Tradition, Transmission, and Transformation from Second Temple Literature through Judaism and Christianity in Late Antiquity

Tradition, Transmission, and Transformation from Second Temple Literature through Judaism and Christianity in Late Antiquity
Author: Menahem Kister
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 408
Release: 2015-10-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004299130

Many types of tradition and interpretation found in later Jewish and Christian writings trace their origins to the Second Temple period, but their transmission and transformation followed different paths within the two religious communities. For example, while Christians often translated and transmitted discrete Second Temple texts, rabbinic Judaism generally preserved earlier traditions integrated into new literary frameworks. In both cases, ancient traditions were often transformed to serve new purposes but continued to bear witness to their ancient roots. Later compositions may even provide the key to clarifying obscurities in earlier texts. The contributions in this volume explore the dynamics by which earlier texts and traditions were transmitted and transformed in these later bodies of literature and their attendant cultural contexts.

For a Later Generation

For a Later Generation
Author: Randal A. Argall
Publisher: Burns & Oates
Total Pages: 360
Release: 2000
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

Twenty-seven scholars gather to honor George Nickelsburg in this collection of essays that uses his methods to examine the reuse or reinterpretation of authoritative tradition in early Judaism and Christianity.

A Guide to Early Jewish Texts and Traditions in Christian Transmission

A Guide to Early Jewish Texts and Traditions in Christian Transmission
Author: Alexander Kulik
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 559
Release: 2019
Genre: Bibles
ISBN: 0190863072

The Jewish culture of the Hellenistic and early Roman periods established a basis for all monotheistic religions, but its main sources have been preserved to a great degree through Christian transmission. This Guide is devoted to problems of preservation, reception, and transformation of Jewish texts and traditions of the Second Temple period in the many Christian milieus from the ancient world to the late medieval era. It approaches this corpus not as an artificial collection of reconstructed texts--a body of hypothetical originals--but rather from the perspective of the preserved materials, examined in their religious, social, and political contexts. It also considers the other, non-Christian, channels of the survival of early Jewish materials, including Rabbinic, Gnostic, Manichaean, and Islamic. This unique project brings together scholars from many different fields in order to map the trajectories of early Jewish texts and traditions among diverse later cultures. It also provides a comprehensive and comparative introduction to this new field of study while bridging the gap between scholars of early Judaism and of medieval Christianity.

Early Judaism and Its Modern Interpreters

Early Judaism and Its Modern Interpreters
Author: Matthias Henze
Publisher: SBL Press
Total Pages: 670
Release: 2020-11-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0884144828

An essential resource for scholars and students Since the publication of the first edition of Early Judaism and Its Modern Interpreters in 1986, the field of early Judaism has exploded with new data, the publication of additional texts, and the adoption of new methods. This new edition of the classic resource honors the spirit of the earlier volume and focuses on the scholarly advances in the past four decades that have led to the study of early Judaism becoming an academic discipline in its own right. Essays written by leading scholars in the study of early Judaism fall into four sections: historical and social settings; methods, manuscripts, and materials; early Jewish literatures; and the afterlife of early Judaism.

Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism, Volume 16

Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism, Volume 16
Author: Stanley E. Porter
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2021-09-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1666730955

Volume 16 2020 This is the sixteenth volume of the hard-copy edition of a journal that has been published online (www.jgrchj.net) since 2000. As they appear, the hard-copy editions replace the online materials. The scope of JGRChJ is the texts, language and cultures of the Greco-Roman world of early Christianity and Judaism. The papers published in JGRChJ are designed to pay special attention to the larger picture of politics, culture, religion and language, engaging as well with modern theoretical approaches.

Religious Stories in Transformation: Conflict, Revision and Reception

Religious Stories in Transformation: Conflict, Revision and Reception
Author: Alberdina Houtman
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 498
Release: 2016-10-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004334815

In Religious Stories in Transformation: Conflict, Revision and Reception, the editors present a collection of essays that reveal both the many similarities and the poignant differences between ancient myths in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and modern secular culture and how these stories were incorporated and adapted over time. This rich multidisciplinary research demonstrates not only how stories in different religions and cultures are interesting in their own right, but also that the process of transformation in particular deserves scholarly interest. It is through the changes in the stories that the particular identity of each religion comes to the fore most strikingly.

A Life of Psalms in Jewish Late Antiquity

A Life of Psalms in Jewish Late Antiquity
Author: A. J. Berkovitz
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2023-06-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 1512824194

The Bible shaped nearly every aspect of Jewish life in the ancient world, from activities as obvious as attending synagogue to those which have lost their scriptural resonance in modernity, such as drinking water and uttering one's last words. And within a scriptural universe, no work exerted more force than the Psalter, the most cherished text among all the books of the Hebrew Bible. A Life of Psalms in Jewish Late Antiquity clarifies the world of late ancient Judaism through the versatile and powerful lens of the Psalter. It asks a simple set of questions: Where did late ancient Jews encounter the Psalms? How did they engage with the work? And what meanings did they produce? A. J. Berkovitz answers these queries by reconstructing and contextualizing a diverse set of religious practices performed with and on the Psalter, such as handling a physical copy, reading from it, interpreting it exegetically, singing it as liturgy, invoking it as magic and reciting it as an act of piety. His book draws from and contributes to the fields of ancient Judaism, biblical reception, book history and the history of reading.

T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism Volume Two

T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism Volume Two
Author: Loren T. Stuckenbruck
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 776
Release: 2019-12-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 0567660931

The T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism provides a comprehensive reference resource of over 600 scholarly articles aimed at scholars and students interested in Judaism of the Second Temple Period. The two-volume work is split into four parts. Part One offers a prolegomenon for the contemporary study and appreciation of Second Temple Judaism, locating the discipline in relation to other relevant fields (such as Hebrew Bible, Rabbinics, Christian Origins). Beginning with a discussion of terminology, the discussion suggests ways the Second Temple period may be described, and concludes by noting areas of study that challenge our perception of ancient Judaism. Part Two presents an overview of respective contexts of the discipline set within the broad framework of historical chronology corresponding to a set of full-colour, custom-designed maps. With distinct attention to primary sources, the author traces the development of historical, social, political, and religious developments from the time period following the exile in the late 6th century B.C.E. through to the end of the Bar Kokhba revolt (135 C.E.). Part Three focuses specifically on a wide selection of primary-source literature of Second Temple Judaism, summarizing the content of key texts, and examining their similarities and differences with other texts of the period. Essays here include a brief introduction to the work and a summary of its contents, as well as examination of critical issues such as date, provenance, location, language(s), and interpretative matters. The early reception history of texts is also considered, and followed by a bibliography specific to that essay. Numerous high-resolution manuscript images are utilized to illustrate distinct features of the texts. Part Four addresses topics relevant to the Second Temple Period such as places, practices, historical figures, concepts, and subjects of scholarly discussion. These are often supplemented by images, maps, drawings, or diagrams, some of which appear here for the first time. Copiously illustrated, carefully researched and meticulously referenced, this resource provides a reliable, up-to-date and complete guide for those studying early Judaism in its literary and historical settings.

The Purity and Sanctuary of the Body in Second Temple Judaism

The Purity and Sanctuary of the Body in Second Temple Judaism
Author: Hannah K. Harrington
Publisher: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
Total Pages: 420
Release: 2019-08-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3647571288

This study traces the emergence of the concept of the body as a sanctuary from its biblical roots to its expressions in late Second Temple Judaism. Harrington's hypothesis is that the destruction of the first Jerusalem temple was a catalyst for a new reality vis-à-vis the temple and the emergence of increased emphasis on the holiness of the people along with concomitant standards of purity in a certain stream of Judaism. The study brings into relief elements of this attitude from exilic texts, e.g. Ezekiel, to Ezra-Nehemiah, the Dead Sea Scrolls and other Second Temple Jewish texts, including early Jesus and Pauline traditions. The goal is to provide a history of the concept of the body-cum-temple metaphor which comes to its fullest expression in the letters of Paul to the Corinthians. The concept of the body as a sanctuary as it comes to fruition in late second temple Judaism must be understood within the conceptual world of Jewish holiness of the time. The metaphor of the temple provides a frame of reference but only a close analysis of the concepts of holiness, purity, and impurity and the dynamics between them can provide depth and distinction. Of particular importance, critical to proper understanding of the temple metaphor, are the notions of the elect, holy status of Israel and its possible desecration by wrongful sexual relations, the loss of the temple and the ripple effect of creating at least temporary substitutes for processes of the cult, the widespread concern in Second Temple Judaism for ritual purity in support of greater holiness, and a desire among Jews for the residence and agency of the spirit of holiness.