Biblical Figures Outside the Bible

Book Overview

An exciting development of recent years in the study of early Judaism and Christianity has been the growing recognition of the importance of the extra-biblical traditions for understanding these religious movements--apocryphal and pseudepigraphical literature, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Nag Hammadi Gnostic texts.

One major source for surviving works and traditions, however, has been largely ignored. This is the wealth of later Jewish and...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1563384116
• ISBN13: 9781563384110
• Release Date: November 2002
• Publisher: Trinity Press International
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Great book!

The Bible in the wording we have it only extends back to the court of King James and prior to that there were many versions and potential translations in circulation. Even having a sense of the broader domain of translations still doesn't give the complete bredth of knowledge found in this book which traces not only the relevant biblical treatment of Old Testament characters but also samples how those same characters were treated in the Dead Sea scrolls, Gnosticism, Manicheanism and even under Islam. In this way, the book gives on a fuller sense of the different ways in which these stories have been told. By understanding the paths that could have been taken, one emerges with a better understanding of why the Bible chose the particular versions it did. Great book!

An extensively researched work of impeccable scholarship

Winner of the 1999 Biblical Archaeology Society Publication Award for Best Book Relating to the Old Testament, Biblical Figures Outside The Bible, and knowledgeably compiled and deftly edited by Michael E. Stone (Gail Levin de Nur Professor of Religion and Professor of Armenian Studies at the Hebrew university of Jerusalem) and Theodore A. Bergren (Associate Professor of Religion at the University of Richmond, Virginia) offers the reader a truly ground breaking survey and analytical presentation of an ancient lore that directly affects major figures from the Bible through a series of thirteen scholarly essays by some of the very best scholars working in the field today. An extensively researched work of impeccable scholarship and a meticulously documented historical survey, Biblical Figures Outside The Bible is very strongly recommended for personal, academic, and professional Biblical Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.