Friday, July 07, 2017

The Talmud on Herod the Great

DR. JEFFREY L. RUBENSTEIN: Herod’s Renovation of the Temple – The Talmudic Version (TheGemara.com).
In their discussion of King Herod’s reconstruction of the Second Temple, talmudic storytellers emphasize themes of sight, blindness, and illegitimate rule. They also make a surprising suggestion about who really should get credit for this renovation.
The Talmud has a long, very legendary, and rather creepy, account of the reign of Herod. I have commented on part of it in an earlier post here. This post may be relevant too, although it cites a different Talmudic passage that seems to cover the same ground.

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