This volume is the result of the 2014 Symposium for Biblical and Early Christian Studies, organised by the editors, which took place at the University of St Andrews (2–3 June). The theme of the gathering was “Ancient Readers and Their Scriptures: The Texts, Reading Strategies, and Versions of the Hebrew Bible in Second Temple and Early Judaism,” a theme designed to examine the influence of Jewish scriptural texts on literary production in early Judaism and Christianity. A unifying feature of the various ancient corpora that are subsumed under this heading is their often intense exegetical interest in the wording and thematic substance of the works that came to make up the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. Organising the symposium in this manner allowed us to bring into conversation scholarship on the Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the New Testament, Rabbinic Literature, and early Christianity, and offer experts an opportunity to peek over the fence and see how discourse on this topic operates in cognate fields. A major outcome of the gathering, which is on display in this volume, is that scholars of the New Testament are now taking more seriously the textual culture of the late Second Temple period, the period in which the majority of the New Testament was composed. This volume provides a snapshot into how the differing disciplines approach the reuse and interpretation of scripture in ways that are mutually illuminating.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the University of St Andrews’ Development Office, St Mary’s College, and the St Mary’s College Society for generously funding the conference and to the many postgraduate students who assisted in its execution. Thanks also go to delegates and presenters who contributed to an exhilarating gathering.