Judaic religion in the Second Temple period : belief and practice from the Exile to Yavneh / Lester L. Grabbe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Grabbe, Lester L.

Contributor:

Class of 1924 Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Judaism--History--Post-exilic period, 586 B.C.-210 A.D.

Judaism.

History.

Judaism--Post-exilic period (Judaism).

Bible. Old Testament--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bible.

Bible. Old Testament.

Physical Description:

xix, 424 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2000.

Summary:

This volume on the Second Temple Period discusses topics ranging from views about God and the spirit world to the temple and priesthood to Scripture and synagogue.

Contents:

Religion 3

Judaic 5

Second Temple period 5

Apologia pro historia mea 6

Some technical matters 9

Part I Chronological survey 11

2 Persian period (539-333 BCE) 13

Major sources 13

Books of Ezra and Nehemiah 13

Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi 15

Joel 17

Jonah 17

Isaiah 56-66 18

Books of Chronicles 19

Proverbs 21

Job 22

Esther 23

Ruth 25

Song of Songs 25

The P Document 26

Archaeology, papyri, and coins 28

Synthesis 29

3 Early Greek period (333-200 BCE) 37

Hecateus of Abdera 37

Zenon papyri 39

The story of the Tobiads 40

Ethiopic Enoch (1 Enoch) and the Book of Giants 41

Qohelet (Ecclesiastes) 42

Tobit 44

The edicts of Antiochus III 46

Demetrius the Chronographer 48

The Septuagint translation of the Bible 49

Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) 50

Synthesis 52

4 Later Greek period and Hasmoneans (200-63 BCE) 59

Major sources 59

1 and 2 Maccabees 59

Daniel 60

1 Enoch 83-105 62

Book of Jubilees 63

Sibylline Oracles 3-5 64

Judith 65

1 Baruch 66

Qumran scrolls 67

Fragmentary Jewish Writers in Greek 70

Pseudo-Hecateus 73

Testament of Moses (Assumption of Moses) 74

Letter of (Pseudo-) Aristeas 75

Synthesis 76

5 Under Roman rule (63 BCE-70 CE) 84

Major sources 84

Psalms of Solomon 84

3 Maccabees 86

Wisdom of Solomon 86

Pseudo-Phocylides 88

Philo of Alexandria 89

Josephus 92

Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum (Pseudo-Philo) 94

Adam and Eve literature 95

Similitudes (Parables) of Enoch (1 Enoch 37-71) 97

Sibylline Oracles 97

Slavonic Enoch (2 Enoch) 98

4 Maccabees 99

Testament of Moses 100

Testament of Abraham 100

Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 101

Testament of Job 104

Joseph and Asenath 105

Judean Desert manuscripts, inscriptions, and archaeology 106

6 Transition to rabbinic Judaism: Yavneh 116

Major sources 116

Rabbinic literature 116

Apocalypses of Ezra, Baruch, Abraham, and John 117

Sibylline Oracles 120

The reconstruction at Yavneh 120

7 Temple and priesthood 129

Theological basis of the cult 129

Temple and cult 132

The physical temple 134

The cultic personnel 135

Financial support for the temple 137

The cultic rituals 138

Women and the cult 140

The cultic year: sabbath and annual festivals 141

Music and singing 143

The high priest and "the Sanhedrin" 144

8 Scripture, prayer, and synagogue 150

Scribes and literacy 150

Scripture and canon 152

Main texts 153

Conclusions about canonization 156

Development of the text 158

Summary about textual developments 164

Scriptural interpretation 165

Conclusions about scriptural interpretation 169

Prayer and the rise of the synagogue 170

"Popular religion" 175

9 Sects and movements 183

Beginnings of sectarianism 183

Sadducees and Pharisees 185

Josephus 187

New Testament 192

Rabbinic literature 194

4QMMT and the Temple Scroll (11QT) 196

Essenes 199

The question of Qumran 201

Some tentative conclusions 205

Other sects and groups 206

Synthesis 206

10 Concepts of the Deity and the spirit world 210

Developing views about God 210

Ancient Israel 212

Innovations during the Second Temple period 215

The question of monotheism 216

The spirit world 219

Main texts 220

Summary on angelic beings 224

The figure of Wisdom and the Logos 225

Main texts 225

Summary of the figure of Wisdom 227

The Logos tradition 228

11 Prophecy, apocalypticism, the esoteric arts, and predicting the future 232

Problems of definition 232

Did prophecy cease in the Second Temple period? 236

Main texts 237

The esoteric arts and their use 241

Astrology 241

Dreams 243

Textual interpretation 245

Chronography 246

Magic, mysticism, and controlling the spirits 248

Prophetic and charismatic individuals 251

Synthesis 254

12 Eschatologies and ideas of salvation 257

Main texts 257

Personal eschatology: ideas about life after death 267

Heavens and hells 268

Cosmic eschatology: expectations about the end of the world 269

13 Messiahs 271

Main texts 271

Hebrew Bible 271

Ben Sira 273

Qumran scrolls 273

Psalms of Solomon 276

Similitudes of Enoch (1 Enoch 37-71) 276

Philo 276

Josephus 278

4 Ezra/2 Baruch 279

Sibylline Oracles 280

New Testament 280

Rabbinic literature 281

The "Son of Man" 282

Sicarii, Zealots, and other "revolutionary" groups 283

The "Fourth Philosophy" and the Sicarii 285

Zealots 287

Synthesis 288

14 Jews and Judaism in the Hellenistic world 292

How they saw themselves 292

Jewish identity and conversion 292

Ideology of the land and the concept of exile 297

Gender and sexuality 300

How others saw them 305

Philo-Judaism and anti-Judaism 305

Religious tolerance 308

Synthesis 310

15 Judaism in the Second Temple period: a holistic perspective 315.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 335-386) and indexes.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1924 Book Fund.

ISBN:

0415212502

OCLC:

43499425