Sabbath

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Institution ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Current Phase ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Academic Scholarship ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Sacred And Profane ◽  
Universal Category ◽  
The 19Th Century

In Judaism, the Sabbath is the seventh and the sacred day of the week, a recurring seven-day temporal unit. The concept of Sabbath influenced the Christian Sunday and the Muslim Friday, and with the expansion of both, the seven-day week became a globally common temporal unit. As such, the Sabbath is identified with two highly influential ideas: the seven-day week institution of cyclical temporality almost disconnected from nature, and the dichotomy of sacred and profane days. The Jewish Sabbath is famously introduced by the first biblical story of creation, as God sanctifies the seventh day and rests from his labor of creation. Therefore, some etymologists suggest the Hebrew word Shabbat is derived from rest (Shevita), and some point to its similarity to the number seven (Sheva). However, the information in the Bible regarding the Sabbath is limited and deals mainly with the prohibition of labor. It is only by the Second Temple period and later in rabbinical writings that the Sabbath is seen as a day of communal worship, complex practices, rituals, and limitations that are not directly related to cessation from work. The academic scholarship on the Sabbath, which is the focus of this bibliography, usually concentrates on contextualizing the elements of the Sabbath to specific periods and locations. Thus, academic scholarship does not present the Sabbath as a whole, but instead picture it as a multilayered social institution, gradually developed across thousands of years, with no clear starting point and, of course, as ever changing. Already by the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th, the “Sabbath question” was an urgent scholarly discussion regarding its Mesopotamian origins, its parallels in other cultures, and the idea of the week. Through these debates, the specific Jewish concept became a universal category for thinking of time, society, and religion. Moreover, the academic scholarship created a direct link between the Jewish concept of Sabbath and the Christian concepts of Sunday and the seven-day week. Therefore, instead of leading to difference and confrontation, as in earlier periods, the Sabbath became a Judeo-Christian idea, separating this group from the rest of the world. In the second half of the 20th century, scholarship shifted from the big question of origin to more minor aspects of it, shading light on the different stages of Sabbath development, like the Second Temple period, classical rabbinic writings, and Kabbalah. It seems that the last centuries present the popular current phase of the Sabbath as a rest day in capitalist and secular modern societies. A unique case here is the formation of the modern State of Israel, which recreated the Sabbath as a national rather than a religious category, being another intriguing turn in the relationship between the Sabbath and Jewish identity.

scholarly journals Greek education and cultural identity in Greek-speaking Judaism: The Jewish-Greek historiographers

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 217-228
Author(s):  
Marieke Dhont
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Language Usage ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Hellenistic World ◽  
Hellenistic Judaism

The style of the Jewish-Greek historiographers Eupolemus and Demetrius has often been evaluated as “bad Greek.” This is generally seen as evidence of their lack of education. The negative views on the language of Demetrius and Eupolemus are illustrative of a broader issue in the study of Hellenistic Judaism: language usage has been a key element in the discussion on the societal position of Jews in the Hellenistic world. In this article, I assess the style of the historiographers in the context of post-classical Greek, and conclude that their language reflects standard Hellenistic Greek. The linguistic analysis then becomes a starting point to reflect on the level of integration of Jews in the Greek-speaking world as well as to consider the nature of Jewish multilingualism in the late Second Temple period.

Psalms

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Breck Reid ◽  
Rebecca Poe Hays
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Literary Genres ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Social ◽  
Literary Composition ◽  
Form Criticism

The location of a book in the canon gives the reader clues to the genre and interpretation of the book. The Jewish canon places the poetry of the book of Psalms as the introduction to the division of the bible known as the Ketubim (writings). The Christian canon(s) place the Psalter between Job and Proverbs, accenting the Psalms’ place among the wisdom texts. Scholarly consensus understands the Psalter as a collection of collections of sung poetic prayers that range over a wide period of authorship, provenance, and redaction. Associated with ongoing worship in Israel, most psalms were continually reapplied to new situations. The earliest psalms antedate the period when Israel and Judah were ruled by an indigenous king, the monarchy (1030–583 bce), and the latest are from the period defined by the cultural and political hegemony of Greece, the Hellenistic period (323–63 bce). The book of Psalms functioned as the prayer book of the second temple period (521 bce–66 ce) and the repository of poetic instruction. The first audience of the completed book is the emerging population of what was then the Persian province of Yehud during this period. Prior to the rise of form criticism in the early 20th century, scholarship focused on the Psalms as expressions of individual religious poets, much as Keats, Dickinson, or Countee Cullen. Form criticism, shaped by the work of Herman Gunkel, focused on the social location of the various literary genres in the cult, but this approach still viewed the Psalter as assemblage or medley without structure or order. During the mid-20th century a focus emerged with an interest in the “shape and shaping” of the Psalter. The rise of postmodernity has led some to pursue post-Gunkel approaches to the book of Psalms that attend to matters such as the poetic language and the relationship to other ancient Near Eastern poetry and imagery. While many scholars still utilize form-critical language to discuss the Psalter, they tend to examine each psalm as a distinct literary composition and product of Israel’s religious tradition rather than forcing them into specific genres and corresponding life settings.

scholarly journals Deuteronomy in the Second Temple period: Law and its developing interpretation

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Paganini
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Fundamental Aspect ◽  
Ethical Life ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The People

A fulfilled ethical life is a desire that in Israel is closely integrated with the observance of laws and legal instructions. The specific way, in which this aspect is concretised, is not the fundamental aspect for the biblical authors. In Pentateuch there are in fact a lot of legal codes. In prophetical writings these are often called into question and in the Second Temple period there are also attempts to correct biblical legislation, which are not in our biblical canon like the qumranic Temple Scroll. The differences between legal codes in the Bible and in the writings of the Second Temple period are above all witnesses that it is possible to correct, to interpret, to actualise and to rewrite laws, which remains authoritative for the people or for a part of it.

Clean/Unclean, Pure/Impure, Holy/Profane

2020 ◽  
pp. 300-310
Author(s):  
Jonathan D. Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Related Literature ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Jewish Ritual

This chapter explores the biblical ideas of purity and the related concepts of cleanness and holiness. It discusses some of the terminology used for these concepts in the Bible and related literature and how these terms are used in different texts and various periods. It examines the relationship between purity and holiness, particularly in terms of the Temple in Jerusalem, and discusses some of the possible reasons that certain materials were designated as unclean or impure. It also outlines the development of purification practices, particularly in terms of miqva’ot, Jewish ritual baths which were introduced in the Second Temple period.

scholarly journals Boekbesprekings/Book reviews

2008 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Editorial Office
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Imperial Cult ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Race And Class ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Perspective On Paul ◽  
Science And Theology ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Class Divisions

Seeking the favor of God, Vol 2: The development of penitential prayer in second temple Judaism Salvation and the cross Dimensions of evil: Contemporary perspectives The new perspective on Paul Viewed from the shoulders of God: Themes in science and theology Do you not remember? Scripture, story and exegesis in the rewritten Bible of Pseudo-Philo (Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement Series (37) Judaism of the second temple period (Vol 1: Qumran and Apocalypticism) Galatians and the imperial cult Divorce and remarriage in the Bible: The social and literacy context Consuming Jesus: Beyond race and class divisions in a consumer church God en geweld in het Oude Testament The compassionate leader: Leading like Jesus did. How treating people properly can give you the corporate edge

Two Millennia Later: General Resources and Particular Perspectives on Philo the Jew

2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-276
Author(s):  
Ellen Birnbaum
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
First Century ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Political Approach ◽  
Descriptive Approach ◽  
Historical Writings ◽  
The Relationship

Twenty centuries after he lived, Philo is regarded by scholars in many disciplines as an important and intriguing subject of study. Extensive print and electronic resources are available to facilitate and inform Philonic research. Fifty years ago, writers debated whether Philo—long neglected by mainstream Jewish tradition—was more fundamentally a Jew or a Greek. To illuminate this issue, these writers often focused on possible Jewish and/or Greek sources of Philo’s ideas and examined his ideas in relation to Jewish and/or Greek parallels. In recent works, however, scholars have probed the complexity of Philo’s Jewish identity from a wider range of perspectives. These include describing what constitutes Philo’s Judaism (‘the descriptive approach’); examining how he deals with Jewish and universal aspects of certain themes (‘the thematic approach’); comparing his ideas to Jewish and other traditions to see how he uses these traditions (‘the comparative approach’); studying how he presents Jews and Judaism to create a positive impression among his readers (‘the presentational approach’); and taking into account the socio-political context of first-century Alexandria to explore his attitudes about Jews and others, to find reflections of contemporary circumstances in his works or to explore the relationship between his exegetical and historical writings (‘the socio-political approach’). Generally considered by scholars today to have been a loyal and observant Jew, Philo is occasionally being integrated into broader studies of the Second Temple period and of Diaspora Jews during that time, and he has also been included in surveys of Jewish topics from the Bible to the present.

scholarly journals Are there Jews and Christians in the Bible?

1997 ◽  
Vol 53 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Pilch
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Rabbinic Judaism ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The New Testament

The article shows that it is anachronistic to speak of either 'Christians' or 'Jews' in the biblical period. In the New Testament both 'Words are used pejoratively by outsiders. However, it became appropriate to speak of 'Jews' when referring to the period of Rabbinic Judaism onwards, and of 'Christians' since the christological debates of the fourth century C E. 'Israel' was the in-group name during the Second Temple period. Outsiders, like the Romans, called the entire land 'Judea' and all its inhabitants 'Judeans'. Members of the 'house of Israel' called all outsiders 'non-Israel' or 'the nations'. The article concludes with a discussion of the ancient point of view of labeling persons.

What is Late Biblical Hebrew?

2016 ◽  
Vol 128 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven E. Fassberg
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Biblical Hebrew ◽  
Literary Language ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
The Bible

AbstractLate Biblical Hebrew is the literary language preserved in the post-exilic books of the Hebrew Bible. It differs from the literary Hebrew of the First Temple period, Classical Biblical Hebrew, in several orthographic, grammatical, syntactic, and lexical features. The distinction between pre-exilic and post-exilic language in the Hebrew of the Bible contradicts the assertion of the minimalists, who argue for the late date of the composition of the Hebrew Bible. The linguistic examination of Biblical Hebrew reveals an unmistakable difference between the language of the First Temple period and the language of the Second Temple period.

Cairo geniza

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence H. Schiffman
Keyword(s):  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
The United States ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Cairo Geniza ◽  
Second Temple Literature ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The 19Th Century

The Cairo geniza was a storeroom for no longer usable holy books in the synagogue of Fustat, Old Cairo, where for centuries, old Jewish manuscripts, mostly in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Judeo- Arabic, including also secular documents and communal records, were deposited. In the 19th century, European scholars became aware of this collection and manuscripts were removed to a variety of libraries in Europe and the United States. This material provides those studying the ancient world and ancient Jewish texts in particular with an amazing treasure of documents, throwing light on the history of the biblical text and its interpretation, the Hebrew language, Greek and Syriac versions of the Bible, Second Temple and Rabbinic literature, Jewish liturgy and the later history—political, economic, and religious—of the Jews in the Mediterranean basin. This material has totally reshaped our understanding of these fields. In the area of Bible, these texts illustrate the manner in which the vocalization and cantillation symbols were developed. Hebrew versions of some important Second Temple literature, later found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, had earlier been discovered in the geniza. Many previously unknown Midrashim and rabbinic exegetical materials have become known only from this collection. This material has provided an entirely new corpus of liturgical poetry.

Jubilees30: Building a Paradigm for the Ban on Intermarriage

1997 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cana Werman
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Impact

The question of whether it is permissible for Gentiles to marry Jews appears in scripture itself, which advances divergent views on the subject. Whereas both preexilic literature and the author of Chronicles permitted intermarriage, Ezra and his followers repudiated the practice. This article investigates the status of the question during the Second Temple period, when the impact of a new factor—conversion—further complicated the issue. Given the diversity present even in the Bible, it seems clear that several solutions to the problem would have been viable in the Second Temple period: (a) a total ban on intermarriage; (b) opposition to marriage with Gentiles unless they had abandoned idolatry or converted to Judaism; and (c) retention of the ancient tolerance of intermarriage, even in the absence of conversion.

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