Lindsey Davidson, *Scribal Culture in Ben Sira*. Leiden: Brill, 2018.

Joseph Scales, *Galilean Spaces of Identity: Judaism and Spatiality in Hasmonean and Herodian Galilee*. Leiden: Brill, 2024.

We interpret the world surrounding us through the constructed spaces we inhabit. These spaces are formed by human activities and, in turn, shape the way people live. This book delves into an analysis of archaeological and textual evidence from the inception of Hasmonean influence in Galilee to the outbreak of the First Jewish War against Rome, exploring how Judaism was socially articulated: in bodily, communal, and regional dimensions. Within each articulation, certain elements of Jewish identity are present, including ideas of purity, communal gatherings, and Galilee's ties with the Hasmoneans, Jerusalem, and the Temple during its last days.

Lindsey Davidson, *Scribal Culture in Ben Sira*. Leiden: Brill, 2018.

This monograph explores the concept of scribal culture as a lens for analyzing the characteristics of textual referencing in the Book of Ben Sira (c.198-175 BCE), offering fresh perspectives on how Ben Sira crafted his wisdom literature. While the term "scribe" is frequently attributed to Ben Sira, this label brings with it certain interpretive difficulties. By employing comparative analysis, this study situates the sage’s writing style within various historical, literary, and socio-cultural contexts. It illuminates aspects of Ben Sira’s text and the early Jewish practice of textual reuse. Utilizing both physical and material evidence related to reading and writing, this book uncovers the skill and intricacy involved in Ben Sira’s ongoing textual reuse. Consequently, Ben Sira’s work exemplifies outstanding writing that resonates with an appreciative audience.

Charlotte Hempel, *The Community Rules from Qumran: A Commentary*. Tubingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2020. Paperback edition published by Fortress Press, 2023.

The Community Rule stands as one of the most significant documents to have originated from Qumran. For the initial 50 years following its discovery, scholars primarily depended on the well-preserved copy found in Cave 1. During this period, the document was extensively analyzed for insights into the theology, ideology, and practices of the community that had established itself near the Qumran site. Since the early 1990s, ten additional copies have been made available and published. Furthermore, the Commentary investigates the type of literature represented by these manuscripts. This approach shifts the perspective on the Community Rule from merely a semi-documentary text to one that considers the wider cultural context of codification and textualization aimed at identity formation. The Textual Notes are created with the assistance of multispectral digital images of the manuscripts from Caves 4, 5, and 11.

Emmylou Grosser, *Unparalleled Poetry: A Cognitive Approach to the Free-Rhythm Verse of the Hebrew Bible*. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023.

For over two and a half centuries, the study of biblical Hebrew poetry has largely been influenced by metrical theories and the concept of parallelism. Although there is a growing agreement that biblical poetry does not adhere to metrical norms, a cohesive understanding of parallelism itself, or the features that classify biblical poetry as 'verse' or 'poetry' in the absence of meter, graphical lineation, and line-ending markers, has not yet been achieved. This monograph argues for the necessity of a new paradigm for biblical poetry, one that separates itself from both parallelism and meter. By employing the Cognitive Poetics framework developed by Reuven Tsur, Emmylou Grosser shifts the conversation regarding the structure of biblical poetry towards the auditory and perceptual experiences of the listener or reader. She contends that the line-units of biblical poetry emerge within the cognitive experience of the audience and offers a comprehensive analysis of the free-rhythm versification system that is intrinsic to biblical poetry. Grosser's cognitive perspective on biblical poetry tackles the extensive variety of lines and poems found in the Bible, shedding light on both the structural elements of biblical poetry and the artistic effects that can be achieved. This book presents a promising new paradigm for those who engage with the Bible, while also opening avenues for new investigations into nonmetrical poetries and the notion of 'parallelism' observed globally.

Alex Jassen, *Violence, Power and Society in the Dead Sea Scrolls*. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2025.

Violence emerges as a pivotal theme within the Dead Sea Scrolls. It captivated the Sectarians who penned these scrolls, viewing themselves as victims of oppression. Their apocalyptic vision was filled with aspirations of retribution against their foes. In this scholarly work, Alex P. Jassen examines the intricate relationship between violence and power as depicted in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the ancient sectarian movement that both created and preserved these texts. By adopting a multidisciplinary approach, he offers profound insights into the origins and significance of violence for those connected to the Dead Sea Scrolls. He demonstrates how they navigated a landscape overshadowed by more powerful Jewish factions and the overwhelming influence of foreign entities. Jassen investigates the complex interplay between violence, power, and social groups, drawing on cross-cultural instances of sectarianism, millennial movements, and marginalized communities, with particular emphasis on New Religious movements such as the Branch Davidians.