The Pro-Social Role of Grief in Ezra’s Penitential Prayer

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 466-491
Author(s):  
Angela Kim Harkins
Keyword(s):  
Social Role ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
The Self ◽  
Ritual Performance ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
1 Kings ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Critical Methods

This study uses a model of human experience that considers the embodied brain, religion, and social context in an integrated system of bio-cultural approaches. The study of grief and its strategic arousal in ritual contexts can highlight fundamental differences between modern and ancient religious understandings of the self, ultimately helping us to become more aware of our own scholarly biases and anachronisms. Such methods complement traditional historical-critical methods and shed light on how Ezra’s penitential prayer could have functioned in a Second Temple context. This study examines the similarities between the ritual performance of actions and discursive traditions that are said to have been performed by Ezra (Ezra 9–10) and discusses their resemblance to two passages that preserve foundational events of remaking the covenant (Exodus 32–34; Deuteronomy 9) and dedicating the first Temple (1 Kings 8; 2 Chronicles 6–7). The reenactment of scripted grief is identified as a strategy for bridging the breach between foundational events and the authors and readers in the Second Temple period.


5. The canon, authoritative scriptures, and the scrolls

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy H. Lim
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Biblical Texts ◽  
Shed Light

The Dead Sea Scrolls have shed light on the canonization of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible in the Second Temple period. They provide us with exemplars of their biblical texts and how they used them in an authoritative manner. ‘The canon, authoritative scriptures, and the scrolls’ explains that the sectarian concept of authoritative scriptures seemed to reflect a dual pattern of authority by which the traditional biblical texts served as the source of the sectarian interpretation that in turn was defined by it. The authority was graded, beginning with the biblical books and extending to other books that were not eventually included in the canon.

scholarly journals The Praise of God and His Name as the Core of the Second Temple Liturgy

2015 ◽  
Vol 127 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mika S. Pajunen
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Second Century ◽  
First Century ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Early Judaism ◽  
Primary Element ◽  
Liturgical Texts ◽  
Liturgical Practice

Das Lob Gottes wurde schon immer als wichtigstes Element des liturgischen Lebens am 2. Tempel verstanden. Formkritiker haben dieses Moment der liturgischen Praxis vor allem durch die Analyse der Psalmen nachgezeichnet. Demgegenüber erscheint die Rolle der Klage zumindest in der späten Phase des 2. Temepls randständig. Allerdings fehlt ein Bindeglied zwischen der hellenistischen Phase der Liturgie und dem Lob in den Qumran Texten des 1 Jh. v. Chr. Der Blick auf das Motiv der Schöpfung erschließt dieses Bindeglied und erklärt zugleich, warum das Lob als Verpflichtung Gott gegenüber verstanden wurde.Praise of God has always been understood by scholars as a primary element of the liturgical life of the Second Temple period. Form-critics have situated the praises of God in the liturgical practice of the period most of all by analyzing the Psalms now in the MT Psalter. However, at least in the late Second Temple period the role of laments seems to be marginal. Thus far a link has been missing in scholarship between this centrality of praise perceivable in the liturgical practice of the Hellenistic period and the all-encompassing nature of praise in the texts of the Qumran movement from the first century BCE. This is a link that may in part explain why prayer, or during this time more properly praise, came to be seen in early Judaism as an obligation towards God. This question is explored by investigating how the Second Temple liturgy is in many texts from the second century BCE given an explicit basis in the creation, and how such traditions in turn served an important function in the composition of new liturgical texts.La louange de Dieu a toujours été comprise par les exégètes comme un élément essentiel de la vie liturgique de la période du Second Temple. A l’aide de la critique des formes, certains exégètes ont situé les louanges de Dieu dans la pratique liturgique de cette période, en analysant surtout les Psaumes actuellement présents dans le psautier du TM. Le rôle des lamentations, en revanche, semble marginal, au moins dans la période tardive du Second Temple. Jusqu’à présent la recherche n’a pas établi de lien entre la centralité de la louange perceptible dans la pratique liturgique de la période hellénistique et l’importancede la louange dans les textes qumrâniens du premier siècle av. J.-C. Ce lien pourrait expliquer, en partie, pourquoi la prière, ou à plus proprement parler la louange, a été de plus en plus perçue, durant cette période, comme une obligation envers Dieu dans le judaïsme primitif. Cette question est explorée à travers l’analyse de nombreux textes du deuxième siècle av. J.-C. qui montrent comment la liturgie du Second Temple a été basée explicitement sur la Création et comment de telles traditions ont occupé en retour une place importante dans la composition de nouveaux textes liturgiques.

scholarly journals Joodse religieuse uitbreiding in die Nuwe-Testamentiese tydvak: Was die Judaïsme ’n missionêre godsdiens? (Deel II)

1997 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-66
Author(s):  
A. B. Du Toit
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
First Century ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
Missionary Movement ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Negative Conclusion ◽  
Cross Current

Jewish religious expansion in the New Testament era: Was Judaism a missionary religion? (Part II) In the first part of this article five factors were identified which would have contributed to the significant numerical increase of Jews towards the end of the Second Temple period. Here six others are discussed: Jewish slaves in non-Jewish households, adoption of children, the universalistic tendency in certain circles, the role of the synagogue, the attractiveness of Judaism in spite of a negative cross-current and the influence of apologetic-propagandistic literature. In weighing the evidence for a full-scale centrifugal missionary movement a mostly negative conclusion is reached. In this sense first century Judaism cannot be described as a missionary religion. We could, however, speak of an indirect mission in the sense that non-Jews were attracted to Judaism mainly through the quality’ of Jewish belief and life-style and that they were encouraged to do so.

The Role of Law in the Formation of the Pentateuch and the Canon

2019 ◽  
pp. 256-274
Author(s):  
Thomas Kazen
Keyword(s):  
Continuous Process ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Legal Interpretation ◽  
Distinct Entity ◽  
Holiness Code ◽  
Second Temple Period

Legal material is crucial for the Pentateuch’s formation. After an overview of pentateuchal research and documentary hypotheses, the legal collections and their interrelationship are discussed. Although a pre-exilic deuteronomic core, rewriting the Covenant Code, is likely, its final editing is a post-exilic development, with priestly laws and the Holiness Code following. The evolving Pentateuch becomes a distinct entity in the fourth century bce, but the text remains in a certain flux through the Hellenistic period. As a foundational document, consolidating the Judean and Samaritan communities alike, it reflects concerns with the revived temple cult(s) and Persian influence on Israelite practice. The Pentateuch receives special status earlier than the Prophets and the Writings. The transition from descriptive instruction to prescriptive law, from formative ideal to normative legislation, is a continuous process through the Hellenistic and Roman periods, with bearing on tensions around legal interpretation during the late Second Temple period.

scholarly journals منشا یاد کے افسانوں میں نسوانی کردار

2017 ◽  
pp. 10-26
Author(s):  
Dr. Muhammad Waseem Anjum
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Human Society ◽  
The Social ◽  
Urdu Literature ◽  
History Of ◽  
Role Of Women ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Social Sectors

There are several names in the history of Urdu literature who wrote about the problems of women in the human society. They expressed the role of women in different sectors of life. Mansha Yaad is one of those writers who highlighted the social role of women in his short stories very well. He criticized the injustice with women in the society. He highlighted the role of women in different social sectors of life. He also wrote about the sacrifices of women for family and society in his short stories. In this research paper, the researchers have shed light on these aspects of women’ life in the short stories of Mansha Yaad.

On Appeals to an Imperfect past in a Present Future: Remembering the Israelite Wilderness Generation in the Late Second Temple Period

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-142
Author(s):  
Daniel L. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
The Past ◽  
Damascus Document ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Communal Organization

The Damascus Document explicitly remembers the Israelite wilderness period as a time of disobedience and rebellion, with dire consequences that endured for generations. At the same time, the same text calls for a communal organization that mimics that of the Israelites during their wilderness period (Exod. 18.25; Deut. 1.15). This appeal to an imperfect past in a document that faces an imminent or even present eschaton finds close parallels among other texts from the latter half of the Second Temple period. This article argues that these similar strategies of remembering and re-deploying the past shed light on possible motivations for the Damascus Document's seemingly incoherent approach to Israel's past.

Other Secret Jewish Groups and Traditions

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael E. Stone
Keyword(s):  
Social Groups ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
The Other ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Human Ability ◽  
Damascus Document ◽  
Ancient Texts

We look at some of the other secret groups in Second Temple Judaism: magicians, schools of magic and divination, priestly craft societies, and Hasideans. The possible connections of ultra-pietist groups mentioned in Rabbinic sources to the Essenes is noted, but regarded as unproven. Ḥāburôt and their possible Qumranite connections. The extreme concern with ritual purity is common to many groups. The possible debt of the Karaites to the Qumranite tradition is discussed and traditions about discovery of books in caves. The origin in such a discovery of the text transmitted WQQ by the Geniza copies of the Damascus Document is considered. The role of ritual purity in very many of known Second Temple period social groups is examined. Is it possible for human ability to comprehend the Divine? What mysteries, if any, did the ancient texts reveal? The differences and similarities among these texts are explored.

Holiness in the Rabbinic Period

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tzvi Novick
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Rabbinic Literature ◽  
Natural Property ◽  
Second Temple Period

The chapter examines the conceptualization and role of holiness in classical rabbinic and para-rabbinic literature. The first part contends that while holiness structured the thought world of sectarians in the late Second Temple period, it figures less importantly for the rabbis themselves, who in an assortment of texts appear self-consciously to disrupt holiness-based hierarchies. They instead assign a structuring role to law. The second part of the chapter surveys the ways in which texts from rabbinic Palestine deploy holiness discourse, and ventures that the rabbis continue to think of holiness as closer to a natural property than to an evaluative shorthand.

scholarly journals Flagella bending affects macroscopic properties of bacterial suspensions

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (130) ◽  
pp. 20161031 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Potomkin ◽  
M. Tournus ◽  
L. V. Berlyand ◽  
I. S. Aranson
Keyword(s):  
Effective Viscosity ◽  
The Self ◽  
Viscosity Reduction ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
Bacterial Flagella ◽  
Macroscopic Properties ◽  
Dilute Suspension ◽  
Harsh Conditions ◽  
Shed Light

To survive in harsh conditions, motile bacteria swim in complex environments and respond to the surrounding flow. Here, we develop a mathematical model describing how flagella bending affects macroscopic properties of bacterial suspensions. First, we show how the flagella bending contributes to the decrease in the effective viscosity observed in dilute suspension. Our results do not impose tumbling (random reorientation) as was previously done to explain the viscosity reduction. Second, we demonstrate how a bacterium escapes from wall entrapment due to the self-induced buckling of flagella. Our results shed light on the role of flexible bacterial flagella in interactions of bacteria with shear flow and walls or obstacles.

The Problem of Habitual Body and Memory in Hegel and Merleau-Ponty

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Magrì
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Self ◽  
Body Memory ◽  
The Past ◽  
Phenomenology Of Perception ◽  
Regular Manner ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Habitual Body

AbstractIn this paper, I shall focus on the relation between habitual body and memory in Hegel’s Philosophy of Subjective Spirit and Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception. Both Hegel and Merleau-Ponty defend a view of the self that is centred on the role of habituality as embodied activity situated in a context. However, both philosophers avoid committing to what Edward Casey has defined habitual body memory, i.e., an active immanence of the past in the body that informs present bodily actions in an efficacious, orienting and regular manner. I shall explore the reasons why neither Hegel nor Merleau-Ponty develops an explicit account of habitual body memory. This will shed light not only on Hegel’s account of lived experience, but also on Hegel and Merleau-Ponty’s common concern with the habitual body.

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