Halbertal, ... Confronting Uncertainty in Early Rabbinic Literature

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS;

The Birth of Doubt: Confronting Uncertainty in Early Rabbinic Literature
Moshe Halbertal

$20.30 – $57.40

Series: Brown Judaic Studies
Volume: 366

Publisher: Brown Judaic Studies
Publication Date: 2020
ISBN: 9781951498757

Description

In the history of halakhah, the treatment of uncertainty became one of the most complex fields of intense study. In his latest book, Moshe Halbertal focuses on examining the point of origin of the study of uncertainty in early rabbinic literature, including the Mishnah, Tosefta, and halakhic midrashim. Halbertal explores instructions concerning how to behave in situations of uncertainty ranging from matters of ritual purity, to lineage and marriage, to monetary law, and to the laws of forbidden foods. This examination of the rules of uncertainty reveals that these rules were not aimed at avoiding but rather at dwelling in the midst of uncertainty.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Putthoff, Gods and Humans in the Ancient Near East

NEW BOOK FROM CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Gods and Humans in the Ancient Near East

AUTHOR: Tyson L. Putthoff, University of Oklahoma
DATE PUBLISHED: November 2020
AVAILABILITY: Available
FORMAT: Hardback
ISBN: 9781108490542

$ 99.99 (C)
Hardback

Description

In this book, Tyson Putthoff explores the relationship between gods and humans, and between divine nature and human nature, in the Ancient Near East. In this world, gods lived among humans. The two groups shared the world with one another, each playing a special role in maintaining order in the cosmos. Humans also shared aspects of a godlike nature. Even in their natural condition, humans enjoyed a taste of the divine state. Indeed, gods not only lived among humans, but also they lived inside them, taking up residence in the physical body. As such, human nature was actually a composite of humanity and divinity. Putthoff offers new insights into the ancients' understanding of humanity's relationship with the gods, providing a comparative study of this phenomenon from the third millennium BCE to the first century CE.

• Explores multiple Ancient Near Eastern views on divine aspects of human in a single volume in a way that no other work has done
• Introduces each region of the Ancient Near East in a way that allows non-specialists and specialists alike to engage with the material in each chapter
• Will appeal to scholars and students interested in the history, philosophy, theology and anthropology of the Near Eastern or biblical world

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Muraoka, A Biblical Aramaic Reader (2nd, revised edition)

NEW BOOK EDITION FROM PEETERS:

A Biblical Aramaic Reader
With an Outline Grammar. Second, Revised Edition

AUTHOR:
Muraoka T.

YEAR: 2020
ISBN: 9789042943971
E-ISBN: 9789042943988
PAGES: X-85 p.
PRICE: 19 euro

SUMMARY:
This reader is for anyone very eager to read the story of Daniel in the lions' den and many other fascinating stories in their original language, Aramaic.

A brief outline of Biblical Aramaic grammar is followed by a verse-to-verse grammatical commentary on the Aramaic chapters in the books of Daniel and Ezra. Both the outline grammar and the grammatical commentary presuppose basic knowledge of the grammar and vocabulary of Biblical Hebrew. Constant references are made in the commentary to relevant sections of the outline grammar. The commentary is written in a user-friendly, not overtly technical language. Some grammatical exercises with keys and paradigms conclude the Reader. Also suitable for self-study.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

A visit to Khirbet Qumran

TRAVEL: A visit to the site of the Dead Sea Scrolls. What is it like to see the site where the Qumran Scrolls were found in 1946? (MEITAL SHARABI, Jerusalem Post).

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

How are Kanye West and King Nebuchadnezzar alike?

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: Nebuchadnezzar Explained: Warrior King, Rebuilder of Cities, and Musical Muse (Louise Pryke).

Kanye West’s first operatic work, Nebuchadnezzar, has just premiered at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Set in the 6th century BCE, the opera is based on the biblical story of Nebuchadnezzar II, a powerful ruler and the longest-reigning king of Babylon.

[...]

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

A magic gold bead from the Temple Mount?

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: FIND AND FINDER OF THE MONTH: A RARE GOLD BEAD FROM THE FIRST TEMPLE PERIOD. Found by a nine-year-old sifter working in archaeologist Gaby Barkay's back yard. Scroll all the way to the end of the post for good photos.

The object may have been part of an apotropaic warding artifact or a priestly ornament or both.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Review of Fishbane, The Art of Mystical Narrative

H-NET (H-JUDAIC) REVIEW:

Eitan P. Fishbane. The Art of Mystical Narrative: A Poetics of the Zohar. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. xiii + 520 pp. $125.00, cloth, ISBN 978-0-19-994863-5.

Reviewed by Mark Verman (Wright State University)

Published on H-Judaic (November, 2020)

Commissioned by Barbara Krawcowicz (Jagiellonian University)

This is a long and fascinating review of what sounds like a fascinating book. The review itself amounts to an introduction to the Zohar and its back story.

UPDATE: Cross-file under Zohar Watch. For many posts on the Zohar, start here and follow the links.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Bellmann, ... An Analysis of the Five Versions of the Book of Esther (German)

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

Simon Bellmann
Politische Theologie im frühen Judentum
Political Theology in Early Judaism: An Analysis of the Five Versions of the Book of Esther
Eine Analyse der fünf Versionen des Estherbuches

Series: Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 525
De Gruyter | 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110674514

OVERVIEW

Each of the five versions of the story of Esther appeared as a separate attempt at early Jewish identity formation in the period between the 4th century BCE and the end of the 1st century CE. This study makes a major contribution to scholarship, especially with regard to the Old Latin version of the Book of Esther, published in an appendix for the first time in German translation.

FORMATS

Hardcover
ISBN: 978-3-11-067446-0
Published: 09 Nov 2020

PDF ISBN: 978-3-11-067451-4
Published: 09 Nov 2020

EPUB
ISBN: 978-3-11-067455-2
Published: 09 Nov 2020

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Thanksgiving 2020

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to my American readers and to anyone else who is celebrating!

This is a working day in the U.K., so normally I would be in my office. But today I am working at home for the 2020 pandemic edition.

Be thankful, have a great day, and stay safe!

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Teleportation archaeology?

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: How are archaeologists using hi-tech during the coronavirus era? Archaeologists from Haifa and San Diego had to get creative to work on their collaborative excavation without actually travelling due to quarantines (Hannah Brown, Jerusalem Post).

So they were able to work around the disadvantages of the virus restrictions using photogrammetry, where photography and technology create 3D models in a lab. The Israeli divers would record all they did with GoPro cameras and would scan the artifacts they collected at the end of each day and then send these scans to San Diego. The researchers there would then create the objects in the lab, using 3D printers.

“When they take artifacts back to the university, they scan them, send us the objects, and we can just print the object. What’s cool is that I get the object here printed in 3D, so I can hold it in my hands,” said Levy. “Even a 3D image in virtual reality is not the same as holding it in your hand.”

Beam me up, Scotty!

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Where did the Levitical choir sing?

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Music in the Temple. The Location of the Music Chamber in the Court of the Women (Leen Ritmeyer). This post is the follow-up to one noted here.

Cross-file under Ancient Architecture.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Scroll reconstruction again

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: The Puzzling Limits of Models. An analysis suggests an established technique used on the Dead Sea Scrolls is not as reliable as previously thought (Jonathan Laden). Models are useful, but should be used with caution. Map is not territory.

Background here.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Finitsis (ed.), Dress and Clothing in the Hebrew Bible

RECENT BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Dress and Clothing in the Hebrew Bible
“For All Her Household Are Clothed in Crimson”

Editor(s): Antonios Finitsis

Published: 08-08-2019
Format: Hardback
Edition: 1st
Extent: 208
ISBN: 9780567686404
Imprint: T&T Clark
Series: The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies
Volume: 679
Illustrations: 8 bw illus
Dimensions: 6 1/8" x 9 1/4"
List price: $114.00
Online price: $79.80
Save $34.20 (30%)

About Dress and Clothing in the Hebrew Bible

Built upon the flourishing study of costume, this book analyses sartorial evidence provided both by texts of the ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible. The essays within lend clarity to the link between material and ideological, examining the tradition of dress, the different types of literature that reference the tradition of garments, and the people for whom such literature was written.

The contributors explore sources that illuminate the social, psychological, aesthetic, ideological and symbolic meanings of clothing. The topics covered range from the relationship between clothing, kingship and power, to the symbolic significance of the high priestly regalia and the concept of garments as deception and defiance, while also considering the tendency to omit or ignore descriptions of YHWH's clothing. Following a historical sequence, the essays cross-reference with each other to create a milestone in biblical sartorial study.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Independent Isaac assimilated to Abraham?

DR. RABBI DAVID FRANKEL: Isaac before He Was Abraham’s Son (TheTorah.com).

Abraham and Isaac each dig a well in Beersheba and make a treaty with King Abimelech. Which story came first?

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Review of Biblia Sacra vulgata: Lateinisch-deutsch (5 vols.)

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Hieronymus. Biblia Sacra vulgata: Lateinisch-deutsch.

Andreas Beriger, Widu-Wolfgang Ehlers, Hieronymus. Biblia Sacra vulgata: Lateinisch-deutsch Band 1, Genesis - Exodus - Leviticus - Numeri - Deuteronomium. Sammlung Tusculum. Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter, 2018. Pp. 889. ISBN 9783110440447

Plus four more volumes covering the rest of the Latin Vulgate.

Review by
Matthew Kraus, University of Cincinnati. krausma@ucmail.uc.edu

Not surprisingly, the review is long and thorough. Here's a brief excerpt:

The Vulgata Verein has produced a fine German translation that enables readers to encounter a 4th/5th CE century translator. Despite its limitations, the work demonstrates the need for this kind of close reading of the Latin Bible and will hopefully spawn more monographs and commentaries. This new German translation along with its various annotations advances the study of the Vulgate and Jerome as products and producers of Late Antique society.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Gold-water, poop-bread, cake-concentrate, and more!

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: The 10 Strangest Foods in the Bible (David Moster). Ranging from Sublime to Amazing to "What?" to "Yuck!" to Horrifying.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Perrin & Stuckenbruck (eds.), Four Kingdom Motifs ...

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Four Kingdom Motifs before and beyond the Book of Daniel

Series: Themes in Biblical Narrative, Volume: 28

Volume Editors: Andrew Perrin and Loren T. Stuckenbruck

The four kingdoms motif enabled writers of various cultures, times, and places, to periodize history as the staged succession of empires barrelling towards an utopian age. The motif provided order to lived experiences under empire (the present), in view of ancestral traditions and cultural heritage (the past), and inspired outlooks assuring hope, deliverance, and restoration (the future). Four Kingdom Motifs before and beyond the Book of Daniel includes thirteen essays that explore the reach and redeployment of the motif in classical and ancient Near Eastern writings, Jewish and Christian scriptures, texts among the Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, depictions in European architecture and cartography, as well as patristic, rabbinic, Islamic, and African writings from antiquity through the Mediaeval eras.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €163.00 / $196.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-44328-0
Publication Date: 23 Nov 2020

Hardback
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-44279-5
Publication Date: 26 Nov 2020

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

More on Hegra and the Nabateans

NABATEAN (NABATAEAN) WATCH: HEGRA, AN ANCIENT CITY IN SAUDI ARABIA UNTOUCHED FOR MILLENNIA, MAKES ITS PUBLIC DEBUT. The archaeological site, now open to tourists, offers clues about the mysterious empire that built it and its more famous sister city of Petra in Jordan (LAUREN KEITH, Smithsonian Magazine).

Once a thriving international trade hub, the archeological site of Hegra (also known as Madain Saleh) has been left practically undisturbed for almost 2,000 years. But now for the first time, Saudi Arabia has opened the site to tourists. Astute visitors will notice that the rock-cut constructions at Hegra look similar to its more famous sister site of Petra, a few hundred miles to the north in Jordan. Hegra was the second city of the Nabataean kingdom, but Hegra does much more than simply play second fiddle to Petra: it could hold the key to unlocking the secrets of an almost-forgotten ancient civilization.

A long, informative, and well illustrated article on one of the most important archaeological sites in Saudi Arabia. It is a major source of information on the ancient Nabateans, still relatively untapped. The Nabateans spoke Arabic, but wrote in Aramaic for commercial, government, and diplomatic purposes.

PaleoJudaica posts on Hegra (Madain Saleh), "Saudi Arabia's answer to Petra," are collected here. For many posts on Petra and the Nabateans and their language, see here and links (cf. here).

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Maiden, Cognitive Science and Ancient Israelite Religion

NEW BOOK FROM CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Cognitive Science and Ancient Israelite Religion
New Perspectives on Texts, Artifacts, and Culture

Part of Society for Old Testament Study Monographs

AUTHOR: Brett E. Maiden, Emory University, Atlanta
DATE PUBLISHED: October 2020
AVAILABILITY: Available
FORMAT: Hardback
ISBN: 9781108487788

$ 99.99 (C) Hardback

Description

In this book, Brett Maiden employs the tools, research, and theories from the cognitive science of religion to explore religious thought and behavior in ancient Israel. His study focuses on a key set of distinctions between intuitive and reflective types of cognitive processing, implicit and explicit concepts, and cognitively optimal and costly religious traditions. Through a series of case studies, Maiden examines a range of topics including popular and official religion, Deuteronomic theology, hybrid monsters in ancient iconography, divine cult statues in ancient Mesopotamia and the biblical idol polemics, and the Day of Atonement ritual in Leviticus 16. The range of media, including ancient texts, art, and archaeological data from ancient Israel, as well theoretical perspectives demonstrates how a dialogue between biblical scholars and cognitive researchers can be fostered.

• Offers an accessible introduction to the current state of the cognitive study of religion, especially for biblical scholars and historians of religion
• Provides theoretical discussion and concrete examples, in the form of case studies, of interdisciplinary scholarship in action
• Examines different interrelated topics in the study Israelite religion, including theoretical, artistic, and textual

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

The house that Jesus grew up in?

'TIS THE SEASON, ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE EDITION: Is this the childhood home of Jesus Christ? British archaeologist excavates domestic dwelling under ruins of the Sisters of Nazareth Convent (Jonathan Chadwic, Daily Mail).

It could be. I noted the story here back in 2015. I was skeptical then and remain so today. It is clear that when a church was built over the site in the fourth century, there was a tradition that this was Jesus' house. But a lot of legends can start up in two or three hundred years.

Professor Dark has done much good archaeological work on ancient Nazareth, as I have noted here and links. I doubt that we will ever know if he is right on this specific point. But who knows? Conclusive proof might show up someday.

Whatever the merits of the claim, this article has many good photos of the site.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Van Hecke, The Song of Songs in its Context

NEW BOOK FROM PEETERS:

The Song of Songs in its Context. Words for Love, Love for Words

SERIES:
Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium, 310

EDITOR:
Van Hecke P.

YEAR: 2020
ISBN: 9789042942394
E-ISBN: 9789042942400
PAGES: XXXIV-643 p.
PRICE: 95 euro

SUMMARY:
Ever since its composition, the Song of Songs has fascinated generation upon generation of readers. The words for love expressed in the book have captivated the imagination and have inspired many, in each time and age, to interpret its meaning. Also the Song’s love for words – its intricate poetry and its rich and often daring imagery – has caught the attention of its readership. After two centuries of diminished interest in the book, the last two decades have witnessed a remarkable return of scholarly attention for the Song of Songs. In this volume, twenty-nine papers read at the 67th Colloquium Biblicum Lovaniense (Leuven, July 25-27, 2018), not only bring together the current state of the art, but also sketch new perspectives and future avenues for the study of this shortest but most fascinating book in the Hebrew Bible. Attention is paid, by established and emerging scholars alike, to the Song’s origin and development, to its poetic features and metaphors, and to its rich and complex reception history.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Lecture on Israelite Aramaic in Egypt

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: BASONOVA—Wandering Arameans in Egypt. New light on the Samarian and Judean diaspora.

Wednesday, December 2, 2020 at 8 pm EST via Zoom
Wandering Arameans in Egypt: New Light on the Samarian and Judean Diaspora
Tawny Holm, Penn State University

The more I look into Papyrus Amherst 63, the more fascinating it becomes. It is a collection of Aramaic and Canaanite(?) texts written in Egyptian Demotic Script. They have Israelite, Samaritan, and Babylonian-Aramaic connections. Arguably the document has some connection with the fifth-century Aramaic-speaking Judeans at Elephantine, Egypt as well.

Professor Holm has been working on a translation of this remarkable text. I believe it is near publication.

For lots of PaleoJudaica posts on Papyrus Amherst 63 is here and links.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Review of The Hellenistic court (ed. Erskine et al.)

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: The Hellenistic court: monarchic power and elite society from Alexander to Cleopatra.

Andrew Erskine, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Shane Wallace, The Hellenistic court: monarchic power and elite society from Alexander to Cleopatra. Swansea: Classical Press of Wales, 2017. Pp. 473. ISBN 9781910589625 £60.00.

Review by
Monica D'Agostini, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano. dagostini.monica@gmail.com

Only one of the essays deals with Jews in the Hellenistic court ("Deserving the Court’s Trust: Jews in Ptolemaic Egypt," by Livia Capponi). But the book looks full of information on the Seleucid and Ptolemaic monarchies during the Second Temple period.

For more on the Seleucid era and its importance for biblical and ancient Jewish studies, see here and links (cf. here). Likewise for the Ptolemaic era here and here and links.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Dura-Europos exhibition catalogue

THE AWOL BLOG: Dura-Europos: Crossroad of Antiquity. With links to the cataloge and e-book for this 2011 exhibition at the Boston College McMullen Museum of Art. The catalogue price is a little steep ("from $1,935.96"), but the e-book is free.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the McMullen Museum exhibition, see here and links. The NYU/ISAW exhibition on Dura-Europos was also in 2011. And the World between Empires exibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2019 also involved Dura-Europos. Follow that last link for many other posts on this important Syrian site known particularly for its late-antique synagogue murals.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism (2 vols.)

RECENT BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism Volumes I and II

Editor(s): Loren T. Stuckenbruck, Daniel M. Gurtner

Published: 12-26-2019
Format: Hardback
Edition: 1st
ISBN: 9780567661449
Imprint: T&T Clark
Illustrations: 16 color maps and 192 bw illus
List price: $440.00

About T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism Volumes I and II

The T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism provides a comprehensive reference resource of over 600 scholarly articles aimed at those studying Judaism in the Second Temple Period, and the numerous texts and artefacts related to it.

The work is split into four parts across two volumes.

Part One locates the discipline in relation to other relevant fields (for example the Hebrew Bible, Rabbinics, Christian Origins) and provides an orientation to the discipline's distinctive nomenclatures and debates. The history of research in the area is also presented in full.

Part Two presents an overview of respective contexts of the discipline set within the broad framework of historical chronology. Social/cultural, literary, linguistic, geographical, political, and religious contexts are all explained, from the time period of the conquests of Alexander the Great (332 B.C.E.) through to the reign of Hadrian (135 C.E.).

Part Three focuses specifically on the literature of the Second Temple period, summarizing the content of key texts, and examining their similarities and differences with other texts of the period. This section includes surveys of scholarship on date, provenance, location, language(s), and interpretative issues. The reception history of texts is considered.

Part Four addresses topics, specifically those relevant to Second Temple literature such as places, practices, historical figures and artefacts. v The volumes include 14 specially created color maps and over 60 charts and illustrations.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Ancient silver counterfeiting?

METAL MONEY MISCHIEF: Dirty old money: Researchers reveal Iron Age silver forgery. "It is likely that they used money that was already in the area from previous periods, to which they added the copper from the Timna area" (Hannah Brown, Jerusalem Post).

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Harland & Last, Group Survival in the Ancient Mediterranean

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Group Survival in the Ancient Mediterranean
Rethinking Material Conditions in the Landscape of Jews and Christians

By: Philip A. Harland, Richard Last

Published: 04-16-2020
Format: Hardback
Edition: 1st
Extent: 240
ISBN: 9780567657480
Imprint: T&T Clark
Illustrations: 17 bw illus
Dimensions: 6 1/8" x 9 1/4"
List price: $115.00
Online price: $80.50
Save $34.50 (30%)

About Group Survival in the Ancient Mediterranean

Philip A. Harland and Richard Last consider the economics of early Christian group life within its social, cultural and economic contexts, by drawing on extensive epigraphic and archaeological evidence. In exploring the informal associations, immigrant groups, and guilds that dotted the world of the early Christians, Harland and Last provide fresh perspective on the question of how Christian assemblies and Judean/Jewish gatherings gained necessary resources to pursue their social, religious, and additional aims. By considering both neglected archaeological discoveries and literary evidence, the authors analyse financial and material aspects of group life, both sources of income and various areas of expenditure. Harland and Last then turn to the use of material resources for mutual support of members in various groups, including the importance of burial and the practice of interest-free loans. Christian and Judean evidence is explored throughout this book, culminating in a discussion of texts detailing the internal financial life of Christian assemblies as seen in first and second century sources, including Paul, the Didache, Justin Martyr, and Tertullian. In shedding new light on early Christian financial organisation, this volume aids further understanding of how some Christian groups survived and developed in the Greco-Roman world.

More on Philip Harland's work is here and links.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Baker et al. (eds.), Exploring the Composition of the Pentateuch

NEW BOOK FROM EISENBRAUNS:

Exploring the Composition of the Pentateuch

Edited by L. S. Baker Jr., Kenneth Bergland, Felipe A. Masotti, and A. Rahel Wells

$89.95 | Hardcover Edition
ISBN: 978-1-57506-985-2

314 pages
6" × 9"
3 b&w illustrations
2020

Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplement

Description

For many years, the historical-critical quest for a reconstruction of the origin(s) and development of the Pentateuch or Hexateuch has been dominated by the documentary hypothesis, the heuristic power of which has produced a consensus so strong that an interpreter who did not operate within its framework was hardly regarded as a scholar. However, the relentless march of research on this topic has continued to yield new and refined analyses, data, methodological tools, and criticism. In this spirit, the contributions to this volume investigate new ideas about the composition of the Pentateuch arising from careful analysis of the biblical text against its ancient Near Eastern background.

Covering a wide spectrum of topics and diverging perspectives, the chapters in this book are grouped into two parts. The first is primarily concerned with the history of scholarship and alternative approaches to the development of the Pentateuch. The second focuses on the exegesis of particular texts relevant to the composition of the Torah. The aim of the project is to foster investigation and collegial dialogue in a spirit of humility and frankness, without imposing uniformity.

In addition to the editors, the contributors include Tiago Arrais, Richard E. Averbeck, John S. Bergsma, Joshua A. Berman, Daniel I. Block, Richard Davidson, Roy E. Gane, Duane A. Garrett, Richard S. Hess, Benjamin Kilchör, Michael LeFebvre, Jiří Moskala, and Christian Vogel.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Barbu & Deutsch, Toledot Yeshu in Context

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Toledot Yeshu in Context. The Jewish »Life of Jesus« in Ancient, Medieval, and Modern History. Edited by Daniel Barbu and Yaacov Deutsch. 2020. VIII, 358 pages. Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 182. 144,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-159300-0.

Published in English.
The Jewish »Life of Jesus« or Toledot Yeshu provides one of the most extraordinary accounts of the beginnings of Christianity. The narrative describes Jesus as child born of adultery, a charlatan, and a false prophet who performed would-be miracles through the use of magic. Throughout the centuries, the story aroused the ire of anti-Jewish polemicists, delighted anti-clerical authors, and was viewed by Jewish scholars as a subject of embarrassment. Toledot Yeshu presents us with a formidable counter-history of the origins of Christianity. In the eighteenth century, Voltaire went so far as to proclaim that Toledot Yeshu, however extravagant, was perhaps more truthful than the Christian gospels. The object of this volume is to consider this narrative as an object of history, to question its transmission, reception and function within the various historical settings in which it circulated, and seek to understand its meaning for both Jews and non-Jews from antiquity to the modern era.

For more on Toledot Yeshu, see here, here, and here.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.