Essays that engage the scholarship of Shaye J. D. Cohen The essays in Strength to Strength honor Shaye J. D. Cohen across a range of ancient to modern topics. The essays seek to create an ongoing conversation on issues of identity, cultural interchange, and Jewish literature and history in antiquity, all areas of particular interest for Cohen. Contributors include: Moshe J. Bernstein, Daniel Boyarin, Jonathan Cohen, Yaakov Elman, Ari Finkelstein, Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert, Steven D. Fraade, Isaiah M. Gafni, Gregg E. Gardner, William K. Gilders, Martin Goodman, Leonard Gordon, Edward L. Greenstein, Erich S. Gruen, Judith Hauptman, Jan Willem van Henten, Catherine Hezser, Tal Ilan, Richard Kalmin, Yishai Kiel, Ross S. Kraemer, Hayim Lapin, Lee I. Levine, Timothy H. Lim, Duncan E. MacRae, Ivan Marcus, Mahnaz Moazami, Rachel Neis, Saul M. Olyan, Jonathan J. Price, Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, Michael L. Satlow, Lawrence H. Schiffman, Daniel R. Schwartz, Joshua Schwartz, Karen Stern, Stanley Stowers, and Burton L. Visotzky. Features: A full bibliography of Cohen’s published works An essay on the contributions of Cohen

Papers presented to the International Conference on Patristic Studies. 2d- 1955-

Paul's letter to the church at Philippi is a moving insight into early Christianity. No letter displays Paul's fondness for a church as much as Philippians, and this passion is accompanied by a profound sense of thanksgiving for the church and its generosity. In this letter, Paul reminds the church of the first day they heard the gospel, the present persecution that they experience in their imperial context, and their true reality as citizens of heaven. Jesus Christ grounds this eschatological framework as the one whom God has lifted up. But in Philippi Paul also faced opponents, and the interpretation of the letter requires that the reader understand these people whose vision of Jesus was other than Paul's. The short letter to Philemon tells the story of a Christian slave named Onesimus. Through this appeal on Onesimus's behalf, Paul illustrates how the moral vision of social hierarchies, such as the one between slave owner and slave, are dismantled in Christ. He calls Philemon and Onesimus into a reconciliation that points to their shared participation in Christ. Together, these two letters show Paul's vital passion for the church and the bonds that held early Christians together in their faith. The New Testament Library offers authoritative commentary on every book and major aspect of the New Testament, as well as classic volumes of scholarship. The commentaries in this series provide fresh translations based on the best available ancient manuscripts, offer critical portrayals of the historical world in which the books were created, pay careful attention to their literary design, and present a theologically perceptive exposition of the text.

"Paul's Literary style is a groundbreaking stylistics study of the apostle Paul's varying style of written communications to different audiences. He writes as a warrior to the antagonistic Corinthians, a parent to the receptive Philippians, and a diplomat to the distant Romans."--Cover, p.4

For over one hundred years, the International Critical Commentary series has held a special place among works on the Bible. It has sought to bring together all the relevant aids to exegesis — linguistic and textual no less than archaeological, historical, literary and theological—with a level of comprehension and quality of scholarship unmatched by any other series. No attempt has been made to secure a uniform theological or critical approach to the biblical text: contributors have been invited for their scholarly distinction, not for their adherence to any one school of thought. The first paperback editions to be published cover the heart of the New Testament, providing a wealth of information and research in accessible and attractive format.

Contrary to the prevailing view that βασιλεία is a verbal noun signifying God’s rule, this study demonstrates how the term’s pragmatic range in Matthew’s Gospel covers both five distinct types of use and their integration into a coherent concept. The study, which is the first to examine all occurrences of βασιλεία in the First Gospel from the perspective of semantic monosemy, extends and enhances our appreciation of the Matthean Zentralbegriff, and engenders a more accurate apprehension of the nature and aims of the Matthean narrative and the theological views it conveys.