This volume is a sequel to Loneliness in the Hebrew Bible (2025) which considered loneliness and issues related to it - including social exclusion, ostracism, and isolation - as well as practices combating these experiences in a range of texts within the Hebrew Bible and its broader cultural milieu. Expanding the focus of that first volume, this collection investigates ways in which loneliness was conceptualized in the wider ancient Near East (including the second-and first millennium BCE Mesopotamia and ancient Israel) and the Graeco-Roman world.

Using a diverse array of perspectives and hermeneutics, such as philosophy, sociology, psychology, gender studies, food and famine research, work on socio-political activism and leadership, extinction studies, epic/hero narrative criticism, refugee and migration studies, the contributors showcase a high-quality interdisciplinary exchange. This collection discusses both negative and positive aspects of life in solitude; finally, and significantly, the volume explores points of contact and distance between ancient texts and contemporary questions and reflects on their enduring significance for life in today's social contexts.

Ekaterina E. Kozlova is Old Testament Lecturer at London School of Theology, UK.

Samuel Hildebrandt is Lecturer in Biblical Studies at Nazarene Theological College, Manchester, UK.