Some Observations of Philo's De Gigantibus and Evil Spirits in Second Temple Judaism

2005 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Archie Wright
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
First Century ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
Human Suffering ◽  
Jewish Literature ◽  
Eventual Return ◽  
The Problem Of Evil ◽  
Evil Spirits ◽  
Similarities And Differences

AbstractThe following discussion delineates Philo's interpretation of Genesis 6:1-4 in his various treatises. The presentation provides a brief description of his understanding of the journey of the soul, which includes the origin of the soul, its place in the heavens, its time on earth, and its eventual return to the divine realm. Throughout the discussion, I will introduce various points of the interpretation of the Genesis passage found in the Watcher tradition of 1 Enoch and its adaptation in various documents in Second Temple Jewish literature. In doing so, I will highlight the similarities and differences between the interpretations which suggest Philo had knowledge of some form of the Watcher tradition and was perhaps attempting to write a corrective of its understanding of the problem of evil and the cause of human suffering in the first century C.E.

The Non-Masoretic Hebrew Vorlage of the Old Greek Ezekiel (LXX967/LXXB), Other Non-Masoretic and Proto-Masoretic Ezekiel Texts: Evidence from Quotations of and Allusions to Ezekiel in Second Temple Judaism

2021 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-351
Author(s):  
Karin Finsterbusch
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
History Of The Book ◽  
First Century ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
Jewish Literature ◽  
Textual History ◽  
Damascus Document ◽  
History Of ◽  
Old Greek ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract In Second Temple Jewish Literature, more than a hundred quotations of and allusions to Ezekiel are preserved. Although only a few of them are text-critically relevant, these cases may help to shed light on the complex textual history of the book. In this article, eleven cases of quotations and allusions are analyzed in detail: Six cases should be regarded as evidence for the existence of the non-masoretic Hebrew Vorlage of the Old Greek Ezekiel. In two of these cases, non-aligned textual elements appear as well. Taken together with two non-aligned cases in the Damascus Document, these quotations and allusions substantiate the assumption that even more non-masoretic Ezekiel texts were in use until the beginning of the first century BCE—alongside proto-masoretic Ezekiel texts, which are attested by three cases of quotations and allusions.

Going Through Hell; ΤΑΡΤΑΡΟΣ in Greco-Roman Culture, Second Temple Judaism, and Philo of Alexandria

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 352-378
Author(s):  
Clint Burnett
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
Jewish Literature ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Philo Of Alexandria ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
Roman Culture ◽  
Greek Myths

This article questions the longstanding supposition that the eschatology of the Second Temple period was solely influenced by Persian or Iranian eschatology, arguing instead that the literature of this period reflects awareness of several key Greco-Roman mythological concepts. In particular, the concepts of Tartarus and the Greek myths of Titans and Giants underlie much of the treatment of eschatology in the Jewish literature of the period. A thorough treatment of Tartarus and related concepts in literary and non-literary sources from ancient Greek and Greco-Roman culture provides a backdrop for a discussion of these themes in the Second Temple period and especially in the writings of Philo of Alexandria.

Climbing the Lampstand-Witness-Trees: Revelation's Use of Zechariah 4 in Light of Speech Act Theory

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-92
Author(s):  
Cullen Tanner
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
First Century ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Witness Trees ◽  
The Church

AbstractThis article traces John's use of Zechariah 4 through its most likely first century perceptions in conjunction with the implicit ecclesial audience of Revelation. After placing the Apocalypse amid the atmosphere of Second Temple Judaism in the Roman Empire, it provides conjecture as to the theological implications of these speech acts on the Church of Revelation. These findings are then used to piece together the illocutionary force of John's use of Zechariah 4 and the resulting perlocution, which together comprise an essential element of the pneumatology that John supports in Revelation. When interpreting through such a lens, one ought to ask not only who the Spirit is but how this biblical author anticipated his audience to act in response to this document and to the Holy Spirit.

scholarly journals The defeat of heartbreak: problems and solutions for Stump's view of the problem of evil concerning desires of the heart

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
LINDSAY K. CLEVELAND ◽  
W. SCOTT CLEVELAND
Keyword(s):  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
Significant Source ◽  
Human Suffering ◽  
Problems And Solutions ◽  
The Problem Of Evil ◽  
Eleonore Stump

AbstractEleonore Stump insightfully develops Aquinas's theodicy to account for a significant source of human suffering, namely the undermining of desires of the heart. Stump argues that what justifies God in allowing such suffering is benefits made available to the sufferer through her suffering that can defeat the suffering by contributing to the fulfilment of her heart's desires. We summarize Stump's arguments for why such suffering requires defeat and how it is defeated. We identify three problems with Stump's account of how such suffering is defeated and offer solutions to each. We defend and strengthen Stump's response to the hardest cases for her view, and explain what her view demands of God.

scholarly journals Qohelet's concept of deity: A comparative-philosophical perspective

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacobus W. Gericke
Keyword(s):  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Analytic Philosophy ◽  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
Religious Language ◽  
Philosophical Theology ◽  
Religious Epistemology ◽  
Existence Of God ◽  
Philosophical Perspective ◽  
The Problem Of Evil ◽  
Similarities And Differences

This article discusses the concept of deity in the book of Ecclesiastes (Qohelet) from the perspective of issues of interest in analytic philosophy of religion. Of concern are assumptions in the text about religion, the nature of religious language, religious epistemology, the concept of revelation, the attributes of the divine, the existence of God, the problem of evil, the relation between religion and morality and religious pluralism. A comparative philosophical clarification is offered with the aim of discerning similarities and differences between popular views in Christian philosophical theology and what, if anything, Qohelet took for granted on the same issues.

scholarly journals The Place and Meaning of Suffering in Evangelical Theology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prof. Dr Godfrey Harold
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
Human Suffering ◽  
The World ◽  
The Problem Of Evil ◽  
Orthodox Theology ◽  
Evangelical Theology

The Evangelical view of God is rooted in Orthodox Theology. The article posits that it is within the classical understanding of God that Christians can find their best resources for dealing with the problem of evil from theological, practical and even philosophical perspectives. The present suffering that COVID-19 has brought to the world requires us to answer the question, ‘what on earth is God doing?’ With over two million officially recorded deaths in the world and over 63000 deaths in South Africa, the present suffering requires an investigation on one of the most serious objections to a belief in a loving God. In this article, attention is given to how Evangelicals understand the implications, meaning and relevance of suffering. In developing a theology and meaning of suffering, I propose the approach that is rooted in the classical understanding of God is best suited to address this dilemma. Focusing on the works of Augustine, and Evangelical theologians, an Evangelical Theology on the meaning and relevance of human suffering which includes suffering as non-punitive and punitive is developed by concluding that God allows evil and punishment for development and discipline.

Jewish Literature of the Second Temple Period

2019 ◽  
pp. 277-293
Author(s):  
Karina Martin Hogan
Keyword(s):  
Human Person ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Gender And Sexuality ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
Jewish Literature ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Ben Sira ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Literary Environment ◽  
Book Of The Watchers

This essay showcases a sample of the diverse approaches to gender and sexuality that can be found in the literature of Second Temple Judaism. Within four of the major genres of Jewish literature during this period, it analyzes one example that makes particularly striking claims with respect to gender and sexuality: The Book of the Watchers, the Wisdom of Ben Sira, Jubilees, and Judith. Although all of the texts surveyed here come out of a culture with strong patriarchal tendencies, they do not all uphold patriarchal assumptions in equal measure or in the same ways. Taken together in their diversity, the texts demonstrate that the Jewish literary environment out of which the New Testament emerged was one in which sexuality was not a taboo subject but often provided an opportunity to reflect on the nature of the human person in relation to the divine.

Judaism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Wheeler-Reed
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
Sexual Ethics ◽  
Jewish Literature ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Sexual Ideology ◽  
The Dead

This chapter establishes that most of the sexual ethics of Second Temple Judaism are similar to the ideological sexual codes of the Roman Empire. It examines works as diverse as Tobit, the writings of Philo and Josephus, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. It contends that the dominant sexual ideology among Second Temple Jews is “Procreationism,” which maintains that sex is for reproduction and not for pleasure. Furthermore, it suggests that most of the Jewish literature of the Second Temple period upholds the same hegemonic ideology of the Augustan marriage legislation, except for the writings of the Essenes.

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