The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism Collins, John J & Harlow, Daniel C (eds.)

Abstract

The upsurge in studies on Second Temple Judaism in the past decades makes the publication of a dictionary focusing on “Early Judaism” no surprise. Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the resurgence of interest in the Pseudepigrapha made a wealth of primary sources available to scholars, Second Temple Judaism has been the focus of many publications and conference papers in the past decades – an interest field which remains in vogue today. The editors of this dictionary express their surprise that “[d]espite the proliferation of studies, however, there has not hitherto existed a major reference work devoted specifically to this period” (p. vi). The publication of this dictionary is therefore a timeous effort.