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.
B. Barry Levy
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780195141139
- eISBN:
- 9780199834945
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019514113X.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
The chapter is presented in two main parts. The first discusses the problem of whether or not it is possible to find or establish a letter‐perfect Torah text. The second looks at the subjection of ...
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The chapter is presented in two main parts. The first discusses the problem of whether or not it is possible to find or establish a letter‐perfect Torah text. The second looks at the subjection of scribal practices to halakhic determinations. It is pointed out at the end of the chapter that many rabbinic leaders over time (and now) have recognized the imperfection of the Torah, despite the insistence of many religious Jews that it is letter perfect. Furthermore, the halakhic literature continues to refine the text that has been transmitted through the ages.Less
The chapter is presented in two main parts. The first discusses the problem of whether or not it is possible to find or establish a letter‐perfect Torah text. The second looks at the subjection of scribal practices to halakhic determinations. It is pointed out at the end of the chapter that many rabbinic leaders over time (and now) have recognized the imperfection of the Torah, despite the insistence of many religious Jews that it is letter perfect. Furthermore, the halakhic literature continues to refine the text that has been transmitted through the ages.
Ronald Hendel
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195177961
- eISBN:
- 9780199784622
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195177967.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The past in the Hebrew Bible is a represented past, not the past itself. This book argues that the biblical portrayal of the past consists of a complex interplay of historical memory, folklore, ...
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The past in the Hebrew Bible is a represented past, not the past itself. This book argues that the biblical portrayal of the past consists of a complex interplay of historical memory, folklore, cultural self-definition, and literary brilliance. The chapters of this book attempt to survey and, to the degree possible, untangle these various layers, concentrating on the foundational narratives of the patriarchs, the Exodus, and the united monarchy. The biblical sense of the past combines traits that we separate into different genres — myth, epic, and history — but form a seamless synthesis in the biblical conception.Less
The past in the Hebrew Bible is a represented past, not the past itself. This book argues that the biblical portrayal of the past consists of a complex interplay of historical memory, folklore, cultural self-definition, and literary brilliance. The chapters of this book attempt to survey and, to the degree possible, untangle these various layers, concentrating on the foundational narratives of the patriarchs, the Exodus, and the united monarchy. The biblical sense of the past combines traits that we separate into different genres — myth, epic, and history — but form a seamless synthesis in the biblical conception.
Helen Kraus
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199600786
- eISBN:
- 9780191731563
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199600786.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Church History
Chapter Extract: Early Modern Europe saw a rapidly increasing interest in and an unprecedented pursuit of the sensus literalis of the Hebrew Bible. His exile in Europe, due to his ...
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Chapter Extract: Early Modern Europe saw a rapidly increasing interest in and an unprecedented pursuit of the sensus literalis of the Hebrew Bible. His exile in Europe, due to his translation of the New Testament that so angered Thomas More, exposed Tyndale to this revival of interest. His importance to this study is the extent to which his English translation found its way into the Authorized Version, bequeathing us a truly idiomatic vernacular Bible. The Authorized Version itself, by contrast, owes everything to the Hebrew text. Careful comparison with Tyndale' translation reveals a return from occasional paraphrase to a rendering that is as literal as can be. In Genesis 3:16, for example, we see a return to the Hebrew allusion to the woman' desire for her husband. Where Tyndale gives us an English Bible, the Authorised Version translators' offering is a Hebrew Bible — in English.Less
Chapter Extract: Early Modern Europe saw a rapidly increasing interest in and an unprecedented pursuit of the sensus literalis of the Hebrew Bible. His exile in Europe, due to his translation of the New Testament that so angered Thomas More, exposed Tyndale to this revival of interest. His importance to this study is the extent to which his English translation found its way into the Authorized Version, bequeathing us a truly idiomatic vernacular Bible. The Authorized Version itself, by contrast, owes everything to the Hebrew text. Careful comparison with Tyndale' translation reveals a return from occasional paraphrase to a rendering that is as literal as can be. In Genesis 3:16, for example, we see a return to the Hebrew allusion to the woman' desire for her husband. Where Tyndale gives us an English Bible, the Authorised Version translators' offering is a Hebrew Bible — in English.
Paul Waldau
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195145717
- eISBN:
- 9780199834792
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195145712.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter first addresses claims and terms found in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, such as covenants and “Leviathan.” New Testament references to and views of other animals are then examined. The ...
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This chapter first addresses claims and terms found in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, such as covenants and “Leviathan.” New Testament references to and views of other animals are then examined. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the vocabulary and the views held by major post‐biblical theologians based on an examination of the Greek and Latin words used by Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Augustine of Hippo, as well as various words found in the Septuagint and Vulgate.Less
This chapter first addresses claims and terms found in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, such as covenants and “Leviathan.” New Testament references to and views of other animals are then examined. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the vocabulary and the views held by major post‐biblical theologians based on an examination of the Greek and Latin words used by Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Augustine of Hippo, as well as various words found in the Septuagint and Vulgate.
S. Talmon
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198263913
- eISBN:
- 9780191601187
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263910.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This is the first of five chapters on the text of the Old Testament. It focuses on textual criticism of the ancient versions of the Old Testament, pointing out that no other ancient or modern text ...
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This is the first of five chapters on the text of the Old Testament. It focuses on textual criticism of the ancient versions of the Old Testament, pointing out that no other ancient or modern text seems to be witnessed by so many diverse sources in a variety of languages, and has a transmission history so difficult to elucidate as the text of the Hebrew Bible. The essay offers a necessarily restricted survey of the early transmission history of the biblical text in manuscript form up to the crystallization of an incipient unified Hebrew text and the appearance of translations of the Hebrew original into other Semitic and non‐Semitic languages between c.200 bce and 300 ce; invariably, later secondary translations are not considered. Attention focuses on the early stages of the written transmission of the consonantal text with emphasis on a concise review of the information on its history, which can be obtained from two quite dissimilar groups of manuscript remains in respect to chronology and socio‐religious provenance: (a) the assemblage of biblical scrolls and scroll fragments (the Dead Sea Scrolls) brought to light since 1947 that the dissident ‘Community of the Renewed Covenant’ had deposited in caves near a site known by the modern Arabic name of Qumran; and (b) fragments found since the 1950s at other sites in the Judaean Desert—Masada, Wadi Murabba’at, Naḥal Ṣe‚elim (Wadi Seiyāl) , and Naḥal Ḥever, which represent the textual tradition of normative Judaism.Less
This is the first of five chapters on the text of the Old Testament. It focuses on textual criticism of the ancient versions of the Old Testament, pointing out that no other ancient or modern text seems to be witnessed by so many diverse sources in a variety of languages, and has a transmission history so difficult to elucidate as the text of the Hebrew Bible. The essay offers a necessarily restricted survey of the early transmission history of the biblical text in manuscript form up to the crystallization of an incipient unified Hebrew text and the appearance of translations of the Hebrew original into other Semitic and non‐Semitic languages between c.200 bce and 300 ce; invariably, later secondary translations are not considered. Attention focuses on the early stages of the written transmission of the consonantal text with emphasis on a concise review of the information on its history, which can be obtained from two quite dissimilar groups of manuscript remains in respect to chronology and socio‐religious provenance: (a) the assemblage of biblical scrolls and scroll fragments (the Dead Sea Scrolls) brought to light since 1947 that the dissident ‘Community of the Renewed Covenant’ had deposited in caves near a site known by the modern Arabic name of Qumran; and (b) fragments found since the 1950s at other sites in the Judaean Desert—Masada, Wadi Murabba’at, Naḥal Ṣe‚elim (Wadi Seiyāl) , and Naḥal Ḥever, which represent the textual tradition of normative Judaism.
Jean Baumgarten
Jerold C. Frakes (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199276332
- eISBN:
- 9780191699894
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199276332.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism, Religion and Literature
The Hebrew Bible was the foundation on which most of Old Yiddish literature was based. The Bible played a central role as the basis of education and the transmission of Judaism to the Jewish masses, ...
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The Hebrew Bible was the foundation on which most of Old Yiddish literature was based. The Bible played a central role as the basis of education and the transmission of Judaism to the Jewish masses, whether via glossaries, dictionaries, concordances, verse or prose translations, or homiletic commentaries. It also formed the textual basis on which was built the Jewish literary tradition in the vernacular: epics, romance, and biblical poems and dramas. The translations by Isaac Blitz and Alexander Witzenhausen had scarcely any impact on their own era due to the expanding importance of the Tsene-rene. Nonetheless, they proved that vernacular translation was a territory favourable to experimentation and renewal of earlier modes in the transmission of the sacred traditions.Less
The Hebrew Bible was the foundation on which most of Old Yiddish literature was based. The Bible played a central role as the basis of education and the transmission of Judaism to the Jewish masses, whether via glossaries, dictionaries, concordances, verse or prose translations, or homiletic commentaries. It also formed the textual basis on which was built the Jewish literary tradition in the vernacular: epics, romance, and biblical poems and dramas. The translations by Isaac Blitz and Alexander Witzenhausen had scarcely any impact on their own era due to the expanding importance of the Tsene-rene. Nonetheless, they proved that vernacular translation was a territory favourable to experimentation and renewal of earlier modes in the transmission of the sacred traditions.
Thomas B Dozeman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195367331
- eISBN:
- 9780199867417
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195367331.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This book is an initial response to the call of the World Council of Churches for renewed theological reflection on the biblical roots of ordination to strengthen the vocational identity of the ...
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This book is an initial response to the call of the World Council of Churches for renewed theological reflection on the biblical roots of ordination to strengthen the vocational identity of the ordained and to provide a framework for ecumenical dialogue. It is grounded in the assumption that the vocation of ordination requires an understanding of holiness and how it functions in human religious experience. The goal is to construct a biblical theology of ordination, embedded in broad reflection on the nature of holiness. The study of holiness and ministry interweaves three methodologies. First, the history of religions describes two theories of holiness in the study of religion — as a dynamic force and as a ritual resource — which play a central role in biblical literature and establish the paradigm of ordination to Word and Sacrament in Christian tradition. Second, the study of the Moses in the Pentateuch and the formation of the Mosaic office illustrate the ways in which the two views of holiness model ordination to the prophetic word and to the priestly ritual. And, third, canonical criticism provides the lens to explore the ongoing influence of the Mosaic office in the New Testament literature.Less
This book is an initial response to the call of the World Council of Churches for renewed theological reflection on the biblical roots of ordination to strengthen the vocational identity of the ordained and to provide a framework for ecumenical dialogue. It is grounded in the assumption that the vocation of ordination requires an understanding of holiness and how it functions in human religious experience. The goal is to construct a biblical theology of ordination, embedded in broad reflection on the nature of holiness. The study of holiness and ministry interweaves three methodologies. First, the history of religions describes two theories of holiness in the study of religion — as a dynamic force and as a ritual resource — which play a central role in biblical literature and establish the paradigm of ordination to Word and Sacrament in Christian tradition. Second, the study of the Moses in the Pentateuch and the formation of the Mosaic office illustrate the ways in which the two views of holiness model ordination to the prophetic word and to the priestly ritual. And, third, canonical criticism provides the lens to explore the ongoing influence of the Mosaic office in the New Testament literature.
Christopher Seitz
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199576739
- eISBN:
- 9780191595165
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199576739.003.0030
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Form-Critical and later Canonical Reading taught that texts make sense only when one attends properly to genre and to larger theological patterns in the literature, within which difficult issues like ...
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Form-Critical and later Canonical Reading taught that texts make sense only when one attends properly to genre and to larger theological patterns in the literature, within which difficult issues like the treatment of the Canaanites must be assessed. This chapter seeks to read the Bible canonically. It questions the existence of something like a neutral ‘Hebrew Bible’ independent of Jewish tradition, on the one hand, or of a two-testament Christian Bible with its own history of interpretation, on the other. God's character is not something the Bible seeks to justify, but rather to depict truthfully.Less
Form-Critical and later Canonical Reading taught that texts make sense only when one attends properly to genre and to larger theological patterns in the literature, within which difficult issues like the treatment of the Canaanites must be assessed. This chapter seeks to read the Bible canonically. It questions the existence of something like a neutral ‘Hebrew Bible’ independent of Jewish tradition, on the one hand, or of a two-testament Christian Bible with its own history of interpretation, on the other. God's character is not something the Bible seeks to justify, but rather to depict truthfully.
B. Barry Levy
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780195141139
- eISBN:
- 9780199834945
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019514113X.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter and Chapters 2 and 4–5 explore the principles that underlie medieval rankings of various types of halakhic evidence for deciding on a number of questionable spellings of the Torah text, ...
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This chapter and Chapters 2 and 4–5 explore the principles that underlie medieval rankings of various types of halakhic evidence for deciding on a number of questionable spellings of the Torah text, including an important shift in ranking that received much support in the sixteenth century; they centre on a closely related group of four responsa (responses to questions) about the accuracy of the Bible text and closely related matters, by Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra (popularly known in English as Ibn Zimra, and in Hebrew as HaRaDBaZ). A careful look at Ibn Zimra's responses offers an important glimpse into how a leading sixteenth‐century rabbinic authority evaluated his predecessors’ treatments of textual questions and ranked the conflicting witnesses to the spellings or orthographic irregularities of certain biblical words; it also clarifies the halakhic literature's overall approach to fixing the Bible text and reveals what appears to be a major inconsistency in Ibn Zimra's attitude towards the Masorah (the collective textual notes and other additions to the text of the Torah itself). Translations of each responsum are given, and an analysis made of the sources and nuances of their author's arguments, with observations on the relationships between these documents and other issues and compositions of masoretic and halakhic importance. The second responsum, which is covered in this chapter, shares much with some well‐known medieval polemical literature, and is an important statement on the origin and authority of the Masorah and the extent to which it should be used to determine the correct spelling of biblical words.Less
This chapter and Chapters 2 and 4–5 explore the principles that underlie medieval rankings of various types of halakhic evidence for deciding on a number of questionable spellings of the Torah text, including an important shift in ranking that received much support in the sixteenth century; they centre on a closely related group of four responsa (responses to questions) about the accuracy of the Bible text and closely related matters, by Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra (popularly known in English as Ibn Zimra, and in Hebrew as HaRaDBaZ). A careful look at Ibn Zimra's responses offers an important glimpse into how a leading sixteenth‐century rabbinic authority evaluated his predecessors’ treatments of textual questions and ranked the conflicting witnesses to the spellings or orthographic irregularities of certain biblical words; it also clarifies the halakhic literature's overall approach to fixing the Bible text and reveals what appears to be a major inconsistency in Ibn Zimra's attitude towards the Masorah (the collective textual notes and other additions to the text of the Torah itself). Translations of each responsum are given, and an analysis made of the sources and nuances of their author's arguments, with observations on the relationships between these documents and other issues and compositions of masoretic and halakhic importance. The second responsum, which is covered in this chapter, shares much with some well‐known medieval polemical literature, and is an important statement on the origin and authority of the Masorah and the extent to which it should be used to determine the correct spelling of biblical words.
Achsah Guibbory
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199557165
- eISBN:
- 9780191595004
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199557165.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
This book assesses the complexity and fluidity of Christian identity from the reign of Elizabeth I and the early Stuart kings through the English Revolution, and into the Restoration. Throughout this ...
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This book assesses the complexity and fluidity of Christian identity from the reign of Elizabeth I and the early Stuart kings through the English Revolution, and into the Restoration. Throughout this period, which included debate about readmission of the Jews, England was preoccupied with Jews and Israel. As the Reformation sharpened national identity and prompted reconsideration of the relation of Christianity to Judaism, English people showed new interest in Jewish history and Judaism and appropriated biblical Israel's history in the Hebrew Bible, even as reformed Christianity was to be purged of Jewish elements. The mix of identification and opposition, affinity and distance, in English attitudes toward Jews held positive possibilities for Jewish‐Christian relations as well as negative. Grounded in archival research, this book analyzes writings ranging from those of Foxe and Hooker to Milton's and Dryden's, from sermons to lyrics, from church polemic to proposals for legal and economic reform. Literary figures discussed include Herrick, Vaughan, Bunyan, Milton, and Dryden. Attention is also paid to publications associated with James I, Charles I, and Cromwell, and writings by and about such figures as William Prynne, Gerrard Winstanley, Margaret Fell, George Fox, Menasseh ben Israel, Abiezer Coppe, and Anna Trapnel.Less
This book assesses the complexity and fluidity of Christian identity from the reign of Elizabeth I and the early Stuart kings through the English Revolution, and into the Restoration. Throughout this period, which included debate about readmission of the Jews, England was preoccupied with Jews and Israel. As the Reformation sharpened national identity and prompted reconsideration of the relation of Christianity to Judaism, English people showed new interest in Jewish history and Judaism and appropriated biblical Israel's history in the Hebrew Bible, even as reformed Christianity was to be purged of Jewish elements. The mix of identification and opposition, affinity and distance, in English attitudes toward Jews held positive possibilities for Jewish‐Christian relations as well as negative. Grounded in archival research, this book analyzes writings ranging from those of Foxe and Hooker to Milton's and Dryden's, from sermons to lyrics, from church polemic to proposals for legal and economic reform. Literary figures discussed include Herrick, Vaughan, Bunyan, Milton, and Dryden. Attention is also paid to publications associated with James I, Charles I, and Cromwell, and writings by and about such figures as William Prynne, Gerrard Winstanley, Margaret Fell, George Fox, Menasseh ben Israel, Abiezer Coppe, and Anna Trapnel.
W. G. E. Watson
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198263913
- eISBN:
- 9780191601187
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263910.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This is the last of five chapters on the text of the Old Testament, and discusses Hebrew poetry in the context of the Hebrew (Old Testament) Bible. The introductory section looks at recent work on ...
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This is the last of five chapters on the text of the Old Testament, and discusses Hebrew poetry in the context of the Hebrew (Old Testament) Bible. The introductory section looks at recent work on the discovery of the verse traditions of the ancient Near East, and discusses the difficulty of reading Hebrew poetry, the Hebrew poet's resources (tradition versus innovation) and the poet's voice and the lyrical first person singular (the lyrical ‘I’). The second section discusses the issue of differentiating between prose and poetry, the third discusses metre and rhythm, and the fourth discusses parallelism. Further sections discuss building blocks (line, half‐line, and couplet), the segmentation of poems, repetition, the exploitation of sound, figurative language, and poetic diction. The last section of the chapter looks at the matter of holding the reader's attention.Less
This is the last of five chapters on the text of the Old Testament, and discusses Hebrew poetry in the context of the Hebrew (Old Testament) Bible. The introductory section looks at recent work on the discovery of the verse traditions of the ancient Near East, and discusses the difficulty of reading Hebrew poetry, the Hebrew poet's resources (tradition versus innovation) and the poet's voice and the lyrical first person singular (the lyrical ‘I’). The second section discusses the issue of differentiating between prose and poetry, the third discusses metre and rhythm, and the fourth discusses parallelism. Further sections discuss building blocks (line, half‐line, and couplet), the segmentation of poems, repetition, the exploitation of sound, figurative language, and poetic diction. The last section of the chapter looks at the matter of holding the reader's attention.
David M. Carr
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199742608
- eISBN:
- 9780199918737
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199742608.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter introduces the focus of the book on methodological and historical orientation points for study of the formation of the Hebrew Bible. Starting with an overview of the breakdown of ...
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This chapter introduces the focus of the book on methodological and historical orientation points for study of the formation of the Hebrew Bible. Starting with an overview of the breakdown of consensus on many key points of past biblical scholarship (e.g. formation of the Pentateuch, dating of the prophets), the chapter then moves to a brief summary of dynamics of memory, textuality and performance involved in the writing and revision of ancient literary-theological texts like the Hebrew Bible (synthesizing research from the author’s Writing on the Tablet of the Heart: Origins of Scripture and Literature [Oxford, 2005]). The balance of the chapter outlines the goals and central themes of the three major sections of the book.Less
This chapter introduces the focus of the book on methodological and historical orientation points for study of the formation of the Hebrew Bible. Starting with an overview of the breakdown of consensus on many key points of past biblical scholarship (e.g. formation of the Pentateuch, dating of the prophets), the chapter then moves to a brief summary of dynamics of memory, textuality and performance involved in the writing and revision of ancient literary-theological texts like the Hebrew Bible (synthesizing research from the author’s Writing on the Tablet of the Heart: Origins of Scripture and Literature [Oxford, 2005]). The balance of the chapter outlines the goals and central themes of the three major sections of the book.
B. Barry Levy
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780195141139
- eISBN:
- 9780199834945
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019514113X.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter and Chapters 3–5 explore the principles that underlie medieval rankings of various types of halakhic evidence for deciding on a number of questionable spellings of the Torah text, ...
More
This chapter and Chapters 3–5 explore the principles that underlie medieval rankings of various types of halakhic evidence for deciding on a number of questionable spellings of the Torah text, including an important shift in ranking that received much support in the sixteenth century; they centre on a closely related group of four responsa (responses to questions) about the accuracy of the Bible text and closely related matters, by Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra (popularly known in English as Ibn Zimra, and in Hebrew as HaRaDBaZ). A careful look at Ibn Zimra's responses offers an important glimpse into how a leading sixteenth‐century rabbinic authority evaluated his predecessors’ treatments of textual questions and ranked the conflicting witnesses to the spellings or orthographic irregularities of certain biblical words; it also clarifies the halakhic literature's overall approach to fixing the Bible text and reveals what appears to be a major inconsistency in Ibn Zimra's attitude towards the Masorah (the collective textual notes and other additions to the text of the Torah itself). Translations of each responsum are given, and an analysis made of the sources and nuances of their author's arguments, with observations on the relationships between these documents and other issues and compositions of masoretic and halakhic importance. The first responsum, which is covered in this chapter, discusses the propriety of changing a word in the Torah to conform with the spelling evidenced by the Zohar. Following the Zohar's midrashic exposition, several people had changed the spelling of the word ’tw (’oto ), ‘him’, to ’wtw in two places. .Less
This chapter and Chapters 3–5 explore the principles that underlie medieval rankings of various types of halakhic evidence for deciding on a number of questionable spellings of the Torah text, including an important shift in ranking that received much support in the sixteenth century; they centre on a closely related group of four responsa (responses to questions) about the accuracy of the Bible text and closely related matters, by Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra (popularly known in English as Ibn Zimra, and in Hebrew as HaRaDBaZ). A careful look at Ibn Zimra's responses offers an important glimpse into how a leading sixteenth‐century rabbinic authority evaluated his predecessors’ treatments of textual questions and ranked the conflicting witnesses to the spellings or orthographic irregularities of certain biblical words; it also clarifies the halakhic literature's overall approach to fixing the Bible text and reveals what appears to be a major inconsistency in Ibn Zimra's attitude towards the Masorah (the collective textual notes and other additions to the text of the Torah itself). Translations of each responsum are given, and an analysis made of the sources and nuances of their author's arguments, with observations on the relationships between these documents and other issues and compositions of masoretic and halakhic importance. The first responsum, which is covered in this chapter, discusses the propriety of changing a word in the Torah to conform with the spelling evidenced by the Zohar. Following the Zohar's midrashic exposition, several people had changed the spelling of the word ’tw (’oto ), ‘him’, to ’wtw in two places. .
Andrew Mein
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199291397
- eISBN:
- 9780191700620
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291397.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
There is substantial disagreement between scholars about what the proper focus for the study of ‘Hebrew Bible Ethics’ or ‘Old Testament Ethics’ should be. The subject of ethics in ancient Israel and ...
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There is substantial disagreement between scholars about what the proper focus for the study of ‘Hebrew Bible Ethics’ or ‘Old Testament Ethics’ should be. The subject of ethics in ancient Israel and the Hebrew Bible is a difficult one to enter for a number of reasons. For example, there is considerable uncertainty about what we mean when we use an expression like ‘the ethics of the Hebrew Bible’. Are we interested in the beliefs of all or most ancient Israelites, the views of certain biblical authors, or indeed the ethical outlook of the whole Hebrew Bible? This chapter discusses ancient Israelite ethics in a social context, descriptive ethics and normative ethics, moral horizons and social groups, social stratification and moral worlds, and the social location of biblical literature.Less
There is substantial disagreement between scholars about what the proper focus for the study of ‘Hebrew Bible Ethics’ or ‘Old Testament Ethics’ should be. The subject of ethics in ancient Israel and the Hebrew Bible is a difficult one to enter for a number of reasons. For example, there is considerable uncertainty about what we mean when we use an expression like ‘the ethics of the Hebrew Bible’. Are we interested in the beliefs of all or most ancient Israelites, the views of certain biblical authors, or indeed the ethical outlook of the whole Hebrew Bible? This chapter discusses ancient Israelite ethics in a social context, descriptive ethics and normative ethics, moral horizons and social groups, social stratification and moral worlds, and the social location of biblical literature.
Eric Lawee
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195137279
- eISBN:
- 9780199849482
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195137279.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter investigates the deployment in medieval Hebrew exegetical literature of various exordial topoi (accessus ad auctores) used in high and late medieval Christian schools and universities to ...
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This chapter investigates the deployment in medieval Hebrew exegetical literature of various exordial topoi (accessus ad auctores) used in high and late medieval Christian schools and universities to introduce authoritative secular and sacred texts studied therein. As time-honored certainties concerning Hebrew scripture crumbled in the post-medieval period and as the need to probe questions of biblical authorship, dating, original historical setting and the like was felt with unprecedented intensity in “modernity”, it was in “introductions” to the Hebrew Bible (or rather the “Old Testament”) that biblicists typically sought to address such issues. This chapter begins with aerial surveys of the genre of the introduction in earlier medieval Jewish exegetical literature and of the Latin accessus in its historical development. It then reconsiders what has been seen as an initial stratum of Jewish awareness of Latin prologue formats in 13th-century southern France. It also explores the less ambiguous yield of a handful of Hebrew texts from Italy and Iberia.Less
This chapter investigates the deployment in medieval Hebrew exegetical literature of various exordial topoi (accessus ad auctores) used in high and late medieval Christian schools and universities to introduce authoritative secular and sacred texts studied therein. As time-honored certainties concerning Hebrew scripture crumbled in the post-medieval period and as the need to probe questions of biblical authorship, dating, original historical setting and the like was felt with unprecedented intensity in “modernity”, it was in “introductions” to the Hebrew Bible (or rather the “Old Testament”) that biblicists typically sought to address such issues. This chapter begins with aerial surveys of the genre of the introduction in earlier medieval Jewish exegetical literature and of the Latin accessus in its historical development. It then reconsiders what has been seen as an initial stratum of Jewish awareness of Latin prologue formats in 13th-century southern France. It also explores the less ambiguous yield of a handful of Hebrew texts from Italy and Iberia.
Peter Schäfer
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691153902
- eISBN:
- 9781400842285
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691153902.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter addresses a problem that must have plagued the rabbis a great deal: the undeniable fact that the Hebrew Bible uses various names for God, most prominent among them Elohim and the ...
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This chapter addresses a problem that must have plagued the rabbis a great deal: the undeniable fact that the Hebrew Bible uses various names for God, most prominent among them Elohim and the tetragrammaton YHWH. Both names attracted the attention and curiosity of Gentiles, the latter because of the mystery surrounding it—it was originally used only by the High Priest entering the Holy of Holies of the Temple, and its proper pronunciation was deemed lost—and the former because it is grammatically a plural and hence could easily give rise to the idea that the Jews worshiped not just one God but several gods. The “heretics” apparently knew enough Hebrew to seize the opportunity and insinuate that the Jews were no different in this regard than the pagans and indeed accepted the notion of a pantheon of various gods.Less
This chapter addresses a problem that must have plagued the rabbis a great deal: the undeniable fact that the Hebrew Bible uses various names for God, most prominent among them Elohim and the tetragrammaton YHWH. Both names attracted the attention and curiosity of Gentiles, the latter because of the mystery surrounding it—it was originally used only by the High Priest entering the Holy of Holies of the Temple, and its proper pronunciation was deemed lost—and the former because it is grammatically a plural and hence could easily give rise to the idea that the Jews worshiped not just one God but several gods. The “heretics” apparently knew enough Hebrew to seize the opportunity and insinuate that the Jews were no different in this regard than the pagans and indeed accepted the notion of a pantheon of various gods.
AMIHAI MAZAR
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264010
- eISBN:
- 9780191734946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264010.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
There exists today a wide spectrum of views concerning the process of the writing and redaction of the various parts of the Hebrew Bible, as well as the evaluation of the biblical text in ...
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There exists today a wide spectrum of views concerning the process of the writing and redaction of the various parts of the Hebrew Bible, as well as the evaluation of the biblical text in reconstructing the history of Israel during the Iron Age. An archaeologist must make a choice between divergent views and epistemological approaches when trying to combine archaeological data with biblical sources. There are five major possibilities, one of which is to claim that the biblical sources retain important kernels of ancient history in spite of the comparatively late time of writing and editing. Archaeology can be utilized to examine biblical data in the light of archaeology and judge critically the validity of each biblical episode. This chapter examines why we should accept the historicity of the biblical account regarding ninth-century northern Israel and discredit the historicity of the United Monarchy or Judah. It also discusses Jerusalem as a city during the tenth to ninth centuries and its role in defining state formation in Judah.Less
There exists today a wide spectrum of views concerning the process of the writing and redaction of the various parts of the Hebrew Bible, as well as the evaluation of the biblical text in reconstructing the history of Israel during the Iron Age. An archaeologist must make a choice between divergent views and epistemological approaches when trying to combine archaeological data with biblical sources. There are five major possibilities, one of which is to claim that the biblical sources retain important kernels of ancient history in spite of the comparatively late time of writing and editing. Archaeology can be utilized to examine biblical data in the light of archaeology and judge critically the validity of each biblical episode. This chapter examines why we should accept the historicity of the biblical account regarding ninth-century northern Israel and discredit the historicity of the United Monarchy or Judah. It also discusses Jerusalem as a city during the tenth to ninth centuries and its role in defining state formation in Judah.
Christine Hayes
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691165196
- eISBN:
- 9781400866410
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691165196.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter describes biblical discourses of divine law. It begins by examining those biblical texts that emphasize the emergence of divine law from the divine will. These texts stand as resources ...
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This chapter describes biblical discourses of divine law. It begins by examining those biblical texts that emphasize the emergence of divine law from the divine will. These texts stand as resources for later readers who seek to construe biblical divine law as positive law. It then turns to texts that emphasize elements of divine wisdom in the Law. These texts stand as resources for later readers who seek to construe biblical divine law in terms of natural law. Finally, it examines texts that narrate the historical circumstances under which this multifaceted law came into being and its role in the divine plan for Israel and humankind.Less
This chapter describes biblical discourses of divine law. It begins by examining those biblical texts that emphasize the emergence of divine law from the divine will. These texts stand as resources for later readers who seek to construe biblical divine law as positive law. It then turns to texts that emphasize elements of divine wisdom in the Law. These texts stand as resources for later readers who seek to construe biblical divine law in terms of natural law. Finally, it examines texts that narrate the historical circumstances under which this multifaceted law came into being and its role in the divine plan for Israel and humankind.
B. Barry Levy
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780195141139
- eISBN:
- 9780199834945
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019514113X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Many scholars and learned readers believe that rabbinic Judaism assumes a dogmatic commitment to the notion that the Bible text, particularly the Torah text, is letter perfect; orthodox Jews often ...
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Many scholars and learned readers believe that rabbinic Judaism assumes a dogmatic commitment to the notion that the Bible text, particularly the Torah text, is letter perfect; orthodox Jews often accept this notion as fact, others, as normative rabbinic doctrine. This position developed over the centuries as an internal theological and interpretative posture and as a response to external pressures. These factors include rabbinic indifference to alternative forms of the Bible text recovered from pre‐rabbinic times or non‐rabbinic sources, attacks from Christians and Muslims who accused the Jews of falsifying the text or failing to transmit it accurately, and mystical Jewish teachings that saw in the Torah a divinely revealed and perfectly transmitted document whose letters were, in their entirety, a divine name. The assumption of letter‐perfect accuracy sustains much of the midrashic literature and has become a cornerstone of the postmodern fad of decoding the text to reveal alleged references to phenomena that occurred long after its books were written. This study, based on careful examination of hundreds of authoritative rabbinic writings, offers a very different picture of the Bible's textual reality and the rabbinic beliefs about it. Beginning with late antiquity and progressing throughout the subsequent ages, this book explores Talmudic, midrashic, medieval, Renaissance, and modern rabbinic texts that address the question of the letter‐perfect accuracy of the Bible text; it is particularly attentive to the writings of Rabbis Solomon ben Adret, Jacob ben Ibn Adoniyah, and David Ibn Zimra, as well as others who lived between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. The documents analysed have been chosen from Bible commentaries, responsa, halakhic codes, guidebooks for scribes, studies of Bible manuscripts and the printed Bible, and many other rabbinic works. In presenting these sources, many translated here for the first time, the author explores the various rabbinic attempts to fix the Bible text—to correct it and to establish its authoritative spelling. He demonstrates conclusively that many of the same rabbinic figures whose teachings inform other contemporary Orthodox doctrines were quite open about the fact that their Bible texts, even their Torah scrolls, were not completely accurate. Moreover, though many of the variations are of little exegetical significance, these rabbis often acknowledged that, textually speaking, the situation was beyond repair.Less
Many scholars and learned readers believe that rabbinic Judaism assumes a dogmatic commitment to the notion that the Bible text, particularly the Torah text, is letter perfect; orthodox Jews often accept this notion as fact, others, as normative rabbinic doctrine. This position developed over the centuries as an internal theological and interpretative posture and as a response to external pressures. These factors include rabbinic indifference to alternative forms of the Bible text recovered from pre‐rabbinic times or non‐rabbinic sources, attacks from Christians and Muslims who accused the Jews of falsifying the text or failing to transmit it accurately, and mystical Jewish teachings that saw in the Torah a divinely revealed and perfectly transmitted document whose letters were, in their entirety, a divine name. The assumption of letter‐perfect accuracy sustains much of the midrashic literature and has become a cornerstone of the postmodern fad of decoding the text to reveal alleged references to phenomena that occurred long after its books were written. This study, based on careful examination of hundreds of authoritative rabbinic writings, offers a very different picture of the Bible's textual reality and the rabbinic beliefs about it. Beginning with late antiquity and progressing throughout the subsequent ages, this book explores Talmudic, midrashic, medieval, Renaissance, and modern rabbinic texts that address the question of the letter‐perfect accuracy of the Bible text; it is particularly attentive to the writings of Rabbis Solomon ben Adret, Jacob ben Ibn Adoniyah, and David Ibn Zimra, as well as others who lived between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. The documents analysed have been chosen from Bible commentaries, responsa, halakhic codes, guidebooks for scribes, studies of Bible manuscripts and the printed Bible, and many other rabbinic works. In presenting these sources, many translated here for the first time, the author explores the various rabbinic attempts to fix the Bible text—to correct it and to establish its authoritative spelling. He demonstrates conclusively that many of the same rabbinic figures whose teachings inform other contemporary Orthodox doctrines were quite open about the fact that their Bible texts, even their Torah scrolls, were not completely accurate. Moreover, though many of the variations are of little exegetical significance, these rabbis often acknowledged that, textually speaking, the situation was beyond repair.
