Papers delivered at a series of three consultations on penitential prayer in Second Temple Judaism held at the annual meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature from 2003-2005.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Print version record.

Contents -- Abbreviations -- Preface -- The Persistence of Trajectories of Penitential Prayer in Rabbinic Judaism -- We Do Not Even Know What To Do!: A Foray into the Early History of Tahanun -- The Penitential Part of the Amidah and Personal Redemption -- The Amidah Benediction on Forgiveness: Links between Its Theology and Its Textual Evolution -- Confessing from A to Z: Penitential Forms in Early Synagogue Poetry -- Penitential Practices in a Kabbalistic Mode -- The Impact of the Penitential Prayer Tradition on New Testament Theology

The Emergence of Penitential Prayer in Early ChristianityRepentance and Prayer in the Didache -- The East Syrian Rite of Penance -- Prayer and Penance in Early and Middle Byzantine Christianity: Some Trajectories from the Greek- and Syriac-Speaking Realms -- Afterword -- Bibliography -- Contributors -- Ancient Sources Index -- Modern Authors Index -- Subject Index