Dead Sea Scrolls Nag Hammadi Codices

This book is intended as a practical tool to facilitate access to the Qumran collection of Dead Sea Scrolls. As such, it is primarily intended for classroom use and for the benefit of specialists from other disciplines (scholars working on the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament or Rabbinic literature, specialists on Semitic languages, on the History of Judaism or on the History of Religions, among others) who need a reliable compendium of all the relevant materials found in this collection. As such, it is not intended to compete with, let alone to replace, the editio princeps of the materials published in the series Discoveries in the Judaean Desert or outside this series, or the preliminary publications of materials which have not yet appeared in the DJD Series. The plates printed in the critical editions, as well as the transcriptions, translations and commentaries of the first editors are, and will always remain, the basis of all serious work on the Scrolls.
Whereas the evidence of the biblical manuscripts from Qumran will be shortly available in The Qumran Bible by E. Ulrich, this book offers a fresh transcription and an English translation of all the relevant non-biblical texts found at Qumran, arranged by serial number from Cave 1 to Cave 11. By biblical scrolls we understand here the copies of the books that subsequently emerged as the traditional Hebrew Bible, as well as the remains of tefillin and mezuzot which only contain quotations of those biblical books. In several cases the distinction between biblical and non-biblical texts is not clear-cut. Thus, the so-called Reworked Pentateuch consists mainly of the biblical text of the pentateuchal books, be it sometimes in a different order, but also has some sections with material that is not included in the Hebrew Bible; likewise, we have included the non-biblical psalms from the Psalms Scrolls 4Q88, 11Q5 and 11Q6. Not included are the scant remains of Ben Sira from Cave 2. The inclusion in the edition of these ‘additions’ does not imply a judgment on their ‘biblical’ or ‘non-biblical’ character. In three cases we have included texts not found at Qumran, but related to manuscripts from Qumran; this goes for the remains of the mediaeval copies of the Damascus Document and the Aramaic Levi Document found in the Cairo Genizah, and for the copy of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice recovered at Masada.
The transcriptions of the material included in this edition are fresh transcriptions made by the authors, though it is a very pleasant duty to recognize the debt to all previous work by teachers and colleagues. Our transcriptions rely not only on the identification and placement of the many tens of thousands of fragments achieved by the original editors of the non-biblical scrolls, who arranged the fragments for the photographs made by the Palestine Archaeological Museum in the 1950s and 1960s, and the subsequent editions of these materials by the original editors, but also on all the editions done by other scholars.
Although we have consulted the available editions of the individual manuscripts, the responsibility for the transcriptions here presented is entirely ours. We have checked all the proposed readings against the photographs accessible to us: the photographs provided by the published editions, the photographs included in the Brill microfiche edition and the photographs available in the Oxford-Brill’s CDROM. In most cases one will find no or few significant differences from other transcriptions because these readings are imposed by the univocal manuscript evidence. In the case of ambiguous manuscript evidence, and in view of the practical purpose of this book, we have often adopted the suggestions of previous editors, rather than presenting alternative readings for the sake of originality and difference, even when such readings would be palaeographically or otherwise possible. The restorations of the text offered in the transcriptions are on the whole relatively sparse. The main exceptions are reconstructions based upon the preserved text of parallel copies of the same manuscript.
A considerable part of the materials was already accessible in translation in The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated. That translation has served as the base-text of the translations presented in this edition, but has been thoroughly checked and corrected by the authors. Of the greatest help for this revision was the Dutch translation by A.S. van der Woude included in F. García Martínez & A.S. van der Woude, De Rollen van de Dode Zee Ingeleid en in het Nederlands vertaald (Kampen: Kok, 1994, 1995). Although we have consulted most other translations of individual manuscripts, the responsibility for the translations here presented is also ours. The practical purpose of the book has shaped the final translation: to a large extent literal, neutral and close to the transcribed text, even if the outcome lacks finesse and is less fluent than some other presently available translations. On the whole the translation aims to be a translation of the transcribed text on the facing page. Exceptions have been made for texts like Tobit, Jubilees and 1 Enoch, where the translation fills in the lacunae on the basis of the known non-Hebrew versions for the benefit of the readers. Although we have tried to be generally consistent in the translation of technical terms, we have not established a chart of translation-equivalents to avoid imposing an uniform meaning upon texts which may be of different origin or of different epochs. Other differences of translation, and also, to some extent, method of transcription, may be attributed to the procedure followed by the authors: each author prepared his own lot, and revised the lot of the other author.
The practical purpose of the book has also governed the selection and the presentation of the materials. We have selected the materials on the basis of their extensiveness  and interest, discarding most of the minute fragments which add little to our knowledge. On some occasions we have hesitantly opted for the inclusion of very small and insignificant fragments, only to provide some idea of the material remains of certain compositions, and in order not to leave too many entries empty. On the other hand, larger but, in our opinion, less interesting fragments from manuscripts have been omitted. This means that, in general, we present the largest fragments of a manuscript, and a selection of the smaller ones. Even so, many Q numbers from the different caves are exclusively made up of  unidentified or unclassified fragments, and we have not attempted to reproduce these snippets. In spite of this, we consider this edition relatively complete for the nonbiblical scrolls, and as such it could be useful as a companion volume with transcriptions and translations for the users of the microfiche or the CD-ROM editions of the photographs of the manuscripts.
This same practical purpose has governed the presentation of the transcriptions. We have avoided all diacritical marks which indicate the degree of certainty of a reading. Readings which in our view are sufficiently assured or have a high degree of probability, even if the remains are minimal, are transcribed outside square brackets. When we are not reasonably assured of a reading, we have noted the letter within square brackets, as a reconstruction, or replaced it by one or more dots. We have not reproduced the extent of lacunae; three dots within square brackets ([…]) indicate any amount of missing text and three dots outside square brackets (]…[) any amount of unreadable (either undecipherable or meaningless) letters or words. Readings corrected by a copyist are indicated within accolades. The text printed within accolades ({…}) may represent erasures, letters with cancellation dots, or text otherwise marked by the copyist as not to be read. One particular type of scribal correction, the overwriting and reshaping of individual letters, has not always been presented in the transcription. The indication vacat in the transcription, and Blank in the translation, indicate any amount of space left blank in the manuscript, either intentionally (as indication of a new paragraph) or accidentally. Words written above the line or in Palaeohebrew characters in the manuscript are reproduced as such in our transcription. In only a limited number of cases we have indicated obvious mistakes in the text which have not been corrected by the copyist. Text presented within angled brackets (< >) was written in the manuscripts, but should, in our opinion, be read otherwise or be deleted. Text within round brackets either presents our addition to the text, or indicates our corrected reading of the preceding word or words.
The materials are arranged according to cave and serial number. For the materials which do not have a serial number (1QIsaa, 1QIsab, 1QHa, 1QM, 1QS, 1QapGen, 1QpHab, and the three included non-Qumranic texts)

Trotz zahlreicher und fundierter Einblicke in die Gattung und den theologischen
Inhalt der Nag-Hammadi-Apokalypse des Paulus (NHC V,2) bleibt die genaue
Valenz des Textes umstritten: Ist der Text valentinianisch, wie oft behauptet, oder
nicht, und was bedeutet die Antwort für unser Verständnis der gnostischen Apokalypsen im Allgemeinen? Dieser Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über das Problem und belegt, dass der Nachweis für eine valentinianische Herkunft des Textes problematisch ist. Vor allem ist es unwahrscheinlich, dass die berühmten valentinianischen Lehrer des 2. Jahrhunderts Bedarf an Pseudonymität gehabt hätten. Ganz im Gegenteil zeigt die Beleglage für die Beziehung zwischen Gruppendefinition und Pseudonymität, dass die bekannten valentinianischen Lehrer ihre Autorität durch ihre kirchlichen Institutionen und hohe Ausbildung begründeten – im Unterschied zu den namenlosen Autoren der pseudonymen Apokalypsen und der sogenannten „sethianischen“ Literatur. Hier erscheint die Möglichkeit, dass die Nag-Hammadi-Apokalypse des Paulus eher ein späterer Text wäre, geschrieben nach der Blüte des Valentinianismus, in einer Zeit, als die valentinianische Theologie eine Art Geheimwissen unabhängig von irgendeiner Schule geworden war.

the fragmented book from the Nag Hammadi library, is here renumbered into 300 verses and 11 sub-chapters.

Turned out real nice. 

The book appears to kick off a series of advanced Gnostic teachings based on the Untitled Coptic  text from the Bruce Codex, that is actually a Pythagorean text from 500-400 BC, if not from 700 BC. 

The book of Melchizedek therefore places at around AD 150. 

Among other things, the text talks of the ritual of indoctrination into the order of the Melchizedek priesthood.

See also the Book of Lamech, a book I've restored in a similar fashion from one of the Dead Sea scrolls.

Comment parvenir au trésor de la lumière, où nous pourrons atteindre le repos et chanter la gloire du Dieu inaccessible? Fascinants et déroutants avec leurs diagrammes et leurs puissances célestes aux noms mystérieux, les Livres de Iéou nous en révèlent le chemin, parsemées d’obstacles et d’embûches, ainsi que les mots de passes et les sceaux nécessaires pour en déjouer les gardiens. Pour quiconque s’intéresse aux origines chrétiennes, ce volume rend disponible pour la première fois une traduction fiable, toutes langues modernes confondues, de ces textes énigmatiques et uniques, qui suscitent la fascination à la fois des spécialistes et des non-spécialistes. Mettant en scène un dialogue entre Jésus et ses disciples, les Livres de Iéou révèlent à leurs lecteurs la configuration des sphères célestes et fournissent tout ce que les âmes doivent connaître (sceaux, chiffres secrets et formules à réciter) et recevoir (initiation aux mystères et baptêmes) pour franchir ces mondes. Le manuscrit accompagne ces révélations de Jésus de plusieurs diagrammes et dessins, qui illustrent les mondes célestes et les sceaux dont les âmes doivent se marquer.
Malgré leur importance pour la connaissance de la diversité des courants gnostiques, les « deux Livres de Iéou » figurent parmi les textes les plus méconnus et négligés de cette littérature. Ce volume vise à leur redonner la place qui leur revient. Le lecteur y trouvera une toute nouvelle édition critique du texte copte des « deux Livres de Iéou » – la première depuis 1892 –, réalisée à partir de négatifs sur verre du manuscrit et d’une collation du codex original, conservé à la Bibliothèque bodléienne d’Oxford. L’édition critique est accompagnée d’une traduction française – la première depuis 1891 –, qui rend les traités accessibles et intelligibles, et de notes philologiques et textuelles, qui expliquent le texte copte et justifient les choix de traduction. L’édition, la traduction et les notes sont précédées d’une introduction qui renouvelle complètement la compréhension de ces textes. On y trouvera notamment l’histoire moderne du manuscrit, depuis son acquisition par l’explorateur et géographe écossais James Bruce en 1769 – d’où son nom de codex Bruce –, et des informations inédites sur l’état dans lequel se trouvait le manuscrit à ce moment. L’introduction présente également la première analyse papyrologique et codicologique du manuscrit, qui a mené à un nouvel ordonnancement du texte conservé et à l’identification, dans ce qu’on considérait traditionnellement comme un seul traité en deux parties, de trois ouvrages distincts, provenant probablement d’au moins trois manuscrits eux aussi différents. Enfin, un chapitre consacré au contenu analyse et décrit en profondeur les traités, invitant le lecteur à une nouvelle compréhension des textes.

Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Occultism, Secret hidden Esoteric Literature and the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America. It. is quite uncertain, now that I have this book finished, whether I shall ever care to publish it. It was not commenced for that purpose and it may always remain a monotype, in manuscript. For it has been written as a study, and not as a teaching for myself and not for others. It is not at all the fruit of a meditated purpose, and was not commenced as a diagnosis of the Deities of the Veda, an attempt to discover the distinctive personality and individuality of each, which it afterwards became, and the fruits of itself to myself have been sufficient to reward me abundantly for the labour it has cost. Nothing has ever so much interested me, as this endeavour to penetrate into the adyta of the ancient Aryan thought, to discover what things, principles or phenomena our remote ancestors worshipped as Gods, what Indra, Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, the Agvins, Vayu, Vishnu, SavitJfi and the others really were, in the conception of the composers of the Vedic hymns. It has had a singular charm for me, this inquiry into the true mean ing of the epithets and phrases, often, in appearance, indiscriminately applied to different Deities, often seemingly inappropriate, and the expres sions of a wild and riotous imagination into the true meaning of names and epithets and phrases that became, literally accepted and misunderstood, the sources, seeds or germs of the legendary myths and many of the Deities of the Grecian mythology and theBrahmanic fables and pantheon. And I have felt the most intense satisfaction in deciphering, as it seemed to me I did, these hieroglyphs of ancient Aryan thought in bringing myself into relation en rapport with these old Poets and Philosophers, under standing them in part, and thinking with them in deciphering their hiero glyphics, infinitely better worth the labour than all that are engraved on the monuments of Egypt and Assyria, and in solving one by one the enigmas contained in their figurative and seemingly extravagant language, whose meaning was only to be discovered by beginning with their simplest notions and conceptions, and making the curious processes of their thought my own trying as it were, to be them, intellectually, and to think their thoughts. Thus I satisfied myself that every one of their Deities had for them a perfectly distinct and dear personality and individuality that their ideas were not in the least vague, incoherent or confused that their imagination was perfectly - ell-regulated, and that every epithet and phrase was logically appropriate and correct. So also, upon a partial examination, I found it to be in the ancient Zarathustrian G tMs, which are, I do not doubt, even older than the Vedic hymns. I found in both, the most profound philosophic or metaphysical ideas, which those of every philosophy and religion have merely developed and that, so far from being Barbarians or Savages, the old Aryan herdsmen and husbandmen, in the Indus country under the Himalayan Mountains, on the rivers of Bactria, and, long before, on the Scythic Steppes where they originated, were men of singularly clear and acute intellects, profound thought and an infinite reverence of thebeings whom they worshipped. The inquiry has opened to me an entirely new chapter of the history of human thought, and given me an infinitely higher conception of the Aryan intellectual Mindset!

( BELOW IS STILL UN
TheVedais certainly the secondoldestbookintheworld,and itcon-tainsthe religioushymns ofour ancestors;forwe,ofwhatevermixtureof Europeanblood,arewhollyoftheAryanrace. Germans,Gauls,Franks, Latins,Saxons,Kelts,Sclaves,allareofonebloodandfamily;andthe Englishand allother European languages, andtheSanskrit,Zendand Persianarebutvarietiesofoneandthesame originallanguage,produced byintermixtureswithvariousothers. WearebynatureAryan, Indo-European,notSemitic.
ThereisnomixtureofSemiticintheEuropean languages.
The indigenouspeopleswhom the Aryansconquered, and withwhom theymixed,were ofaraceorracestotallydifferentfromthe Semites. Our spiritual kithandkinaretobefoundin India,Persia, Sclavonia, Greece, ItalyandGermany;not in Mesopotamia,Egypt or Palestine.
No literaryreliccarriesusbacktosochild-likeastateinthehistoryof man, astheVeda. TheHebrewbookswhich compose thePentateuch representtheancestorsofthatpeopleashavingfromthebeginningattained tothecomprehensionofasinglecreativeDeity,abovethepowersofNature, andasnot regarding these powers asinanysense Deities,butmerely forcesofNature. BeforetheFlood,itassuresus,therewereperformerson theharpandorgan,andartificersinbrassandiron,andmenweregathered togetherintocities.
TheexodusfromEgypt,accordingtotheapprovedchronology,occurred 1,648years beforeChrist. TheVedaswerecompiled 1,400years before Christ,whenthelanguageinwhichthehymnswerewrittenhadbecomea deadlanguage,andkingdomshadbeenfoundedandgrowngreywithage, sincetheyweresunginthecountryoftheFiveRivers.
ThebookofGenesisrecordstheancienttraditionsoftheSemiticrace, andmakesknowntoustheancientthought,theancientfeelings,joys, hopesandfearsofthosewhoweretheancestors oftheChaldaeans,Phoeni-cians,Kenanim,andHebrewsand ofthegrandArabianrace. TheVedas bringusfaceto facewithourancestors, in theirtentsandpastures,adoring thefire,thelightandtheluminariesofheaven. Nowhereelseistherea sign,ajestoraglimpse oftheoldAsiatichumanity.
Vedameant"knowing,"or"knowledge." Itisthesamewordasthe Greek oI6a, "Iknew,"and appears in theGothicvait,theAnglo-Saxon wdt, theGermanweiss,andtheEnglish"wise,wisdom,"and"towit."
2 INDO-ARYANDEITIESANDWORSHIP Therearefourcollectionsofthehymns,theRig-Veda, Yojur-Veda,,Sdma-VedaandAtharva-Veda;butfor tracing theearliest growth of religious ideasinIndia,theonlyrealVedaistheRig-Veda.
Rig-Veda meanstheVedaof "Hymns of Praise, Rich,"whichbefore theinitialsoftletterofVedaischangedtoRig,beingderivedfromaroot whichinSanskritmeanstocelebrate. TheSanhit^,acollectionofitcon-sistsoftenbooks,containingaltogether1,028hymns.
Mullerascribesthecompositionof theVaidichymnstoalaterperiod thanBunsendoes;andinhisfearofshockingEnglishprejudices,isexceed-inglyvague and unsatisfactoryupon that point.
EvenBunseniscareful nottosaythattheVedaisolderthantheHebrewbooks. TheBiblical chronology,thenecessityofconsideringmeremythsandlegendsashistorical, andthesupposedinexorablenecessityofadmittingthatallmankindhas descendedfrom.onemanandwoman,aresadlyinthewayofexhaustive inquiry astothe origines ofhumanracesandhuman languages.
These sagacious andastute inquirersthoroughlysatisfyand convinceusthatall theEuropeanlanguagesarefromthesameancientsourceastheIndian andPersian,buttheirattemptstoshowarelationshipbetweentheseand theSemitictonguesarelamentablefailures.
AstotheTuranian languages, thatis, thethousandlanguagesofAsia,AfricaandAmericathathave nothing incommonwitheachother, theyveryfaintlysuggest acommon originwith theAryanandSemitictongues;andarenotquiteboldenough toclaimthattheyalsoarethedescendantsofancestorsofourrace,and emigrantsfromAiryanaVaj&.
Mullerwellsaysthat therealhistoryofmanisthehistoryofreligion,thewaysbywhichthedifferent familiesofthehumanraceadvancedtowardsatruerknowledgeandadeeperlove ofGod:thatthisisthelight,thesoulandthelifeofhistory.
ThereisnothingofitinthehistoryoftheearlySemiticraces. Whenthe Hebrews werecarriedawaytoBabylon,theyhadmadenosuchadvance;
for they had no truer knowledge of the Deity than Abraham the Chaldaean

My research shows that Gnosticism was a parallel religion created along with Christianity by the very same royal authors of Christianity. They did this, as with other versions of Christianity, for the purpose of generating discussions about Christianity, as that served to advertise it. The main point of that being that it was creating a passionate belief in believers by causing spirited debate.

This study describes the canon's inter-textual use of apocryphal and pseudepigraphal sources which come from the tradition of the Septuagint and were later utilized by the Assyrian Church of the East. These writings also improve our understanding of the exaltation of man in Christ.

"This highly innovative collection of essays effectively orients students of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament to the many facets of contemporary Pentateuch studies. One of the major benefits of the volume is that it truly offers several ‘new models’ for Pentateuch studies that are not hampered by tenuous and lengthy discussions of redaction criticism. Further, these new models are informative for as well as intelligible to non-specialized audiences. This volume is bound to make a valuable addition to the bookshelves of students, seminarians and scholars alike.”
—Andrew B. Perrin, Toronto Journal of Theology 24 (2008) 262–263

“This collection of 14 substantive essays aims to account for the reception of the Pentateuch as a uniquely authoritative document in the Persian and Hellenistic periods. The distinguished contributors to this erudite volume propose different models for how, when, why and where this took place. Readers will appreciate the introductory essay by the editors that surveys the complex and contested field explored, for the essayists present a bewildering array of theories. Most of the essays interact with the theory of a ‘Persian imperial authorization’ of the Torah, and this book represents the most sustained discussion of that theory since Persia and Torah (2001), edited by James W. Watts. . . . This is a useful volume for anyone who wants to come up to speed with what is happening in Pentateuchal studies. It shows the field is in flux, indeed it appears to be in crisis, with no theory able to secure a scholarly consensus.”
—Gregory Goswell, Australian Biblical Review

“This informative and well-written volume provides an excellent entry-point for scholars, advanced undergraduates and graduate students to explore the fast-changing world of Pentateuchal theory and the relationship of the Torah to its literary and cultural environment.”
—Daniel M. O’Hare, Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 8 (2008): 253–57

“These excellent essays were first presented as papers or oral presentations at the 2006 international meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, and they were edited (very nicely) for publication in this volume in ways to render them more accessible to a wider audience of biblical scholars.

“Even though the central theme is the emergence of an authoritative Pentateuch, the authors touch on a number of topics that can be valuable for the scholarly interests of readers in the wider field of biblical studies and Judaica.”
—Robert Gnuse, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 70 (2008): 867–69

“The contributors to this volume seek models helping to understand the Pentateuch’s rise to prominence as a foundational collection of Scriptures in early Judaism and Samaritanism. Most of them focus on the growing acceptance of the Pentateuch in the Achaemenid and Hellenistic periods. In their endeavour Frei’s theory of a Persian imperial authorization often serves as a starting point. In their instructive introduction, the editors sketch the larger issues that lie at the background of the questions dealt with in the volume. . . . The volume is very well edited. Indexes enhance the usefulness of the collection.”
—J. Lust, Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 84:1 (2008)

“The articles collected in this volume originated in four panels on biblical and ancient Near Eastern law convened during the 2006 International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Edinburgh. The panels investigated ‘the promulgation and acceptance of the Pentateuch as a prestigious writing in the late Persian and early Hellenistic periods’ (p. 1). However, the editors correctly note that the collection of articles goes well beyond conventional conference proceedings. All the articles were extensively revised, often repeatedly, in a thorough peer review process involving referees and the editors. While the editors offer thanks and apologies for the work they imposed on the authors, they need make no apologies to the readers of the final volume. The extensive review process shows in the consistently high quality of the work included.”
—David A. Bosworth, Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 9 (2009)

“There are many more very fine essays in this volume, and anyone interested in pentateuchal and/or Achaemenid studies would greatly benefit from every one of them.”
—Charles Halton, Bulletin of Biblical Research 19:2 (2009)

“Never [before, has there been] so many interesting details and far reaching aspects of the canonization of the Pentateuch presented in one book. I feel obliged to thank the editors for having organized this conference and done such an excellent editorial work. As they tell (p. 18) all essays were ‘doubly refereed’ and ‘extensively revised’ in order to provide the volume with a higher degree of consistence and legibility than normal. And I can confirm that the editors succeeded in their demanding task in most case.

“Thus, this significant volume makes good progress in clarifying the circumstances, under which the Torah has been canonized. It will be appreciated by all scholars, who are engaged in the recent Pentateuchal discussion, to which it has made a remarkable contribution.”
—Rainer Albertz, Journal for the Study of Judaism, 40:3 (2009): 420–24

“This volume significantly advances our understanding of the processes leading to the establishment of the Torah in its present forms as the foundation document of the Jewish and Samaritan communities. . . . The essays . . . taken as a whole . . . form a contribution which no future work on the subject will be able to ignore.”
—W. J. Houston, Vetus Testamentum 59 (2009)

“This volume of essays is a “must have” for any researcher, teacher, graduate student, or high-level undergraduate student interested in the promulgation and acceptance of the Pentateuch/Torah as authoritative sacred writings for the Jewish and Samarian communities during the late Persian and early Hellenistic Periods. While these 14 essays started out as papers given at an international meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature held in Edinburgh (July 2006)m collectively, they read as much more than a standard proceedings volume. Each essay provides an overview of past research into an aspect of the development of Torah during the post-exilic period, a critique of weaknesses in those approaches, and a proposal for (a) new way(s) of understanding how the first five books became the foundational text not only for the Jewish communities in Yehud/Judea and the diaspora but also for (b) the Samarian (later Samaritan) community.

“The editors are to be congratulated for focusing on ‘cutting edge’ issues, helping to transpose these conference papers into tightly-organized but accessible essays (with all lengthy German and French quotations translated into English), and bringing these provocative pieces of first-class scholarship to a wider audience speedily.”
—Gordon J. Hamilton, Studies in Religion, 2008

“The Torah as the Pentateuch stimulates thinking, keeps the debate alive, and is a good resource for pentateuchal studies.”
—Patrick Mazani, Andrews University Seminary Studies 46 (2008): 282–86

“. . . valuable collection of essays.”
—Graham I. Davies, SOTS Book List 2009 =JSOT 33 (2009): 157–58

“Der vorliegende Aufsatzband ist das Ergebnis einer Tagung der Arbeitsgruppe ‘Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Law’ der Internationalen Konferenz des Society of Biblical Literature in Edinburgh, 2006, und gibt einen hervorragenden Einblick in die aktuelle Diskussionslage in der Pentateuch-Forschung.”
—Tobias H. Duncker and Reinhard Achenbach, Zeitschrift für Altorientalische und Biblische Rechtsgeschichte 14 (2008): 499–506

“Le volume reflète le travail d’un atelier organisé lors de la rencontre internationale de la Society of Biblical Literature à Édimbourg en 2006. Ces rencontres forment un lieu important d’échanges entre l’Europe et l’Amérique du Nord en matière d’exégèse biblique. En ce qui concerne la problématique liée à la promulgation de la Torah en tant que loi religieuse, le volume prouve surtout que l’on est encore très loin d’un quelconque consensus.”
—Jan Joosten, Revue d’histoire et de philosophie religieuses 88 (2008): 233–35

“Insgesamt ergibt sich mit dem Sammelband ein repräsentativer Überblick über die derzeitige Forschung zum Themenbereich um Abschulss und Durchsetzung des Pentateuchs. Der Sammelband bietet sich dabei auch für einen schnellen Neueinstieg in diesen wichtigen Forschungsbereich an und ist trotz der besonderen Ausrichtung auf den englischsprachigen Markt auch für den deutschsprachigen Wissenschaftsraum sehr zu empfehllen.”
—Raik Heckl, Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 105 (2010): 197–203""

In the first century CE Jewish identity was defined in a context of significant religious diversity. This presents those who read Paul’s Letters with a problem: how to locate Paul’s thought within the complicated matrices of Jewish intellectual traditions of this period. This study locates Paul within the matrix of Jewish messianic thought between the second century BCE and the first ccentury CE by comparing conceptual elements of messianic traditions in the Parables of Enoch and the undisputed Letters of Paul. Comparative analysis of the nature and functions of the messiah figures in the Parables and the Letters of Paul demonstrates a remarkable combination of shared elements, indicating that Paul was familiar with the Enochic messiah traditions. The extraordinary combination of shared elements is so striking as to preclude the possibility that the Parables and Paul constituted independent developments. The evidence indicates that Paul developed his concept of the Kyrios out of the Enochic Son of Man traditions, or that Paul was at least influenced by these traditions.

Scholars have explored Athanasius’s conflict with other Christian teachers in Egypt who practiced “open-canon” readings and exegetical discussions on “the deeper parts of Scripture,” and who encouraged their students to seek knowledge and heavenly visions apart from the parish clergy. Recent research has shown that many of these groups were not only urban study circles in Alexandria but also various monastic organizations throughout Egypt that admired the Alexandrian theological legacy associated with Origen and the teaching of such revered spiritual guides as St. Antony. By analyzing the tractates of Nag Hammadi Codex I as a fourth-century collection of Christian writings, and comparing its content with themes found in the letters of Antony, we find that the fourth-century reader of this codex, far from encountering teachings typically regarded as “gnostic” (dualism, docetism, a “world-hating spirit”) would have found a number of themes strikingly compatible with Antony’s letters. Finally, we discuss what appeal both collections would have had to monastic readers during the period of religious controversy that characterizes fourth-century Christianity in Egypt.

Recorrido crítico por la figura y la obra de Numenio de Apamea, filósofo griego de la segunda mitad del s. II d.C. que combina el neopitagorismo y el medioplatonismo, sin duda junto a otras influencias más propiamente "orientales", y anuncia el neoplatonismo. Esquema del capítulo: Ediciones. Traducciones. Bibliografía. Estudios de conjunto. Biografía y cronología. Obras. Doctrinas filosóficas: Dios. Materia. La "próschresis" y la fabricación del mundo. El universo y el hombre. Influencia oriental. Posteridad.

How was the universe created, and what is our place within it? These are the questions at the heart of Plotinus’ Against the Gnostics. For the Gnostics, the universe came into being as a result of the soul’s fall from intelligible reality—it is the evil outcome of a botched creation. Plotinus challenges this, and insists that the soul’s creation of the world is the necessary consequence of its contemplation of the ideal forms. While the Gnostics claim to despise the visible universe, Plotinus argues that such contempt displays their ignorance of the higher realities of which the cosmos is a beautiful image.

Against the Gnostics is a polemical text. It aims to show the superiority of Plotinus’ philosophy over that of his Gnostic rivals, and poses unique challenges: Plotinus nowhere identifies his opponents by name, he does not set out their doctrines in any great detail, and his arguments are frequently elliptical. The detailed commentary provides a guide through these difficulties, making Plotinus’ meandering train of thought in this important treatise accessible to the reader.

This course investigates the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the late 1940s and the subsequent events surrounding their acquisition and scholarly evaluation. The archaeological excavation of the Qumran site, the implication of the findings for the understanding of the community that populated it, and the texts associated with it are explored as well. The importance of the scrolls for the text critical study of the Old Testament, the history of Judaism in the late Second Temple period, and various interpretations of the identity of the Qumran sectarians are evaluated.

From the earliest times Eastern races, in common with the rest of mankind, have always held a firm belief in the existence of evil spirits, ghosts, and all kindred powers. The phenomenon of death, the mystery of disease and sickness, and all the other events of common occurrence in daily life gave rise to speculations about the unseen world, which gradually led to a distinction, although slight at all times, between good and evil spirits. The early Semitic people of Babylonia, whoever they may have been or wherever they may have migrated from, found a theology ready to their hands in the adopted country, which they took over from.... Even the Babylonians knew that they needed protection against the evil that existed, and sought their answers in the secrets that remained, them remannts of the story of Eden... It is therefore evident that when the Semitic Babylonian took over the learning of his Sumerian predecessors, he seems also to have unconsciously adapted an enlarged his ideas to fit their beliefs, receiving their doctrines in their entirety as worthy of implicit trust, and in the belief that his teachers must necessarily understand the supernatural powers peculiar to their own country. You will learn about: Various types of evil spirits and their classifications and purposes: where they dwell and where they came from- their origin. The truth about seven key evil spirits described in Luke 11:26 when he said, seven other spirits more evil than himself... How babyloinians used charms and magic to seek success and further their sorcery. Discover how secrets that were carried out from the Garden of Eden became key ingredients that Babylonians used in their sorcery. Babylonian cantantions that were to repell spirits. Secrets of the Babylonian tablets. Demons, Schools, Vampires, Hobgoblins, Ghosts, and Kindred Evil Spirits, which Attack Mankind Original goal of this book was to supply the student of Assyrian Demonology with English transliterations and translations, with the necessary notes, etc., of the documents printed in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Parts of Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets, etc., which have been recently issued by the Trustees of the British Museum. It includes proof of the fact that a considerable proportion of the magical practices which are in use in the East to the present day were well known to the inhabitants of Mesopotamia several thousands of years ago, and that many of them were borrowed by the Hebrews and other dwellers in Syria and Persia from their neighbors on that Tigris and Euphrates.

The Roots of Science

In these Babylonian magical records we have by far the most complete picture of the magic of the ancient world. It is a wondrous story that is told by those bricks and cylinders of stamped clay —the story of civilized man’s first gropings for light. For in these venerable writings we must recognize the first attempts at scientific elucidation of the forces by which man is surrounded. Science, like religion, has its roots deep in magic. The primitive man believes implicitly in the efficacy of magical ritual. What it brings about once it can bring about again if the proper conditions be present and recognized. Thus it possesses for the barbarian as much of the element of certainty as the scientific process does for the chemist or the electrician. Given certain causes certain effects must follow. Surely, then, in the barbarous mind, magic is pseudo-scientific—of the nature of science.

There appears a deeper gloom, a more ominous spirit of the ancient and the obscure in the magic of old Mesopotamia than in that of any other land. Its mighty sanctuaries, its sky-aspiring towers, seem founded upon this belief in the efficacy of the spoken spell, the reiterated invocation. Thousands of spirits various and grotesque, the parents of the ghosts and goblins of a later day, haunt the purlieus of the^temple, battening upon the remains of sacrifice (the leavings of the gorged gods), flit through the night-bound streets, and disturb the rest of the dwellers in houses. Demons with claw and talon, vampires, ghouls—all are there. Spirits blest and unblest, jinn, witch-hags, lemures, sorrowing unburied ghosts. No type of supernatural being appears to have been unknown to the imaginative Semites of old Chaldea. These must all be ‘ laid/ exorcised, or placated, and it is not to be marvelled at that in such circumstances the trade of the necromancer flourished exceedingly. The witch or wizard, however, the unprofessional and detached practitioner with no priestly status, must beware. He or she was regarded with suspicion, and if one fell sick of a strange wasting or a disease to which he could not attach a name, the nearest sorcerer, male or female, real or imaginary, was in all probability brought to book..

Priestly Wizards

The wizard and the witch were known as Kassapu or Kassaptu. These were the sorcerers or magicians proper, and that they were considered dangerous to the community is shown by the manner in which they are treated by the code of Khammurabi, in which it is ordained that he who charges a man with sorcery and can justify the charge shall obtain the sorcerer’s house, and the sorcerer shall plunge into the river. But if the sorcerer be not drowned then he who accused him shall be put to death and the wrongly accused man shall have his house.

The Word of Power

As in Egypt, the word of power was held in great reverence by the magicians of Chaldea, who believed that the name, preferably the secret name, of a god possessed sufficient force in its mere syllables to defeat and scatter the hordes of evil things that surrounded and harassed mankind. The names of Ea and Merodach were, perhaps, most frequently used to carry destruction into the ranks of the demon army. It was also necessary to know the name of the devil or person against whom his spells were directed. If to this could be added a piece of hair, or the nail-parings in the case of a human being, then special efficacy was given to the enchantment. But just as hair or nails were part of a man so was his name, and hence the great virtue ascribed to names in art-magic, ancient and modern. The name was, as it were, the vehicle by means of which the magician established a link between himself and his victim, and the Babylonians in exorcising sickness or disease of any kind were wont to recite long catalogues of the names of evil spirits and demons in the hope that by so doing they might chance to light upon that especial individual who was the cause of the malady. Even long lists of names of persons who had died premature deaths were often recited in order to ensure that they would not return to torment the livin
Mesopotamian
Myths and Legends of Babylonia and Assyria, is a book that includes explanations of Babylonian and Assyrian legends and myths as well as the myths themselves. Lewis Spence, in the Preface, describes his purpose in writing the book as providing the reader with "the treasures of romance latent in the subject, the peculiar richness of which has.....

That Chaldean magic was the precursor of European mediaeval magic as apart from popular sorcery and witchcraft is instanced not only by the similarity between the systems but by the introduction into mediaeval magic of the names of Babylonian and Assyrian gods and magicians. Again and again is Babylon appealed to even more frequently than Egypt, and we meet constantly with the names of Beelzebub, Ishtar (as Astarte), Baal, and Moloch, whilst the names of demons, obviously of Babylonian origin, are encountered in almost every work on the subject. Frequent allusions are also made to the ‘wise men’ and necromancers of Babylon, and to the ‘ star-gazers ’ of Chaldea. The conclusion is irresistible that ceremonial magic, as practised in the Middle Ages, owed much to that of Babylon.

Our information regarding Chaldean magic is much more complete than that which we possess concerning the magic of ancient Egypt. Hundreds of spells, incantations, and omen-inscriptions have been recovered, and these not only enlighten us regarding the class of priests who practised magic, but they tell us of the several varieties of demons, ghosts, and evil spirits ; they minutely describe the Babylonian witch and wizard, and they picture for us jnany magical ceremonies, besides informing us of the names of scores of plants and flowers possessing magical properties, of magical substances, jewels, amulets, and the like. Also they speak of sortilege or the divination of the future, of the drawing of magical circles, of the exorcism of evil spirits, and the casting out of demons.

The study presents the incipit of the “Gospel of Thomas” in the context of Christian canonical and apocryphal Christian literature of the early Christian centuries. After a few notes about the discovery of the Codes of Nag Hammadi, it examines the reception of the Gospel according to Thomas by the ancient authors, and then it studies the value of the literary composition of the text in the light of the writings known as the “Gospels.” The “Gospel of Thomas”, as we read in the incipit, is a collection of words pronounced by Jesus, known as “the Living One”, who passes the secret words whose meaning is to find out by the reader down to apostle Thomas only.

A lo largo de su historia el Imperio romano tuvo que hacer frente a numerosas revueltas, debido al enorme territorio que controlaba. De entre los pueblos que las protagonizaron, los hebreos se contaban entre los que con mayor insistencia lucharon por recuperar su independencia. En cuanto a los diversos conflictos que enfrentaron a judíos y romanos, la que, a la postre, seria recordada como la Primera Guerra Judeo-romana (66-73 d.C.) pasó a la historia como el más importante de todos. Ello se debe tanto a que requirió de la participación de dos futuros emperadores al mando de las tropas romanas que debían restablecer la paz en la provincia de Judea, Vespasiano y su hijo Tito, como al hecho de que la ciudad de Jerusalén y el Gran Templo que albergaba acabaron completamente destruidos.

En el año 66 d.C. numerosos factores se unieron al odio que sectores radicales hebreos sentían hacia sus conquistadores romanos, provocando la caída del procurador de Judea, Gesio Floro, y la derrota del Legado de Siria, Cestio Galo, en Beth Horón, quien acudió con sus tropas a pacificar la región sin conseguirlo. El movimiento fue cobrando fuerza tras estos éxitos, y Jerusalén se convirtió en el epicentro del independentismo judío. Roma no podía permanecer pasiva ante estos acontecimientos y Nerón envió allí a Vespasiano, un general experimentado, para acabar de una vez por todas con el problema. La resistencia implacable que demostraron los rebeldes y los problemas políticos que, durante ese tiempo, se produjeron en Roma, provocaron que la conquista final quedara en manos de su capaz hijo Tito quien, a la postre, consiguió conquistar Jerusalén y acabar con la revuelta. El gran triunfo que se celebró en Roma para conmemorar la victoria era lo que la nueva dinastía Flavia necesitaba para afianzar su poder. Sin embargo, la campaña no finalizó hasta el año 73 d.C., tras la toma de la fortaleza de Masada, donde los últimos insurrectos prefirieron suicidarse antes de ser derrotados. El enfrentamiento se saldaría con una enorme pérdida de vidas, tanto entre los soldados romanos como entre los insurrectos judíos y la población civil. Gracias a la obra de Flavio Josefo, podemos reconstruir lo sucedido para poder así conocer con detalle uno de los grandes episodios de la Historia Antigua.

Recently most of the Dead Sea Scrolls have been published online in high resolution photographs at http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/ and http://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/. This book is designed to integrate those images into Logos / Verbum, so that you can read along with the original images.
For a video showing how the book works within Logos / Verbum, cf. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3lU0ZJ4n1M
Forum discussion can be found here: https://community.logos.com/forums/t/66223.aspx?PageIndex=1

The frequent replacement of conditional (ky), “if,” with its semantic equivalent ('im) by the Temple Scroll has been well documented. The replacement occurs in some cases when the redactor incorporates biblical laws that employ yk to mark the “if” clause, or protasis. This article examines the conditions for that replacement and demonstrates the system employed by the author of the Temple Scroll, as well as the inter-relation between its spacing (paragraph) system and its selection of conditionals. In the process of the examination, the system of protasis markers more broadly in the Semitic languages is examined (in Akkadian; Ugaritic/Northwest Semitic). Both epigraphy and rabbinic Hebrew are taken into account, as is the evidence of Ben Sira and other manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The article demonstrates that the conditions for replacement were not merely matters of historical linguistics alone; nor are the replacements merely random. The system is explained as an interaction between language and text. The author of 11QTemple recognized the rules governing the hierarchical ordering of conditionals in the Covenant Code, and saw further that there was a different system in play in Deuteronomy, and sought to create a more consistent system.

The Temple Scroll’s use of conditionals therefore demonstrates the redactor’s sophistication as a reader of his sources and his accomplishment as an editor. His engagement with the biblical text in the service of improving upon it is not limited to large-scale rearrangements of law or changes of voicing. It permeates the scroll to its very language and syntax. In presenting what purports to be the direct discourse of God, the redactor makes regular inroads into the text to systematize its order and syntax, to rearrange its sequence, and to re-voice or to “de-voice” texts originally attributed to Moses. Paradoxically, the rejection of all mediation, whether Mosaic or editorial, can only be accomplished by increasing the degree of human mediation of that revelation. Precisely in the archaizing attempt to deny literary history, the author discloses that his work is not “original” but hermeneutical and redactional. The Temple Scroll is the creation of a community engaged with a scriptural tradition and a scriptural language, from which they are long distant, and yet whose pristine, revelatory voice they seek, “hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow,” to revivify and to claim as their own.

The article includes several appendixes:

Appendix I: The Use of ky and 'im in Selected
Legal Texts from Qumran
-The use of ky in MiqsatMaaśe ha-Torah
-The use of ky in the Damascus Document
-The use of ky in 1QS

APPENDIX II.1:
THE USE OF {ki} AND THE SPACING SYSTEM
OF THE TEMPLE SCROLL

APPENDIX II.2: THE USE OF {'im} AND THE SPACING SYSTEM OF THE TEMPLE SCROLL

Keywords:
Temple Scroll; 11QTemple; conditionals; protasis markers; comparative Semitic linguistics; law of the king; legal syntax; if-clause; Covenant Code; historical grammar of biblical Hebrew; Dead Sea Scrolls Hebrew; mishnaic Hebrew; epigraphy; Hebrew grammar; Qumran language; conditionals; biblical law; Ugaritic hippiatric corpus; if-clause; Landgabeformel,“land-grant formula”; spacing system; ancient manuscripts; comparative Semitic linguistics; closed paragraph interval; open paragraph interval; author; editor; biblical interpretation at Qumran; authorial voice of Temple Scroll; Temple Scroll's bid for authority; syntax of conditional clauses in Hebrew; isogloss.

This book offers fresh readings of the Gospel of Philip (NHC II.3) and the Exegesis on the Soul (NHC II.6) from new theoretical and historical perspectives. Eschewing the category of “Gnosticism” and challenging common categorisations, the book analyses the preserved Coptic texts as coherent Christian compositions contemporary with the production and use of the Nag Hammadi Codices. A methodological framework based on Cognitive Poetics is outlined and applied to illuminate how the texts present a soteriology of transformation through religious rituals and practices using complex conceptual and intertextual blends with important polemical and paraenetic functions. The analysis highlights the use of metaphors and allusions in (re-)interpretations of authoritative Scripture, ritual and dogma. Complete Coptic texts and translations are included.

Is the Nag Hammadi Apocalypse of Paul a Valentinian text? Many would say no, few would say yes. The Valentinian Temple brings together all the available evidence to produce a systematic argument in favour of the Apocalypse of Paul’s Valentinian origins.

From Valentinus himself to the Gospel of Truth and the Gospel of Philip, this book traces one of the most neglected trajectories in Valentinian Christianity, namely the pursuit of mystical experiences oriented around a heavenly temple. Starting with the divine Name in the fragments of Valentinus, the development of a high-priestly Christology is uncovered across a range of primary sources, culminating in the Gospel of Philip’s temple-based rituals of initiation. The Valentinian Temple argues that it is against this intellectual background that the Apocalypse of Paul ought to be understood.

This book will be of interest to experts and students in Gnosticism, Valentinianism, early Christianity, Coptic and biblical literature, and Pauline studies.

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