The Phenomenon of Rewriting Scripture in Late Second Temple Judaism: Some Methodological Reflections on the So-Called “Rewritten Bible” Category

The term “Rewritten Bible” was introduced by Géza Vermes in 1961 to describe works from late Second Temple period that “retell” or “rewrite” Scriptures with characteristic changes. Since then, much has been written about this category of texts. Today some researchers are tired of discussing this concept, suggesting even a move away from the notion. Others, on the contrary, apply it to an increasing number of texts, including even works lying outside the specific context of late Second Temple Jewish literature. This article discusses the phenomenon of the “Rewritten Bible” (RewB) and takes up a polemic with certain approaches to the category, concerning terminology, scope, and character, as well as indication of the purposes of rewriting activity. The article shows that the category remains useful and important, within certain methodological clarifications.

The Spirit in 1–2 Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Esther

This article explores the ruach in the postexilic books of 1–2 Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Esther. First, it examines the six clear (and one ambiguous) references to the Holy Spirit in these texts. It notes the consistent use of earlier ruach traditions that have been adapted by the biblical writers in the Second Temple period to emphasize the continued presence of God’s Spirit with his covenant people. Second, it considers more ambiguous allusions to the Holy Spirit, including the involvement of the divine ruach in the creation and re-creation of the temple and orchestrating human events to accomplish God’s purposes. This study demonstrates that the retrieval of previous ruach traditions were not just adopted but adapted by the biblical writers in this new postexilic context.

Jeremiah at Qumran

The eminent status of Jeremiah’s prophecies is well reflected in late biblical books of the Second Temple era, focused as they are on the Jeremianic prophecy forecasting seventy years of Israel’s servitude to Babylon (Jer 25:11–12; 29:10). They proposed various interpretations (see Zach 1:12; 7:5; 2 Chr 36:20–21; Dan 9) and the interest in this prediction continued well into the last centuries of the Second Temple period (e.g., 1 En 10–12; 89:59–90; 93:1–10; 91:11–17). The owners of the Qumran library shared this interest. Beside five copies of Jeremiah prophetic compositions, surfaced among the Scrolls, the Qumran texts contain various allusions and quotations from Jeremiah's biblical prophecies, including some concealed pesharim. This chapter surveys them in its first section. In its second part the chapter reviews and analyzes the references to the prophet’s personality and life, elaborated in the Damascus Document 8:20 and in the Apocryphon of Jeremiah C.

Ioudaismos and ioudaizō in Paul and the Galatian Controversy: An Examination of Supposed Positions

The use of ἰουδαϊσμός in the literature of the Second Temple period until Paul’s time suggests a more specific meaning than Judaism in general and points to a perception of it under siege and in need of defence. Additionally, the verb ἰουδαΐζω describes the inclinations of non-Jews to the Jewish way of life. Both terms reflect two different ideas of Israel: one segregated from all other peoples, the other porous and more flexible. These ideas were at odds by the end of the Second Temple period and held by the groups of believers in Christ. Read in the foil of that conflict, the controversies that Paul faces in the letter to the Galatians show the continuity and discontinuity of his life after the revelation of the Son, and explain why he considered himself a faithful Judean but no longer ἐν τῷ Ἰουδαϊσμῷ.

The Spirit of Resurrection in Romans 8 and Its Jewish Correspondences

This article studies the role and identity of the Spirit of resurrection in Rom. 8. First, possible references to the Spirit of resurrection in the OT and Jewish literature of the Second Temple period are explored. Next, the argumentation of Rom. 8 is analysed, where the apostle links the Spirit of resurrection with the work of Christ (Rom. 8.1-4, 10-11), describes its function of making believers resemble the Son (Rom. 8.5-6, 9-11, 14-17) and shows it as sustaining hope for the legacy of glory with the Firstborn (Rom. 8.18-30). The Spirit of resurrection is argued to be a specifically Pauline idea which differs both from the OT and from the Jewish literature of the Second Temple period.