ToC | Reading the Old Testament . . . After the Hebrew Bible | ToC

Bibliography

General Works

Cohen, S. J. D. (1987). From the Maccabees to the Mishnah. Philadelphia: Westminster.
A social and literary history of Judaism from the second century B.C.E. through the first century C.E.

McNamara, M. (1983). Intertestamental Literature. Wilmington, Delaware: Michael Glazier.
A sampler of literature roughly from 200 B.C.E. - 200 C.E. It is organized by type of literature or source of origin, using such categories as "apocalyptic literature" and "literature of Hellenistic Judaism."

Nickelsburg, G. W. E. and Stone, M. E. (1983). Faith and Piety in Early Judaism. Texts and Documents. Philadelphia: Fortress.
An anthology of texts with brief literary and historical explanations drawn from the apocrypha, pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls, the works of Philo and Josephus, the New Testament, and the literature of Rabbinic Judaism. Organized by topics such as piety, deliverance, and wisdom, this is a handy sampler of texts "after the Hebrew Bible."

Apocrypha
Some editions of the Bible contain the apocrypha. Roman Catholic translations of Scripture, such as the New American Bible, intersperse these books among the books of the Hebrew Bible. Other versions and editions, such as the New Oxford Annotated Bible based on the New Revised Standard Version, collect all the apocryphal books in one place place and situate it between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Charlesworth, J. H. (1983, 1985). The Old Testament Psesudepigrapha. Volume 1: Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments; Volume 2: Expansions of the "Old Testament" and other Legends, Wisdom and Philosophical Literature, Prayers, Psalms, and Odes, Fragments of Lost Judeo-Hellenistic Works. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
The standard edition of the texts of the apocrypha and pseudeipgrapha in English translation.

Nickelsburg, G. W. E. (1981). Jewish Literature Between the Bible and the Mishnah. A Historical and Literary Introduction. Philadelphia: Fortress.
Summarizes the content of the apocryphal and pseudepigraphical books and provides historical background and some literary analysis.

Pseudepigrapha

 Translations of some of the Pseudepigrapha can be found in Charles (1913) and Charlesworth (1985).

Dead Sea Scrolls
Garcia-Martinez, F. (1996). The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated: The Qumran Texts in English. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Vermes, G. (1987). The Dead Sea Scrolls in English. Third revised and augmented edition, including the Temple Scroll and other recently published manuscripts. London: Penguin.
An up to date and affordable edition of the scrolls. Introductory chapters summarize the history of the Dead Sea Scrolls community and the beliefs of their authors.

New Testament
The books of the New Testament are found in all but Jewish editions of the Bible. Books describing the literature and history of the New Testament abound. One such volume is by David L. Barr (1987). The New Testament Story. An Introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Rabbinic Literature
Bowker, J. (1969). The Targums and Rabbinic Literature. An Introduction to Jewish Interpretations of Scripture. Cambridge: Cambridge University.
Contains a detailed explanation of the various types of classical rabbinic literature which interpret the Hebrew Bible, along with samples of Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis in English translation.

Darby, H. (1933). The Mishnah. London: Oxford University.
The core text of Rabbinic Judaism is the Mishnah. This is an authoritative translation. The expansion on the Mishnah, called the Talmud, can be found in I. Epstein, The Babylonian Talmud. London: Soncino.

Schechter, S. (1961). Aspects of Rabbinic Theology: Major Concepts of the Talmud. New York: Schocken.
ToC | Reading the Old Testament . . . After the Hebrew Bible | ToC