Timothy H. Lim
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198262060
- eISBN:
- 9780191682292
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198262060.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Early Christian Studies
What was the ancient exegetes’ attitude to the biblical texts? Did they consider them ‘sacred’ in the sense that the words were the inviolable utterances of God? Alternatively, did they when ...
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What was the ancient exegetes’ attitude to the biblical texts? Did they consider them ‘sacred’ in the sense that the words were the inviolable utterances of God? Alternatively, did they when necessary modify and adapt holy writ for their own purposes? This book examines the question of exegetical modifications from the post-Qumran perspective of textual pluriformity of literalism that runs through ancient exegeses and translations. The Qumran Commentators and Paul complemented their fulfilment-exegeses by paying close attention to the verbal formations of the biblical texts. The hermeneutical principles underlying their exegeses involved a multiplex of competing forces that at the same time sought to make scripture relevant while guarding it from changes. In so far as the label ‘post-biblical exegesis’ describes a clear separation between the written, authoritative texts and its interpretation, the distinction is overdrawn, for the ancients were not merely commentators, but also in some sense authors of the biblical texts.Less
What was the ancient exegetes’ attitude to the biblical texts? Did they consider them ‘sacred’ in the sense that the words were the inviolable utterances of God? Alternatively, did they when necessary modify and adapt holy writ for their own purposes? This book examines the question of exegetical modifications from the post-Qumran perspective of textual pluriformity of literalism that runs through ancient exegeses and translations. The Qumran Commentators and Paul complemented their fulfilment-exegeses by paying close attention to the verbal formations of the biblical texts. The hermeneutical principles underlying their exegeses involved a multiplex of competing forces that at the same time sought to make scripture relevant while guarding it from changes. In so far as the label ‘post-biblical exegesis’ describes a clear separation between the written, authoritative texts and its interpretation, the distinction is overdrawn, for the ancients were not merely commentators, but also in some sense authors of the biblical texts.
Timothy H. Lim
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198262060
- eISBN:
- 9780191682292
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198262060.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Early Christian Studies
The writings that together make up ‘holy scripture’ are sacred not because they have been formalized and fixed in stone, but because in them it is thought that the divine will of God can be found. ...
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The writings that together make up ‘holy scripture’ are sacred not because they have been formalized and fixed in stone, but because in them it is thought that the divine will of God can be found. One of the deductions to be drawn from these exegetical adaptations is that ancient interpreters felt the need for changes, because the literal sense of the words does not correspond to what they wish to say. Now the pesherists and Paul do not have to construe the words in this manner. Within their writings are displayed exegetical techniques that range from the literalistic to the figurative and allegorical. Obscure though the choice of exegetical techniques is, the hermeneutical centre of their scriptural interpretations no doubt lies in the revelation of God. Significant, too, for Paul’s hermeneutics is the centrality of the person and work of Jesus Christ.Less
The writings that together make up ‘holy scripture’ are sacred not because they have been formalized and fixed in stone, but because in them it is thought that the divine will of God can be found. One of the deductions to be drawn from these exegetical adaptations is that ancient interpreters felt the need for changes, because the literal sense of the words does not correspond to what they wish to say. Now the pesherists and Paul do not have to construe the words in this manner. Within their writings are displayed exegetical techniques that range from the literalistic to the figurative and allegorical. Obscure though the choice of exegetical techniques is, the hermeneutical centre of their scriptural interpretations no doubt lies in the revelation of God. Significant, too, for Paul’s hermeneutics is the centrality of the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Jonathan Klawans
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195162639
- eISBN:
- 9780199785254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195162639.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter analyzes two distinct symbolic understandings of the Jerusalem temple and its rituals. It finds evidence for a belief in the temple as representing the cosmos in Josephus, Philo and ...
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This chapter analyzes two distinct symbolic understandings of the Jerusalem temple and its rituals. It finds evidence for a belief in the temple as representing the cosmos in Josephus, Philo and rabbinic literature, and evidence for a belief that the earthly temple represents a heavenly sanctuary in the Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls, and other rabbinic sources. It attempts to identify one or another of these two symbolic understandings as the precursor of the other are rejected.Less
This chapter analyzes two distinct symbolic understandings of the Jerusalem temple and its rituals. It finds evidence for a belief in the temple as representing the cosmos in Josephus, Philo and rabbinic literature, and evidence for a belief that the earthly temple represents a heavenly sanctuary in the Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls, and other rabbinic sources. It attempts to identify one or another of these two symbolic understandings as the precursor of the other are rejected.
Jonathan Klawans
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195162639
- eISBN:
- 9780199785254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195162639.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter examines literature discovered at Qumran and related literature, including the Temple Scroll, with an eye toward describing more fully the anti-temple polemics articulated. It identifies ...
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This chapter examines literature discovered at Qumran and related literature, including the Temple Scroll, with an eye toward describing more fully the anti-temple polemics articulated. It identifies sources making the following claims about the Jerusalem temple: that it is ritually defiled, morally defiled, ritually inadequate, and structurally insufficient. It also reconsiders the sources that ostensibly “spiritualize” the temple, arguing instead that these sources are rooted in beliefs concerning the temple’s importance and efficacy. Sectarian Jews emulated the temple’s rituals and priests in part because they looked forward to the temple being under their own control.Less
This chapter examines literature discovered at Qumran and related literature, including the Temple Scroll, with an eye toward describing more fully the anti-temple polemics articulated. It identifies sources making the following claims about the Jerusalem temple: that it is ritually defiled, morally defiled, ritually inadequate, and structurally insufficient. It also reconsiders the sources that ostensibly “spiritualize” the temple, arguing instead that these sources are rooted in beliefs concerning the temple’s importance and efficacy. Sectarian Jews emulated the temple’s rituals and priests in part because they looked forward to the temple being under their own control.
Jonathan Klawans
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195162639
- eISBN:
- 9780199785254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195162639.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter examines an array of rabbinic sources concerning the temple, including Mishnah, Midrash, and Talmud, drawing a number of contrasts with Qumran literature in particular. The Rabbis seem ...
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This chapter examines an array of rabbinic sources concerning the temple, including Mishnah, Midrash, and Talmud, drawing a number of contrasts with Qumran literature in particular. The Rabbis seem to agree with the sectarians that the temple was flawed, recalling instances of priestly greed, theft, and even murder. But the rabbis downplay the moral defilement of the temple and deny to the end that the temple was ritually defiled to any significant degree before its destruction by Romans in 70 CE. Unlike the sectarians, the rabbis took a stance toward the temple and its purity that was less idealistic, but more practical and permissive.Less
This chapter examines an array of rabbinic sources concerning the temple, including Mishnah, Midrash, and Talmud, drawing a number of contrasts with Qumran literature in particular. The Rabbis seem to agree with the sectarians that the temple was flawed, recalling instances of priestly greed, theft, and even murder. But the rabbis downplay the moral defilement of the temple and deny to the end that the temple was ritually defiled to any significant degree before its destruction by Romans in 70 CE. Unlike the sectarians, the rabbis took a stance toward the temple and its purity that was less idealistic, but more practical and permissive.
Stuart Weeks
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199291540
- eISBN:
- 9780191710537
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291540.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The date and origin of Proverbs 1-9 are difficult to pin down, but its influence can be identified clearly in some subsequent Jewish literature (most notably Ben Sira and certain texts from Qumran). ...
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The date and origin of Proverbs 1-9 are difficult to pin down, but its influence can be identified clearly in some subsequent Jewish literature (most notably Ben Sira and certain texts from Qumran). The imagery of the work is never reproduced in full, but elements of it are developed on the basis of an understanding close to that presented in this study. Proverbs 1-9 provides a link between these later texts and the other biblical wisdom texts; it also raises interesting questions about the way in which wisdom literature's focus upon the individual corresponds to the more corporate Deuteronomic literature in the post-exilic period. Proverbs 1-9 is an instruction, but that is not the key factor for determining its nature and meaning.Less
The date and origin of Proverbs 1-9 are difficult to pin down, but its influence can be identified clearly in some subsequent Jewish literature (most notably Ben Sira and certain texts from Qumran). The imagery of the work is never reproduced in full, but elements of it are developed on the basis of an understanding close to that presented in this study. Proverbs 1-9 provides a link between these later texts and the other biblical wisdom texts; it also raises interesting questions about the way in which wisdom literature's focus upon the individual corresponds to the more corporate Deuteronomic literature in the post-exilic period. Proverbs 1-9 is an instruction, but that is not the key factor for determining its nature and meaning.
Eliezer Diamond
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195306316
- eISBN:
- 9780199867721
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195306316.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Judaism has been opposed to celibacy because marriage was a normal condition and a divine ordinance. The Jewish tradition provides evidence of exceptions to the rule against celibacy among marginal ...
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Judaism has been opposed to celibacy because marriage was a normal condition and a divine ordinance. The Jewish tradition provides evidence of exceptions to the rule against celibacy among marginal sects, such as the Therapeutrides, Essences, and Qumran community. There were even exceptions made by Rabbinic Judaism associated with Torah study.Less
Judaism has been opposed to celibacy because marriage was a normal condition and a divine ordinance. The Jewish tradition provides evidence of exceptions to the rule against celibacy among marginal sects, such as the Therapeutrides, Essences, and Qumran community. There were even exceptions made by Rabbinic Judaism associated with Torah study.
Israel Knohl
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520215924
- eISBN:
- 9780520928749
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520215924.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
In a work that challenges notions that have dominated New Testament scholarship for more than a hundred years, this book gives startling evidence for a messianic precursor to Jesus who is described ...
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In a work that challenges notions that have dominated New Testament scholarship for more than a hundred years, this book gives startling evidence for a messianic precursor to Jesus who is described as the “Suffering Servant” in recently published fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The book clarifies many formerly incomprehensible aspects of Jesus' life and confirms the story in the New Testament about his messianic awareness. The book shows that, around the time of Jesus' birth, there came into being a conception of “catastrophic” messianism in which the suffering, humiliation, and death of the messiah were regarded as an integral part of the redemptive process. Scholars have long argued that Jesus could not have foreseen his suffering, death, and resurrection because the concept of a slain savior who rises from the dead was alien to the Judaism of his time. But, on the basis of hymns found at Qumran among the Dead Sea Scrolls, the book argues that, one generation before Jesus, a messianic leader arose in the Qumran sect who was regarded by his followers as ushering in an era of redemption and forgiveness. This messianic leader was killed by Roman soldiers in the course of a revolt that broke out in Jerusalem in 4 bce. The Romans forbade his body to be buried and after the third day his disciples believed that he was resurrected and rose to heaven. The book argues that this formed the basis for Jesus' messianic consciousness; it was because of this model that Jesus anticipated he would suffer, die, and be resurrected after three days.Less
In a work that challenges notions that have dominated New Testament scholarship for more than a hundred years, this book gives startling evidence for a messianic precursor to Jesus who is described as the “Suffering Servant” in recently published fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The book clarifies many formerly incomprehensible aspects of Jesus' life and confirms the story in the New Testament about his messianic awareness. The book shows that, around the time of Jesus' birth, there came into being a conception of “catastrophic” messianism in which the suffering, humiliation, and death of the messiah were regarded as an integral part of the redemptive process. Scholars have long argued that Jesus could not have foreseen his suffering, death, and resurrection because the concept of a slain savior who rises from the dead was alien to the Judaism of his time. But, on the basis of hymns found at Qumran among the Dead Sea Scrolls, the book argues that, one generation before Jesus, a messianic leader arose in the Qumran sect who was regarded by his followers as ushering in an era of redemption and forgiveness. This messianic leader was killed by Roman soldiers in the course of a revolt that broke out in Jerusalem in 4 bce. The Romans forbade his body to be buried and after the third day his disciples believed that he was resurrected and rose to heaven. The book argues that this formed the basis for Jesus' messianic consciousness; it was because of this model that Jesus anticipated he would suffer, die, and be resurrected after three days.
Aharon Shemesh
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520259102
- eISBN:
- 9780520945036
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520259102.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This book offers a comprehensive study of the legal material found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and its significance in the greater history of Jewish religious law (Halakhah). The study revives an issue ...
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This book offers a comprehensive study of the legal material found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and its significance in the greater history of Jewish religious law (Halakhah). The study revives an issue long dormant in religious scholarship: namely, the relationship between rabbinic law, as written more than one hundred years after the destruction of the Second Temple, and Jewish practice during the Second Temple. The monumental discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Qumran led to the revelation of this missing material and the closing of a two-hundred-year gap in knowledge, allowing work to begin comparing specific laws of the Qumran sect with rabbinic laws. With the publication of scroll 4QMMT—a polemical letter by Dead Sea sectarians concerning points of Jewish law—an effective comparison was finally possible. This is the first book-length treatment of the material to appear since the publication of 4QMMT and the first attempt to apply its discoveries to the work of nineteenth-century scholars. It is also the first work on this topic written in a style that is accessible to non-specialists in the history of Jewish law.Less
This book offers a comprehensive study of the legal material found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and its significance in the greater history of Jewish religious law (Halakhah). The study revives an issue long dormant in religious scholarship: namely, the relationship between rabbinic law, as written more than one hundred years after the destruction of the Second Temple, and Jewish practice during the Second Temple. The monumental discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Qumran led to the revelation of this missing material and the closing of a two-hundred-year gap in knowledge, allowing work to begin comparing specific laws of the Qumran sect with rabbinic laws. With the publication of scroll 4QMMT—a polemical letter by Dead Sea sectarians concerning points of Jewish law—an effective comparison was finally possible. This is the first book-length treatment of the material to appear since the publication of 4QMMT and the first attempt to apply its discoveries to the work of nineteenth-century scholars. It is also the first work on this topic written in a style that is accessible to non-specialists in the history of Jewish law.
Martin S. Jaffee
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195140675
- eISBN:
- 9780199834334
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195140672.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Explores the nature of oral‐performative reading and text‐interpretive tradition in the scribal community (Yakhad) associated with the Qumran ruins and the Dead Sea scrolls. The focus is upon the ...
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Explores the nature of oral‐performative reading and text‐interpretive tradition in the scribal community (Yakhad) associated with the Qumran ruins and the Dead Sea scrolls. The focus is upon the conceptions of the authority of written texts and their oral‐performative transmission as embodied in the community's written representations of the study session of the community, its own practice of textual study preserved in the Damascus Covenant (CD), and the Community Rule (1QS). The chapter shows that despite a rich tradition of interpretive reading of scriptural works and others regarded as stemming from prophecy, the Qumran Yakhad had no sense of itself as bearing an ancient tradition, either oral or written.Less
Explores the nature of oral‐performative reading and text‐interpretive tradition in the scribal community (Yakhad) associated with the Qumran ruins and the Dead Sea scrolls. The focus is upon the conceptions of the authority of written texts and their oral‐performative transmission as embodied in the community's written representations of the study session of the community, its own practice of textual study preserved in the Damascus Covenant (CD), and the Community Rule (1QS). The chapter shows that despite a rich tradition of interpretive reading of scriptural works and others regarded as stemming from prophecy, the Qumran Yakhad had no sense of itself as bearing an ancient tradition, either oral or written.
