Fairly substantial revision of the author's thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, Berkeley, 2006.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [281]-293) and index.

Preliminary Material / Kenneth R. Jones -- Introduction / Kenneth R. Jones -- “Are the deeds of Babylon better than those of Zion?”>4 Ezra and the Delayed Punishment of Rome / Kenneth R. Jones -- “Why do you look for the decline of your enemies?”2 Baruch and the Roman Question / Kenneth R. Jones -- “Where is their God?”3 Baruch and the Divine Government of the Cosmos / Kenneth R. Jones -- “Let anyone who desires the lord forsake the works of Babylon”4 Baruch and Jewish Cooperation with Rome / Kenneth R. Jones -- “Then the strife of war will come to the West”Sibylline Oracle 4 and the Conflict of East and West / Kenneth R. Jones -- “Then he will return declaring himself equal to God”Sibylline Oracle 5 and the Return of Nero / Kenneth R. Jones -- “And i saw there the likeness of the idol of jealousy”The Apocalypse of Abraham and Jewish Idolatry / Kenneth R. Jones -- Conclusion / Kenneth R. Jones -- Bibliography / Kenneth R. Jones -- Index / Kenneth R. Jones.

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The Roman destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was a watershed event in the religious, political, and social life of first-century Jews. This book explores the reaction to this event found in Jewish apocalypses and related literature preserved among the Pseudepigrapha (4 Ezra, 2 Baruch, 3 Baruch, 4 Baruch, Sibylline Oracles 4 and 5, and the Apocalypse of Abraham). While keeping the historical context of their composition in mind, the author analyzes the texts with a view to answering the following questions: What do these texts tell us about Jewish attitudes toward the Roman Empire? How did Jews understand the situation in post-70 Judea through the lens of Israel’s past, especially the Babylonian sack of Jerusalem in 587 B.C.?