This book invites the reader to try to get in the Talmud. Nowadays, people are scarcely able to try. They do not know how to begin or where--or why. Getting into the Talmud is no easy matter, even for those Jews who are ardent to recover for themselves what their ancestors once knew. This invitation is to join a community of learning men and women, for Talmudic learning is collective. You do not "read" the Talmud, you "learn" it, preferably with a haver, or a fellow student, and always with a rabbi. Here, Neusner shall be your rabbi.

In the 14th century BC the Hittites became the supreme political and military power in the Near East. How did they achieve their supremacy? How successful were they in maintaining it? What brought about their collapse and disappearance? This comprehensive history of the Hittite kingdom seeks to answer these questions. It takes account of important recent advances in Hittite scholarship, including some major archaeological discoveries made in the last few years. It also features numerous translations from the original texts, so that on many issues the ancient Hittites are given the opportunity to speak to the modern reader for themselves. The revised edition contains a substantial amount of new material, as well as numerous other revisions to the first edition.

The eminent Judaica scholar Jacob Neusner provides here the first form-analytical translation of the Mishnah. This path-breaking edition provides as close to a literal translation as possible, following the syntax of Mishnaic Hebrew in its highly formalized and syntactically patterned language. Demonstrating that the Mishnah is a work of careful and formal poetry and prose, Neusner not only analyzes the repeated construction but also divides the thoughts on the printed page so that the patterned language and the poetry comprised in those patterns emerge visually.

"With meticulous methodology and with rare stylistic beauty of expression, Neusner. . . has produced an incomparable translation of the Mishnah, both new and innovative, which reflects the genius of the original Hebrew idiom. Neusner penetrates the Tannaitic mind, capturing its spirit, its subtle nuances, and its poetic cadences. . . A most impressive volume which transcends all previous versions of the Mishnah."--Choice

"The overall effect is a linguistic purity and simplicity which strives to capture not only the substance, but the spirit and style of the Mishnah's universe. . . . An artful and impressive addition. . . . It deserves not only admiration but serious attention as well."--Charles Raffel, Judaica Book News

"The work is significant because for the first time it makes available to student and scholar alike a rendition of the Mishnah which attempts to convey not only the substance of that document, but the highly patterned and formalized language which Neusner believes is the key to comprehending its contents."--Daniel H. Gordis, Hebrew Studies

The writers of the Bible, like any other authors, were dependent on a vast array of literary sources from their time--the ancient world. Many of these documents are tragically lost, but what remains provides insight into the voluminous, fascinating, complex, and dynamic literary world that shaped the expressions of faith found in the Old and New Testaments. Part of these extant sources are known as the Pseudepigrapha. This collection of Jewish and Christian writings shed light on early Judaism and Christianity and their doctrines.

This landmark 2-volume set includes all 65 Pseudepigraphical documents from the intertestamental period that reveal the ongoing development of Judaism and the roots from which the Christian religion took its beliefs. A scholarly authority on each text contributes a translation, introduction, and critical notes for each text. Edited by James H. Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha includes contributions from E. Isaac, B. M. Metzger, J. R. Mueller, S. E. Robinson, D. J. Harrington, G. T. Zervos, and many others. Originally published by Yale University Press, the leading critical translation of these ancient texts is now available from Hendrickson Publishers in paperback--and at a fraction of its original price.

Available in a two-volume set, or as individual volumes:

Two-volume set: ISBN 9781598564891

Volume 1: 9781598564914

Volume 2: 9781598564907

Volume 1 contains "Apocalyptic Literature" and "Testaments" that reflect a wildly varying trend towards apocalypticism in ancient Judaism. Yet, despite the existence of this movement on the fringe of Judaism, the movement maintained a definitive influence, and produced amazing, if not disturbing, literary expressions. There can be no doubt that these writings shaped the apocalyptic imagination of the biblical authors and helped to shape the way early Christians interpreted the promised return of Jesus Christ.

If the contents of Volume 1 were not enigmatic enough, Volume 2 is, arguably, even more cryptic in its contents featuring expansions of the Hebrew Bible--legends and wisdom literature, prayers and psalms, and fragments of lost works. While these works are not so imaginative as Volume 1, they do much to aid our understanding how the religious life of Judaism was lived and practiced in the ancient world, after the Old Testament closed and Christianity began to emerge.

As a unit, the two volumes, like no other collection of texts available, illuminates the literary, social, religious, and theological context in which the Bible was shaped. They are an indispensable tool providing great insight into how religion functioned and how it was expressed in both official and unofficial circles.

Editor James H. Charlesworth is the George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature and director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Project at Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey. He also directs the Syrus Sinaiticus Project at St. Catherine's Monastery in Sinai. Charlesworth is a world-renowned translator, particularly of pseudepigraphical material, and the author of Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls, The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls, The Serpent: A Symbol of Life or Death? and The Historical Jesus.