The text of this edition is based on collations of three MSS. unknown to previous editors, together with a fresh collation of the two remaining authorities. Passages in which the LXX version appears to have suggested words or phrases are printed in uncial type. The translation aims at being literal. The notes are intended to be useful to students of a not very advanced type. We venture to hope that the Indices will be found serviceable. The somewhat full Table of Contents is intended to obviate the necessity of an Index Rerum. --from the Preface

"Preston M. Sprinkle examines the apostle Paul's understanding of salvation and compares it to the view of his Jewish contemporaries, by means of looking at how both Paul and Judaism interpret a very important verse from the Old Testament-Leviticus 18:5."--BOOK JACKET.

This study examines the date of composition, the social setting, the provenance, and the religious affiliation of the eighteen Greek poems known as the Psalms of Solomon, a Palestinian Jewish pseudepigraphon from the first century B.C.E. The book is divided into two major historical units: Pompeian and pre-Pompeian era Psalms of Solomon. A separate chapter examines the remaining Psalms of which the precise historical backgrounds are uncertain. All chapters include a translation of the psalm under examination, textual notes, and a discussion of all the characters mentioned in the text. The book explores the Psalms of Solomon’s use of poetry to document Pompey’s 63 B.C.E. conquest of Jerusalem through a comparison with contemporary classical texts, Dead Sea Scrolls, and archaeology.

The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of Jewish sacred writings) is of great importance in the history of both Judaism and Christianity. The first translation of the books of the Hebrew Bible (plus additions) into the common language of the ancient Mediterranean world made the Jewish scriptures accessible to many outside Judaism. Not only did the Septuagint become Holy Writ to Greek speaking Jews but it was also the Bible of the early Christian communities: the scripture they cited and the textual foundation of the early Christian movement. Translated from Hebrew (and Aramaic) originals in the two centuries before Jesus, the Septuagint provides important information about the history of the text of the Bible. For centuries, scholars have looked to the Septuagint for information about the nature of the text and of how passages and specific words were understood. For students of the Bible, the New Testament in particular, the study of the Septuagint's influence is a vital part of the history of interpretation. But until now, the Septuagint has not been available to English readers in a modern and accurate translation. The New English Translation of the Septuagint fills this gap.