This volume describes that part of the rich literary production of
ancient Judaism which was not contained in the Hebrew Bible nor in
rabbinic literature. These writings originated in the Second Temple
period, a period which proved highly creative in the midst of strong
external influences and internal movements. Prime example are the Dead
Sea scrolls, documents of an extremely separatist sect. Their discovery
in 1947 revolutionized our understanding of Second Temple Judaism and
its literature. Yet another group are the Apocrypha, closely related to
later biblical writings and incorporated within the Greek Old Testament.
Finally, the encounter with Greek culture is documented by Jewish
authors writing in Greek, notably Philo and Josephus. After a historical
outline which sets the stage, the chapters of this book describe and
analyse these documents. Selective bibliographies for further reading
conclude the chapters. Includes indexes of sources, names, and
subjects. This is an analysis of the early documents and does not
contain the actual writings of the Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Qumran
sectarian writings, Philo or Josephus.
