Amram Tropper
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199267125
- eISBN:
- 9780191699184
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199267125.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism, Religion in the Ancient World
In third-century CE Palestine, the leading member of the rabbinic movement put together a highly popular wisdom treatise entitled Tractate Avot. Though Avot has inspired hundreds of commentaries, ...
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In third-century CE Palestine, the leading member of the rabbinic movement put together a highly popular wisdom treatise entitled Tractate Avot. Though Avot has inspired hundreds of commentaries, this book marks the first effort to situate it within the context of the Graeco-Roman Near East. Following his novel interpretation of Avot, this book relates the text to ancient Jewish literary paradigms as well as to relevant socio-political, literary, and intellectual streams of the contemporary Near East. Through comparisons to ancient wisdom literature, the Second Sophistic, Greek and Christian historiography, contemporary collections of sayings, and classical Roman jurisprudence, the book interprets Avot in light of the local Jewish context as well as the ambient cultural atmosphere of the contemporary Near East.Less
In third-century CE Palestine, the leading member of the rabbinic movement put together a highly popular wisdom treatise entitled Tractate Avot. Though Avot has inspired hundreds of commentaries, this book marks the first effort to situate it within the context of the Graeco-Roman Near East. Following his novel interpretation of Avot, this book relates the text to ancient Jewish literary paradigms as well as to relevant socio-political, literary, and intellectual streams of the contemporary Near East. Through comparisons to ancient wisdom literature, the Second Sophistic, Greek and Christian historiography, contemporary collections of sayings, and classical Roman jurisprudence, the book interprets Avot in light of the local Jewish context as well as the ambient cultural atmosphere of the contemporary Near East.
Marie Noonan Sabin
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195143591
- eISBN:
- 9780199834600
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195143590.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Sabin takes up the various identifying terms applied to Jesus in the Gospel of Mark – (1) Messiah, (2) the beloved son, (3) son of man, (4) son of David, and (5) son of Mary – and discusses their ...
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Sabin takes up the various identifying terms applied to Jesus in the Gospel of Mark – (1) Messiah, (2) the beloved son, (3) son of man, (4) son of David, and (5) son of Mary – and discusses their meaning in the context of Jewish tradition. In conclusion, Sabin argues that Mark identifies Jesus most of all with Wisdom, which Jewish tradition presents as the creative, nurturing, restorative aspect of God. Sabin finds Mark's Jesus to resemble Wisdom in his inclusive seeking out of followers, in his concern for feeding those around him, in his restorative acts of healing, forgiveness, and raising to new life. She argues that while Mark speaks of Jesus as an historical male, he describes him with the characteristics of Woman Wisdom. Finally, she sees that Mark, in presenting Jesus as God's Wisdom, also shows him to be God's “image and likeness,” a living parable (mashal) of “what God is like.”Less
Sabin takes up the various identifying terms applied to Jesus in the Gospel of Mark – (1) Messiah, (2) the beloved son, (3) son of man, (4) son of David, and (5) son of Mary – and discusses their meaning in the context of Jewish tradition. In conclusion, Sabin argues that Mark identifies Jesus most of all with Wisdom, which Jewish tradition presents as the creative, nurturing, restorative aspect of God. Sabin finds Mark's Jesus to resemble Wisdom in his inclusive seeking out of followers, in his concern for feeding those around him, in his restorative acts of healing, forgiveness, and raising to new life. She argues that while Mark speaks of Jesus as an historical male, he describes him with the characteristics of Woman Wisdom. Finally, she sees that Mark, in presenting Jesus as God's Wisdom, also shows him to be God's “image and likeness,” a living parable (mashal) of “what God is like.”
Anna Wierzbicka
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137330
- eISBN:
- 9780199867905
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137337.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The Introduction argues that, despite the current fashions in scholarly circles, it is possible to unambiguously determine what Jesus meant in his parables and our sayings, and to explain it in a way ...
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The Introduction argues that, despite the current fashions in scholarly circles, it is possible to unambiguously determine what Jesus meant in his parables and our sayings, and to explain it in a way that is both simple and clear. The key to such an explanation lies in the use of 60 or so simple and universal human concepts, which have been identified through empirical cross‐linguistic investigations, as a shared core of all languages. These concepts include GOOD and BAD, SOMEONE and SOMETHING, KNOW, THINK, WANT, FEEL IF and BECAUSE, and 50 or so others. The chapter emphasizes the importance of Jesus’ Jewish context for the understanding of his teaching and it shows how the use of universal human concepts allows us to separate the universal content of Jesus’ teaching from its historical and cultural embedding. While the author identifies herself as a Roman Catholic, the perspective on the Gospels adopted in this chapter (and in the book as a whole) is broadly ecumenical, including Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Christian tradition, as well as the writings of Jewish scholars.Less
The Introduction argues that, despite the current fashions in scholarly circles, it is possible to unambiguously determine what Jesus meant in his parables and our sayings, and to explain it in a way that is both simple and clear. The key to such an explanation lies in the use of 60 or so simple and universal human concepts, which have been identified through empirical cross‐linguistic investigations, as a shared core of all languages. These concepts include GOOD and BAD, SOMEONE and SOMETHING, KNOW, THINK, WANT, FEEL IF and BECAUSE, and 50 or so others. The chapter emphasizes the importance of Jesus’ Jewish context for the understanding of his teaching and it shows how the use of universal human concepts allows us to separate the universal content of Jesus’ teaching from its historical and cultural embedding. While the author identifies herself as a Roman Catholic, the perspective on the Gospels adopted in this chapter (and in the book as a whole) is broadly ecumenical, including Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Christian tradition, as well as the writings of Jewish scholars.
Marie Noonan Sabin
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195143591
- eISBN:
- 9780199834600
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195143590.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Sabin argues that Mark 16:8 is the most appropriate ending to Mark's Gospel. She challenges the practice of printing in Christian Bibles verses 9–20, unanimously acknowledged to be a spurious ending, ...
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Sabin argues that Mark 16:8 is the most appropriate ending to Mark's Gospel. She challenges the practice of printing in Christian Bibles verses 9–20, unanimously acknowledged to be a spurious ending, and of misleadingly ascribing it to Mark in the Christian lectionary, arguing that this practice undermines Mark's theology. She develops her argument for the fittingness of Mark 16:8 in terms of four different kinds of evidence, two external and two internal: (1) the textual or manuscript evidence; (2) the evidence from the canon; (3) the evidence from the literary structure of Mark's Gospel; (4) the evidence from Mark's theology. She compares Mark's ending at 16:8 with the endings of Matthew, Luke, and John, noting how the differences serve to highlight each evangelist's distinctive theological voice. She concludes that to add verses 9–20 to Mark's authentic ending is to blunt the voice that can reopen God's word for us today in many important ways: to the enriching Jewish context of the Christian Scripture; to lost traditions about the equality of women; to lost emphasis on the inclusiveness of the divine image in humanity; to a creative way of doing theology that allows God's revelation to be ongoing.Less
Sabin argues that Mark 16:8 is the most appropriate ending to Mark's Gospel. She challenges the practice of printing in Christian Bibles verses 9–20, unanimously acknowledged to be a spurious ending, and of misleadingly ascribing it to Mark in the Christian lectionary, arguing that this practice undermines Mark's theology. She develops her argument for the fittingness of Mark 16:8 in terms of four different kinds of evidence, two external and two internal: (1) the textual or manuscript evidence; (2) the evidence from the canon; (3) the evidence from the literary structure of Mark's Gospel; (4) the evidence from Mark's theology. She compares Mark's ending at 16:8 with the endings of Matthew, Luke, and John, noting how the differences serve to highlight each evangelist's distinctive theological voice. She concludes that to add verses 9–20 to Mark's authentic ending is to blunt the voice that can reopen God's word for us today in many important ways: to the enriching Jewish context of the Christian Scripture; to lost traditions about the equality of women; to lost emphasis on the inclusiveness of the divine image in humanity; to a creative way of doing theology that allows God's revelation to be ongoing.
Marie Noonan Sabin
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195143591
- eISBN:
- 9780199834600
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195143590.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Sabin shows how Mark uses both direct citations and indirect echoes of Hebrew Scripture to construct a framework of interpretation. In particular, she shows how the opening word of Mark's Gospel, ...
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Sabin shows how Mark uses both direct citations and indirect echoes of Hebrew Scripture to construct a framework of interpretation. In particular, she shows how the opening word of Mark's Gospel, Beginning, as well as the other words of Mark 1, have enriched meanings in a Jewish context, and how the Seed Parables of Ch. 4 (i.e., the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Seed Growing Secretly, and the Parable of the Mustard Seed), if read in relation to one another as a midrashic lexicon, open up different insights about the meaning of God's kingdom than those derived from the reading‐frames of the church fathers or modern critics.Less
Sabin shows how Mark uses both direct citations and indirect echoes of Hebrew Scripture to construct a framework of interpretation. In particular, she shows how the opening word of Mark's Gospel, Beginning, as well as the other words of Mark 1, have enriched meanings in a Jewish context, and how the Seed Parables of Ch. 4 (i.e., the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Seed Growing Secretly, and the Parable of the Mustard Seed), if read in relation to one another as a midrashic lexicon, open up different insights about the meaning of God's kingdom than those derived from the reading‐frames of the church fathers or modern critics.
Richard Harries
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199263134
- eISBN:
- 9780191600616
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199263132.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
One of the encouraging features of recent scholarship has been the recovery of Jesus as a Jew, work particularly associated with Geza Vermes. Christians as well as Jews now see Jesus as fully Jewish ...
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One of the encouraging features of recent scholarship has been the recovery of Jesus as a Jew, work particularly associated with Geza Vermes. Christians as well as Jews now see Jesus as fully Jewish in his Jewish context. But what is there in the life and teaching of Jesus that might make a valid foundation for claims made later in the New Testament about his divine status, claims developed in the doctrines of the church? Even if, from a Christian point of view, one believes that there is such a foundation, Jesus himself emphasized that ultimate salvation depends upon doing the will of the Father, an emphasis on action rather than belief entirely in accord with Judaism itself.Less
One of the encouraging features of recent scholarship has been the recovery of Jesus as a Jew, work particularly associated with Geza Vermes. Christians as well as Jews now see Jesus as fully Jewish in his Jewish context. But what is there in the life and teaching of Jesus that might make a valid foundation for claims made later in the New Testament about his divine status, claims developed in the doctrines of the church? Even if, from a Christian point of view, one believes that there is such a foundation, Jesus himself emphasized that ultimate salvation depends upon doing the will of the Father, an emphasis on action rather than belief entirely in accord with Judaism itself.
Diana I. Popescu
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781906764869
- eISBN:
- 9781800343375
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781906764869.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter considers the Jewish origins of psychoanalysis, which points out Jewish as the preferred ethnicity of the psychoanalyst character for many filmmakers. It focuses on Israeli TV series ...
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This chapter considers the Jewish origins of psychoanalysis, which points out Jewish as the preferred ethnicity of the psychoanalyst character for many filmmakers. It focuses on Israeli TV series Betipul as a prime example of an outstanding attempt to enter the reality of the psychotherapy practice. It also explores the symbolic significance of Betipul as an atypical mediation of a Jewish Israeli identity in crisis, including the function and responses to this mediation among Israeli audiences. The chapter describes the many remakes of Betipul in Europe and in the United States that reveal significant cultural differences in the approach to psychotherapy and variation on the representation of the therapist on global consensus. It explains what Betipul adds to the representation of the Jewish psychotherapist in popular culture and how the Jewish aspects of this representation function when they leave Jewish contexts.Less
This chapter considers the Jewish origins of psychoanalysis, which points out Jewish as the preferred ethnicity of the psychoanalyst character for many filmmakers. It focuses on Israeli TV series Betipul as a prime example of an outstanding attempt to enter the reality of the psychotherapy practice. It also explores the symbolic significance of Betipul as an atypical mediation of a Jewish Israeli identity in crisis, including the function and responses to this mediation among Israeli audiences. The chapter describes the many remakes of Betipul in Europe and in the United States that reveal significant cultural differences in the approach to psychotherapy and variation on the representation of the therapist on global consensus. It explains what Betipul adds to the representation of the Jewish psychotherapist in popular culture and how the Jewish aspects of this representation function when they leave Jewish contexts.
