Legal Exegesis and Historical Narrative in Luke 2:22–4

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evangeline M Kozitza
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
Legal Interpretation ◽  
Critical Questions ◽  
Ancient Judaism ◽  
Complete Purification ◽  
The Temple ◽  
The Sacrifice

Abstract This article wrestles with critical questions often cited in relation to Luke 2:22–4, the gospel writer’s description of two legal rituals (the sacrifice to complete purification after birth, and the consecration of a firstborn son) performed by Mary and Joseph at the Temple. In contrast with previous interpretations of this text, which have tended to conclude either that Luke has been misinformed about Jewish law, or that he simply is not interested in legal precision (thus creating a purely fictive narrative motivated by theological or literary concerns), this essay argues for a more nuanced reading of Luke’s account along a broader spectrum of Second Temple and early rabbinic legal interpretation, and in light of Luke’s claims about the genre and methodology of his gospel. By positioning Luke 2:22–4 among other examples of legal exegesis in ancient Judaism, particularly those that deal with the laws Luke cites, I conclude not only that the childbirth laws in the Torah leave multiple gaps that invite later interpretive differences, but that Luke’s own halakhic reading can be contextualized by comparable readings within the diversity of Second Temple interpretation.

Ritual Purity

2020 ◽  
pp. 183-220
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Purity And Impurity ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Divine Law

This chapter discusses the Book of Ritual Purity (Sefer tohorah), which covers a large and complicated area of Jewish law that was once as important to observant Jews but has been mostly without practical application since the destruction of the Second Temple. It stresses Maimonides' point that the bar on admission to the Temple is the main consequence of most types of impurity. It also explains that the laws of purity and impurity demonstrate anticipation of the messiah and the Temple's reconstruction. The chapter describes the Book of Purity as part of a meaningful structure whereby Maimonides conveys what he sees as the timeless value of comprehending the Torah in its entirety as a system of divine law. It relates the Book of Purity to universal philosophical concepts.

Jewish Identity and the Intercommunal Links between Diaspora Jewish Communities in the Second Temple Period

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Jonathan R. Trotter
Keyword(s):  
Jewish Identity ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
Jewish Communities ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Jerusalem Temple ◽  
Shared Identity ◽  
The City ◽  
The Temple

Abstract Many diaspora communities identify not only with a distant homeland but also with others distant from the homeland. How exactly do these intercommunal connections take place and contribute toward a shared identity? What specific aspects of diasporan identity are created or strengthened? What practices are involved? This study will begin to answer these questions through investigating two practices which were widespread among diaspora Jewish communities during the last two centuries of the Second Temple period (1st cent. B.C.E.–1st cent. C.E.). First, we will show how sending offerings and making pilgrimages to the Jerusalem temple from these communities enabled regular intercommunal contact. Then, we will suggest some ways in which these voluntary practices reinforced a cohesive Jewish identity and the importance of the homeland, especially the city of Jerusalem and the temple, for many diaspora Jews, whether they lived in Alexandria, Rome, Asia Minor, or Babylonia.

The People of the Book, 200 BCE–200 CE

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maristella Botticini ◽  
Zvi Eckstein
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
First Century ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
The People ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Jewish Religion

This chapter discusses the well-documented shift of the religious norm that transformed the Jews into the People of the Book. During the first century BCE, some Jewish scholars and religious leaders promoted the establishment of free secondary schools. A century later, they issued a religious ordinance requiring all Jewish fathers to send their sons from the age of six or seven to primary school to learn to read and study the Torah in Hebrew. With the destruction of the Second Temple, the Jewish religion permanently lost one of its two pillars (the Temple) and set out on a unique trajectory. Scholars and rabbis, the new religious leaders in the aftermath of the first Jewish–Roman war, replaced temple service and ritual sacrifices with the study of the Torah in the synagogue—the new focal institution of Judaism.

scholarly journals Between family and temple: Jesus and sacrifices

2002 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Destro ◽  
Mauro Pesce
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
New Beginning ◽  
Holy Places ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Temple

Sacrifice generally aims at obtaining from and by supernatural force the right to exercise control over life. As far as Jewish sacrifices are concerned, according to Leviticus, victims’ blood serves to purify the holy places of the temple and no sacrifices can expiate voluntary sins. In Mt  6:12 God’s forgiveness is obtained through a trilateral relationship between the sinner, the “debtor”, and  God, without any expiatory sacrificial act being required. Jesus did not, however, reject the  sacrificial rituals of the temple, those rituals that did not serve to expiate voluntary sins. In Jesus’ proposal, the forgiveness by one individual of another implies a social conception, which includes the absence of debt,  reconciliation, justice and equality. Jesus transforms and relocates two aspects of the religion of the Second  Temple. In his conception, the forgiveness of sins and  a new beginning of people’s lives brought about by the Jubilee can happen anywhere (not only in the temple)  and at any time (not only once a year for Yom ha-kippurim).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document