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.
Israel Knohl
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199206575
- eISBN:
- 9780191709678
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199206575.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Judaism
The radical separation between the world of the living and the realm of the dead is not universal through the Hebrew Bible. The distinctions weaken in the later stages of biblical literature. There ...
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The radical separation between the world of the living and the realm of the dead is not universal through the Hebrew Bible. The distinctions weaken in the later stages of biblical literature. There is a blurring of the realms in Isaiah 52-3, wherein the prophet describes the figure of the Suffering Servant. Far from being cut off from God after his death, the servant is divinely rewarded. Similarly, the book of Daniel forecasts a reward of eternal life for the righteous: ‘many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life’ (12:2); Daniel identifies these righteous ones with Isaiah's Suffering Servant and goes so far as to assign heavenly status to them. Finally, the Dead Sea Scrolls show a figure who identifies himself with the Suffering Servant and at the same time claims superiority over the angels. This chapter traces the development of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah, Daniel, and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and examines the figure's distinctive combination of suffering and divine exaltation.Less
The radical separation between the world of the living and the realm of the dead is not universal through the Hebrew Bible. The distinctions weaken in the later stages of biblical literature. There is a blurring of the realms in Isaiah 52-3, wherein the prophet describes the figure of the Suffering Servant. Far from being cut off from God after his death, the servant is divinely rewarded. Similarly, the book of Daniel forecasts a reward of eternal life for the righteous: ‘many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life’ (12:2); Daniel identifies these righteous ones with Isaiah's Suffering Servant and goes so far as to assign heavenly status to them. Finally, the Dead Sea Scrolls show a figure who identifies himself with the Suffering Servant and at the same time claims superiority over the angels. This chapter traces the development of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah, Daniel, and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and examines the figure's distinctive combination of suffering and divine exaltation.
Jonathan Klawans
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195162639
- eISBN:
- 9780199785254
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195162639.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This book reevaluates modern scholarly approaches to ancient Jewish cultic rituals, arguing that sacrifice in particular has been long misunderstood. Various religious and cultural ideologies ...
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This book reevaluates modern scholarly approaches to ancient Jewish cultic rituals, arguing that sacrifice in particular has been long misunderstood. Various religious and cultural ideologies (especially supersessionist ones) have frequently prevented scholars from seeing the Jerusalem temple as a powerful source of meaning and symbolism to those ancient Jews who worshiped there. Such approaches are exposed and countered by reviewing the theoretical literature on sacrifice and taking a fresh look at a broad range of evidence concerning ancient Jewish attitudes toward the temple and its sacrificial cult. Starting with the Hebrew Bible, this work argues for a symbolic understanding of a broad range of cultic practices, including both purity rituals and sacrificial acts. The prophetic literature is also reexamined, with an eye toward clarifying the relationship between the prophets and the sacrificial cult. Later ancient Jewish symbolic understandings of the cult are also revealed in sources including Josephus, Philo, Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament, and Rabbinic literature. A number of ancient Jews certainly did believe that the temple was temporarily tainted or defiled in some fashion, including the Dead Sea sectarians and Jesus. But they continued to speak of the temple in metaphorical terms, and — like practically all ancient Jews — believed in the cult, accepted its symbolic significance, and hoped for its ultimate efficacy.Less
This book reevaluates modern scholarly approaches to ancient Jewish cultic rituals, arguing that sacrifice in particular has been long misunderstood. Various religious and cultural ideologies (especially supersessionist ones) have frequently prevented scholars from seeing the Jerusalem temple as a powerful source of meaning and symbolism to those ancient Jews who worshiped there. Such approaches are exposed and countered by reviewing the theoretical literature on sacrifice and taking a fresh look at a broad range of evidence concerning ancient Jewish attitudes toward the temple and its sacrificial cult. Starting with the Hebrew Bible, this work argues for a symbolic understanding of a broad range of cultic practices, including both purity rituals and sacrificial acts. The prophetic literature is also reexamined, with an eye toward clarifying the relationship between the prophets and the sacrificial cult. Later ancient Jewish symbolic understandings of the cult are also revealed in sources including Josephus, Philo, Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament, and Rabbinic literature. A number of ancient Jews certainly did believe that the temple was temporarily tainted or defiled in some fashion, including the Dead Sea sectarians and Jesus. But they continued to speak of the temple in metaphorical terms, and — like practically all ancient Jews — believed in the cult, accepted its symbolic significance, and hoped for its ultimate efficacy.
Joan E. Taylor
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199554485
- eISBN:
- 9780191745911
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554485.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism, Biblical Studies
Ever since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in caves near the site of Qumran in 1947, this mysterious cache of manuscripts has been associated with the Essenes, a ‘sect’ configured as marginal ...
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Ever since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in caves near the site of Qumran in 1947, this mysterious cache of manuscripts has been associated with the Essenes, a ‘sect’ configured as marginal and isolated. Scholarly consensus has held that an Essene library was hidden ahead of the Roman advance in 68 CE, when Qumran was partly destroyed. With much doubt now expressed about aspects of this view, the book systematically reviews the surviving historical sources, and supports an understanding of the Essenes as an influential legal society, at the centre of Judaean religious life, held in much esteem by many and protected by the Herodian dynasty, thus appearing as ‘Herodians’ in the Gospels. Opposed to the Hasmoneans, the Essenes combined sophisticated legal expertise and autonomy with an austere regimen of practical work, including a specialisation in medicine and pharmacology. Their presence along the north-western Dead Sea is strongly indicated by two independent sources, Dio Chrysostom and Pliny the Elder, and coheres with the archaeology. The Dead Sea Scrolls represent not an isolated library, quickly hidden, but burials of manuscripts from numerous Essene collections, placed in jars in caves for long-term preservation. The historical context of the Dead Sea area itself, and its extraordinary natural resources, as well as the archaeology of Qumran, confirm the Essenes’ patronage by Herod the Great, and indicate that they harnessed the medicinal material the Dead Sea zone provides to this day.Less
Ever since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in caves near the site of Qumran in 1947, this mysterious cache of manuscripts has been associated with the Essenes, a ‘sect’ configured as marginal and isolated. Scholarly consensus has held that an Essene library was hidden ahead of the Roman advance in 68 CE, when Qumran was partly destroyed. With much doubt now expressed about aspects of this view, the book systematically reviews the surviving historical sources, and supports an understanding of the Essenes as an influential legal society, at the centre of Judaean religious life, held in much esteem by many and protected by the Herodian dynasty, thus appearing as ‘Herodians’ in the Gospels. Opposed to the Hasmoneans, the Essenes combined sophisticated legal expertise and autonomy with an austere regimen of practical work, including a specialisation in medicine and pharmacology. Their presence along the north-western Dead Sea is strongly indicated by two independent sources, Dio Chrysostom and Pliny the Elder, and coheres with the archaeology. The Dead Sea Scrolls represent not an isolated library, quickly hidden, but burials of manuscripts from numerous Essene collections, placed in jars in caves for long-term preservation. The historical context of the Dead Sea area itself, and its extraordinary natural resources, as well as the archaeology of Qumran, confirm the Essenes’ patronage by Herod the Great, and indicate that they harnessed the medicinal material the Dead Sea zone provides to this day.
Joan E. Taylor
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199554485
- eISBN:
- 9780191745911
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554485.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism, Biblical Studies
The Dead Sea Scrolls are one of the most important archaeological finds ever made. They are usually understood to have been hidden away quickly ahead of a Roman advance in 68 ce. However, the ...
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The Dead Sea Scrolls are one of the most important archaeological finds ever made. They are usually understood to have been hidden away quickly ahead of a Roman advance in 68 ce. However, the archaeological evidence testifying to the method of their containment in jars in caves indicates that they were carefully wrapped up in quality scroll wrappers and placed in sealed jars, with bitumen plugs, and this would have taken a long time to do. In addition, the remaining Dead Sea Scrolls are a tiny remainder of an original vast cache of manuscripts placed in caves. The scrolls make better sense if they are seen as purposeful burials, the final resting places of multiple genizahs — collections of old or heterodox scrolls. They were buried by the Essenes in order to preserve them till the End, in order to show reverence for the name of God or other holy references they contained. The reasons why some Essenes were living beside the Dead Sea must have something to do with the processes they needed to bury sacred scrolls in the caves along the north-western coast.Less
The Dead Sea Scrolls are one of the most important archaeological finds ever made. They are usually understood to have been hidden away quickly ahead of a Roman advance in 68 ce. However, the archaeological evidence testifying to the method of their containment in jars in caves indicates that they were carefully wrapped up in quality scroll wrappers and placed in sealed jars, with bitumen plugs, and this would have taken a long time to do. In addition, the remaining Dead Sea Scrolls are a tiny remainder of an original vast cache of manuscripts placed in caves. The scrolls make better sense if they are seen as purposeful burials, the final resting places of multiple genizahs — collections of old or heterodox scrolls. They were buried by the Essenes in order to preserve them till the End, in order to show reverence for the name of God or other holy references they contained. The reasons why some Essenes were living beside the Dead Sea must have something to do with the processes they needed to bury sacred scrolls in the caves along the north-western coast.
James VanderKam
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781479896950
- eISBN:
- 9781479825707
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479896950.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Most archeologists believe that the ruins at Khirbet Qumran were used by a communal sect during the first century BCE and CE, which was part of the Essene movement described by Josephus and Philo. ...
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Most archeologists believe that the ruins at Khirbet Qumran were used by a communal sect during the first century BCE and CE, which was part of the Essene movement described by Josephus and Philo. About a quarter of the scrolls found nearby are of books that are now part of our (Hebrew) Bible. There were also copies of several other books, such as Enoch and Jubilees, that were regarded as authoritative, though they are not included in today’s Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish Bibles. Variations in these texts show that standard versions of these books had not yet been determined.Less
Most archeologists believe that the ruins at Khirbet Qumran were used by a communal sect during the first century BCE and CE, which was part of the Essene movement described by Josephus and Philo. About a quarter of the scrolls found nearby are of books that are now part of our (Hebrew) Bible. There were also copies of several other books, such as Enoch and Jubilees, that were regarded as authoritative, though they are not included in today’s Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish Bibles. Variations in these texts show that standard versions of these books had not yet been determined.
Naomi Koltun-Fromm
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199736485
- eISBN:
- 9780199866427
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199736485.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Religion and Society
This chapter focuses on those Second Temple authors who continue to develop notions of community holiness that are tied to sexual behavior. These trajectories continue along the lines of ascribed, ...
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This chapter focuses on those Second Temple authors who continue to develop notions of community holiness that are tied to sexual behavior. These trajectories continue along the lines of ascribed, achieved, and supererogatory holiness (or in this case purity) discussed in the first chapter. Those who assume Israel’s ascribed, God-given holiness (Ezra, Jubilees, Tobit, 4QMMT), focus on endogamy as the only means to protect their community holiness, which would be profaned through intermarriage. Some of the sectarian authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls focus their attention on holiness achieved (Community Rule, Damascus Document, Messianic Rule)—that is, how they redefine the boundaries of Holy Israel—through their idiosyncratic biblical interpretive traditions. Other Dead Sea Scrolls (War Scroll, Temple Scroll) assume neither an ascribed nor an achieved holiness for Israel, but rather focus on those activities that protect God’s holy presence in their midst.Less
This chapter focuses on those Second Temple authors who continue to develop notions of community holiness that are tied to sexual behavior. These trajectories continue along the lines of ascribed, achieved, and supererogatory holiness (or in this case purity) discussed in the first chapter. Those who assume Israel’s ascribed, God-given holiness (Ezra, Jubilees, Tobit, 4QMMT), focus on endogamy as the only means to protect their community holiness, which would be profaned through intermarriage. Some of the sectarian authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls focus their attention on holiness achieved (Community Rule, Damascus Document, Messianic Rule)—that is, how they redefine the boundaries of Holy Israel—through their idiosyncratic biblical interpretive traditions. Other Dead Sea Scrolls (War Scroll, Temple Scroll) assume neither an ascribed nor an achieved holiness for Israel, but rather focus on those activities that protect God’s holy presence in their midst.
Joan E. Taylor
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199554485
- eISBN:
- 9780191745911
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554485.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism, Biblical Studies
This final chapter sums up the argument of this book and considers the whole picture of the context of the Dead Sea Scrolls within the world of Second Temple Judaism, which is important as then the ...
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This final chapter sums up the argument of this book and considers the whole picture of the context of the Dead Sea Scrolls within the world of Second Temple Judaism, which is important as then the Scrolls can be properly situated as cultural artefacts within their own time. It is important, this conclusion states, to define the Essenes accurately because of the confusion as to whether the Scrolls can be attributed to them. The conclusion ends by stating that this book has been just the beginning of other lines of enquiry.Less
This final chapter sums up the argument of this book and considers the whole picture of the context of the Dead Sea Scrolls within the world of Second Temple Judaism, which is important as then the Scrolls can be properly situated as cultural artefacts within their own time. It is important, this conclusion states, to define the Essenes accurately because of the confusion as to whether the Scrolls can be attributed to them. The conclusion ends by stating that this book has been just the beginning of other lines of enquiry.
Jonathan Burnside
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199759217
- eISBN:
- 9780199827084
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199759217.003.0012
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This chapter looks at how the biblical laws of marriage, divorce, and sexual relations were interpreted during the Second Temple (or intertestamental) period, with reference to the writers of the ...
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This chapter looks at how the biblical laws of marriage, divorce, and sexual relations were interpreted during the Second Temple (or intertestamental) period, with reference to the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the followers of Jesus. It shows that there is considerable fluidity between literary genres that are nowadays regarded as distinct and that the early chapters of Genesis were often crucial to legal interpretation. Despite fundamental differences between the Qumran community and the New Testament writers, the laws of marriage, divorce, and remarriage were important to both groups as a means of championing a particular attitude towards Moses, the purposes of God, and the eschaton (the end of the present age). The chapter argues that interpretations of biblical law (including on the question of divorce and remarriage) helped to define the identity of both religious groups, particularly in relation to their opponents.Less
This chapter looks at how the biblical laws of marriage, divorce, and sexual relations were interpreted during the Second Temple (or intertestamental) period, with reference to the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the followers of Jesus. It shows that there is considerable fluidity between literary genres that are nowadays regarded as distinct and that the early chapters of Genesis were often crucial to legal interpretation. Despite fundamental differences between the Qumran community and the New Testament writers, the laws of marriage, divorce, and remarriage were important to both groups as a means of championing a particular attitude towards Moses, the purposes of God, and the eschaton (the end of the present age). The chapter argues that interpretations of biblical law (including on the question of divorce and remarriage) helped to define the identity of both religious groups, particularly in relation to their opponents.
Eva Mroczek
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- June 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190279837
- eISBN:
- 9780190279851
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190279837.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Through a case study of psalms, this chapter shows how the Bible sets the agenda for the study of early Jewish literature, and how removing biblical lenses reveals a new picture of the literary ...
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Through a case study of psalms, this chapter shows how the Bible sets the agenda for the study of early Jewish literature, and how removing biblical lenses reveals a new picture of the literary imagination. Conventional wisdom has it that the book of Psalms was the most popular book among the Dead Sea Scrolls and enjoyed great authority in early Judaism. But this is a mirage: the material and literary evidence suggests there is no such thing as the “book of Psalms” in early Judaism. Instead, diverse manuscripts preserve psalmic texts, in various genres, orders, and numbers, revealing practices of collection that cannot always be placed on a linear timeline of “the making of the Bible.” The psalms are not conceptualized as a “book” before the New Testament and rabbinic texts. Instead, they are imagined as an open genre, a heavenly archive only partially reflected in the extant texts. New metaphors suggested by theoretical work in book history—including efforts to describe the unbound textual world of the digital—can help reconceptualize a literary landscape not organized around books, but imagined in terms of overlapping clusters, mosaics of fragments, and expanding archives.Less
Through a case study of psalms, this chapter shows how the Bible sets the agenda for the study of early Jewish literature, and how removing biblical lenses reveals a new picture of the literary imagination. Conventional wisdom has it that the book of Psalms was the most popular book among the Dead Sea Scrolls and enjoyed great authority in early Judaism. But this is a mirage: the material and literary evidence suggests there is no such thing as the “book of Psalms” in early Judaism. Instead, diverse manuscripts preserve psalmic texts, in various genres, orders, and numbers, revealing practices of collection that cannot always be placed on a linear timeline of “the making of the Bible.” The psalms are not conceptualized as a “book” before the New Testament and rabbinic texts. Instead, they are imagined as an open genre, a heavenly archive only partially reflected in the extant texts. New metaphors suggested by theoretical work in book history—including efforts to describe the unbound textual world of the digital—can help reconceptualize a literary landscape not organized around books, but imagined in terms of overlapping clusters, mosaics of fragments, and expanding archives.
John J. Collins
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780520294110
- eISBN:
- 9780520967366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520294110.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
The earliest apocalypses, in the books of Enoch and Daniel, appeal to a source of revelation that is independent of the Mosaic Torah. The sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls, however, combine a fundamental ...
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The earliest apocalypses, in the books of Enoch and Daniel, appeal to a source of revelation that is independent of the Mosaic Torah. The sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls, however, combine a fundamental emphasis on the Torah with a claim of higher revelation, which guides the proper interpretation of the Torah. Similarly the apocalypses of the late first century CE, 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch, revere the Torah, but supplement it with apocalyptic visions.Less
The earliest apocalypses, in the books of Enoch and Daniel, appeal to a source of revelation that is independent of the Mosaic Torah. The sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls, however, combine a fundamental emphasis on the Torah with a claim of higher revelation, which guides the proper interpretation of the Torah. Similarly the apocalypses of the late first century CE, 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch, revere the Torah, but supplement it with apocalyptic visions.
Timothy Michael Law
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199781713
- eISBN:
- 9780199345168
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199781713.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion in the Ancient World
This new book narrates in a fresh and exciting way the story of the Septuagint, the Greek Scriptures of the ancient Jewish Diaspora that became the first the Christian Old Testament. Consisting both ...
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This new book narrates in a fresh and exciting way the story of the Septuagint, the Greek Scriptures of the ancient Jewish Diaspora that became the first the Christian Old Testament. Consisting both of translations of the Hebrew Scriptures and further original Greek compositions produced between the third century BCE and the second CE, the Septuagint is a window into a critical stage of the Bible's history, during its final formation and its developing authoritative status. Throughout this period, the Jewish Scriptures existed in a plurality of forms, still growing and being subjected to continual editorial modification, and the Septuagint is often our only surviving witness to this phase of the Bible's history. The Septuagint also became the first Christian Old Testament, being used by the New Testament and early Christian writers. This book illustrates the character of the Greek Septuagint, and the significance of its use by the New Testament writers and early Christian thinkers in the construction of early Christian belief. Providing the Jewish Scriptures which Christians read as preliminary to their story to a Greek-speaking Mediterranean world, the Septuagint helped to transform the early Christian movement from a small, insignificant stream of Judaism, to a tide that would quickly rush over the inhabited world. But what happened to the first Christian Old Testament? Slowly at first but then entirely the Western Church abandoned its first Bible and embraced the Hebrew Bible of the early rabbinic movement. When did the shift to the Hebrew begin, and why?Less
This new book narrates in a fresh and exciting way the story of the Septuagint, the Greek Scriptures of the ancient Jewish Diaspora that became the first the Christian Old Testament. Consisting both of translations of the Hebrew Scriptures and further original Greek compositions produced between the third century BCE and the second CE, the Septuagint is a window into a critical stage of the Bible's history, during its final formation and its developing authoritative status. Throughout this period, the Jewish Scriptures existed in a plurality of forms, still growing and being subjected to continual editorial modification, and the Septuagint is often our only surviving witness to this phase of the Bible's history. The Septuagint also became the first Christian Old Testament, being used by the New Testament and early Christian writers. This book illustrates the character of the Greek Septuagint, and the significance of its use by the New Testament writers and early Christian thinkers in the construction of early Christian belief. Providing the Jewish Scriptures which Christians read as preliminary to their story to a Greek-speaking Mediterranean world, the Septuagint helped to transform the early Christian movement from a small, insignificant stream of Judaism, to a tide that would quickly rush over the inhabited world. But what happened to the first Christian Old Testament? Slowly at first but then entirely the Western Church abandoned its first Bible and embraced the Hebrew Bible of the early rabbinic movement. When did the shift to the Hebrew begin, and why?
P. S. Alexander
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198263913
- eISBN:
- 9780191601187
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263910.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This is the second of five chapters on the Old Testament and the reader, and presents an analysis of the Bible in Qumran (the site occupied by the early Jewish monastic community who lived near the ...
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This is the second of five chapters on the Old Testament and the reader, and presents an analysis of the Bible in Qumran (the site occupied by the early Jewish monastic community who lived near the shores of the Dead Sea) and early Judaism. The first part gives an account of the rediscovery of Midrash—a term initially borrowed from rabbinic literature, where it denotes the specifically rabbinic tradition of Bible exegesis—the commentary created in dialogue with the scared Scripture in early Judaism. The rediscovery of Midrash was prompted in particular by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (1947–1956), and the finding of the Codex Neofiti 1 in the Vatican library in 1953; these and other examples of Midrash have given rise to numerous monographs and articles over the last thirty years of the twentieth century. The second part discusses the use of the Scripture and the Dead Sea sect of Qumran, and the third analyses the use of Scripture among other Jewish rabbinical groups in late antiquity. The last two sections look at the Scripture in the Alexandrian schools and among the early Christians, and at the emergence of Judaism and Christianity as ‘Religions of the Book’.Less
This is the second of five chapters on the Old Testament and the reader, and presents an analysis of the Bible in Qumran (the site occupied by the early Jewish monastic community who lived near the shores of the Dead Sea) and early Judaism. The first part gives an account of the rediscovery of Midrash—a term initially borrowed from rabbinic literature, where it denotes the specifically rabbinic tradition of Bible exegesis—the commentary created in dialogue with the scared Scripture in early Judaism. The rediscovery of Midrash was prompted in particular by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (1947–1956), and the finding of the Codex Neofiti 1 in the Vatican library in 1953; these and other examples of Midrash have given rise to numerous monographs and articles over the last thirty years of the twentieth century. The second part discusses the use of the Scripture and the Dead Sea sect of Qumran, and the third analyses the use of Scripture among other Jewish rabbinical groups in late antiquity. The last two sections look at the Scripture in the Alexandrian schools and among the early Christians, and at the emergence of Judaism and Christianity as ‘Religions of the Book’.
William M. Schniedewind
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780300176681
- eISBN:
- 9780300199109
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300176681.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
The ideological role of language came to the fore in the Hellenistic world as language became essential for defining Hellenistic culture and citizenship. Hellenism elevated language ideology, and as ...
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The ideological role of language came to the fore in the Hellenistic world as language became essential for defining Hellenistic culture and citizenship. Hellenism elevated language ideology, and as a result, it encouraged the emergence of Hebrew as a language of Jewish cultural and religious identity. With the end of the Persian administration, came the end of scribal training in Aramaic. Hebrew schools and writing emerged, and Hellenism even encouraged the establishment of Hebrew schools in Jerusalem. Although Paleo-Hebrew script gave way to Aramaic in everyday use, it reemerged as a national script on seals and coins, reflecting the ideological role that Hebrew would play in Jewish religion, politics, and identity. Qumran Hebrew preserves our best example of the ideologically charged role that Hebrew came to play during this period.Less
The ideological role of language came to the fore in the Hellenistic world as language became essential for defining Hellenistic culture and citizenship. Hellenism elevated language ideology, and as a result, it encouraged the emergence of Hebrew as a language of Jewish cultural and religious identity. With the end of the Persian administration, came the end of scribal training in Aramaic. Hebrew schools and writing emerged, and Hellenism even encouraged the establishment of Hebrew schools in Jerusalem. Although Paleo-Hebrew script gave way to Aramaic in everyday use, it reemerged as a national script on seals and coins, reflecting the ideological role that Hebrew would play in Jewish religion, politics, and identity. Qumran Hebrew preserves our best example of the ideologically charged role that Hebrew came to play during this period.
Aharon Shemesh
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520259102
- eISBN:
- 9780520945036
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520259102.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Research to bridge the gap between the Bible and the established halakhah of the Rabbis as found in the rabbinic literature has been conducted. But this research, hampered primarily by the lack of ...
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Research to bridge the gap between the Bible and the established halakhah of the Rabbis as found in the rabbinic literature has been conducted. But this research, hampered primarily by the lack of reliable, authentic sources, proved to be disappointing and was abandoned. However, with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, primary material from the period of the Second Temple was made available. Recognition of the centrality of the law to the life and consciousness of the Qumran sectarians came with the publication of the Temple Scroll in 1977. Since that time, a goodly number of halakhic compositions have been published. However, despite all this, a comprehensive reassessment of these findings with respect to the original project, that is, the history and development of halakhah, is lacking. In this regard this study presents two models which can be used to describe the relationship between Qumranic and rabbinic literature. The first model can be termed “developmental,” whereas the other model is termed as “reflective.” This chapter surveys briefly the principal criteria for ascribing a specific legal issue to one of these models.Less
Research to bridge the gap between the Bible and the established halakhah of the Rabbis as found in the rabbinic literature has been conducted. But this research, hampered primarily by the lack of reliable, authentic sources, proved to be disappointing and was abandoned. However, with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, primary material from the period of the Second Temple was made available. Recognition of the centrality of the law to the life and consciousness of the Qumran sectarians came with the publication of the Temple Scroll in 1977. Since that time, a goodly number of halakhic compositions have been published. However, despite all this, a comprehensive reassessment of these findings with respect to the original project, that is, the history and development of halakhah, is lacking. In this regard this study presents two models which can be used to describe the relationship between Qumranic and rabbinic literature. The first model can be termed “developmental,” whereas the other model is termed as “reflective.” This chapter surveys briefly the principal criteria for ascribing a specific legal issue to one of these models.
Jonathan Ben-Dov
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781479823048
- eISBN:
- 9781479873975
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479823048.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter examines the intellectual climate that gave rise to a creative scientific environment in the Dead Sea Scrolls community called Yahad. It first considers the antecedents of the Yahad's ...
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This chapter examines the intellectual climate that gave rise to a creative scientific environment in the Dead Sea Scrolls community called Yahad. It first considers the antecedents of the Yahad's scientific outlook within larger movements of Judaism of the Hellenistic period, including the Enochic literature and the apocalyptic-sapiential Aramaic texts from a cave. It then outlines some of the prerequisites for the development of science as they are represented in the early Jewish tradition, along with the myths about the birth of knowledge found in the apocalyptic literature and in the literature of the Yahad. It also presents a case study from the integration of astrological and astronomical themes in Yahad literature and concludes with a discussion of the epistemological infrastructure that triggered the commitment of the Yahad to science.Less
This chapter examines the intellectual climate that gave rise to a creative scientific environment in the Dead Sea Scrolls community called Yahad. It first considers the antecedents of the Yahad's scientific outlook within larger movements of Judaism of the Hellenistic period, including the Enochic literature and the apocalyptic-sapiential Aramaic texts from a cave. It then outlines some of the prerequisites for the development of science as they are represented in the early Jewish tradition, along with the myths about the birth of knowledge found in the apocalyptic literature and in the literature of the Yahad. It also presents a case study from the integration of astrological and astronomical themes in Yahad literature and concludes with a discussion of the epistemological infrastructure that triggered the commitment of the Yahad to science.
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.
Joan E. Taylor
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199291410
- eISBN:
- 9780191700637
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291410.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism, Religion in the Ancient World
The 1st-century ascetic Jewish philosophers known as the ‘Therapeutae’, described in Philo's treatise De Vita Contemplativa, have often been considered in comparison with early Christians, the ...
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The 1st-century ascetic Jewish philosophers known as the ‘Therapeutae’, described in Philo's treatise De Vita Contemplativa, have often been considered in comparison with early Christians, the Essenes, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. This study, which includes a new translation of De Vita Contemplativa, focuses particularly on issues of historical method, rhetoric, women, and gender, and comes to new conclusions about the nature of the group and its relationship with the allegorical school of exegesis in Alexandria. The book argues that the group represents the tip of an iceberg in terms of ascetic practices and allegorical exegesis, and that the women described point to the presence of other Jewish women philosophers in Alexandria in the first century CE. Members of the group were ‘extreme allegorizers’ in following a distinctive calendar, not maintaining usual Jewish praxis, and concentrating their focus on attaining a trance-like state in which a vision of God's light was experienced. Their special ‘feast’ was configured in terms of a service at a Temple, in which both men and women were priestly attendants of God.Less
The 1st-century ascetic Jewish philosophers known as the ‘Therapeutae’, described in Philo's treatise De Vita Contemplativa, have often been considered in comparison with early Christians, the Essenes, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. This study, which includes a new translation of De Vita Contemplativa, focuses particularly on issues of historical method, rhetoric, women, and gender, and comes to new conclusions about the nature of the group and its relationship with the allegorical school of exegesis in Alexandria. The book argues that the group represents the tip of an iceberg in terms of ascetic practices and allegorical exegesis, and that the women described point to the presence of other Jewish women philosophers in Alexandria in the first century CE. Members of the group were ‘extreme allegorizers’ in following a distinctive calendar, not maintaining usual Jewish praxis, and concentrating their focus on attaining a trance-like state in which a vision of God's light was experienced. Their special ‘feast’ was configured in terms of a service at a Temple, in which both men and women were priestly attendants of God.
Timothy Michael Law
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199781713
- eISBN:
- 9780199345168
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199781713.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion in the Ancient World
It is often taken for granted that a ‘Bible’ existed at an early period. For a long time, it was also assumed that the Hebrew Bible we know today was the only authentic witness to the Hebrew ...
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It is often taken for granted that a ‘Bible’ existed at an early period. For a long time, it was also assumed that the Hebrew Bible we know today was the only authentic witness to the Hebrew Scriptural tradition. Other witnesses like the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Septuagint were secondary, derivative of the real. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the middle of the twentieth century changed all of our assumptions: we now know that the Jewish Scriptures were characterized by diversity until much later, the second century CE. Before then, there was both diversity in the forms of books that later became canonical and in the actual works considered authoritative Scripture.Less
It is often taken for granted that a ‘Bible’ existed at an early period. For a long time, it was also assumed that the Hebrew Bible we know today was the only authentic witness to the Hebrew Scriptural tradition. Other witnesses like the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Septuagint were secondary, derivative of the real. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the middle of the twentieth century changed all of our assumptions: we now know that the Jewish Scriptures were characterized by diversity until much later, the second century CE. Before then, there was both diversity in the forms of books that later became canonical and in the actual works considered authoritative Scripture.
C. D. Elledge
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- August 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199640416
- eISBN:
- 9780191822872
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199640416.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism, Religious Studies
As they present few immediate references to resurrection, scholars have questioned the extent to which this was important to the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This chapter provides a reading of ...
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As they present few immediate references to resurrection, scholars have questioned the extent to which this was important to the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This chapter provides a reading of scrolls that do feature resurrection, especially the Messianic Apocalypse and Pseudo-Ezekiel. Other scrolls, like the Thanksgiving Hymns, suggest that the discourse of resurrection was known among the authors of the scrolls, yet frequently utilized in more metaphorical ways. Taken together, the evidence suggests the profile of a religious movement that was still in the dynamic process of receiving the resurrection hope, as it increased its exposure during the late second to early first centuries BCE. The scrolls challenge assessments that resurrection was central to early Judaism or that its appeal was universal. Resurrection remained an emerging and appealing belief—yet one that still remained somewhat peripheral among the religious concerns of this particular community’s literary collection.Less
As they present few immediate references to resurrection, scholars have questioned the extent to which this was important to the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This chapter provides a reading of scrolls that do feature resurrection, especially the Messianic Apocalypse and Pseudo-Ezekiel. Other scrolls, like the Thanksgiving Hymns, suggest that the discourse of resurrection was known among the authors of the scrolls, yet frequently utilized in more metaphorical ways. Taken together, the evidence suggests the profile of a religious movement that was still in the dynamic process of receiving the resurrection hope, as it increased its exposure during the late second to early first centuries BCE. The scrolls challenge assessments that resurrection was central to early Judaism or that its appeal was universal. Resurrection remained an emerging and appealing belief—yet one that still remained somewhat peripheral among the religious concerns of this particular community’s literary collection.
