Richard S. Hess

Israel's Messiah in the Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls: Richard S. Hess Reprint edition

Was Israel expecting a messiah like Jesus? If not, how did Jesus challenge the messianic preconceptions of the time? With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which include messianic writings dating from around the time of Jesus, the debate over just exactly what sort of messiah Israel was expecting has been reignited. In Israel's Messiah in the Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls, leading scholars provide a comprehensive discussion of messiah as it was understood in the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. In the words of the editors, Israel's Messiah "summarizes and evaluates the best of modern biblical scholarship and applies this material to a mature and fully developed understanding of the figure who lies at the center of the Christian faith." The book does not stop there, however. After discussing and debating the relevance of Messiah to those of Jesus' time, it returns to the present and takes a critical look at how Christians can and should understand Jesus as a source of hope and liberation.