The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha

Abstract The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha is meant to be a premier reference work for the study of the so-called Old Testament Apocrypha, important early Jewish texts that have become deutero-canonical for some Christian churches and non-canonical for other churches and that are of lasting cultural significance. In addition to the place given to the classical literary, historical, and tradition-historical introductory questions, this Handbook will focus on the major social and theological themes of each individual book. Special attention will be given to the Apocrypha’s portrayal of gender and sexuality, their ethics, and their reception history. Several chapters will deal with overarching topics, such as genre and historicity, Jewish practices and beliefs, and the relation of the Apocrypha to the Septuagint, Qumran, Pseudepigrapha, and New Testament, thus also offering important insights on the place of the Apocrypha in Second Temple (or early) Judaism. With contributions from leading scholars from around the world, the Handbook provides the authoritative reference work on the current state of Apocrypha research, and at the same time, carves out future directions of study.