The Bible, as we hold it today, is esteemed by many religious institutions and especially Conservative Christians to be the inspired, inerrant Word of God. This doctrinal position affirms that the Bible is unlike all other books or collections of works in that it is free of error due to having been "given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). While no other text can claim this same unique authority, Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphal literature such as contained in this volume of The Researchers Library of Ancient Texts (Volume One--The Apocrypha: Includes the Books of Enoch, Jasher, and Jubilees), provides literature that often precedes or follows the chronology of biblical texts, which frequently are used or assigned as supplemental works within academic settings to help students and scholars discover or better understand cultural and historical context within the Word of God. Whether or not the information contained in the apocryphal literature is entirely precise--as is the canon of Scripture--these ancient texts provide commentators' valuable insight into what many ancient Jews and early Christians believed when, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets" (Heb. 1:1). The Researchers Library of Ancient Texts is therefore intended to be a supplemental resource for assisting serious researchers and students in the study of the Bible and Bible times. Contained in this volume: The Book of Enoch, The Book of Jasher, The Book of Jubilees, 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, Susanna, Prayer of Azariah, Prayer of Manasseh, Bel and the Dragon, and Laodiceans.

The Bible, as we hold it today, is esteemed by many religious institutions and especially Conservative Christians to be the inspired, inerrant Word of God. This doctrinal position affirms that the Bible is unlike all other books or collections of works in that it is free of error due to having been "given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). While no other text can claim this same unique authority, the Apostolic Fathers included in this volume (also called the Ante-Nicene Fathers), covers the Early Christian writings from the beginning of Christianity until the promulgation of the Nicene Creed at the First Council of Nicaea, which was convened in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. As such, writings contained in this volume of The Researchers Library of Ancient Texts (Volume Two: The Apostolic Fathers: Includes Clement, Anthenagorus, Mathetes, Polycarp, Ignatius, Barnabas, Papias, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus), provides literature that follows the chronology of New Testament texts, which frequently are used or assigned as supplemental works within academic settings to help students and scholars discover or better understand cultural and historical context of the early Christian Church. These ancient texts provide commentators valuable insight into what many ancient Jews and early Christians believed when, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets" (Heb. 1:1). The Researchers Library of Ancient Texts is therefore intended to be a supplemental resource for assisting serious researchers and students in the study of the Bible and the early Church age. Contained in this volume: The works of Clement, Anthenagorus, Mathetes, Polycarp, Ignatius, Barnabas, Papias, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus.

The Bible, as we hold it today, is esteemed by many religious institutions and especially Conservative Christians to be the inspired, inerrant Word of God. This doctrinal position affirms that the Bible is unlike all other books or collections of works in that it is free of error due to having been ¿given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works¿ (2 Tim. 3:16, 17).While no other text can claim this same unique authority, Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphal literature such as contained in this section provides literature that often precedes or follows the chronology of biblical texts, which frequently are used or assigned as supplemental works within academic settings to help students and scholars discover or better understand cultural and historical context within the Word of God. Whether or not the information contained in the apocryphal literature is entirely precise¿as is the canon of Scripture¿these ancient texts provide commentators¿ valuable insight into what many ancient Jews and early Christians believed when, ¿God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets¿ (Heb. 1:1).These Apocrypha are therefore intended to be a supplemental resource for assisting serious researchers and students in the study of the Bible and Bible times.Contained in this section: The Book of Enoch, The Book of Jasher, The Book of Jubilees, 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, Susanna, Prayer of Azariah, Prayer of Manasseh, Bel and the Dragon, and Laodiceans.

Here are indispensable tools for the student of Pentateuchal source analysis: --The complete NRSV text of the Priestly document, the Yahwist narrative, the Elohist texts, and non-source texts of the Pentateuch as identified by Martin Noth --Introductions that review the history of source-oriented research and the current debate over the origin and growth of the Pentateuch --Annotations that help with the understanding of source-critical decisions --Studies of three composite texts that exemplify the nature of the problem and possible approaches to a solution.

This commentary examines 4 Maccabees as a contribution to the ongoing reformulation of Jewish identity and practice in the Greek-speaking Diaspora. It analyzes the Jewish author’s interaction with, and facility in, Greek rhetorical conventions, ethical philosophy, and literary culture, giving attention also to his use and interpretation of texts and traditions from the Jewish Scriptures and other Hellenistic Jewish writings. The commentary exhibits the author’s skillful weaving together of all these resources to create a text that interprets the Torah-observant life as the fullest embodiment of the best Greek ethical ideals. A distinctive feature is the examination of how the experience of reading 4 Maccabees in Codex Sinaiticus differs from the experience of reading the eclectic text.

In July 1835 at Kirtland Ohio, a traveling antiquities dealer brought to Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, four Egyptian mummies and several rolls of papyri. Upon inspection Smith determined that one of the rolls contained a lost record of the patriarch Abraham. After purchasing these artifacts for $2400 Smith generated through translation five chapters that appeared during March 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois in the Times and Seasons, a Mormon periodical, under the title "The Book of Abraham". This book has since become a canonized text of scripture for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A Textual History of the Book of Abraham: Manuscripts and Editions serves as a source book for interested researchers and scholars. It includes a brief introduction to the Book of Abraham and a detailed record of textual variants from the time it first appeared in the Times and Seasons until its latest edition (1981). This volume also produces for the first time typographic transcriptions with facing grayscale images of the surviving handwritten manuscripts of the Book of Abraham. Several appendices offer additional helpful resources such as contemporary accounts related to the translation of the Book of Abraham and a full set of color high-res images of the surviving Abraham manuscripts. This book will be a valuable reference tool for scholars interested in researching the textual history of the Book of Abraham