The projected book continues a series of volumes containing the papers read at symposia held by turns in Tel Aviv and Bochum in the course of a co-operation between the Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities, Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies, Department of Bible of Tel Aviv University and the Faculty of Protestant Theology in the University of the Ruhr, Bochum, since 1985. All of them appeared in the Supplement Series to JSOT. It offers the text of the papers read at the conference held at Tel Aviv March 21-23, 2005, under the topic referred to in the projected title, a collected bibliography of the literature quoted, and a list of standard abbreviations according to the rules prescribed by T&T Clark/ Continuum. It also uses the TTCI style guide for the formulations. Joint editors are Professor Em. Henning Graf Reventlow, University of the Ruhr, and Professor Yair Hoffman, University of Tel Aviv.