Jewish ethnic identity and relations in Hellenistic Egypt : with walls of iron? /
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In Jewish Ethnic Identity and Relations in Hellenistic Egypt , Stewart Moore investigates the foundations of common assumptions about ethnicity. To maintain one's identity in a strange land, was it always necessary to band tightly together with one's coethnics? Sociologists and anthropologists who study ethnicity have given us a much wider view of the possible strategies of ethnic maintenance and interaction. The most important facet of Jewish ethnicity in Egypt which emerges from this study is the interaction over the Jewish-Egyptian boundary. Previous scholarship has assumed that this border was a Siegfried Line marked by mutual contempt. Yet Jews, Egyptians and also Greeks interacted in complicated ways in Ptolemaic Egypt, with positive relationships being at least as numerous as negative ones.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004303089 :
1384-2161 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Catalog of catalogs : a bibliography of temporary exhibition catalogs since 1876 that contain items of Judaica /
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Catalog of Catalogs provides a comprehensive index of nearly 2,300 publications documenting the exhibition of Judaica over the past 140 years. This vast corpus of material, ranging from simple leaflets to scholarly catalogs, contains textual and visual material as yet unmined for the study of Jewish art, religion, culture and history. Through highly-detailed, fully-indexed catalog entries, William Gross, Orly Tzion and Falk Wiesemann elucidate some 2,000 subjects, geographical locations and Judaica objects (ceremonial objects, illuminated manuscripts, printed books, synagogues, cemeteries et al.) addressed in these catalogs. Descriptions of the catalog's bibliographic components, contributors, exhibition history, and contents, all accessible through the volume's five indices, render this volume an unparalleled new resource for the study of Jewish Art, culture and history.
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Includes indexes. :
1 online resource. :
9789004406988
And they shall be one flesh : on the language of mystical union in Judaism /
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In "And They Shall Be One Flesh": On the Language of Mystical Union in Judaism , Adam Afterman offers an extensive study of mystical union and embodiment in Judaism. Afterman argues that Philo was the first to articulate the notion of unio mystica in Judaism and is the source of the henōsis mysticism in the later Neoplatonic tradition. The study provides a detailed analysis of the Jewish medieval trends that developed different forms of mystical union and mystical embodiment through the divine name and spirit. The book argues that the development of unitive mysticism in Judaism is the fruit of the creative synthesis of rabbinic Judaism and Hellenistic and Arab philosophy, and a natural outcome of the theological articulation of the idea of monotheism itself.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004328730 :
1873-9008 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Johannine sectarianism in perspective : a sociological, historical, and comparative analysis of temple and social relationships in the Gospel of John, Philo, and Qumran /
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The central aim of the investigation is to evaluate the claim that the Gospel of John was a product of a 'sectarian' milieu. Fuglseth is using methods primarily derived from sociology and the study of new religious movements today. He discusses in particular the 'cult'-model as an alternative to 'sect,' and compares the Johannine texts with texts from two contemporary milieus: Philo and the Dead Sea Scrolls. The thesis is embedded in a comprehensive survey of research and discussions of methods and of the existence of a Johannine community. There are still serious debates going on about the existence and nature of the Johannine group, its 'Jewish' roots and settings, the attitude to the 'Jews' and the 'synagogue', and the two levels of meanings in the Johannine text according to Martyn and Brown. In this situation Fuglseth's investigation is of great current interest and gives new answers to central questions in the Johannine research.
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1 online resource (xiv, 448 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [379]-409) and indexes. :
9789047415626 :
0167-9732 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Jewish identity in early rabbinic writings /
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Jewish Identity in Early Rabbinic Writings is more than a question of legal status: it is the experience of being Jewish or of 'Jewishness' in all its social and cultural dimensions. This work describes this experience as it emerges in Talmudic and Midrashic sources. Besides the question of "who is a Jew?", topics include the contrast between Israel and the non-Jews, the physical embodiment of Jewish identity, the 'boundaries' of Israel and resistance to assimilation. Jewish identity, it is argued, hinges essentially on the Divine commandments ( mitzvot ) and on Israel's perceived proximity with the Divine. Drawing on a variety of disciplines, including the theories of William James and Merleau-Ponty, this study raises important issues in anthropology, as well as accounting for central aspects of early rabbinic Judaism.
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Rev. version of the author's thesis (D. Phil.)--Jews' College. :
1 online resource (xxxix, 269 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 260-266) and index. :
9789004332768 :
0169-734X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Images of cosmology in Jewish and Byzantine art : God's blueprint of creation /
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Does the design of the Tabernacle in the wilderness correspond to God's blueprint of Creation? The Christian Topography, a sixth-century Byzantine Christian work, presents such a cosmology. Its theory is based on the "pattern" revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai when he was told to build the Tabernacle and its implements "after their pattern, which is being shown thee on the Mount." (Exod. 25: 40). The book demonstrates, through texts and images, the motifs that link the Tabernacle and Creation. It traces the long chain of transmission that connects the Jewish and Christian traditions from Syria and ancient Israel to France and Spain from the first through the fourteenth century, revealing new models of interaction between Judaism and Christianity.
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1 online resource (xxi, 318 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004252196 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Historiography and self-definition : Josephos, Luke-Acts, and apologetic historiography /
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For centuries scholars have recognized the apologetic character of the Hellenistic Jewish historians, Josephos, and Luke-Acts; they have not, however, adequately addressed their possible relationships to each other and to their wider cultures. In this first full systematic effort to set these authors within the framework of Greco-Roman traditions, Professor Sterling has used genre criticism as a method for locating a distinct tradition of historical writing, apologetic historiography. Apologetic historiography is the story of a subgroup of people which deliberately Hellenizes the traditions of the group in an effort to provide a self-definition within the context of the larger world. It arose as a result of a dialectic relationship with Greek ethnography. This work traces the evolution of this tradition through three major eras of eastern Mediterranean history spanning six hundred years: the Persian, the Greek, and the Roman.
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1 online resource (xiv, 500 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 394-426) and indexes. :
9789004266940 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Nuptial symbolism in Second Temple writings, the New Testament, and Rabbinic literature : divine marriage at key moments of salvation history /
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In Nuptial Symbolism in Second Temple Writings, the New Testament and Rabbinic Literature , André Villeneuve examines the ancient Jewish concept of the covenant between God and Israel, portrayed as a marriage dynamically moving through salvation history. This nuptial covenant was established in Eden but damaged by sin; it was restored at the Sinai theophany, perpetuated in the Temple liturgy, and expected to reach its final consummation at the end of days. The authors of the New Testament adopted the same key moments of salvation history to describe the spousal relationship between Christ and the Church. In their typological treatment of these motifs, they established an exegetical framework that would anticipate the four senses of Scripture later adopted by patristic and medieval commentators.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789004316263 :
1871-6636 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Salvation for the righteous revealed : Jesus amid covenantal and messianic expectations in Second Temple Judaism /
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Why is there such an ethical emphasis in Jesus' gospel proclamation? This work finds the answer in Jesus meeting his audience within their own conceptual realms and then expanding those realms to point to the nature of his salvation. The bulk of this work investigates the soteriology of Second Temple Judaism, especially of the Qumran Scrolls. The apocalyptic lesson was the demand of a greater covenantal obedience, held in tension with God's grace, a demand met through sectarian revelation and involving a somewhat diverse messianism. Within these conceptions, Jesus affirms that salvation is indeed for the "righteous," but as defined through himself as the unique Messiah. This work is particularly useful regarding the Jesus-Paul debate, for it provides a diachronic solution grounded in the cultural-historical milieu of the times.
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1 online resource (xvii, 391 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 331-362) and indexes. :
9789004331129 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Human Sacrifice in Jewish and Christian Tradition.
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This volume asks to which extent ancient practices and traditions of human sacrifice are reflected in medieval and modern Judeo-Christian times. The first part of the volume, on antiquity, focuses on rituals of human sacrifice and polemics against it, as well as on transformations of human sacrifice in the Israelite-Jewish and Christian cultures, while the Ancient Near East and ancient Greece are not excluded. The second part of the volume, on medieval and modern times, discusses human sacrifice in Jewish and Christian traditions as well as the debates about euthanasia and death penalty in the Western world.
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1 online resource. :
9789047409403
Seek to see him : ascent and vision mysticism in the Gospel of Thomas /
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This monograph represents a critical juncture in Thomas studies since it dispels the belief that the Gospel of Thomas originates from gnostic traditions. Rather, Jewish mystical and Hermetic origins are proposed and examined. Following this analysis, the anthropogony and soteriology of Thomas are discussed. The Thomasites taught that they were the elect children of the Father, originating from the Light. The human, however, became unworthy of these luminous beginnings and was separated from the divine when Adam sinned. Now he must purify himself by leading an encratite lifestyle. He is to ascend into heaven, seeking a visio dei which will transform him into his original immortal state and grant him citizenship in the Kingdom.
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1 online resource (xiv, 211 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-199) and indexes. :
9789004313002 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Creation, covenant, and the beginnings of Judaism : reconceiving historical time in the Second Temple period /
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This study examines the relationship between time and history in Second Temple literature. Numerous sources from that period express a belief that Jewish history began with an act of covenant formation and proceeded in linear fashion until the exile, an unprecedented event which severed the present from the past. The authors of Ben Sira, Jubilees , the Animal Apocalypse , and 4 Ezra responded to this theological challenge by claiming instead that Jewish history began at creation. Between creation and redemption, history unfolds as a series of static, repeating patterns that simultaneously account for the disappointments of the Second Temple period and confirm the eternal nature of the covenant. As iterations of timeless, cyclical patterns, the difficult post-exilic present and the glorious redemption of the future emerge as familiar, unremarkable, and inevitable historical developments.
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1 online resource (xii, 216 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-208) and index. :
9789004281653 :
1384-2161 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Dionysius Bar Ṣalībī's Treatise Against the Jews : Edited and Translated with Notes and Commentary /
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"Dionysius Bar Ṣalībī's Treatise against the Jews offers rare and illuminating insight into Christian-Jewish-Muslim relations during the Crusader era, not from the perspective of western Crusaders, but from the frequently neglected viewpoint of the Oriental Orthodox tradition. Bar Ṣalībī, a distinguished hierarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church, lived in a turbulent time of heightened tensions in the Levant. The Treatise against the Jews, which forms part of the corpus of Syriac polemical works, investigates the prejudices of Christians and Jews towards each other during the 12 century AD.This edition and translation is based on all the available manuscripts of the text, accompanied by extensive introductions, notes and commentary as well as studies of its place in the field of Syriac Patristic polemics"--
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004391475
9789004391468
The Jerusalem Temple in diaspora : Jewish practice and thought during the Second Temple period
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In The Jerusalem Temple in Diaspora, Jonathan Trotter shows how different diaspora Jews' perspectives on the distant city of Jerusalem and the temple took shape while living in the diaspora, an experience which often is characterized by complicated senses of alienation from and belonging to an ancestral homeland and one's current home. This book investigates not only the perspectives of the individual diaspora Jews whose writings mention the Jerusalem temple (Letter of Aristeas, Philo of Alexandria, 2 Maccabees, and 3 Maccabees) but also the customs of diaspora Jewish communities linking them to the temple, such as their financial contributions and pilgrimages there.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004409859
The mission of the church in Paul's letter to the Philippians in the context of ancient Judaism /
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Paul seemingly nowhere in his letters commands his congregations to preach the gospel. Therefore many scholars have concluded that Paul's thinking had little or no place for a mission of the church. This study undertakes a fresh investigation of the question by devoting close attention to a text hitherto overlooked in discussion of early Christian mission, Paul's letter to the Philippians. The Jewish context of Paul's thought in Philippians is the key to unlocking his understanding of church and mission in the letter. The study accordingly begins in Part One with an investigation of conversion of gentiles in ancient Judaism. Part Two, drawing upon this Jewish context, focuses on close exegesis of Philippians, revealing the crucial place of the mission of the church in Paul's thought. The questions addressed by this study go to the heart of our understanding of Paul and of mission in earliest Christianity.
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1 online resource (xv, 380 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047415831 :
0167-9732 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Nazirites in late Second Temple Judaism : a survey of ancient Jewish writings, the New Testament, archaeological evidence, and other writings from late antiquity /
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Nazirites appear in a number of sources relevant to Judaism of the late Second Temple period. This book surveys the pertinent evidence and assesses what it reveals regarding the role of the Nazirite within Judaism of the late Second Temple and early Christian era. The survey is arranged according to three primary sections: "Direct Evidence for Nazirites"; "Possible and Tangential Evidence for Nazirites"; and a final section, "Making Sense of the Evidence." It concludes by arguing that the role of the Nazirite portrayed in sources was that of a religious devotee, and concomitant with biblical law, Nazirite devotion typically involved flexibility, personal freedom of expression, and adaptation to outside cultural norms. Those interested in the Nazirite vow as portrayed in the New Testament and other relevant sources will find this study useful, as will those interested in Bible translation and interpretation in late Second Temple and early rabbinic literature.
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Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--University of Oxford, 2002. :
1 online resource (x, 196 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047407874 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The rabbinic conversion of Judaism : the unique perspective of the Bavli on conversion and the construction of Jewish identity /
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In this volume, Moshe Lavee offers an account of crucial internal developments in the rabbinic corpus, and shows how the Babylonian Talmud dramatically challenged and extended the rabbinic model of conversion to Judaism. The history of conversion to Judaism has long fascinated Jews along a broad ideological continuum. This book demonstrates the rabbis in Babylonia further reworked former traditions about conversion in ever more stringent direction, shifting the focus of identity demarcation towards genealogy and bodily perspectives. By applying a reading-strategy that emphasizes late Babylonian literary developments, Lavee sheds critical light on a broader discourse regarding the nature and boundaries of Jewish identity.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004352056 :
1871-6636 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The self as symbolic space : constructing identity and community at Qumran /
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This volume investigates critical practices by which the Qumran community constituted itself as a sectarian society. Key to the formation of the community was the reconstruction of the identity of individual members. In this way the "self" became an important symbolic space for the development of the ideology of the sect. Persons who came to experience themselves in light of the narratives and symbolic structures embedded in the community practices would have developed the dispositions of affinity and estrangement necessary for the constitution of a sectarian society. Drawing on various theories of discourse and practice in rhetoric, philosophy, and anthropology, the book examines the construction of the self in two central documents: the Serek ha-Yahad and the Hodayot.
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1 online resource (x, 376 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 353-364) and indexes. :
9789047405153 :
0169-9962 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Between philology and theology : contributions to the study of ancient Jewish interpretation /
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The essays by Florentino García Martínez collected in this volume reflect some of his most recent work on theological concepts as they are formed in the interpretations and in the imagination of ancient Jewish writers, and thus illuminate the nexus between philology and theology. The essays, five of which are published for the first time in English, engage a broad range of ancient Jewish texts ranging from Philo and the Dead Sea Scrolls, to Jubilees, 4 Ezra and the Targumim. Focus of the essays is the way in which ancient Jewish writers (and, in the case of 4 Ezra, Christian Renaissance authors) are interpreting and transforming earlier biblical traditions and how these new interpretations shape theological concepts.
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1 online resource (xvi, 194 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004243941 :
1384-2161 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.