The Rebirth of the Phoenix -- A Study of Hellenistic Jewish Literature

Author: Liang Gong et al.
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Features: The Hellenistic period began in 334 BC with Alexander the Great's eastern campaign and ended in 30 BC with Rome's conquest of Egypt. The author adopts a broad definition, narrating Jewish literature from the 4th century BC to the medieval period, nearly a thousand years of history. This period was marked by the collision and fusion of two major sources of Western culture—Classical Greek culture and Hebrew culture—and was also the time when the Hebrew Bible (i.e., the Old Testament) took shape and was finalized, as well as the formation of the Christian Bible (i.e., the New Testament). The author presents the basic development and evolution of Jewish literature during this period with fairness, analyzing and introducing its mainstream literature—the later books of the Hebrew Bible, the majority of the apocryphal books, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Talmudic literature, and early Christian literature. The content is rich, the language vivid and fluent, and the book is highly readable.