This collection of essays focuses on the rabbinic understanding of the Torah as well as issues concerning the canon and hermeneutics. It contains articles on the rabbinic interpretation of biblical texts, including the Books of the Maccabees and the Book of Judith as well as studies of the portrayal of biblical themes in the synagogues. Several texts deal with the currents in Palestinian Judaism at the end of the period of the Second Temple, the question of a possible unity in mainstream Judaism and the origins of Christianity. Three of the essays describe the rabbinic concept of the priesthood and of the heavenly liturgy after the destruction of the Second Temple. The last part deals with the similarities and the differences in the Jewish and the Christian interpretation of the Bible, the polemics resulting from the rivalry surrounding the Bible text as well as the question of what Jewish and New Testament scholars can learn from one another.
