This volume places the New Testament letters squarely in the middle of all the important letter corpora of antiquity. Chapters cover the basic letter formula, papyrus and postal delivery, non-literary and diplomatic correspondence, Greek and Latin literary letters, epistolary theory, letters in early Judaism, and all the letters of the New Testament. Part I of each chapter surveys each corpus, followed by detailed exegetical examples in Part II. Comprehensive bibliographies and 54 exercises with answers suit this guide to student and scholar alike.
Hans-Josef Klauck (Th. D. University of Munich) is Professor of New Testament at the University of Chicago
Preface Abbreviations General Bibliographies List of Bibliographies List of Exercises Inroduction 1. Foundations--Two Letters of Apion and Two Letters of the ""Elder"" 2. Practical Realities--Paper and Postal System 3. Nonliterary and Diplomatic Correspondence 4. Poetry and Philosophy--Literary Letters 5. Epistolary Theory and Rhetoric 6. Letters in Early Judaism 7. New Testament Letters I: Overview 8. New Testament Letters II: Selected Texts Epilogue Answer Key Index of Ancient Sources Index of Modern Authors Index of Subjects
"This splendid book is vintage Klauck. He offers a close reading of a wide range of ancient letters as well as brief discussion of ancient epistolary theory and of rhetoric. He strikes just the right balance between basic instruction and original insight." -Abraham J. Malherbe, Yale Divinity School "The ancient world - both Jewish, Greek, Roman and Christian - was through and through a culture of letter writing. Klauck's already classic, German presentation and discussion from 1998 of the actual evidence for this claim is here made available in English in a thoroughly updated version that engages the best of both European and North American scholarship from the 20th and 21st centuries. The book is a must for anyone seriously concerned to understand ancient epistolary communication, including one-third of the New Testament." -Troels Engberg-Pedersen, University of Copenhagen "This is an outstanding book, since it combines basic syllabus material with advanced philological and exegetical scholarship. Its author displays a profound knowledge both of Early Christianity and of the Hellenistic-Roman world. A special asset consists of the numerous little-known examples of ancient letters which are presented in a most convenient and easily accessible way in this rich book." -Samuel Vollenweider, University of Zurich, Switzerland
