Torah as Narrative and Wisdom

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Collins
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Ben Sira

The Torah in the Second Temple period included narratives as well as laws. Several compositions Aramaic compositions of the early Hellenistic period retell the stories to convey ethical messages. Some psalms, and also Ben Sira, treat the Torah as a source of wisdom

Archaeology of the Postexilic Period and the Writings

2018 ◽  
pp. 48-64
Author(s):  
Benjamin D. Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Identity Politics ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Local Identity ◽  
Domestic Sphere ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Local Literatures ◽  
International Status

This chapter provides an overview of archaeological discoveries relevant to ancient Judean life in the postexilic or Second Temple period (late sixth century bce–70 ce). It seeks to provide background information on the main cultural developments that would have impacted the authors and audience of the Writings, both in Judea and Samaria. One such development is Persian provincialization, which had only modest impact on the local economy and culture. Another consists of processes of acculturation to foreign customs in the Hellenistic period, which would remain slow and largely limited to elite circles. Jerusalem’s rise to international status as a Jewish pilgrimage center under Herodian auspices likely impacted the dissemination of local literatures and sacred texts, the Writings among them. Contemporaneous architecture and artifacts from the domestic sphere can speak to religious diversity and local identity politics as the region began to shift its orientation to the West and the economy grew.

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.

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.

Wisdom, Israel and Other Nations

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-26
Author(s):  
Marko Marttila ◽  
Mika S. Pajunen
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Jewish Literature ◽  
Central Concept ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Ben Sira ◽  
One Step ◽  
Hereditary Nature ◽  
Lady Wisdom ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
The Way

Wisdom” is a central concept in the Hebrew Bible and Early Jewish literature. An analysis of a selection of texts from the Second Temple period reveals that the way wisdom and its possession were understood changed gradually in a more exclusive direction. Deuteronomy 4 speaks of Israel as a wise people, whose wisdom is based on the diligent observance of the Torah. Proverbs 8 introduces personified Lady Wisdom that is at first a rather universal figure, but in later sources becomes more firmly a property of Israel. Ben Sira (Sir. 24) stressed the primacy of Israel by combining wisdom with the Torah, but he still attempted to do justice to other nations’ contacts with wisdom as well. One step further was taken by Baruch, as only Israel is depicted as the recipient of wisdom (Bar. 3–4). This more particularistic understanding of wisdom was also employed by the sages who wrote the compositions 4Q185 and 4Q525. Both of them emphasize the hereditary nature of wisdom, and 4Q525 even explicitly denies foreigners’ share of wisdom. The author of Psalm 154 goes furthest along this line of development by claiming wisdom to be a sole possession of the righteous among the Israelites. The question about possessing wisdom has moved from the level of nations to a matter of debate between different groups within Judaism.

Ben Sira

2021 ◽  
pp. 582-598
Author(s):  
Benjamin G. Wright
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Second Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
Primary Language ◽  
Greek Translation ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Ben Sira ◽  
History Of

The Wisdom of Ben Sira is the paradigmatic Wisdom text from the Second Temple period. Its author was a scribe/sage who lived in Jerusalem during the early part of the second century bce. It has a complicated history of transmission, originally written in Hebrew, but the Greek translation is its primary language of transmission. The book provides evidence for one elite Jew’s understanding of how to please God while living under the political domination of foreign powers. Ben Sira’s instruction has the goal of equipping his students to fear the Lord, fulfill the commandments, and acquire wisdom in order to achieve success in such an uncertain world.

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 Creation retold: Use of Scripture and tradition in Sirach 16:24�17:14

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hulisani Ramantswana
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Creation Story ◽  
Creation Process ◽  
Ben Sira ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Law ◽  
Creation Stories ◽  
Interpretive Framework

This article examines the use of Scripture and tradition in Sirach 16:24�17:14, which is a retelling of the creation stories. Ben Sira as an interpreter of Scripture utilised interpretive traditions or exegetical motifs that were in circulation during his time to provide instruction for his generation. His indebtedness to Scripture is evident from the quotations from Scripture and his use of scriptural language. In his retelling of the creation stories, he made use of the exegetical motifs that were in circulation, adapting them within the wisdom interpretive framework. He also rejected the tendency to blame evil on external agencies such as fallen angels and downplayed the gap between the creation process and the giving of the law at Sinai.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article is an exegetical inquiry of the extra-biblical text of Ben Sira in dialogue with Scripture and with other exegetical traditions which were in circulation in the Second Temple period. The article highlights the indebtedness of Ben Sira to both Scripture and tradition, and also noting Ben Sira�s own creativity in the use of Scripture and tradition in his retelling of creation story

A Destruction Layer from the Hellenistic Period at Tel Shiloh

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-71
Author(s):  
Reut Livyatan Ben-Arie
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Third Century ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
The Third

Excavations at Tel Shiloh revealed a building from the end of the third century BCE. The building was destroyed violently in the middle of the second century BCE. Based on the archaeological context, its relationship with later buildings and other finds from the period in its vicinity, it can be determined that its occupants were gentiles. Shiloh is located between Judea and Samaria, in an area included in different administrative districts at different times during the Second Temple period. In the Persian and Early Hellenistic periods, this area was outside the Land of Judea, but at the end of the Second Temple period it was within the Province of Judea. Historical sources indicate that the population on the eve of the Hasmonean Revolt was heterogeneous; during the revolt there were conflicts between the various ethnic groups. Edomites are mentioned by several sources as being in the area, and Jewish localities are also implied. Discharged Seleucid soldiers may have settled in the area as well, as they did in western Samaria. In any case, it is clear that the foreign settlement in Shiloh was destroyed in a violent confrontation. Based on its dating, the destruction must be attributed to the conquests of Jonathan and Simeon as part of the expansion of the borders of the Hasmonean state.

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