The third issue of Proceedings of the Midrash session at the SBL Annual meeting published in this series. This volume contains papers on religion in midrash (2006) and modes of biblical interpretation in rabbinic, Syriac and Islamic traditions (2007).

This edition of Mar Jacob of Sarug's (d. 521) homily on the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple develops the character of Simeon. The author himself asks Simeon how we should understand his supplication. Simeon explains his wonder at Jesus offering the turtle doves, creatures which Jesus himself fashioned with the Father, presaging Jesus’ self-offering. The volume constitutes a fascicle of The Metrical Homilies of Mar Jacob of Sarug, which, when complete, will contain the original Syriac text of Jacob's surviving sermons, fully vocalized, alongside an annotated English translation.

In this time of intense apocalyptic interests, Burkitt’s study of extra-biblical apocalypses will shed some light. Burkitt is known for his work in early Christianity, and he is well-equipped to deal with this difficult issue. These Schweich Lectures of 1913 address the book of Enoch, minor Jewish and early Christian apocalypses, especially the Ascension of Isaiah.

This volume incorporates all the articles and reviews published in Volume 7 (2007) of the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures.

Trumbull’s tome was among the first to explore how looking at the Bible from the perspective of those in Palestine might influence the outlook of Western readers. In this volume Trumbull examines the social customs, religious practices, and basic concepts of those living in nineteenth-century Palestine to demonstrate how they bear upon modern understandings of the Bible.

Did scribes intentionally change the text of the New Testament? This book argues they did not and disputes the claims that variant readings are theologically motivated. Using evidence gathered from some of the earliest surviving biblical manuscripts these essays reconstruct the copying habits of scribes and explore the contexts in which they worked. Alongside these are studies of selected early Christian writings, which illustrate attitudes to and examples of textual change.

The Coups of Hazael and Jehu offers a narrative reconstruction of the events surrounding the rise of Hazael to the throne of Aram-Damascus and Jehu to the throne of Israel in the mid-eighth century. These near-simultaneous dynastic changes were parts of a major shift in the political, military, and economic structure of the Levant, which took place as the mighty armies of Assyria pushed into the region. The book argues that Jehu’s bloody overthrow of Joram and Hazael’s irregular seizure of power after the death of his predecessor were not independent events, but responses to the Assyrian threat.

This reprint of Sukenik’s article “The Earliest Records of Christianity” is presented as the first volume of Gorgias Press’s Analecta Gorgiana series with a new introduction by George Anton Kiraz. This fully illustrated archaeological abstract is sure to be of interest to readers concerned with the archaeology of the area around Jerusalem, as well as those interested in early artifacts of Christianity.

An indispensable reference for the history of monasticism in the western work, Montalembert’s seven-volume masterpiece on the subject still reads with depth and conviction. Covering the monastic movement from its precursors to the period of the Venerable Bede, this set contains substantial information on a number of western saints.

An indispensable reference for the history of monasticism in the western work, Montalembert’s seven-volume masterpiece on the subject still reads with depth and conviction. Covering the monastic movement from its precursors to the period of the Venerable Bede, this set contains substantial information on a number of western saints.

An indispensable reference for the history of monasticism in the western work, Montalembert’s seven-volume masterpiece on the subject still reads with depth and conviction. Covering the monastic movement from its precursors to the period of the Venerable Bede, this set contains substantial information on a number of western saints.

An indispensable reference for the history of monasticism in the western work, Montalembert’s seven-volume masterpiece on the subject still reads with depth and conviction. Covering the monastic movement from its precursors to the period of the Venerable Bede, this set contains substantial information on a number of western saints.

An indispensable reference for the history of monasticism in the western work, Montalembert’s seven-volume masterpiece on the subject still reads with depth and conviction. Covering the monastic movement from its precursors to the period of the Venerable Bede, this set contains substantial information on a number of western saints.

An indispensable reference for the history of monasticism in the western work, Montalembert’s seven-volume masterpiece on the subject still reads with depth and conviction. Covering the monastic movement from its precursors to the period of the Venerable Bede, this set contains substantial information on a number of western saints.

The venerable work of Abu al-Hasan Ali al-Shabushti (d. c. 1000), “The Book of Monasteries,” has come to hold an acclaimed status among scholars of early Arabic Christianity. Thoroughly annotated and cross-referenced, this Arabic edition by George Awwad is more than simply a catalogue of monasteries, it is a view into the culture of early Christianity as it developed in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Arabia.

This study focuses on the imagery of meals and feasting in the Baal Myth and Kirta and Aqhat epics. Utilizing contemporary approaches to ritual, these meal events reveal the manner in which ritual behavior described and defined the different social relationships with the Ugaritic pantheon and the interactions between the divine and mortal realms. This study demonstrates the role successful ritual behavior played in the organization and presentation of characters within the narratives, as well as the role of unsuccessful or failed rituals associated with the meal event, which resulted in social chaos and confusion.