A Star is Rising
Not merely a review or survey of sources, but an interpretive and historical biography of the concept of the Messiah. Laato (exegetics, Abo Academy, Turku, Finland) traces it to Near Eastern royal ideology, then follows its development into a central issue in the Old Testament and Jewish eschatology of the Second Temple period, and to the New Testament christology developed in conjunction with Jewish messianic ideas. Milestones on the journey include Nathan's dynastic oracle, the Assyrian crisis, the post-exile period, Hasmonean propaganda, the Qumran scrolls, and Tannaitic Judaism. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR