Randall Buth and R. Steven Notley's The Language Environment of First-Century Judaea appears to be a very valuable volume, if only it did not cost so much! Thankfully, Randall Buth has generously shared the introduction and two substantial articles on his blog (see below). Here's Brill's publishing blurb:
The articles in this collection demonstrate that a change is taking place in New Testament studies. Throughout the twentieth century, New Testament scholarship primarily worked under the assumption that only two languages, Aramaic and Greek, were in common use in the land of Israel in the first century. The current contributors investigate various areas where increasing linguistic data and changing perspectives have moved Hebrew out of a restricted, marginal status within first-century language use and the impact on New Testament studies. Five articles relate to the general sociolinguistic situation in the land of Israel during the first century, while three articles present literary studies that interact with the language background. The final three contributions demonstrate the impact this new understanding has on the reading of Gospel texts.
http://www.brill.com/products/book/language-environment-first-century-judaea
http://www.amazon.com/Language-Environment-First-Century-Judaea/dp/9004263403
Here are the articles Buth shared on his blog:
Bump. This book suggestion was held captive for a few days by Logos's automated spam-protection system. Buth and Notley's book deserves at least a little attention before it vanishes into suggestion forum oblivion.
I would purchase it if it came to Logos.
Ditto
This remains as a great suggestion.
This pdf includes the TOC and intro as mentioned above.
7217.9789004263406_01-Buth-Intro.pdf
"God will save his fallen angels and their broken wings He'll mend."
Denise: This remains as a great suggestion. This pdf includes the TOC and intro as mentioned above.
Denise. You, Caleb, Kevin, and the unspoken majority who would like to see this volume find its way into Logos might also be interested in R. Steven Notley and Ze'ev Safrai's "Parables of the Sages: Jewish Wisdom from Jesus to Rav Ashi". Thankfully, the price for this one at least isn't Brill-outrageous.