Remembering Eden The Reception History of Genesis 3: 22-24

"An intellectual tour-de-force that ranges from the palace reliefs of 18th-century BCE Mari to the rabbinical literature of the 2nd century CE in order to explicate the interpretive history of the Garden of Eden's tree of life and associated motifs. Along the way, we learn of the nature of immortality, the pitfalls of wisdom, and hopes of a future paradise. A veritable feast of scholarly erudition from an exciting young scholar!"--Susan Ackerman, Preston H. Kelsey Professor of Religion, Dartmouth College
"The gates to Eden have long remained closed, but in Remembering Eden Peter Lanfer charges past Eden's protective cherubim and sword to expose the interpretive delights arising from the images, myths, allusions, and citations of the Garden of Eden passage in early Jewish and Christian sources and communities. His account of the reception history of Genesis 3:22-24 provides unique insight into the origins and robust vitality of this iconic passage."--J. Edward Wright, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism, University of Arizona
"Peter Lanfer has written a remarkable study of the interpretation of a major biblical theme in antiquity. Steering between the Scylla of historical positivism and the Charybdis of deconstruction, he shows how the meaning of the Genesis text was never static, but was nonetheless constrained by the tensions in the original story. Ranging widely over the literature of the Second Temple period, he shows how the understanding of the biblical text can be enriched by attention to its earliest interpreters."--John J. Collins, Holmes Professor of Old Testament, Yale Divinity School
"The experimental work of scholars such as Lanfer, and monographs such as Remembering Eden, will help mature the field by forging the theoretical and practical means to carry out further research." --The Marginalia Review of Books