Commentaries on Early Jewish Literature
Ed. by Stuckenbruck, Loren T. / Horst, Pieter W. van der / Lichtenberger, Hermann / Mendels, Doron / Mueller, James R.
ISSN 1861-6003

The publishing house Walter de Gruyter is pleased to announce the inauguration of a commentary series which is the first to focus on early Jewish literature. The chief aim of this project is the production of text-based, historical, literary, and theological analyses of Jewish writings whose composition or basic ideas can be traced to the period between the 3rd century BCE (the aftermath of Alexander the Great's conquests) and the mid-2nd century CE (the time of the Bar Cochba revolt and during the codification of the Mishnah).

The approximately 58 CEJL volumes shall attempt to uphold the integrity of each writing in relation to its formative Jewish (and religious-historical) context. Each of the volumes will address the following problems: manuscript evidence, formative religious and tradition-historical developments, and social context. Where appropriate, the CEJL volumes shall provide a framework through which to examine the transmission history of the writings. The creation of the CEJL series comes at a time when Jews and Christians are exploring common and distinguishing dimensions of their respective religious traditions. While much attention has been given in recent years to the 'parting of the ways' between Jews and Christians on the basis of writings in the New Testament, CEJL will mark an important achievement in laying groundwork for a further exploration of the interrelatedness between the two now distinct religions.