Books and writing, according to Jacques Derrida, are always concerned with questions of life and death. Nowhere is this more true than regarding the heavenly book motif, which plays an important role in early Judeo-Christian literature, and particularly in apocalypses. This book identifies four sub-types of the motif—the books of life, deeds, fate, and action—and examines their development and function primarily in Jewish and Christian apocalypses. It argues that the overarching function of the motif is to signify life and death for those inscribed: earthly life and death in its early appearances and eternal destiny in later texts. The first full-length analysis of the heavenly book motif in English, this study highlights a vital element of the genre apocalypse.

The first full-length analysis of the heavenly book motif in English, this study highlights a vital element of early Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature. Through multiple intertextual readings, it demonstrates that for the ancients heavenly writing had life or death consequences.

The Gospel of John has long been recognized as being distinct from the Synoptic Gospels. John among the Apocalypses explains John's distinctive narrative of Jesus's life by comparing it to Jewish apocalypses and highlighting the central place of revelation in the Gospel. While some scholars have noted a connection between the Gospel of John and Jewish apocalypses, Reynolds makes the first extensive comparison of the Gospel with the standard definition of the apocalypse genre. Engaging with modern genre theory, this comparison indicates surprising similarities of form, content, and function between John's Gospel and Jewish apocalypses. Even though the Gospel of John reflects similarities with the genre of apocalypse, John is not an apocalypse, but in genre theory terms, John may be described as a gospel in kind and an apocalypse in mode. John's narrative of Jesus's life has been qualified and shaped by the genre of apocalypse, such that it may be called an 'apocalyptic' gospel. In the final two chapters, Reynolds explores the implications of this conclusion for Johannine Studies and New Testament scholarship more broadly. John among the Apocalypses considers how viewing the Fourth Gospel as apocalyptic Gospel aids in the interpretation of John's appeal to Israel's Scriptures and Mosaic authority, and examines the Gospel's relationship with the book of Revelation and the history of reception concerning their writing. An examination of Byzantine iconographic traditions highlights how reception history may offer a possible explanation for reading John as apocalyptic Gospel.

Reading Revelation in Context brings together short, accessible essays that compare and contrast the visions and apocalyptic imagery of the book of Revelation with various texts from Second Temple Jewish literature. Going beyond an introduction that merely surveys historical events and theological themes, Reading Revelation in Context examines individual passages in Second Temple Jewish literature in order to illuminate the context of Revelation's theology and the meaning and potency of John's visions. Following the narrative progression of Revelation, each chapter (1) pairs a major unit of the Apocalypse with one or more sections of a thematically related Jewish text, (2) introduces and explores the historical and theological nuances of the comparator text, and (3) shows how the ideas in the comparator text illuminate those expressed in Revelation. In addition to the focused comparison provided in the essays, the book contains other student-friendly features that will help them engage broader discussions, including an introductory chapter that familiarizes students with the world and texts of Second Temple Judaism, a glossary of important terms, and a brief appendix suggesting what tools students might use to undertake their own comparative studies. At the end of each chapter there a list of other thematically relevant Second Temple Jewish texts recommended for additional study and a focused bibliography pointing students to critical editions and higher-level discussions in scholarly literature. Reading Revelation in Context brings together an international team of over 20 New Testament experts including Jamie Davies, David A. deSilva, Michael J. Gorman, Dana M. Harris, Ronald Herms, Edith M. Humphrey, Jonathan A. Moo, Elizabeth E. Shively, Cynthia Long Westfall, Archie T. Wright, and more.

This volume contains studies that explore the content and meaning of the Qumran manuscripts of the Aramaic Books of Enoch, the Book of Giants, and related literature. The essays shed new light on the lexicon, orthography and grammar of the Aramaic scrolls, as well as their relationship to schematic astronomy in ancient Mesopotamia. Contributors examine the origin of the angelic tradition of the Watchers, the textual and literary relationship of the Aramaic scrolls to the Book of the Watchers, and the culpability of humanity in the spread of evil on earth according to the myth of the fallen angels.

This book argues that the throne motif constitutes the major interpretive key to the complex structure and theology of the book of Revelation. In the first part of the book, Gallusz examines the throne motif in the Old Testament, Jewish literature and Graeco-Roman sources. He moves on to devote significant attention to the throne of God texts of Revelation and particularly to the analysis of the throne-room vision (chs. 4&5), which is foundational for the development of the throne motif. Gallusz reveals how Revelation utilizes the throne motif as the central principle for conveying a theological message, since it appears as the focus of the author from the outset to the climax of the drama. The book concludes with an investigation into the rhetorical impact of the motif and its contribution to the theology of Revelation. Gallusz finally shows that the throne, what it actually represents, is of critical significance both to Revelation's theism and to God's dealing with the problem of evil in the course of human history.