Jenseitshoffnung in Wort und Stein : Nefesch und pyramidales Grabmal als Phänomene antiken jüdischen Bestattungswesens im Kontext der Nachbarkulturen /
: 1 online resource. : Includes bibliographical references (p. 299-318) and index. : 9789047412939 : 0169-734X ; : Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Fighting over the Bible : Jewish interpretation, sectarianism and polemic from Temple to Talmud and beyond /
:
Fighting over the Bible explores the bitter conflicts between main stream Jews and their internal and external opponents, especially between particular Jewish groups such as Pharisees, Sadducees, Qumranites, Samaritans, Rabbanites and Karaites, as well as with Christians and Muslims regarding their interpretations of Jewish Scripture. The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament is an important sacred text for all branches of the Abrahamic faiths, but it has more often divided than unified them. This volume explores and exemplifies the roots of these interpretive conflicts and controversies and traces the rich exegetical and theological approaches that grew out of them. Focusing on the Jewish sources from the late Second Temple period through the high Middle-Ages, it illustrates how the study of the Bible filled the vacuum left by the Temple's destruction, and became the foundation of Jewish life throughout its long conflicted history.
:
1 online resource (xi, 341 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004339118 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Corpus of Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft rituals.
:
Among the most important sources for understanding the cultures and systems of thought of ancient Mesopotamia is a large body of magical and medical texts written in the Sumerian and Akkadian languages. An especially significant branch of this literature centres upon witchcraft. Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft rituals and incantations attribute ill-health and misfortune to the magic machinations of witches and prescribe ceremonies, devices, and treatments for dispelling witchcraft, destroying the witch, and protecting and curing the patient. The Corpus of Mesopotamian Anti-witchcraft Rituals aims to present a reconstruction of this body of texts; it provides critical editions of the relevant rituals and prescriptions based on the study of the cuneiform tablets and fragments recovered from the libraries of ancient Mesopotamia. This is the first volume in the three-part Corpus of Mesopotamian Anti-witchcraft Rituals series . Volumes two and three are expected in 2015 and 2018 respectively. \'Even in its incomplete form, Mesopotamian Anti-Witchcraft Rituals is a major contribution to the study of witchcraft, supernatural belief, folk medicine (both supernatural and non-supernatural), theories of magic, incantations, and ritual. This edition is required reading for any scholar with an interest in these topics.\' David Elton Gay, Indiana University
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004214897 :
1566-7952 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Forced conversion in Christianity, Judaism and Islam : coercion and faith in premodern Iberia and beyond /
:
Focusing on the Iberian Peninsula but examining related European and Mediterranean contexts as well, Forced Conversion in Christianity, Judaism and Islam traces how Christians, Jews, and Muslims grappled with the contradictory phenomenon of faith brought about by constraint and compulsion. Forced conversion brought into sharp relief the tensions among the accepted notion of faith as a voluntary act, the desire to maintain "pure" communities, and the universal truth claims of radical monotheism. Offering a comparative view of an important yet insufficiently studied phenomenon in the history of religions, this collection of essays explores the ways in which religion and violence reshaped these three religions and the ways we understand them today.
:
Includes index. :
1 online resource. :
9789004416826
Cult as the catalyst for division : cult disputes as the motive for schism in the pre-70 pluralistic environment /
:
The study asserts that conflicting sacrificial rules were the motive of the schism in Judean society, in the last period of the Second Temple. The study substantiates the thesis by a meticulous examination and comparison of the rabbinic and Qumran exegetical methods, and an exhaustive scrutiny of biblical sacrificial rules, demonstrating their deficiencies, the cause of the exegetical dissensions among the different groups. A short record of historical struggles, due to cult issues, and a scrutiny of Qumran literature, corroborating the utmost significance of the Temple cult in that group, complement the study. The study is useful for a comprehension of Qumran literature and particularly of the system of thought of its authors and their approach to the biblical writings.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [379]-395) and indexes. :
9789047419051 :
0169-9962 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Language Contact, Colonial Administration, and the Construction of Identity in Ancient Israel : Constructing the Context for Contact /
:
"In Language Contact, Colonial Administration, and the Construction of Identity in Ancient Israel, Boyd addresses a long-standing critical issue in biblical scholarship: how does the production of the Bible relate to its larger historical, linguistic, and cultural settings in the ancient Near East? Using theoretical advances in the study of language contact, he examines in detail the sociolinguistic landscape during the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Achaemenid periods. Boyd then places the language and literature of Ezekiel and Isaiah in this sociolinguistic landscape. Language Contact, Colonial Administration, and the Construction of Identity in Ancient Israel offers the first book-length incorporation of language contact theory with data from the Bible. As a result, it allows for a reexamination of the nature of contact between biblical authors and a series of Mesopotamian empires beginning with Assyria."--
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004448766
9789004448759
Living water : images, symbols, and settings of early Christian baptism /
:
This general survey of early Christian baptismal iconography and architecture integrates visual depictions and physical settings of baptism with textual evidence for its practice and purpose. An opening overview of pictorial art (paintings, relief sculpture, mosaics, and ivories) prompts questions about components of the actual ritual which are treated in the literary sources. The study's second half considers selected baptismal structures, examining the symbolism, purpose, and possible meaning of their spatial design and decorative programs. In most instances the synthesis of documentary and material evidence is enriching and complementary. However, even when physical and textual data diverge, their discontinuity demonstrates the variability of ritual performance and the perennial distinction between ideal and actual practice..
:
1 online resource (xxiv, 305 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 283-297) and index. :
9789004189089 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Catechumenate in Late Antique Africa (4th -6th centuries) : Augustine of Hippo, his Contemporaries and Early Reception /
:
In The Catechumenate in Late Antique Africa (4th-6th centuries) Matthieu Pignot explores how individuals became Christian in ancient North Africa. Before baptism, converts first became catechumens and spent a significant time of gradual integration into the community through rituals and teaching. This book provides the first historical study of this process in African sources, from Augustine of Hippo, to canon of councils, anonymous sermons and 6th-century letters. Pignot shows that practices varied more than is generally assumed and that catechumens, because of their liminal position, were a disputed and essential group in the development of Christian communities until the 6th century at least. This book demonstrates that the catechumenate is key to understanding the processes of Christianisation and conversion in the West.
:
Revised and expanded version of the author's thesis (doctoral)--University of Oxford, 2016. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004431904
9789004431898
Reading and re-reading Scripture at Qumran /
:
In Reading and Re-reading Scripture at Qumran , Moshe J. Bernstein gathers more than three decades of his work on diverse aspects of biblical interpretation in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The essays range from broad surveys of the genres of biblical interpretation in these texts to more narrowly focused studies and close readings of specific documents. Volume I focuses on the book of Genesis, with a substantial portion being dedicated to studies of the Genesis Apocryphon and Commentary on Genesis A. Volume II contains several historical and programmatic essays, with specific studies focusing on legal material in the DSS and the pesharim. Under the former rubric, the documents known as 4QReworked Pentateuch, 4QOrdinancesa, 4QMMT, and the Temple Scroll are discussed.
:
"These volumes contain thirty essays, written over the last thirty-three years (with the very large majority over the last two decades), focusing on or touching upon a variety of the ways that Scripture (what became what we have come to call the Hebrew Bible or TeNaKh) was read, interpreted, and employed at Qumran. All have been published before, including one essay that appeared in Hebrew originally and makes its first appearance here in English ... They have been edited only lightly"--Volume 1, page xii. :
1 online resource (2 volumes (xx, 744 pages)) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004248076 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Synagogues in the works of Flavius Josephus : rhetoric, spatiality, and first-century Jewish institutions /
:
In Synagogues in the Works of Flavius Josephus , Andrew Krause analyses the place of the synagogue within the cultural and spatial rhetoric of Flavius Josephus. Engaging with both rhetorical critical methods and critical spatial theories, Krause argues that in his later writings Josephus portrays the Jewish institutions as an important aspect of the post-Temple, pan-diasporic Judaism that he creates. Specifically, Josephus consistently treats the synagogue as a supra-local rallying point for the Jews throughout the world, in which the Jewish customs and Law may be practiced and disseminated following the loss of the Temple and the Land. Conversely, in his earliest extant work, Bellum judaicum , Josephus portrays synagogues as local temples in order to condemn the Jewish insurgents who violated them.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004342040 :
1871-6636 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Jewish love magic : from late antiquity to the Middle Ages /
:
Jewish Love Magic: From Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages is the first monograph dedicated to the supernatural methods employed by Jews in order to generate love, grace or hate. Examining hundreds of manuscripts, often unpublished, Ortal-Paz Saar skillfully illuminates a major aspect of the Jewish magical tradition. The book explores rituals, spells and important motifs of Jewish love magic, repeatedly comparing them to the Graeco-Roman and Christian traditions. In addition to recipes and amulets in Hebrew, Aramaic and Judaeo-Arabic, primarily originating in the Cairo Genizah, also rabbinic sources and responsa are analysed, resulting in a comprehensive and fascinating picture.
:
Based on the author's thesis (doctoral) -- Universiṭat Tel-Aviv, 2009. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004347892 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Intolerance, polemics, and debate in antiquity : politico-cultural, philosophical, and religious forms of critical conversation /
:
In Intolerance, Polemics, and Debate in Antiquity scholars reflect on politico-cultural, philosophical, and religious forms of critical conversation in the ancient Near Eastern, Biblical, Graeco-Roman, and early-Islamic world. They enquire into the boundaries between debate, polemics, and intolerance, and address their manifestations in both philosophy and religion. This cross-cultural and inclusive approach shows that debate and polemics are not so different as often assumed, since polemics may also indicate that ultimate values are at stake. Polemics can also have a positive effect, stimulating further cultural development. Intolerance is more straightforwardly negative. Religious intolerance is often a justification for politics, but also elite rationalism can become totalitarian. The volume also highlights the importance of the fluency of minorities in the dominant discourses and of their ability to develop contrapuntal lines of thought within a common cultural discourse.
:
Includes index. :
1 online resource. :
9789004411500
Verhärtet eure Herzen nicht : der Hebräer, eine Synagogenhomilie zu Tischa be-Aw /
:
This volume offers the first in-depth analysis of the literary structure of Hebrews against the background of its most frequently mentioned Sitz im Leben, the ancient synagogue. In the context of the liturgical year and its reconstructed cycle of readings, the text is newly interpreted on the basis of Exod 31:18-32:35 and Jer 31:31-34, so as to demonstrate that Hebrews was an ancient homily for the most important fast-day, Tisha be-Av, on which the destruction of the two temples was commemorated. The first part presents 20th- and 21st-century scholarship on Hebrews and a new structural analysis. The second part offers a detailed discussion of the ancient synagogue and its liturgy. This allows the reconstruction of the readings on which the text of Hebrews is based and a positioning within the liturgical year. The resulting thesis, that Hebrews is an exhortative homily for Tisha be-Av, is confirmed through a motivic analysis of all the biblical texts read on this fast-day. On the basis of the hermeneutical key thereby established, the third part offers seven cumulative readings of the entire text: structural, contextual, intertextual, rhetorical, theological, socio-historical, and hermeneutical-critical. These generate new interpretations and insights within the horizon of current Hebrews scholarship. The present monograph is the first to connect research on the ancient synagogue and its liturgy with a comprehensive interpretation of Hebrews that also discusses alternative form-critical avenues and establishes intertextual connections, especially to relevant rabbinic texts. The examination is directed not only to those with a specific interest in Hebrews, but also to scholars and students of the New Testament, Theology, Jewish Studies, and Religious Studies. ***** Der vorliegende Band bietet erstmals eine fundierte Analyse der literarischen Struktur des Hebräers vor dem Hintergrund seines meistgenannten Sitzes im Leben, der antiken Synagoge. Im Kontext des liturgischen Jahres sowie des rekonstruierten Lesezyklus' wird die Schrift neu auf der Basis der Lesungen aus Ex 31,18-32,35 und Jer 31,31-34 als antike Homilie zum wichtigsten Fasttag von Tischa be-Aw, an dem der Zerstörung der beiden Tempel gedacht wurde, erschlossen. Die Untersuchung stellt im ersten Teil die Hebräerforschung des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts sowie eine neue Strukturanalyse vor. Der zweite Teil fügt eine profunde Untersuchung der antiken Synagoge sowie der antiken Synagogenhomilie im liturgischen Kontext hinzu. Diese erlaubt die Rekonstruktion der dem Hebräertext zugrunde liegenden Lesungen und eine Positionierung innerhalb des liturgischen Jahres. Die resultierende These, dass der Hebräer eine mahnende Homilie zu Tischa be-Aw sei, wird im Rahmen einer Motivanalyse sämtlicher zu diesem Fasttag gelesenen biblischen Texte bekräftigt. Im dritten Teil wird der gesamte Text auf der Basis des etablierten hermeneutischen Schlüssels sieben kumulativen Lesungen unterzogen, einer strukturellen, kontextuellen, intertextuellen, rhetorischen, theologischen, sozio-historischen sowie einer hermeneutisch-kritischen. Diese generieren vor dem Horizont der aktuellen Hebräerforschung neue Interpretationsmöglichkeiten und Einsichten. Die vorliegende Monographie verbindet zum ersten Mal Forschungen zur antiken Synagoge und ihrer Liturgie mit einer kohärenten Interpretation des Hebräertextes, die auch alternative formkritische Ansätze thematisiert sowie intertextuelle Bezüge insbesondere zu relevanten rabbinischen Texten benennt. Die Ausführungen richten sich somit nicht nur an solche mit einem spezifischen Interesse am Hebräer, sondern auch an ForscherInnen und StudentInnen des Neuen Testaments, der Theologie, der Judaistik sowie der Religionswissenschaften.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [393]-410) and indexes. :
9789047411079 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Public reading in early Christianity : lectors, manuscripts, and sound in the oral delivery of John 1-4 /
:
In Public Reading in Early Christianity: Lectors, Manuscripts, and Sound in the Oral Delivery of John 1-4 Dan Nässelqvist investigates the oral delivery of New Testament writings in early Christian communities of the first two centuries C.E. He examines the role of lectors and public reading in the Greek and Roman world as well as in early Christianity. Nässelqvist introduces a method of sound analysis, which utilizes the correspondence between composition and delivery in ancient literary writings to retrieve information about oral delivery from the sound structures of the text being read aloud. Finally he applies the method of sound analysis to John 1-4 and presents the implications for our understanding of public reading and the Gospel of John.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004306639 :
0167-9732 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Mediating the divine : prophecy and revelation in the Dead Sea scrolls and Second Temple Judaism /
:
This book is a comprehensive treatment of prophecy and revelation in the Dead Sea Scrolls. It begins by analyzing the re-presentation of the classical prophets and their revelatory experience in an attempt to identify how prophecy and revelation was reconceptualized in the Dead Sea Scrolls in dialogue and in contrast with received biblical models. This work then examines the direct evidence in the Dead Sea Scrolls regarding ongoing prophetic activity at Qumran and in related segments of Second Temple Judaism. This study argues that the Dead Sea Scrolls bear witness to a transformed prophetic tradition active at Qumran and in Second Temple Judaism. Topics treated include the relationship of prophecy to scriptural interpretation, wisdom, and law, and eschatological prophecy.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [389]-423) and index. :
9789047420613 :
0169-9962 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Revelations of Ideology: Apocalyptic Class Politics in Early Roman Palestine.
:
In Revelations of Ideology , G. Anthony Keddie proposes a new theory of the social function of Judaean apocalyptic texts produced in Early Roman Palestine (63 BCE-70 CE). In contrast to evaluations of Jewish and early Christian apocalyptic texts as "literature of the oppressed" or literature of resistance against empire, Keddie demonstrates that scribes produced apocalyptic texts to advance ideologies aimed at self-legitimation. By revealing that their opponents constituted an exploitative class, scribes generated apocalyptic ideologies that situated them in the same exploited class as their constituents. Through careful historical and ideological criticism of the Psalms of Solomon, Parables of Enoch, Testament of Moses, and Q source, Keddie identifies an internally diverse tradition of apocalyptic class rhetoric in late Second Temple Judaism.
:
1 online resource. :
9789004383647
Rachels Klage im antiken Judentum und frühen Christentum : eine auslegungsgeschichtliche Studie /
:
Study of the exegesis of the Old Testament tradition on the matriarch Rachel. The centre of the study is Rachel's complaint in Jeremiah 31.15-17. After an analysis of the Old Testament texts, the reception of these traditions in ancient translations in the Pseudepigrapha, in Philo of Alexandria, in Flavius Josephus as well as in the New Testament is investigated. The main part of the study is represented by source material in the Rabbinic literature. The study is concluded by an overview of the interpretation of the Rachel figure in patristic literature. The sources containing the Rachel traditions are, in part, hard to access. The source material on Rachel is presented and analyzed, in order to make the plethora of interpretations accessible to a wider audience, especially the Rabbinic interpretations.
:
Originally presented as the author's thesis--Universität Basel, 2001. :
1 online resource (xi, 323 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 276-303) and index. :
9789004331112 :
0169-734X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Christian identity amid Islam in medieval Spain /
:
In Christian Identity amid Islam in Medieval Spain Charles L. Tieszen explores a small corpus of texts from medieval Spain in an effort to deduce how their authors defined their religious identity in light of Islam, and in turn, how they hoped their readers would distinguish themselves from the Muslims in their midst. It is argued that the use of reflected self-image as a tool for interpreting Christian anti-Muslim polemic allows such texts to be read for the self-image of their authors instead of the image of just those they attacked. As such, polemic becomes a set of borders authors offered to their communities, helping them to successfully navigate inter-religious living.
:
1 online resource (x, 296 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004192294 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Le Devin historien en Mésopotamie
:
Le devin historien en Mesopotamie is a combined study of divination and historiography. More than mere custodians of historical memory, diviners approached omens as written signs and developed a sophisticated semiology to recognize and order them. Diviners perceived omens as potentially rich in various meanings and cultivated an elaborate hermeneutic for working these out using hypothetical and inductive reasoning. Even if omens were removed from the recorded facts, diviners endowed them with a wide range of possibilities. Divination sought to establish links among historical, cosmic, and natural events because it investigated at once the past, present, and future. The first study of its kind since 1946, when only about 60 historical omens were known, this work presents 385 in a comprehensive edition.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004390065 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The ancient synagogue from its origins to 200 C.E. : a source book /
:
Despite the recent explosion of research on ancient synagogues, investigators in the field have hitherto been forced to cull relevant evidence from a vast assortment of scholarly publications. This volume gathers for the first time all of the primary source material on the early synagogues up through the Second Century C. E. In the case of literary, epigraphic and papyrological evidence, catalog entries contain the texts in their original language and in English translation. For archaeological remains, entries provide technical descriptions along with plans and photographs. All listings are accompanied by bibliographic citations and interpretative comments. An Introduction frames the current state of synagogue research, while extensive indices and cross-references allow for easy location of specific allusions. An appendix to the catalog contains source materials on Jewish temples outside of Jerusalem.
:
Includes one fold-out mappages. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [295]-311) and indexes. :
9789047430711 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.