The series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZNW) is one of the oldest and most highly regarded international scholarly book series in the field of New Testament studies. Since 1923 it has been a forum for seminal works focusing on Early Christianity and related fields. The series is grounded in a historical-critical approach and also explores new methodological approaches that advance our understanding of the New Testament and its world.
The present contributions examine three modes of interpretation-rewriting, appropriation, and commentary-within early Jewish and Christian texts. As is well known, scriptural interpretation was important, even central, for the process of identity formation in early Jewish and Christian communities. The modes of scriptural interpretation covered in the present volume not only betray deep commonalities in their approach and discursive field, but also illuminate the practical side of interpretation to which communal and/or polemical application is intrinsic. These different modes co-exist, operating side by side across the early period, rather than conforming to any clear developmental scheme. In the end, the category of interpretation itself turns out to be capatious, including material from sectarian Halakhah to Valentinian mythology to Rabbinic heresiological discourse. Further, contributors note that in a myriad of ways we remain the heirs of the interpretive projects explored here. Attending to the reception of scriptural texts in their ancient interpretation offers the opportunity for scholars to highlight their possibilities, promises and difficulties, opening them for others with ears to hear.
B. Edsall, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne;
J. Schröter, Humboldt University Berlin;
J. Verheyden, Catholic University Leiden.
