"Centre and periphery" frameworks have been particularly helpful for research on systems whose dynamics are strongly influenced by a substantially unequal distribution of qualities. But what can these frameworks, in all their present diversity and in their various "re-conceptualizations," contribute to the study of the early Second Temple period? The essays in this volume address this question through the prism of, for instance, the location of Jerusalem, diasporic communities, Torah, roles of temples and royal courts, Jerusalem/Gerizim, the Zion tradition, the universal kingdom of YHWH, the literary history of some texts, socio-linguistic choices, and gender.

Geboren 1950; 1998 bis zu seiner Emeritierung 2016 Professor an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; Mitglied der Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen und der Finnischen Akademie der Wissenschaften; 2010-13 Präsident der International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament (IOSOT).