scholarly journals Judging the twelve tribes of Israel: Q 22:28, 30 in light of the Psalms of Solomon and the Community Rule

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Llewellyn Howes
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Current Article ◽  
Psalms Of Solomon ◽  
Community Rule ◽  
The Way

Attribution License. The current article considers two intertexts of Q 22:28, 30, namely the Psalms of Solomon and the Community Rule found in the first Qumran cave. Each of these documents is examined to understand its view of the restoration of Israel, the messianic age, the apocalyptic end and the final judgement. Additional attention is paid to the way in which these documents draw boundaries around their respective in-groups. By illustrating that these texts foresaw a process of judgement at the apocalyptic end that would entail both the liberation and the condemnation of greater Israel, the current article argues against the popular claim that a wholesale liberation of everyone in Israel was expected during the Second-Temple period. The broader context of this investigation is the attempted refutation of Horsley�s influential claim that, in Q 22:28�30, the verb κρίνω actually means �liberate� and not �judge�.Intradisciplinary and/or�interdisciplinary�implications: By illustrating that these texts foresaw a process of judgement at the apocalyptic end that would entail both the liberation and the condemnation of greater Israel, the current article argues against the popular claim that a wholesale liberation of everyone in Israel was expected during the Second-Temple period.

Chapter One The Evolution of Synagogue Textiles in Ancient and Medieval Times

2019 ◽  
pp. 3-40
Author(s):  
Bracha Yaniv
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
The Way

The evolution of ceremonial synagogue textiles is closely related to that of the Torah scroll, particularly the way in which it was wrapped and the space in which it was stored. This process of evolution began during the Second Temple period and came to an end in the early fifth century, when the method of writing Torah scrolls was set; it was then that the tradition of writing the Pentateuch on parchment in the form of a scroll became accepted as the method of writing Torah scrolls....

Reconsidering the Salvation of Israel in Luke–Acts

2020 ◽  
pp. 0142064X2096266
Author(s):  
Philip La G. Du Toit
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
The Way

In the prevalent interpretations of Israel’s salvation or restoration in Luke–Acts, Israel is understood as referring to descendants of ancient Israel who live in the present or beyond. In light of the predominant usage of the term ‘Israel’ in the second temple period, the prevalent interpretation of Israel’s salvation in Luke–Acts is reconsidered. This is done by mainly revisiting the realized language around Israel’s salvation in the Lukan corpus as well as the Old Testament context behind the language used. This re-evaluation also involves the way in which Israel’s forgiveness is presented, the involvement of the patriarchs in salvation, as well as the connection between Israel’s hope and their resurrection.

scholarly journals Wisdom and Law in the Hebrew Bible and at Qumran

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-181
Author(s):  
Charlotte Hempel
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Jewish Literature ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Spread Model ◽  
Community Rule ◽  
Relationship Of

This article begins by noting the paucity of engagement between scholarship on the Dead Sea Scrolls (dss) and a number of significant studies on the relationship of wisdom and law in the Hebrew Bible. A substantial case study on Proverbs 1-9 and the Community Rule from Qumran is put in conversation with the seminal work of, especially, Moshe Weinfeld on Deuteronomy and its refinement by subsequent research to trace a dynamic interaction between wisdom and law in the Second Temple period. The article ends with critical reflections on the wide-spread model of segmenting ancient Jewish literature and those responsible for it into neat categories such as wisdom and law. It is argued that such a model presupposes a degree of specialization that is not borne out by the range of literature that found its way into the Hebrew Bible or the caves in the vicinity of Khirbet Qumran.

The Shema in the Second Temple Period

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarit Kattan Gribetz
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Rabbinic Literature ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Community Rule ◽  
Historical Moment ◽  
The Temple ◽  
At Home

The precise historical moment when Deut 6 (Shema Israel) was transformed into a prayer ritual is uncertain and a matter of scholarly debate. It is generally assumed that by the time of the Mishnah’s redaction (ca. 200 C. E.), the recitation of the Shema was already a standardized ritual because the Mishnah refers to it as a well-known practice. Indeed, the Mishnah takes for granted that its audience is so familiar with the prayer that it does not define it at all, but rather delves immediately into detailed discussions of its timing and exceptions that might arise in everyday life. Other sources from the Second Temple period, however, challenge the idea of the antiquity and ubiquity of such a standard prayer ritual composed of biblical verses from Deuteronomy and Numbers. This paper examines a number of key texts from the Second Temple period that seemingly refer to the recitation of the Shema prayer and that have been used by scholars to reconstruct the origins of this liturgical ritual. Through a close reading of four of these sources (the Letter of Aristeas, Philo, the Community Rule, and Josephus), I argue that they might not refer to the practice of the Shema recitation that we know from later rabbinic literature. Rather, they provide us with a lens into the diversity of ways that Deut 6:6–7 – “take to heart these instructions… impress them on your children… recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up” – was understood and fulfilled in the Second Temple period. The Letter of Aristeas describes an act of meditating on God’s works of creation; the Community Rule prescribes daily recitation of laws; Philo emphasizes the instruction of justice; and Josephus frames the obligation as a commandment to commemorate the deliverance out of Egypt twice daily. The particular framing of the Shema ritual that we come to know in the Mishnah might have appropriated and extended the practice of reciting the Shema in the temple (some evidence suggests that the Shema was recited in the temple), but this was only one of the ways in which Deut 6:7 was enacted and fulfilled in the pre-destruction period.

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.

Sculpture, Space and the Poetics of Idolatry in Josephus' Bellum Judaicum

2008 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-191
Author(s):  
Jason von Ehrenkrook
Keyword(s):  
Second Temple ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Figurative Art ◽  
Rhetorical Function ◽  
Second Commandment ◽  
The Way ◽  
Shifting Attention

AbstractJosephus' writings depict a rather tumultuous relationship between Jews and figurative art, especially sculpture. When taken at face value, this material seems to indicate that Jews during the Second Temple period interpreted the second commandment as a prohibition against any form of figural representation, regardless of context or function. Using his Bellum Judaicum as a test case, I aim to complicate this picture by shifting attention away from the referential value of these so-called iconoclastic narratives to their rhetorical function, i.e. to the way in which these narratives are uniquely shaped to contribute to larger rhetorical themes in Bellum.

scholarly journals Two approaches to life in the Second Temple period: Deuteronomy and Qoholet

2009 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christo Lombaard
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
The South ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
The Face ◽  
African Context ◽  
The Way

The prosaic Mosaic death in Deuteronomy 34 leaves the way of life [foreign font omitted] as constituted in [foreign font omitted]. That is, par excellence: Life [foreign font omitted] is found in words. In Qohelet, another kind of existentialism, in the face of death, is found, namely in the sensual life of enjoyment of food, drink and companionship. These two approaches constitute different, competing Second Temple period conceptions of how to live, despite death, coram Deo. These two conceptions indicate the existence of more than one ethos within ancient Judaic society – a dynamic often lacking in the South African context.

scholarly journals “A Third of All Nights”: Qumran Laws on the Night-Time Sacred Texts Studies

2018 ◽  
pp. 33-42
Author(s):  
Natalya Kireeva
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Deprivation ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Time Behavior ◽  
Small Fragment ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Community Rule ◽  
Sleeping Habits ◽  
Qumran Community

The article analyses a small fragment of the Community Rule (1QS VI:7) which postulates the need to devote part of the night time to the study of the Law. Usually this fragment is attended to as an illustration of ascetical trends in the Qumran community. However, it seems that 1QS VI:7 can be understood not as evidence of sleep deprivation during the hole night, but rather as a prescription concerning the regulation of one’s activity during the nocturnal wakefulness that was common for all people (not only for the members of the commu-nity) in the Second temple period. Reviewing 1QS VI:7 in the light of modern concepts of sleeping habits of preindustrial can give a new perspective on the Qumran laws concerning night-time behavior.

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.

A Short History of the People Israel from the Patriarchs to the Messiah

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-207
Author(s):  
Beth A. Berkowitz
Keyword(s):  
Early Period ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Sexual Practice ◽  
Short History ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Rich Variety ◽  
Political Status ◽  
Leviticus Rabbah ◽  
The People ◽  
History Of

This article addresses recent arguments that question whether “Judaism,” as such, existed in antiquity or whether the Jewishness of the Second Temple period should be characterized in primarily ethnic terms. At stake is the question of whether it is appropriate to speak of Judaism as an abstract system or religion in this early period. An appeal to the under-used collections of Midrash Aggadah provides the context for new insights, focused around a pericope in Leviticus Rabbah that is preoccupied with this very question. This parashah goes well beyond the ethnicity/ religion binary, producing instead a rich variety of paradigms of Jewish identity that include moral probity, physical appearance, relationship to God, ritual life, political status, economics, demographics, and sexual practice.

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