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.
Christine E. Hayes
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195151206
- eISBN:
- 9780199834273
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195151208.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
While most Second Temple sources follow the Pentateuch in permitting marriage with Gentiles who renounce idolatry and immorality, others – such as Jubilees and 4QMMT– do not. In these two works, ...
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While most Second Temple sources follow the Pentateuch in permitting marriage with Gentiles who renounce idolatry and immorality, others – such as Jubilees and 4QMMT– do not. In these two works, Ezra's universal ban on intermarriage based on a holy‐seed ideology develops into a full‐blown principle of Israelite genealogical purity, which must be preserved not merely from profanation but also from defilement that arises from sexual unions with Gentiles. According to Jubilees and 4QMMT, profane seed cannot become holy seed and thus Gentiles can never overcome their profane status and acquire Jewish identity. Since conversion is impossible, marriage is impossible and any sexual connection between a Jew and a Gentile – regardless of the moral state of the latter – is by definition a sinful (and defiling) act of fornication, explicitly prohibited by Mosaic law. These texts valorize various biblical heroes – such as Abraham and Pinhas – as champions of zealous separatism.Less
While most Second Temple sources follow the Pentateuch in permitting marriage with Gentiles who renounce idolatry and immorality, others – such as Jubilees and 4QMMT– do not. In these two works, Ezra's universal ban on intermarriage based on a holy‐seed ideology develops into a full‐blown principle of Israelite genealogical purity, which must be preserved not merely from profanation but also from defilement that arises from sexual unions with Gentiles. According to Jubilees and 4QMMT, profane seed cannot become holy seed and thus Gentiles can never overcome their profane status and acquire Jewish identity. Since conversion is impossible, marriage is impossible and any sexual connection between a Jew and a Gentile – regardless of the moral state of the latter – is by definition a sinful (and defiling) act of fornication, explicitly prohibited by Mosaic law. These texts valorize various biblical heroes – such as Abraham and Pinhas – as champions of zealous separatism.
Alexander Samely
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199684328
- eISBN:
- 9780191764981
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199684328.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism, Religion in the Ancient World
This chapter explains the varieties of features one encounters in texts of thematic discourse or description, a key branch of ancient Jewish literature. In particular, both texts of proverbial ...
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This chapter explains the varieties of features one encounters in texts of thematic discourse or description, a key branch of ancient Jewish literature. In particular, both texts of proverbial wisdom, such as Wisdom and Sirach, and texts of law, such as 4QMMT and Mishnah, have conspicuously ‘loose’ thematic coherence. The contribution to this of stereotypical small forms and their ‘mere juxtaposition’ is explained. The chapter addresses the problematic role which modern coherence expectations, which often go unexamined in scholarship, play in diachronic criticism of apparently ‘incoherent’ ancient Jewish texts. The chapter also takes into view thematic discourse which is set in a narrative frame, such as 4 Ezra, 1 Baruch and some ‘Testaments’.Less
This chapter explains the varieties of features one encounters in texts of thematic discourse or description, a key branch of ancient Jewish literature. In particular, both texts of proverbial wisdom, such as Wisdom and Sirach, and texts of law, such as 4QMMT and Mishnah, have conspicuously ‘loose’ thematic coherence. The contribution to this of stereotypical small forms and their ‘mere juxtaposition’ is explained. The chapter addresses the problematic role which modern coherence expectations, which often go unexamined in scholarship, play in diachronic criticism of apparently ‘incoherent’ ancient Jewish texts. The chapter also takes into view thematic discourse which is set in a narrative frame, such as 4 Ezra, 1 Baruch and some ‘Testaments’.
Aryeh Amihay
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190631017
- eISBN:
- 9780190631048
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190631017.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Judaism
A first example of essentialism is offered through the Essene categorization of insiders and outsiders, and a hierarchy within the Jewish people, and again within the sect. A tension is noted between ...
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A first example of essentialism is offered through the Essene categorization of insiders and outsiders, and a hierarchy within the Jewish people, and again within the sect. A tension is noted between this essentialist and exclusionary tendency and inclusive practices, as seen in the outreach documented in the letter known as 4QMMT. A broader discussion of the letter is provided, in light of the work of Steven Fraade and Maxine Grossman, and then compared against hierarchical notions found in the Community Rule (1QS). The relation of the sectarian to his inner circle in the sect and his broader identity with the nation is explained through the concept of “role distance” advanced by sociologist Erving Goffman, and then placed into a legal framework with the help of Meir Dan-Cohen. A distinction between political power games and legal theory is presented toward the end of the chapter.Less
A first example of essentialism is offered through the Essene categorization of insiders and outsiders, and a hierarchy within the Jewish people, and again within the sect. A tension is noted between this essentialist and exclusionary tendency and inclusive practices, as seen in the outreach documented in the letter known as 4QMMT. A broader discussion of the letter is provided, in light of the work of Steven Fraade and Maxine Grossman, and then compared against hierarchical notions found in the Community Rule (1QS). The relation of the sectarian to his inner circle in the sect and his broader identity with the nation is explained through the concept of “role distance” advanced by sociologist Erving Goffman, and then placed into a legal framework with the help of Meir Dan-Cohen. A distinction between political power games and legal theory is presented toward the end of the chapter.
