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New Directions in New Testament Study. by Patrick Henry. London, SCM Press, 1979. Pp. 300. £695.

The new edition cites this text to the completely opposite effect: 'Furthermore, the same point of view (as that of Jesus), given in the name of R. Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, is propagated in the Mishnah itself as being the common opinion, namely that "a vow may be annulled on account of the honour due to father and mother"' (new ed., p. 486). Undoubtedly the new Schurer is correct in its handling of the rabbinic evidence, but the question remains as to whether one can claim to be preserving Schiirer's work while directly negating his opinions. The clumsiness of the procedure becomes even more apparent when new footnotes are added in order to draw attention to the unreliability of Schiirer's statements preserved in the main text. See, for example, the implicit critique of Schiirer's confident attribution to Hillel of the seven middoth (fn. 25, p. 344). However, if we put on one side the problem of the relationship between the old and the new Schurer, what the revised volume II presents is an excellent, all-embracing coverage of Jewish culture and religion in the New Testament period. Particularly welcome are the comprehensively revised bibliographies with the occasional judicious comment on the value and standpoint of the books listed. Everywhere the evidence of the DSS has been skilfully incorporated in the text, especially in chapter 30 which has become a masterly, succint treatment of the Essene/Qumran Covenanter problem. Also welcome are the new appendices on the Therapeutae and the Sicarii and Zealots, while chapter 29 (Messianism) with its new appendix on 'The Qumran Messiahs and Messianism' will be of particular value to students of the New Testament. Thus, despite the misgivings expressed above and in the review of volume I about the nature of the enterprise, there can be no doubt about the indispensability of the new Schurer for students and scholars of Judaism in the New Testament period.