of Gerassapience the author investigates the validity of this correlation through an eclectic approach - including linguistic semantic, tradition-historical, and socio-anthropological methods - to pertinent biblical and extra-biblical texts. There are significant variations in the estimation of gerassapience (or «old-age wisdom») in each period of ancient Israel's life - that is, in pre-monarchical, monarchical, and post-monarchical Israel. Throughout this study, appropriate cross-cultural parallels are drawn from the cultures of ancient Israel's neighbors and of modern societies, such as the West African Yoruba tribe. The overall results are bi-dimensional. On the one hand, there are semantic elements of gerassapience, such as the elusiveness of «wisdom» and the mild fluidity of «old age». Both terms have strong contextual affinity with minimal exceptions. Thus, the attribution of wisdom to old age is evident but not absolute in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). On the other hand, gerassapience is depicted as primarily didactic, through direct and indirect instructions and counsels of the elderly, fostering the saging fear-of-Yahweh legacies. On the whole, socio-anthropocentric tendencies of gerassapience (that is, of making old age a repertoire of wisdom) are checked by theological warrants of theosapience (Yahwistic wisdom). Therefore, in the Hebrew Bible, the fear of Yahweh is also the beginning of growing old and wise.