This book presents a synthesis of Gerbern Oegema's extensive research on apocalypticism and Biblical interpretation. Oegema works with the hypothesis that apocalypticism was a major current and mindset from the beginning of the Second Temple period, through Enochic literature, the Qumran Scrolls and the New Testament into Late Antiquity, shaping many inner-Jewish traditions and those emerging from Early Judaism, namely the Early Church and Rabbinic Judaism. The topics and texts dealt with range from prophecy and apocalypticism in Second Temple Judaism, messianic expectations in the Qumran writings, the apocalyptic interpretation of the Patriarchs in 4QPatriarchal Blessings (4Q252), the 'Coming of the Righteous One' in 1 Enoch, Qumran and the New Testament, to the historical Jesus between Early Judaism and Early Christianity.

PrefaceI. Early JudaismChapter 1: Prophecyand Apocalypticism in Second Temple JudaismChapter 2: MessianicExpectations in the Qumran Writings: Trajectories in their DevelopmentChapter3: The ApocalypticInterpretation of the Patriarchs in 4QPatriarchalBlessings (4Q252)II. The Historical JesusChapter 4: The'Coming of the Righteous One' in 1 Enoch,Qumran and the New TestamentChapter 5: The Historical Jesus between EarlyJudaism and Early ChristianityChapter 6: Jesus' Prophetic and Apocalyptic Interpretationof ScriptureIII. The Apostle Paul and the Early ChurchChapter 7: Jesus and His SecondComing: Between Messianism and EschatologyChapter 8: The ChristologicalInterpretation of the Bible in the Letters of PaulChapter 9: Paul and theDevelopment of Early Christian EschatologyChapter 10: 2 Baruch, the Messiah, and the Bar Kochba RevoltIV. Reception HistoryChapter 11: Back to the Future in the EarlyChurch: The Use of the Book of Daniel in Early Patristic EschatologyChapter12: The Heritage of Jewish Apocalypticism in Rabbinic and Early Medieval JudaismIndex