In The Love of Neighbour in Ancient Judaism, Kengo Akiyama traces the development of the mainstay of early Jewish and Christian ethics: "Love your neighbour." Akiyama examines several Second Temple Jewish texts in great detail and demonstrates a diverse range of uses and applications that opposes a simplistic and evolutionary trajectory often associated with the development of the "greatest commandment" tradition. The monograph presents surprisingly complex interpretative developments in Second Temple Judaism uncovering just how early interpreters grappled with the questions of what it means to love and who should be considered as their neighbour.

This work proposes a reconstruction of the thought world underlying the Holiness Code (Leviticus 17-26). It focuses on the notions of people and land, which are central to the way the law is presented in this corpus. Important themes treated include the sons of Israel, the resident alien, the call to holiness, the camp in the desert and the land as the property of the Lord. The conceptual universe of the Holiness Code is entirely dominated by the notion of the presence of the Lord in his sanctuary, in the midst of his people. It is this presence which requires the Israelites to observe holiness and confers upon the land its particular status. The priestly conception of the relationship between God, people and land finds interesting parallels in the ideology of holy places evidenced in writings from the Ancient Near East.

This collection of essays examines Leviticus in its compositional and literary context, issues of cult and sacrifice in Leviticus, Leviticus on the priesthood, and Leviticus in translation and interpretation. The volume will serve biblical studies well long into the future.

This volume consists of eight chapters dealing with a selected topic in New Testament biblical interpretation, its inherited elements and its relevance for better understanding of wider Jewish exegetical trends.

This study explores the vocabulary employed in the extant text of Leviticus. The chosen methodology of rhetorical analysis (with particular emphasis upon terminological patterns) shows a carefully composed text. The basic working hypothesis that Leviticus has been artistically structured around 37 divine speeches 'and the Lord spoke/said to Moses (and Aaron)' . With chapter 16 as its possible structural and theological center has been substantiated both on the microstructural and macrostructural levels. The plethora of significant micro- and macrostructural terminological patterns, suggests original literary cohesiveness and hence single-handed authorship. These findings are of special significance regarding so-called "P" and "H" passages, a "layer of priestly reworking", and, even more, the exegesis and theology of Leviticus.