An Introduction to the History and Sources of Jewish Law (Publication / The Institute of Jewish Law, Boston University #22): (Oxford University Press) Publisher's Comments: Jewish Law has a long history stretching from the early period to the modern State of Israel, encompassing the Talmud, Geonic and later codifications, the Spanish Golden Age, medieval and modern response, and the Holocaust and modern reforms. This work is a... Details...

Ancient Jewish Novels: An Anthology: (Oxford University Press) Publisher's Comments: This volume brings together for the first time all of the ancient Jewish novels and fragments of novels. Written at about the same time as the Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament, but before the period of Rabbinic Judaism, these texts reveal the ambiguit... Details...

Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses: (Oxford University Press) Publisher's Comments: This is a study of the ancient Jewish and Christian apocalypses involving ascent into heaven, which have received little scholarly attention in comparison to apocalypses concerned primarily with the end of the world. Recent developments like the publication... Details...

Chattel or Person? The Status of Women in the Mishnah: (Oxford University Press) Publisher's Comments: Exploring the place of women in the socioeconomic system formulated in the Mishnah, a book of legal rules with a spiritual basis compiled by Jewish sages in second-century Palestine, this study reveals a fundamental ambiguity in the role of women. Both the ... Details...

Fixing God's Torah The Accuracy of the Hebrew Bible Text in Jewish Law: (Oxford University Press) Publisher's Comments:The Hebrew text of the Torah has never been finalized down to the last letter. This is important not least because Jewish law requires that Torah scrolls read publicly in the synagogue be error-free. Jewish scribes, scholars, and legal authorities have sought... Details...

God at War: Power in the Exodus Tradition: (Oxford University Press) Publisher's Comments: The destruction of the Egyptian army in the Book of Exodus is the primary story of salvation for Israel; God is the chief combatant in this story. "Yahweh is a warrior!" So goes the victory hymn in Exodus 15:3 after the annihilation of the enemy by Yahweh, ... Details...

Impurity and Sin in Ancient Judaism: (Oxford University Press) Publisher's Comments: This book examines the ways in which two distinct biblical conceptions of impurity-"ritual" and "moral"-were interpreted in the Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, rabbinic literature, and the New Testament. In examining the evolution of ancient Jewish atti... Details...

Impurity and Sin in Ancient Judaism: (Oxford University Press) Publisher's Comments: Much has been written about ritual impurity in ancient Judaism, but the question of how the ancient Jews understood the relationship between defilement and sin has largely been ignored. This book offers the first systematic exploration of the important topi... Details...

In the Beginning: Creation Myths from Ancient Mesopotamia, Israel and Greece: (Oxford University Press) Publisher's Comments: Addressed to students of classical mythology, religion, and comparative mythology, this volume contains myths of creation from three ancient cultures. Included are selections from the Hebrew Bible, the Mesopotamian Enuma Elish and Atrahasis, and Hesiod's Th... Details...

Interpretations of the Name Israel in Ancient Judaism and Some Early Christian Writings: From Victorious Athlete to Heavenly Champion: (Oxford University Press) Publisher's Comments: Ancient peoples regarded names as indicative of character and destiny. The Jews were no exception. This is a critical study of ancient exegesis of the title `Israel' and the meanings attributed to it among Jews down to Talmudic times, along with some early ... Details...