The essays by Shemaryahu Talmon presented in this fourth volume of his collected studies in English were written against the background of the momentous manuscript finds at various sites in the Judean Desert, including approximately 200 biblical or Bible-related manuscripts and manuscript fragments discovered at Qumran. These discoveries date from the crucial period of the turn of the era and afford scholars unprecedented information on the early transmission history of the biblical text. Talmon likens the transmission process (in agreement with Paul Kahle, and contrary to Paul de Lagarde) to a confluence of variant pristine traditions that Judaism, Christianity, and the Samaritan communities severally channeled into one fixed and closely circumscribed text form. It is his thesis that at least some of the "biblical" manuscripts and fragments from Qumran preserve original variants of the wording in the Masoretic Text, which eventually was recognized and transmitted in Judaism as the acclaimed and exclusively binding wording of the Hebrew Bible. These manuscripts and fragments evidence a "textual strategy" consisting of the interaction of the original authors and the transmitters of their work. Scribes and editors were minor partners of the authors. They did not refrain from occasionally changing wordings within a given range of "poetic license," often adapting literary techniques and patterns that had been used by the primary creators of the texts that they copied. The 18 essays reprinted in this volume relate to a variety of phenomena that affected the biblical literature in the stages of transition from oral tradition to hand-written transmission, initially in Paleo-Hebrew, then in the square alphabet, and ultimately in the promulgation of the Masoretic version in print. Talmon's articles published herein initially appeared over a period of about 50 years, thus giving expression to his developing thought regarding the transmission history of the biblical text up to the present time. The papers have undergone revision in the process of preparing the present volume. Scholars and students alike will benefit from owning and using this superb comprehensive collection of studies.

The articles in this volume Israel Knohl : The Linking of Holiness Concepts and the broadening of the Borders of Holiness in the Editorial Layer of the Pentateuch. Alexander Rofé : Divorce in the Hebrew Bible and the Meaning of Sefer Keritut. Ishay Rosen-Zvi : A Protocol of the Yavnean Academy? Rereading Tosefta Sanhedrin. Shlomo Toledano : The Talmudic Methodology of Rabbi Bezalel Ashkenazi. Judith Weiss: The Two Zoharic Versions of the Legend of The Tanna and the Deadman. Iris Brown (Hoizman) : ‘The Violation of the Torah is Its True Fulfillment’;Ultra-Orthodox Ruling against the Halakhah for The Emendation of the Sinners – R. Hayim of Sanz as a Case Study.

Table of Contents: Alexander Rofé - Text-Criticism within the Philological-Historical Discipline: The Problem of the Double Text of Jeremiah Jonathan Ben-Dov - Hebrew and Aramaic Writing in the Pseudepigrapha and the Qumran Scrolls: The Ancient Near Eastern Background and the Quest for a Written Authority Itamar Kislev - The Commentaries of Ibn Ezra and Rashbam and the Dispute over the Ingredients of the Altar Incense Yair Lorberbaum - Changes in Maimonides’ Approach to Aggadah Rami Reiner - ‘A Tombstone Inscribed’: Titles Used to Describe the Deceased in Tombstones from Würzburg between 1147–1148 and 1346

Essays in this volume include: Mordechai Cogan – Some Text-Critical issues in the Hebrew Bible from an Assyriological Perspective Gary N Knoppers – Projected Age Comparisons of the Levitical Townlists: Divergent Theories and their significance Michael Avioz – The Date of the Destruction of the First Temple in Ancient Versions and Early Biblical Interpretation Moshe J Bernstein –"Rewritten Bible": A Generic Category which has outlived its usefulness?

Sample pages A digital version of this book is available here In the studies collected in this volume, the author aims at highlighting salient literary modes which can be identified in the books of the Hebrew Bible. The application of such modes is illustrated by analyzing the biblical writers' technique of underscoring the concurrency of events by splitting a narrative account, intersplicing it with a second account, and then resuming the first. Thus they steer clear of conveying the impression of a chronological succession of events in question which would be unavoidable in a one-line sequential presentation. A reinvestigation of the question whether biblical literature ever knew a 'national epic' culminates in the conclusion that ancient Israel rejected this Gattung because of its intrinsic affiliation with pagan cults. In its stead it developed the genre of the 'historiographical psalm'. In a group of studies, identifiable literary traits are brought to bear on the investigation of principles and problems relating to the 'comparative approach' in biblical exegesis.

An introduction book to prophetic literature concentrates on the essence of prophecy as a phenomenon in the history of religion, in the history of prophecy in Israel and the different kinds of prophets in Israel.

This introduction is meant to accompany the reader in the scientific study of the book of Deuteronomy. It is meant for researchers, teachers, and students of Biblical texts in the advanced stages of first degree studies. The language is clear, not professional and the book explains basic issues so that any educated Hebrew speaker can read it. The book deals with ritual laws, legal matters and with speech and narrative elements.

In this volume the author attempts to describe the whole prophetical narrative in the Hebrew Bible, delimiting the extent of the single stories and establishing the date of their composition, their ideas, and message.The discussion centers on the problem of the literary genres, whether the stories are history, legend, parable or any other genre.The artistic value of some of these biblical masterpieces is highlighted. The conclusions bear upon the value of the prophetical stories as sources for the political and religious history of ancient Israel This third edition has been extensively revised and augmented. The second edition, published in 1986, was translated into English, Italian and Russian.