This volume is devoted to 4QInstruction, the last lengthy text of the Dead Sea Scrolls to be officially published. It is also the largest wisdom text of this corpus. The central concern of this study is how this composition should be understood in relation to the sapiential and apocalyptic traditions. Features of 4QInstruction that are examined include its appeal to revelation, its presentation of poverty, and its eschatology. The document’s relationship to both 1 Enoch and the Dead Sea sect is also discussed. This study will prove useful to anyone interested in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the reception of the Jewish wisdom tradition in the Second Temple period, and apocalypticism.

The wisdom tradition of ancient Israel, represented in the Hebrew Bible by Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes and in the Apocrypha by Ben Sira and the Wisdom of Solomon, is also well-attested in the texts from Qumran. 4QInstruction (1Q26, 4Q415–418, 4Q423), the largest wisdom text of the Dead Sea Scrolls, is considered a sapiential text primarily because of its explicit and insistent pedagogical nature. To make this significant wisdom text more widely available, this volume offers a critical edition, translation, and commentary on the main fragments of 4QInstruction. It examines particular texts of 4QInstruction as well as broader issues, including its date, genre, main themes, and place in Second Temple Judaism. Finally, in order to contextualize this pivotal work, 4QInstruction’s relationship to the sapiential and apocalyptic traditions is also explored.

Revised version of the author's thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Manchester, 2008.

The Apocrypha : an introduction / Gerbern S. Oegema -- The Apocrypha in the context of early Judaism / Gerbern S. Oegema -- The Apocrypha, the Septuagint, and other Greek witnesses / Kristin de Troyer -- A canonical history of the Old Testament apocryphay / Lee Martin MacDonald -- The Apocrypha in the history of Christianity / Tobias Nicklas -- The Protestant reception of the Apocrypha / Matthew Korpman -- Apocrypha, genre, and historicity / Gerbern S. Oegema -- 1 Esdras/Greek Ezra / Lester L. Grabbe -- Baruch/Karina Martin Hogan -- Book of Judith / Deborah Levine Gera -- 1 Maccabees' ethics, etiquette, political theology, and structure / Doron Mendels -- 2 Maccabees / Michael Duggan -- 3 Maccabees / Brian R. Dyer -- 4 Maccabees / Jan Willem van Henten -- The Apocrypha and apocalypticism / Lorenzo DiTommaso -- 2 Esdras / Shayna Sheinfeld -- Wisdom literature of the Apocrypha and related compositions of the Second Temple era / John Kampen -- Sirach / Jeremy Corley -- Tobit / Beate Ego -- The Wisdom of Solomon / Jason M. Zurawski -- The Additions to Daniel / Lorenzo DiTommaso -- The Additions of the Greek book(s) of Esther / Tyler Smith, Kristin de Troyer -- Epistle of Jeremiah / Susan Docherty -- Prayer of Manasseh / Ariel Gutman -- Psalm 151-155 / Mika S. Pajunen -- Jewish religion in the Apocrypha : between biblical precepts and early rabbinic thought / Carla Sulzbach -- Women and gender in the Apocrypha / Sara Parks -- Theology and ethics in the Apocrypha / Gerbern S. Oegema -- Sexuality in the Apocrypha / William Loader -- Biblical theology and the Apocrypha / David A. deSilva.

In Turning Proverbs towards Torah, Elisa Uusimäki offers the first monograph on the early Jewish wisdom text 4Q525 from Qumran. Following the reconstruction of the fragmentary manuscript, Uusimäki analyses the text with a focus on the reception and renewal of the Proverbs tradition and the ways in which 4Q525 illustrates aspects of Jewish pedagogy in the late Second Temple period. She argues that the author was inspired by Proverbs 1-9 but sought to demonstrate that true wisdom is found in the concept of torah. He also weaved dualistic elements and eschatological ideas into the wisdom frame. The author's intention, Uusimäki argues, is to form the audience spiritually, encouraging it to trust in divine protection and blessings that are bestowed upon the pious.

In recent years, the scholarly consensus has emerged that early Judaism should no longer be classified as a religion of legalistic works on righteousness, but rather defined primarily by God's covenant with Israel. In this work, it is argued, instead, that there is actually a tension in early Judaism between God as righteous judge and as merciful. As E. Sj berg maintained in his Gott und S nder im pal stinischen Judentum, in the sources used for a reconstruction of early Judaism, there are two mutually exclusive ways in which God is said to relate to human beings. First, God as righteous judge deals with human beings as they deserve. They are assumed to be morally free and responsible, and God judges and recompenses them in history and eschatologically. Not only are the wicked punished for their sins, but the righteous are also rewarded for their obedience. And second, God as merciful does not deal with human beings as they deserve. Rather, he removes the guilt resulting from disobedience to the Law, sometimes on the simple condition of repentance. This means that a person can escape the consequences of disobedience. The understanding of God in the sources vacillates between God as righteous judge and God as merciful, without coming down definitively on one side to the exclusion of the other.

Secret societies in ancient Judaism -- "Esoteric", mysteries, and secrecy -- Esoteric as a social category -- The social organization of secrecy -- Initiation and graded revelation -- Other secret Jewish groups and traditions -- The social setting of esoteric tradition