In this book, Jason A. Staples proposes a new paradigm for how the biblical concept of Israel developed in Early Judaism and how that concept impacted Jewish apocalyptic hopes for restoration after the Babylonian Exile. Challenging conventional assumptions about Israelite identity in antiquity, his argument is based on a close analysis of a vast corpus of biblical and other early Jewish literature and material evidence. Staples demonstrates that continued aspirations for Israel's restoration in the context of diaspora and imperial domination remained central to Jewish conceptions of Israelite identity throughout the final centuries before Christianity and even into the early part of the Common Era. He also shows that Israelite identity was more diverse in antiquity than is typically appreciated in modern scholarship. His book lays the groundwork for a better understanding of the so-called 'parting of the ways' between Judaism and Christianity and how earliest Christianity itself grew out of hopes for Israel's restoration.

'Jason Staples, in The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism, takes a fresh approach to aspects of this subject. He states that his purpose is to explore the concept, “examining how the concept of Israel was developed.'

Source: Church Times

‘This is an important and valuable book … Highly recommended.’

J. S. Kaminsky Source: Choice Magazine

‘… The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism is convincing and significant: it will affect everyone working in this field for decades and will likely be cited as a watershed moment for the topic … For those interested in biblical studies, history, or theology, this book is an important read.’

Luke Beavers Source: Southern Theological Review

‘His ambitious study should accomplish nothing less than a paradigm shift in the way many in the guild think about Israelite identity. … Scholars who opt for an alternate construal of ‘Israel’ language and/or downplay the significance of the ongoing perdurance of ‘the age of wrath’ in Second Temple literature, including the New Testament, must now grapple afresh with Staples’s arguments to do so.’

Paul T. Sloan Source: Bulletin for Biblical Research

‘Scholars of the period will find in this book much with which to engage and also contend.’

George Nicol Source: Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

‘The Idea of Israel is an excellent resource … Although technical, the book remains readable and engaging. Students of biblical theology will profit from the implications for understanding Israel in both the Old and New Testament - especially in relation to Israel, the church, and their relationship. Pastors will profit from consulting the book when preaching from texts as diverse as the Major and Minor Prophets, Ezra-Nehemiah, Esther, Ephesians 2-3, and Romans 9-11.’

G. Kyle Essary Source: Themelios