Frank Moore Cross

"In From Epic to Canon, Cross discusses specific issues that illuminate central questions about the Hebrew Bible and those who created and preserved it. He challenges the persistent attempt to read Protestant theological polemic against law into ancient Israel. Cross uncovers the continuities between the institutions of kinship and of covenant which he describes as "extended kinship." He examines the social structures of ancient Israel and reveals that beneath later social and cultural accretions, the concept of covenant - as opposed to codified law - was a vital part of Israel's earliest institutions. He then draws parallels between the expression of kinship and covenant among the Israelites and that among other ancient societies, as well as in primitive societies."--BOOK JACKET.

"The Biblical Qumran Scrolls presents all the Hebrew biblical manuscripts recovered from the eleven caves at Qumran. It provides a transcription of each identifiable fragment in consecutive biblical order together with the textual variants it contains. These manuscripts antedate by a millennium the previously available Hebrew manuscripts. They are the oldest, the best, and the most authentic witnesses to the texts of the Scriptures as they circulated in Jerusalem and surrounding regions at the time of the birth of Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism. The purpose is to collect in a single volume all the biblical editions originally published in a wide variety of books and articles."--Publisher's website.

Since the first publication of this book in 1959 it has become a classic: It is a sober and objective account by a scholar who has taken a leading part in the editing and evaluation of the Qumran texts. The book opens with an account of the history of the finds, and each subsequent chapter deals with a single but major area of scroll research. Each records an attempt to achieve in a given area a synthesis, or at least a systematic interpretation, of the facts now available. Old and new, published and unpublished data are drawn upon. For this revised edition, the history of the finds has been updated to the present, and a final chapter has been added detailing some of the author's views of and reactions to recent discussions and publications not found in the earlier editions.

Keep in rare collection per Dr. William Williams.

Early in 1947, a fifteen-year-old Bedouin boy discovered a cave at the edge of the Dead Sea. In it were broken jars containing scrolls of leather wrapped in linen cloth, inscribed in a strange writing. Soon recognized as "the greatest manuscript discovery of modern times," the chance finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls touched off furious controversy among Bible scholars and fascinated the public. In this book, the author tells the entire story -- of the discoveries, of the attempts to date the manuscripts, of their content and their significance.