This study presents the first analysis of all the heptadically structured models of Jewish history from the time of the Second Temple. It deals with Daniel 9, the Ethiopian Book of Henoch, the Book of Jubilees, the Qumran texts and the Testament of Levi. Detailed individual exegesis shows that each text displays an individual theology of history. There is no universally valid reference chronology behind those commonalities which can be registered; instead, the writers work with the same chronological traditions, but restructure them according to their own theological interests.

Christoph Berner, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.