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To understand the New Testament well, it is important to study the larger world surrounding it, and one of the primary avenues for this exploration is through reading related ancient texts. But this task is daunting for scholars and novices alike given the sheer size of the ancient literary corpora. The Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies series aims to bridge this gap by introducing the key ancient texts that form the cultural, historical, and literary context for the study of the New Testament. Early New Testament Apocrypha offers an entry point into the corpus of early Christian apocryphal literature through twenty-eight texts or groups of texts. While the majority of the texts fall within the first four centuries CE, and therefore are useful for uncovering the earliest interpretations assigned to the New Testament, select later texts serve as reminders of how the meanings of New Testament texts continued to develop in subsequent centuries. Each essay covers introductory matters, a summary of content, interpretive issues, key passages for New Testament studies and their significance, and a select bibliography., Series Editorship for special issue Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies

Covering the period from 200 BCE to 600 CE, this book describes important aspects of identity formation processes within early Judaism and Christianity, and shows how negotiations involving issues of ethnicity, stereotyping, purity, commensality, and institution building contributed to the forming of group identities. Over time, some of these Jewish group identities evolved into non-Jewish Christian identities, others into a rabbinic Jewish identity, while yet others remained somewhere in between. The contributors to this volume trace these developments in archaeological remains as well as in texts from the Qumran movement, the New Testament and the reception of Paul’s writings, rabbinic literature, and apocryphal and pseudepigraphical writings, such as the Book of Dreams and the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies. The long timespan covered in the volume together with the combined expertise of scholars from various fields make this book a unique contribution to research on group identity, Jewish and Christian identity formation, the Partings-of-the-ways between Judaism and Christianity, and interactions between Jews and Christians.

In this newly translated and expanded version of a volume previously published in Swedish, Cecilia Wassén and Tobias Hägerland consider Jesus as an apocalyptic prophetic figure within the context of first-century Judaism and reconstruct the life of Jesus from his birth to his death, with a focus on understanding him in the context of his own time and place. Engaging critically with the sources, they examine key events of Jesus’ life in order and draw together the threads of scholarly discussion on the history, archaeology and geography of first-century Galilee, forming a complete picture of Jesus' world suitable for non-specialists and university students. Wassén and Hägerland provide a strictly historical reconstruction, distinguishing between the rhetorical aims of the New Testament texts and the information about the past these texts contain. They enhance the texts surrounding Jesus in the context of first-century Galilee with historical and archaeological reflections and discussion, including penetrating insights from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Illustrated throughout with photographs taken by the authors specifically to offer insights into the world of Jesus and the New Testament writings, Jesus the Apocalyptic Prophet provides a deeply informed introduction to Jesus in his first-century context., Original title: Den okände Jesus: berättelsen om en profet som misslyckades, Stockholm: Langenskiölds förlag, 2016

In this article, I engage with Joel Marcus's recent book on John the Baptist, focusing on the relationship between John and the Dead Sea Scrolls. While I appreciate many parts of his detailed study, I question the claim that John was a former member of the Essenes. Although there are intriguing similarities, the question is how far reaching conclusions we may draw concerning such a relationship. I problematize some aspects of the comparison between the sources. Like many scholars, Marcus refers in particular to 1QS and the site of Khirbet Qumran for reconstructing the Essenes and hence John's background. In response, I highlight the uncertainty about the Sitz im leben of 1QS in relation to Khirbet Qumran and ask why this particular manuscript should be privileged over others. Not least when it comes to purity halakhah there are many other documents than 1QS from Qumran that are highly relevant to the issue. Finally, I critically evaluate Marcus's view that John the Baptist had a favorable attitude towards Gentiles, which according Marcus differed from the views of the Essenes.

VR 2013-1044 “Jesus’ Attitude to Purity Laws”

Beyond Theology: Ancient Polemics, Identity formation, and Modern Scholarship

Der Beitrag zeichnet die Grundzüge von Reinheit und Unreinheit im Frühjudentum sowieder üblichen Reinheitspraktiken der jüdischen Bevölkerung in der späteren Zeit desZweiten Tempels nach. Auf diesem Hintergrund werden die auf Speise bezogenen Reinheitspraktikender Qumranbewegung analysiert, die aus den entsprechenden Texten hervorgehen.Viele von ihnen bezeugen die Bedeutung der Unterscheidung zwischen Reinemund Unreinem. „Die Reinheit“ (hațāhaŏrāh) musste vor aller Kontamination geschütztwerden. Einer weitverbreiteten Auffassung zufolge bezeichnet die Terminologie die üblichengemeindlichen Mähler der Bewegung, die im Zustand der Reinheit gegessen wurden.Dabei handelt es sich allerdings um eine von Josephus’ Behauptung, die Essener reinigtensich vor Mählern und beträten den Speisesaal als „Heiligtum“ (Bell 2,128), inspirierte Projektion.Vielmehr unterschieden die Qumranleute zwischen alltäglichen und speziellenMählern. Nur im zuletzt genannten Fall war vollständige Reinheit gefordert, wie sie besonders4QTohorot A (4Q274) nahelegt. Rein praktische Überlegungen müssen bei derRekonstruktion der qumranischen Reinheitspraktiken bedacht werden. Zu beachten istetwa die Tatsache, dass jeder von Zeit zu Zeit in einen unreinen Zustand fiel., Jesus’ Attitude to Purity Laws