The book deals with Hosea 6:6 and its reception in ancient Jewish and Christian writings: the Septuagint, Sibylline Oracles, New Testament, Rabbinic and Patristic writings.

This book contributes to the study of Hosea 6:6 ("For what I desire is love and not sacrifice, and I prefer knowledge of God to burnt offerings") and its reception in ancient Jewish and Christian writings. Some of the articles contained in this book address the verse itself and the use made of it in the Sibylline Oracles, Gospel of Matthew, rabbinic writings, and patristic literature. Other articles deal with the notion of sacrifice in Philo and with the notion of mercy in the Septuagint, the Gospel of Luke, and Greek literature.