This work represents the first time that a major part of the masorah of the great Leningrad Codex, that of the Former Prophets, is being published with an English translation and commentary. The translation and commentary is preceded by an Introduction which deals with topics such as description of the importance of the Leningrad Codex, the Masorah and its development, the Masorah of the Leningrad Codex, and the relation of the Leningrad’s Masorah to the accepted text of the Hebrew Bible. Every masoretic note in the Leningrad Codex that accompanies the text of the six books of the Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel,1 Kings, and 2 Kings) is transcribed, translated and annotated Every occurrence of each lemma is provided with its biblical references, and an indication is given as to where else in the ms. a note for any particular lemma may be found. Furthermore, and most originally, an attempt is made to suggest a reason for each note. The presentation employed in this work is user friendly so, for example, catchwords that occur in the Masoretic notes are arranged horizontally to correspond to their biblical references. This arrangement not only enables readers to immediately see the contexts where lemmas occur, but also to see where the lemmas are distributed in various sections of the Bible. Another aid for students is that all Hebrew references, other than in the ms., are given in a fully vocalized form.

The chapters in Emerging Horizons: 21st Century Approaches to the Study of Midrash pertain to an intriguing midrash that appears in a Masoretic context, the Qur’anic narrative of the red cow, midrashic narratives that rabbinise enemies of Israel, the death of Moses, emotions in rabbinic literature, and yelammedenu units in midrashic works.

Different parts of the Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary are known from the second century onwards. Translations and adaptations into Syriac and other languages also became available from very early centuries. The compilation in the Syriac language was translated into Malayalam in 1925, but an English translation containing the full text did not exist at all. This gap has been filled now by this work. Sebastian Brock’s Foreword gives important information on the background and authenticity of the different sources that form the basis of the text. This biography is unique in that it brings together some very early accounts of the birth of Mary, the birth of Jesus, the flight into Egypt, and most importantly, the very rare account of the ‘Dormition’ or ‘falling asleep’ of the Blessed Mother.

This book has been written for all who serve on Parish Pastoral Councils. It has been written particularly for women and men who exert a service of leadership, or who feel called to exert such a service in a spirit of coresponsibility with others.

As we have experienced the shifting sands of the Covid-19 pandemic, our everyday lives have undergone significant changes. The so-called ‘new normal’ of lockdowns, social distancing and limiting contacts have challenged us all physically, mentally and in many cases financially. These changes have also had a profound effect on our relationship with God and how we express and experience our faith. While some have found opportunity in this time to reconnect and refocus in their lives, for others the fear and uncertainty have raised many difficult questions, such as 'Where is God in all of this?' In I Am With You Still, seventeen voices from across Ireland and further afield, from different backgrounds and faiths, reflect on the impact of the pandemic on their lives and their faith, and look forward with hope to the future. Throughout the book, writer and broadcaster John Quinn provides a series of short reflections, memories and poems written during lockdown that capture something of our journey through the universal time of isolation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

This book is a practical and spiritual guidebook to the Holy Rosary, which not only examines the meaning of its mysteries, but also creates awareness that the Rosary is a prayer deeply rooted in Sacred Scripture. Meditating on the Mysteries of Salvation provides an extensive and joyful guide to praying the Rosary. It includes the basic prayers and the traditional sets of mysteries but also goes beyond that to provide new topics for meditation on a rosary, which either come from the German tradition or which have been newly developed. These include in particular the Miraculous and the Merciful Mysteries.

Pope Francis gives a very personal reflection on the importance of St Joseph as the husband of Mary, the father of Our Saviour and protector of the Church. Announcing a year dedicated to St Joseph the Holy Father presents St Joseph as an example of the type of tender, loving and courageous father so sorely needed in the world and in the Church. In St Joseph we find a sure intercessor in the most difficult moments and impossible situations. "We need only ask Saint Joseph for the grace of graces: our conversion." This volume includes the decree from the Apostolic Penitentiary detailing the conditions for the Special Indulgence available during the Jubilee Year in Honour of St Joseph.

In Seven Voices of Hope we hear from seven characters from the Easter story: Mary Magdalene; Peter; John; Thomas; Simon of Cyrene; the soldier; and Veronica. Each voice is unique. Each voice has a different tempo, feeling and resonance. Each contains comfort, inspiration and, above all, hope.

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, rarely a day goes by when we are not bombarded with distressing images, statistics or forecasts that suggest the future of our planet hangs in the balance and that to avert disaster we must take affirmative action. Time to Call Home is a collection of short meditations inspired by Laudato Si', Pope Francis' landmark encyclical letter on climate change, that encourages the reader to take courage in the face of adversity and to ponder the astonishing gift of the natural world. Unlike many examinations of the environmental crisis, that are understandably prescriptive in approach, the aim of this particular work is not to admonish but to embolden. Readers are inspired to ponder the awesome gift of creation and to heed its attendant call to stewardship of our shared home. With recourse to poetry, scripture, art and music, Hugh O'Donnell takes the reader on an awesome ecological journey, from which we emerge coitted to redoubling our efforts to live at one with our natural surroundings.

Victor Bewley became director of Bewley's cafes at the age of twenty and, the following year, he became managing director - a position held by his father and grandfather before him. He never felt he was a natural businessman but, as the eldest son, he knew from a young age that he was expected to take over the running of the popular Grafton Street, George’s Street and Westmoreland Street cafes. He was thrust into this role following his father Ernest’s untimely death in 1932. There was far more to Victor's life, however, than the successful running of the of Bewley's cafes for forty five years. His memoirs, recounted to his granddaughter several years before his death in 1999, reveal a sensitive man with a quiet determination to increase social awareness and improve people’s lives in any way that he could. This revised edition of Victor Bewley's Memoirs, which includes a new foreword, gives a frank account of his life, revealing why in 1972 he and his brothers handed over Bewley's cafes to the staff, what drove him to dedicate great time and energy to improving the lives of many, why he described parts of his life as ‘undiluted hell’ and how he ended up carrying secret messages from the IRA to the British government.

This book collects systematically all the personal names found in Old Syriac sources in such a way as to enable them to be dealt with from a structural and lexical point of view, and compared with other corpora of Aramaic personal names as well as Hebrew and Arabic names. As far as possible, the personal names of the new finds of unpublished inscriptions discovered recently are included. This study covers all the personal names which are found in the Syriac corpus so far. The book fills a significant gap in scholarship, since there are dedicated works on Palmyrene, Hatran and Nabataean personal names, but no such work exists for early Syriac (pre-Christian Syriac) personal names.

The investigation of this book into early Jewish experiences of God begins with calls to discard any categorical and definitional approaches to the literature of early Judaism, and several enduring preconceptions about its mysticism and theology (particularly the relegation of its mysticism to particular texts and themes, and the molding of its theology in the image of medieval and post-medieval Jewish and Christian monotheisms). With this abandonment, the symbolic language of early Jewish texts gives sharper contours to a pre-formal theology, a theology in which God and divinity are more subjects of experience and recognition than of propositions. This clarity leads the investigation to the conclusion that early Judaism is thoroughly mystical and experiences a theology which is neither polytheistic, nor monotheistic, but deificational: there is only one divine selfhood, the divinity of “God,” but he shares his selfhood with “gods,” to varying degrees and always at his discretion. With some important differentiations which are also introduced here, this theology undergirds almost the entirety of early Judaism – the Bible, post-biblical texts, and even classical rabbinic literature. The greatest development over time is only that the boundaries between God and gods become at once clearer and less rigid.

This monograph explores the nature of the Elijah traditions in rabbinic literature and their connection to the wisdom tradition. By examining the diverse Elijah traditions in connection to the wisdom and apocalyptic traditions, Alouf-Aboody sheds new light on the manner in which Elijah’s role developed in rabbinic literature.

The biblical material translated into Arabic during the Middle Ages included texts from the Hexateuch contained in Codex Sinai Arabic 3, the first in the Christian Arabic Texts series now being published. This set of six texts (Pentateuch + Joshua) is of enormous interest, for what it tells us not only about translating into Arabic, and about the techniques and strategies adopted by the translators, but also about the revi-sions and reworkings to which the original translations were subjected, and in general about the transmission process undergone by biblical texts in the hands of successive copyists.

As the first volume of the Sebastianyotho series, this book collects Sebastian P. Brock’s articles related to Ephrem the Syrian. The articles cover a wide array of topics, including a biographical overview of the saint, an exposition of St. Ephrem’s importance for Christianity today and his relevance as a theologian, an analysis of some of his works, and a bibliographic guide to editions of these works. While most of the articles were previously published, many are updated and some are published in English for the first time.

In and Around Maimonides presents eight highly focused studies on Moses Maimonides and those around him.