The Transformation of the Torah in Second Temple Judaism
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Abstract
While the Torah enjoys central importance in the sectarian scrolls, it is not nearly so central in the Aramaic texts found at Qumran. These texts show familiarity with the stories of Genesis and Exodus, but they treat them as sources for stories and wisdom instruction rather than for prescriptive law. The same is true of Ben Sira. Ancestral laws were very important in the Hellenistic world, but their importance was largely symbolic. Even Ezra seems to have focused primarily on a few issues of symbolic importance. Only after the Maccabean revolt do we begin to get sustained halakic discussion in such books as the Temple Scroll and Jubilees. The increased prominence of halakic disputes went hand in hand with the rise of sectarianism.
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1)
E. Qimron and J. Strugnell, Qumran Cave 4. V. Miqá¹£at MaÊ¿aÅe Ha-Torah (DJD 10; Oxford: Clarendon, 1994). The text was first brought to public attention in a paper by Qimron and Strugnell at the first International conference on Biblical Archaeology in April, 1984.
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4)
G. W. E. Nickelsburg, 1 Enoch 1. A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch, Chapters 1-36; 81-108 (Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001), 380. There is mention of âa law for all generationsâ in the Apocalypse of Weeks (1 En. 93:6) but it is not discussed further.
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5)
G. W. E. Nickelsburg, âEnochic Wisdom and the Mosaic Torah,â in The Early Enoch Literature (ed. G. Boccaccini and J. J. Collins; JSJSup 121; Leiden: Brill, 2007), 81-94. See also A. Bedenbender, âThe Place of the Torah in the Early Enoch Literature,â ibid. 65-79, and J. J. Collins, âEnochic Judaism. An Assessment,â in The Dead Sea Scrolls and Contemporary Culture. Proceedings of the International Conference held at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (July 6-8, 2008) (ed. A. D. Roitman, L. H. Schiffman, and S. Tzoref; STDJ 93; Leiden: Brill, 2011), 219-34.
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8)
See especially M. Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon, 1985), 91-277.
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9)
L. H. Schiffman, âHalakhic Elements in the Sapiential Texts from Qumran,â in Sapiential Perspectives: Wisdom Literature in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls (ed. J. J. Collins, G. E. Sterling, and R. A. Clements; STDJ 51; Leiden: Brill, 2004), 89-100.
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10)
M. LeFebvre, Collections, Codes and Torah. The Re-Characterization of Israelâs Written Law (New York: T&T Clark, 2006), 8-18; R. Westbrook, âThe Character of Ancient Near Eastern Law,â in A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law (ed. R. Westbrook; HdO 72; 2 vols.; Leiden: Brill, 2003), 1:12-24.
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11)
LeFebvre, Collections, Codes and Torah, 31-54. See also A. Fitzpatrick McKinley, The Transformation of Torah from Scribal Advice to Law (JSOTSup 287; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999), 81-112.
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12)
B. S. Jackson, Studies in the Semiotics of Biblical Law (JSOTSup 314; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000), 121-41; LeFebvre, Collections, Codes and Torah, 32-39. Jackson also distinguishes archival and monumental uses of law.
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19)
P. Frei and K. Koch, Reichsidee und Reichsorganisation im Perserreich (OBO 55; Fribourg: Universitätsverlag, 1984); P. Frei, âPersian Imperial Authorization: A Summary,â in Persia and Torah: The Theory of Imperial Authorization of the Pentateuch (ed. J. W. Watts; SBLSymS 17; Atlanta: SBL, 2001), 5-40.
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21)
See K.-J. Lee, The Authority and Authorization of Torah in the Persian Period (CBET 64; Leuven: Peeters, 2011), 213-53.
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24)
LeFebvre, Collections, Codes and Torah, 103-31. Compare J. R. Shaver, Torah and the Chroniclerâs History Work: An Inquiry into the Chroniclerâs References to Laws, Festivals, and Cultic Institutions in Relationship to Pentateuchal Legislation (BJS 196; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989), 100-103.
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27)
M. Fishbane, âFrom Scribalism to Rabbinism,â in The Sage in Israel and the Ancient Near East (ed. J. G. Gammie; Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1990), 439-56, here 440.
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33)
E. Gruen, Heritage and Hellenism. The Reinvention of Jewish Tradition (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard, 1998), 195.
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36)
E. J. Bickerman, âThe Seleucid Charter for Jerusalem,â in Studies on Jewish and Christian History (AJEC 68; Leiden: Brill, 2011), 315-56 at 340. Compare J. Ma, Antiochus III and the Cities of Western Asia Minor (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 112-13.
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37)
Bickerman, âThe Seleucid Charter,â 342, other examples on 340; Doran, âThe Persecution of Judeans,â 427.
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38)
A. Fuks, The Ancestral Constitution: Four Studies in Athenian Party Politics at the End of the Fifth Century B.C. (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1953), 40.
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40)
J. G. Gager, Moses in Greco-Roman Paganism (SBLMS 16; Nashville: Abingdon, 1972), 25-79.
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42)
M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature. Volume III: The Late Period (Berkeley, Calif.: University of California, 1980), 38.
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43)
Chaeremon in Porphyry, De abstinentia 4.6. E. J. Bickerman, âA Seleucid Proclamation concerning the Temple in Jerusalem,â in Studies, 357-75 at 360.
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50)
D. R. Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (CEJL; Berlin: de Gruyter, 2008), 530-32. For the inscription see L. Jonnes, The Inscriptions of the Sultan Dagi, I (Inschriften griechischer Städter aus Kleinasien 62; Bonn: Habelt, 2002), 85-89, no. 393.
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52)
So Schwartz, 2 Maccabees, 275. Alternatively, he sent âan Athenian elder.â
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53)
Doran, âThe Persecution of Judeans,â 432. See now his commentary 2 Maccabees (Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2012), 133.
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56)
See A. Portier-Young, Apocalypse Against Empire. Theologies of Resistance in Early Judaism (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2011), 140-210 on the logic of the Seleucid repression. For an attempt to explain the kingâs actions in political terms see Mittag, Antiochus IV, 279-81. His attempt to shift responsibility to the kingâs advisers cannot relieve the king of ultimate responsibility.
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57)
E. M. Meyers and M. A. Chancey, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible. From Cyrus to Constantine (YABRL; New Have: Yale, 2013), chapter 3.
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60)
L. H. Schiffman, Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1994), 260.
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61)
J. C. VanderKam, âMoses Trumping Moses,â in The Dead Sea Scrolls. Transmission of Traditions and Production of Texts (ed. S. Metso, H. Najman, and E. Schuller; STDJ 92; Leiden: Brill, 2010), 25-44.
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62)
See especially J. L. Kugel, A Walk through Jubilees. Studies in the Book of Jubilees and the World of its Creation (JSJSup 156; Leiden: Brill, 2012), 18-205.
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63)
M. Segal, The Book of Jubilees. Rewritten Bible, Redaction, Ideology and Theology (JSJSup 117; Leiden: Brill, 2007), 45-82. Kugel also sees a redactional hand at work in Jubilees (A Walk through Jubilees, 227-96).
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66)
M. O. Wise, A Critical Study of the Temple Scroll from Qumran Cave 11 (Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 49; Chicago: Oriental Institute, 1990).
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68)
E. Puech, Qumrân Grotte 4. XVIII. Textes hébreux (4Q521-4Q528, 4Q576-4Q579) (DJD 25; Oxford: Clarendon, 1998), 87.
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73)
J. C. VanderKam, Textual and Historical Studies on the Book of Jubilees (HSM 14; Missoula, Mont.: Scholars Press, 1977), 207-85.
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74)
G. W. E. Nickelsburg, âThe Bible Rewritten and Expanded,â in Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period (ed. Michael E. Stone; CRINT 2.2; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984), 89-156 at 103.
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75)
M. Kister, âConcerning the History of the Essenes: A Study of the Animal Apocalypse, the Book of Jubilees, and the Damascus Covenant,â Tarbiz 56 (1986): 1-18 [Hebrew]. See Segal, The Book of Jubilees, 35-41.
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76)
D. Mendels, The Land of Israel as a Political Concept in Hasmonean Literature: Recourse to History in Second Century B. C. Claims to the Holy Land (TSAJ 15; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1987), 80.
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77)
See the cautionary comments of R. Doran, âThe Non-dating of Jubilees. Jub 34-38; 23:14-32 in Narrative Context,â JSJ 20 (1989): 1-11.
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78)
J. C. VanderKam, âThe Temple Scroll and the Book of Jubilees,â in Temple Scroll Studies (ed. G. J. Brooke; JSPSup 7; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1989), 211-36; L. H. Schiffman, âThe Book of Jubilees and the Temple Scroll,â in Boccaccini and Ibba, Enoch and the Mosaic Torah, 99-115.
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79)
A. I. Baumgarten, The Flourishing of Jewish Sects in the Maccabean Era: An Interpretation (JSJSup 55; Leiden: Brill, 1997).
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80)
M. Smith, âThe Dead Sea Sect in Relation to Ancient Judaism,â NTS 7 (1960): 347-60 at 360. See Baumgarten, The Flourishing, 76.
| å ¨é¨æé´ | è¿å»ä¸å¹´ | è¿å»30天 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| æè¦æµè§æ¬¡æ° | 1268 | 179 | 15 |
| å ¨ææµè§æ¬¡æ° | 445 | 19 | 1 |
| PDFä¸è½½æ¬¡æ° | 516 | 49 | 3 |
The Transformation of the Torah in Second Temple Judaism
äºJournal for the Study of JudaismSearch for other papers by John J. Collins in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
While the Torah enjoys central importance in the sectarian scrolls, it is not nearly so central in the Aramaic texts found at Qumran. These texts show familiarity with the stories of Genesis and Exodus, but they treat them as sources for stories and wisdom instruction rather than for prescriptive law. The same is true of Ben Sira. Ancestral laws were very important in the Hellenistic world, but their importance was largely symbolic. Even Ezra seems to have focused primarily on a few issues of symbolic importance. Only after the Maccabean revolt do we begin to get sustained halakic discussion in such books as the Temple Scroll and Jubilees. The increased prominence of halakic disputes went hand in hand with the rise of sectarianism.
| å ¨é¨æé´ | è¿å»ä¸å¹´ | è¿å»30天 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| æè¦æµè§æ¬¡æ° | 1268 | 179 | 15 |
| å ¨ææµè§æ¬¡æ° | 445 | 19 | 1 |
| PDFä¸è½½æ¬¡æ° | 516 | 49 | 3 |
