The Relationship Between Roman and Local Law in the Babatha and Salome Komaise Archives: General Analysis and Three Case Studies on Law of Succession, Guardianship and Marriage

Jacobine G. Oudshoorn

BRILL, 2007 - 456 pages

The discovery of the Babatha archive provided scholars with unique opportunities for reconstructing the life of Jews in second-century Arabia. Although legal issues and especially the question of the relationship between Roman and local law have received attention in a number of publications, this study presents the first complete overview of the legal situation as presented in the Babatha as well as the Salome Komaise archive, using references to law in the documents' texts as the key element for understanding what law is applicable to these documents. By distinguishing between two levels in the papyri, of substantive and of formal law, a new understanding is reached of the part both Roman and local law played in legal reality.

 

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Noah and his Book(s)

 

Michael E. Stone, Aryeh Amihay, Vered Hillel

Brill, 2010-11-01 - 380 pages

In a collection of original essays, this book offers new insights on the question of the lost "book of Noah," as well as studies of Noah's figure in posthiblical literature. It focuses on ancient Jewish literature, including the Sepruagint, the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo, Josephus and rabbinic literature, but Christian sources, especially Christian iconography, Gnostic literature, and Syriac material, as well as later sources such as the Qur'an and Jewish medieval traditions, are also consulted.

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Judaism and Christianity in the Age of Constantine: History, Messiah, Israel, and the Initial Confrontation

Jacob Neusner

University of Chicago Press, 2008-04-15 - 262 pages

With the conversion of Constantine in AD 312, Christianity began a period of political and cultural dominance that it would enjoy until the twentieth century. Jacob Neusner contradicts the prevailing view that following Christianity's ascendancy, Judaism continued to evolve in isolation. He argues that because of the political need to defend its claims to religious authenticity, Judaism was forced to review itself in the context of a triumphant Christianity. The definition of issues long discussed in Judaism—the meaning of history, the coming of the Messiah, and the political identity of Israel—became of immediate and urgent concern to both parties. What emerged was a polemical dialogue between Christian and Jewish teachers that was unprecedented.

In a close analysis of texts by the Christian theologians Eusebius, Aphrahat, and Chrysostom, and of central Jewish works such as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, the Genesis Rabbah, and the Leviticus Rabbah, Neusner finds that both religious groups turned to the same corpus of Hebrew scripture to examine the same fundamental issues. Eusebius and Genesis Rabbah both address the issue of history, Chrysostom and the Talmud the issue of the Messiah, and Aphrahat and Leviticus Rabbah the issue of Israel. As Neusner demonstrates, the conclusions drawn shaped the dialogue between the two religions for the rest of their shared history in the West.

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Identity Matters: John, the Jews, and Jewishness

 

Raimo Hakola

Brill, 2005 - 291 pages

 

This book challenges current scholarly consensus concerning John's references to the Jews in two ways. First, the author suggests that John's portrayal of the Jews cannot be understood as a response to the violent policy of John's opponents. Second, the author claims that John's portrayal of Jewishness is much more ambivalent than is often claimed today. The first part of the book offers a detailed criticism on the so called two-level reading strategy which claims that John's references to the Jews emerge from the conflict with rabbinic Judaism. The second part examines in detail John's relationship to some basic markers of Jewishness. The book contributes to the ongoing discussion of anti-Judaism in John and efforts to understand John's historical setting.

 

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Middle Judaism: Jewish thought, 300 B.C.E. to 200 C.E.

 

Gabriele Boccaccini

Fortress Press, 1991 - 289 pages

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The Four Stages of Rabbinic Judaism

 

Jacob Neusner

Routledge, 2002-01-01 - 256 pages

This comprehensive book provides a lucid introduction to Rabbinic Judaism, defined as the Judaism built on the story of God's revelation to Moses of the Torah at Sinai.
Jacob Neusner outlines and examines the four stages in which the initial period of the historical development of Rabbinic Judaism divides, beginning with the Pentateuch and ending with its definitive and normative statement in the Talmud of Babylonia. He traces the development of Rabbinic Judaism by exploring the relationships between and among the cognate writings which embody its formative history.

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Ladino Rabbinic Literature and Ottoman Sephardic Culture

Matthias B. Lehmann

Indiana University Press, 2005 - 264 pages

In this pathbreaking book, Matthias B. Lehmann explores Ottoman Sephardic culture in an era of change through a close study of popularized rabbinic texts written in Ladino, the vernacular language of the Ottoman Jews. This vernacular literature, standing at the crossroads of rabbinic elite and popular cultures and of Hebrew and Ladino discourses, sheds valuable light on the modernization of Sephardic Jewry in the Eastern Mediterranean in the 19th century. By helping to form a Ladino reading public and imparting shape to its values, the authors of this literature negotiated between perpetuating rabbinic tradition and addressing the challenges of modernity. The book offers close readings of works that examine issues such as social inequality, exile and diaspora, gender, secularization, and the clash between scientific and rabbinic knowledge. Ladino Rabbinic Literature and Ottoman Sephardic Culture will be welcomed by scholars of Sephardic as well as European Jewish history, culture, and religion.

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Households, Sects, and the Origins of Rabbinic Judaism

 

Alexei Sivertsev

Brill, 2005 - 301 pages

This book suggests a new approach to the social history of Jewish religious movements in the Second Temple and early Rabbinic periods. It argues that most of these movements and their traditions emerged within the context of complex interaction between traditional families and disciple circles. The first part of the book examines the development of Jewish religious movements during the Second Temple period. It culminates with the discussion of the Dead Sea Sect, which is analyzed as the first unambiguous example of a movement shifting from a social structure based on families to a social structure based on disciple circles. The second part of the book discusses the history of pharisaic and early rabbinic movements from a similar perspective. Topics covered in the book will be of interest to scholars of Judaism and Early Christianity.

 

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The glory of Israel: The Theology and Provenience of the Isaiah Targum

 

Bruce Chilton

Continuum International Publishing Group, 1983 - 178 pages

 

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The Isaiah Targum

 

Bruce D. Chilton

Liturgical Press, 1987-05-01 - 130 pages

Designed for those who are beginning Targum study, this book also provides material for those who have already made some progress. Beginners will have recourse first of all to the Translation, and the Notes are intended to help orient them in the message conveyed by the Targum in its two levels. Students with recourse to Aramaic will perhaps require remarks of a linguistic and textual nature; these are given in the Apparatus. Additional material for more advanced students is also offered in the Notes, to help relate the exegesis of the Targum to the intertestamental document, Rabbinica, and the New Testament.

 

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Alternative Targum Traditions: The Use of Variant Readings for the Study in Origin and History of Targum Jonathan

Alberdina Houtman, Harry Sysling

BRILL, 2009-11-01 - 304 pages

The present study explores the possibility of using variant readings of the Targum of the Prophets to get a better insight into the origin and history of Targum Jonathan. The focus is on two sorts of variant readings: the Tosefta Targums and the targumic quotations in rabbinic and medieval Jewish literature. The chapter on the Tosefta Targums concentrates on variants from the book of Samuel. The chapter on the targumic quotations includes quotations of all the Prophets in early Jewish literature. In the Appendix a full list is given of all quotations of Targums of the Prophets presently known. The book is useful for the study of the genesis of Targum Jonathan as well as for its later developments.

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The Targum of Samuel

 

Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman

Brill, 2002 - 767 pages

This volume deals with the Targum of 1 and 2 Samuel. It systematically discusses its text, translation techniques and the usage of several Aramaic words. It also provides a commentary, including an English translation, to the entire Targum of these books. The book is important for those interested in early Jewish history and theology, especially for those studying all kinds of Targumim. The section on usage of Aramaic words is important for linguists, specialized in the various aramaic dialects and stages. The commentary offers a supplement to commentaries on the Hebrew text of the Books of Samuel, because it provides part of the history of exegesis.

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