"Are the books of the 'Megilloth' an anthology of unrelated writings? Timothy J. Stone explores the canonical shape of the third part of the Hebrew canon, the Writings, and concludes that the codification of the 'Megilloth' into a collection is integral to the canonical process."--Back cover.

This handbook provides an important resource for the serious study of the Writings of the Hebrew Bible. It addresses historical and literary contexts as well as its roles as scripture and canon in Judaism and Christianity. The volume provides creative presentations of the messages and import of the books and the canonical division as a whole.

A Clear, Careful Textbook to Help Bible Students Interpret Scripture Pastors, thoughtful Christians, and students of Scripture must learn how to carefully read and understand the Bible, but it can be difficult to know where to start. In this clear, logical guide, Andreas J. Köstenberger and Gregory Goswell explain how to interpret Scripture from three effective viewpoints: canonical, thematic, and ethical. Biblical Theology is arranged book by book from the Old Testament (using the Hebrew order) through the New Testament. For each text, Köstenberger and Goswell analyze key biblical-theological themes, discussing the book's place in the overall storyline of Scripture. Next, they focus on the ethical component, showing how God seeks to transform the lives of his people through the inspired text. Following this technique, readers will better understand the theology of each book and its author. A Clearly Written Guide on Biblical Theology: Analyzes all 66 books of the Bible, with emphasis on the coherent, unified framework of Scripture Helps Readers Thoughtfully Interpret Scripture: Provides an essential foundation for a valid theological understanding of Scripture that informs Christian doctrine and ethics Ideal for Pastors, Academics, and Other Serious Students of Scripture: This clear, thoroughly researched guide can be used as a textbook in seminary classes studying biblical theology or the Old and New Testaments

Hebrew Union College Annual is the flagship journal of Hebrew Union College Press and the primary face of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion to the academic world. From its inception in 1924, its goal has been to cultivate Jewish learning and facilitate the dissemination of cutting-edge scholarship across the spectrum of Jewish Studies, including Bible, Rabbinics, Language and Literature, History, Philosophy, and Religion. It was in January 1919 that a new quarterly journal first appeared on the American intellectual scene: the Journal of Jewish Lore and Philosophy was the first incarnation of what would later become the Hebrew Union College Annual. David Neumark, Professor of Philosophy at Hebrew Union College, conceived his journal as a clearinghouse for Jewish scholarship, and so the Hebrew Union College Annual remains today. With a history spanning nearly a century, it stands as a chronicle of Jewish scholarship through the twentieth century and into the twenty-first.

Rather than reading the Catholic Epistles in isolation from each other - understanding their individual historical situations as the single, determinative context for their interpretation - this study argues that a proper understanding of these seven letters must equally attend to their collection and placement within the New Testament canon. Resisting the judgment of much of historical-critical analysis of the New Testament, namely that the concept of canon actually obscures the meaning of these texts, it is the canonical process by which the texts were composed, redacted, collected, arranged, and fixed in a final canonical form that constitutes a necessary interpretive context for these seven letters. This study argues that through reception history and paratextual and compositional evidence one can discern a collection consciousness within the Catholic Epistles such that they should be read and interpreted as an intentional, discrete canonical sub-collection set within the New Testament. Furthermore, the work argues that such collection consciousness, though not necessarily in the preview of the original authors (being perhaps unforeseen, yet not unintended), is neither anachronistic to the meaning of the letters nor antagonistic to their composition.

Invitation to Biblical Theology provides a thorough overview of biblical theology that is accessible for those new to the topic but substantial enough for advanced study. Defining biblical theology as the study of the whole Bible on its own terms, Jeremy Kimble and Ched Spellman begin with a brief history of the discipline followed by a survey of contemporary approaches. They then lay out their own approach, built on the framework of the canon, the covenants, and Christ. Taking God's plan of redemption in Christ as the uniting theme of Scripture, Kimble and Spellman survey the grand storyline of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, showing how each division of the canon moves the overarching story forward. The following ten chapters survey central and recurring themes of Scripture including kingdom, worship, Messiah and atonement, God's glory, and mission. The authors conclude with reflections on how biblical theology can serve the church as well as the academy.

The Bible took shape over the course of centuries, and today Christian groups continue to disagree over details of its contents. The differences among these groups typically involve the Old Testament, as they mostly accept the same 27-book New Testament. An essential avenue for understanding the development of the Bible are the many early lists of canonical books drawn up by Christians and, occasionally, Jews. Despite the importance of these early lists of books, they have remained relatively inaccessible. This comprehensive volume redresses this unfortunate situation by presenting the early Christian canon lists all together in a single volume. The canon lists, in most cases, unambiguously report what the compilers of the lists considered to belong to the biblical canon. For this reason they bear an undeniable importance in the history of the Bible. The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity provides an accessible presentation of these early canon lists. With a focus on the first four centuries, the volume supplies the full text of the canon lists in English translation alongside the original text, usually Greek or Latin, occasionally Hebrew or Syriac. Edmon L. Gallagher and John D. Meade orient readers to each list with brief introductions and helpful notes, and they point readers to the most significant scholarly discussions. The book begins with a substantial overview of the history of the biblical canon, and an entire chapter is devoted to the evidence of biblical manuscripts from the first millennium. This authoritative work is an indispensable guide for students and scholars of biblical studies and church history.