King and Messiah as Son of God: Divine, Human, and Angelic Messianic Figures in Biblical and Related Literature - Softcover

Collins, Adela Yarbro; Collins, John J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802807720 ISBN 13: 9780802807724

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2008

Synopsis

This book traces the history of the idea that the king and later the messiah is Son of God, from its origins in ancient Near Eastern royal ideology to its Christian appropriation in the New Testament. Both highly regarded scholars, Adela Yarbro Collins and John J. Collins argue that Jesus was called “the Son of God” precisely because he was believed to be the messianic king. This belief and tradition, they contend, led to the identification of Jesus as preexistent, personified Wisdom, or a heavenly being in the New Testament canon. However, the titles Jesus is given are historical titles tracing back to Egyptian New Kingdom ideology. Therefore the title “Son of God” is likely solely messianic and not literal. King and Messiah as Son of God is distinctive in its range, spanning both Testaments and informed by ancient Near Eastern literature and Jewish noncanonical literature.

About this title

About the Authors

Adela Yarbro Collins is Buckingham Professor of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale University.

John J. Collins is Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale Divinity School and a recognized expert in early Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls. His many other works include The Apocalyptic Imagination, Beyond the Qumran Community, The Scepter and the Star, and (with Daniel C. Harlow) The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802807720
• ISBN 13: 9780802807724
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 275