The Journal Of Jewish Studies Vol I N 1

Samuel Ibn Tibbon (c. 1165-1232) - the eminent translator, philosopher, and exegete - is most famous for his Hebrew translation of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed . However, he wrote original works as well, and laid the foundations for a distinctive philosophical-exegetical movement, what is today called 'Maimonideanism'. James T. Robinson's book includes a first English translation of Ibn Tibbon's commentary on Ecclesiastes, which was the foundational work of the Maimonidean tradition. The translation, with full annotation, is accompanied by an introduction, which provides relevant historical, philosophical and exegetical background, explains difficult passages, and identifies Ibn Tibbon's important contributions to the emergence of Maimonideanism. The author analyzes Ibn Tibbon's sources and influences (in Jewish philosophy and exegesis and in Graeco-Arabic philosophy, especially al-Farabi and Averroes), discusses his theory and method of exegesis, and explains the main arguments and allegories of the work which relate to the problem of human perfection. Responding to and developing the various positions of his time - especially the infamous view of al-Farabi that immortality of the soul is nothing but an old wife's tale - Ibn Tibbon argues that conjunction with the active intellect is possible but rare: only one man in a thousand can attain it. Thus, while the elite few should pursue it - through a life of study and contemplation - the many should focus on perfection in this world: they should eat, drink, and show the soul good.

Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies publishes original, scholarly work and reviews a range of recent books in Judaica. First published in 1981, Shofar is indexed widely, by the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (Thomson Reuters), Scopus (Elsevier), ERIH, and others. The journal is published by Purdue University Press, is circulated in print via subscriptions, and is available in electronic form through the Project MUSE and JSTOR collections.

Emil Schürer's Geschichte des judischen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi, originally published in German between 1874 and 1909 and in English between 1885 and 1891, is a critical presentation of Jewish history, institutions, and literature from 175 B.C. to A.D. 135. It has rendered invaluable services to scholars for nearly a century. The present work offers a fresh translation and a revision of the entire subject-matter. The bibliographies have been rejuvenated and supplemented; the sources are presented according to the latest scholarly editions; and all the new archaeological, epigraphical, numismatic and literary evidence, including the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bar Kokhba documents, has been introduced into the survey. Account has also been taken of the progress in historical research, both in the classical and Jewish fields. This work reminds students of the profound debt owed to nineteenth-century learning, setting it within a wider framework of contemporary knowledge, and provides a foundation on which future historians of Judaism in the age of Jesus may build.

""A Major Collection of Scholarship that Contains the most up-to-Date, Indeed Cutting-Edge Work on Gender and Jewish History by Several Generations of Top Scholars."--Atina Grossmann, the Cooper Union.

The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies reflects the current state of scholarship in the field as analyzed by an international team of experts in the different and varied areas represented within contemporary Jewish Studies. Unlike recent attempts to encapsulate the current state of Jewish Studies, the Oxford Handbook is more than a mere compendium of agreed facts; rather, it is an exhaustive survey of current interests and directions in the field.

The Spirit in First Century Judaism mirrors the growing recognition that the role of the Spirit in Judaism and early Christianity warrants further scholarly inquiry and moreover lays a cornerstone in the foundation of pneumatological studies by scouring the writings of the likes of Plato and Plutarch, Daniel and the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as those of Philo of Alexandria and Flavius Josephus. Levison contextualizes the material both historically and literarily, taking seriously the influence of popular Greco-Roman thinking as well as Jewish exegetical traditions. Convincingly argued, cogently presented, and thoroughly documented, this volume, in the words of the Journal of Jewish Studies, “has profound ramifications for both Jewish and New Testament Studies.” This publication has also been published in hardback, please click here for details.