In the tradition of older oriental literatures, Arabic literature contains numerous proverbs, moral sayings and worldly-wise dicta, as well as great collections of homiletic and religious sayings. This anthology of Wit and Wisdom is a small drop from a deep ocean – that of the rich aphoristic and proverbial literature of the Arabs. It comprises five hundred items, ranging from the seventh to the twentieth centuries, and is organized under a number of headings which provide a broad classification of the subject matter.

Willem Cornelis van Unnik gives a comprehensive research of the liturgical writings of Isho’yabh IV in the context of the "Nestorian" liturgical tradition based on the manuscript tradition. After an analysis of the text, the author gives an annotated English translation of the text and a reproduction of the original Syriac text with a critical apparatus.

Ephrem the Syrian is known as one of the greatest Christian poets and as a unique author whose mode of thought is usually described as “symbolic.” In this work, Kees den Biesen explores the literary, intellectual, and theological mechanisms at work in Ephrem’s writings with the specific aim of identifying the exact nature of his “symbolic thought” and evaluating its contemporary relevance. Den Biesen elaborates a comprehensive approach that integrates a variety of methods into a genuinely theological methodology. He then proposes his own comprehensive understanding of the nature and merits of Ephrem’s symbolic thought.

This work fills a lacuna in the literature devoted to Peshitta studies and Old Testament textual criticism. The author examines the works of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century scholarship in the field, including the works of Nöldeke, Duval, Wright and others, and proposes corrections to the Syriac text of the Book of Ezra available then. The author then proceeds systematically through the Book of Ezra, giving the critical analysis of the text verse by verse.

The consilium, or advisory council, played an important role in the everyday activities of the Roman magistrate in his role as military commander. This work is an in-depth look at the commander's consilium from its first depicted appearances in the accounts of the legendary period to 31 BC. The concilium adapted to meet changing needs and serves to illustrate how Romans felt about their own society. The role of the commander's consilium can be seen as a pragmatic compromise between the desire for competent leadership and personal ambition on the one hand, and the Romans' ever-present fear of tyrannical behavior on the other.

Codex Sinaiticus is one of the oldest, famous, and most important manuscripts of the Bible. At least three scribes copied the text manually, and they were faced with many decisions: What do I do when I spot an error in the text I just copied? What is the right spelling of this word? Is it time for a new paragraph? This book studies a variety of textual and non-textual phenomena in Codex Sinaiticus. We discover more about this important biblical manuscript as well as the individuals with their own habits, qualities, and skill levels who produced it.