Recognized as a saint by both Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian Christians alike, Jacob of Sarug (d. 521) produced many narrative poems that have rarely been translated into English. Of his reported 760 metrical homilies, only about half survive. In this homily, On the Entrance of Our Lord into Sheol, Jacob tells with great power the invincibility of Sheol and how Christ gave His life to enter into Sheol like any other dead human so that He might conquer it.

For centuries, scholars have approached ancient Hebrew and Syriac languages in an effort to better understand the voices of their authors and situate their writing in their appropriate historical and cultural contexts. In the Shadow of the Author continues this enduring practice by sharing contemporary approaches to uncovering meaning in historical texts from a linguistic perspective and with special emphasis on translation technique and methods in lexicography and linguistic analysis.

The volume commemorates the life and work of Fr. Joseph Mueller, S.J., former Dean of the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University and a Catholic theologian specializing in patristic exegesis, ecclesiology, and ecumenism. This tribute brings together contributions spanning a broad range of theological disciplines, including biblical, historical, and systematic theology, with a particular focus on ecclesiology. Several essays in the volume aim to reflect Fr. Mueller’s scholarly interests, as initially articulated in his doctoral dissertation on the use of the Old Testament in the ecclesiology of the Church Fathers. The memorial volume thus closely follows Fr. Mueller’s academic journey, showcasing the breadth and depth of his influence on theological scholarship.

Does Job convincingly argue against a fixed system of just retribution by proclaiming the prosperity of the wicked—an assertion that distinctly runs contrary to traditional biblical and ancient Near Eastern wisdom? This study addresses this question, giving careful consideration to the rhetoric, imagery, and literary devices used to treat the issue of the fate of the wicked in Job’s first two rounds of dialogue, where the topic is predominantly disputed. The analysis will glean from related biblical and non-biblical texts in order to expose how Job deals with this fascinating subject and reveal the grandeur of the composition.

From the outset, biblical texts were produced in multilingual contexts, with an awareness of language barriers and a pressing need to overcome them. Translating biblical books and compilations has been one of these efforts in multilingual and multicultural mediation. Such translation endeavors were seen from the beginning as both desirable and in need of explanation and justification. This volume brings together studies on Bible translations from antiquity to the present, stemming from a series of international conferences held in Košice, Slovakia, in 2021 and 2022, as well as subsequent research exchanges. It addresses general methodological and conceptual questions, examines ancient translations into Greek, Latin, Syriac, and Coptic, and finally explores historical and recent Bible translations into Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian, and German, considering not only their philological approaches but also their institutional, political, and religious contexts.

Journal of the Association for the Study of Language in Prehistory.