This volume contains a thorough study of the third book of the Sibylline Oracles. This Jewish work was written in the Roman province of Asia sometime between 80 and 40 BCE. It offers insights into the political views of the author and his perception of the relation between Jews and non-Jews, especially in the field of religion and ethics. The present study consists of three parts: 1. introductory questions; 2. a literary analysis of the book, translation, and commentary; 3. the social setting of the book. It aims to further the scholarly use of the third Sibylline book and to improve our knowledge of early Judaism in its Graeco-Roman environment.

This monograph studies the theological motivations behind certain Jewish apocalypses by focusing on the mighty acts of God recounted in these writings. In particular, the work examines the various depictions of God’s acts and attributes as a means for learning about the individuals and groups responsible for the transmission of these apocalypses. Three prominent motifs, among others, receive attention here: theophanies (e.g., I Enoch 1:3–9; 25:3; 77:1; Daniel 4:10, 20; 7:9–10, 13–14), portrayals of the resurrection (e.g., I Enoch 102 – 104; Daniel 12:1–3), and interpretations of the (Babylonian) Exile in connection with the “new creation” (e.g., Qumran, Jubilees, Pseudo-Philo). Apocalypticism provides a framework for various theologies. Generally speaking, God is shown as the most prominent figure in these dramas of eschatological events. The authors of these writings typically held that their only deliverance could arise from the imminent arrival of an otherworldly eon ushered in by the power of God.

The Sibyl was a legendary figure in Greco-Roman antiquity. J. L. Lightfoot describes how the verse prophecies attributed to her were taken over by Hellenistic Jews, and later by Christians, as a vehicle for their own understandings of prophecy, and provides an edition, translation, and commentary on the first and second books of extant oracles.

This volume traces the history of Zoroastrianism at times and places where its existence has previously been largely ignored, or treated only episodically. Literary, archaeological and numismatic evidence has been drawn on (some of it only recently brought to light), and local developments are distinguished. In Iran itself some 200 years of Macedonian rule had little effect on the national religion. To the east, Zoroastrianism survived in the Greco-Bactrian kingdoms and under Mauryan suzereinty, where it came into contact with Buddhism. In Eastern Mediterranean lands it was maintained by Iranian expatriates well down into Roman imperial times. They adopted Greek for their written tongue, and Zoroastrian doctrines thus became known in the Greco-Roman world. Study is made accordingly of Zoroastrian contributions to Hellenistic thought, and to Judaism, Christianity and Mithraism; and an excursus provides a thorough reassessment of the Zoroastrian pseudepigrapha.

This volume brings together essays written over two decades by a leading authority in the field. The collection includes 2 recent essays that are published here for the first time. The articles cover major aspects of the discussion of Jewish apocalypticism, in relation to the Hebrew bible, the New Testament and the Hellenistic-Roman world. Distinctive strengths of the volume include clusters of essays on the Sibylline oracles and on the relationship between apocalypticism and wisdom. A section of the book is devoted to studies on Daniel. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.