Keim, Pirqei deRabbi Eliezer, at Google Books

KATHARINA KEIM'S NEW BOOK ON PIKRE DERABBI ELIEZER is now available at Google Books:

Pirqei deRabbi Eliezer: Structure, Coherence, Intertextuality

As usual, this is a preview, not the whole book. But it includes substantial excerpts.

The Talmud, Gilgamesh, Eden, and sex

LEHRHAUS: Gilgamesh and the Rabbis: Knowledge and its Price from Uruk to the Beit Midrash (Eli Putterman.

The tale of R. Yohanan and Reish Laqish related in b. Bava Metzia 84a ranks among the most shocking narratives in rabbinic literature, yet also one of the most profoundly moving. Certainly, the story has exerted an unabated fascination upon generations of scholars, who have analyzed the text using a wide variety of theoretical approaches and brought it into dialogue with intertexts within rabbinic literature and without, from Syriac Christian monastic traditions to Les Miserables.[1] In what follows, I will focus on a complex of motifs in the first episode of the story—the initial encounter between R. Yohanan and Reish Laqish in the Jordan River—and trace its multifarious appearances in a wide range of ancient cultures, beginning at the very dawn of world literature.

[...]

HT AJR.

Crowdsourcing Gilgamesh

CHILDREN'S LITERATURE: Readers get headstart on book about Gilgamesh. Jerusalem author Shirley Graetz turns to crowdsourcing to fund young reader series (Jessica Steinberg, Times of Israel).

Remember the adventures of Gilgamesh, the Akkadian demigod?

Shirley Graetz, the Jerusalem-based writer and creator of the elementary school-age hero, is back with the second book in the series, “Gilgamesh and the Underworld,” and she’s crowdsourcing some financial help, having self-published the successful chapter book the first time.

[...]

PaleoJudaica noted her first Gilgamesh book (in Hebrew) here.

ISBL 2017: history of Jewish biblical scholarship in Berlin

H-JUDAIC: CFP: JEWISH BIBLE SCHOLARSHIP IN BERLIN in the 19th and 20th centuries at ISBL, Berlin, Aug. 2017. Proposals due 22 Feb 2017.

We would like to invite submissions of proposals for a themed session devoted to Jewish biblical scholarship in Berlin in the 19th and 20th centuries, which is one of two sessions scheduled for the new unit on The History of Biblical Scholarship in the Late Modern Period, at the International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature.

Follow the link for further particulars.

Rabbinics and Second Temple Judaism

READING ACTS: Using Rabbinic Literature for the Study of the Second Temple Period. The best advice is probably not to use rabbinic literature for the study of either the New Testament or the Second Temple Period unless you are a specialist in Rabbinics. But people generally are not going to take that advice.

Two comments. First do not use Strack and Billerbeck. See Phil's note in the comments for why. Second, the only way I know of to draw on the Mishnah on its own terms for information on the late Second Temple Period is to restrict the discussion to the sayings that Neusner and his students reconstructed as belonging to the earliest stratum ("before the wars"). This reconstruction is itself open to debate in various ways, but unless you want to specialize in Rabbinics and form your own opinion about the date of each saying in the Mishnah, it's the best cheat sheet we have at present. (This is outside my area of expertise, so if you know of a better one, please alert me to it.)

Relevant basic bibliography:

Neusner, Jacob. Judaism: The Evidence of the Mishnah. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.

Sanders, E. P. Jewish Law from Jesus to the Mishnah. SCM, 1990.

Yes, I know that Neusner and Sanders disagreed on a lot of things, but Sanders's overview of Neusner's earliest Mishnah stratum in the book above is helpful.

Past posts in Phil Long's series on the Second Temple Period are noted here and links. I needed to look some things up before I published this post, so I have taken the Reading Acts post out of order.

Finally, for more on teaching the Mishnah to undergraduates, see here.

UPDATE (6 February): Richard Bauckham has e-mailed to remind me of David Instone-Brewer's still-in-progress work on that first stratum of rabbinic sayings: Traditions of the Rabbis in the Era of the New Testament (T-R-E-N-T). And see also here.

Of ritual baths, stone vessels, and purity

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY (ASOR BLOG): Jewish Purity Practices in Roman Judea: The Evidence of Archaeology (Yonatan Adler).

Along with mikva’ot, the chalkstone quarries and workshops reflect the surprising extent to which the economy and landscape were dedicated to the concept of purity.

Ugaritica volumes online for free

AWOL: Open Access Monograph Series: Ugaritica. Cross-file under Northwest Semitic Epigraphy.

Postdoc in France on Ancient Judaism

UNIVERSITÉ DE LORRAINE (METZ):

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity Project PLURITEXT (ANR/DFG)

The Maison des Sciences de l’Homme at the University of Lorraine (Metz) offers 18 months Postdoctoral Fellowship (with the possibility of a six-month extension) attached to the ANR-DFG Project PLURITEXT. The position will run September 1, 2017-february 28, 2019. Applicants must have completed their doctoral dissertations by September 1, 2018 on a topic related to the literature or thought of ancient Judaism and have a good knowledge of ancient Greek and Hebrew.

The successful candidate will receive a fellowhsip of circa 2 050 Euros net per month and will spend the 2017-2019 academic years at the University of Lorraine (Metz). The Postdoc is expected to conduct independent research related to the project PLURITEXT in her/his area of expertise. She/he is also expected to take an active role in the ANR- DFG Project PLURITEXT. She/he will be especially involved in the edition of Hebrew Text of Ben Sira in collaboration with Jan Joosten, Eric Reymond and Jean-Sébastien Rey.

[...]

Follow the link for application procedures and more information on the PLURITEXT Project.

Revival of the half-shekel Temple tax

BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS: Half-Shekel Temple Tax Reinstated By Sanhedrin (Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz).

“Everyone who is numbered, from twenty years old and over, shall give the contribution to the Lord. The rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than the half shekel, when you give the contribution to the Lord to make atonement for yourselves.” Exodus 30:15 (The Israel Bible™)

After a 2,000 year moratorium, it is now possible for a Jew anywhere in the world to perform the mitzvah (commandment) of paying the half-shekel, a Biblically-mandated tax incumbent on every Jew to finance the day-to-day operations of the Temple.

There are now two ways to perform this commandment: one method for people who can hand-deliver their offering, and another for those who can’t.

While the Temple was standing, every Jewish man was required to give one half-shekel weight of silver, approximately eight grams of silver (worth about $4 today), as a mandatory tax to support the Temple. Each man was obligated to give the same amount, regardless of his economic condition. The coins, once deposited in the Temple courtyard, were hekdesh (sanctified) and not permitted to be used for any other purpose.

The nation of Israel continued to observe the commandment even after the First Temple was destroyed until the practice was outlawed by Roman Emperor Hadrian in the year 135 CE. Even Jews who lived outside of Israel continued to donate the half-shekel, despite the Roman Senate forbidding the export of gold and silver.

[...]

Read on for the specifics of the two new systems. I wonder how this one is going to play out. So far, they are reported to have collected quite a bit of money.

As I have said before: (1) No excavation or construction on the Temple Mount! Not even archaeology, until we have non-invasive and non-destructive technologies to do the work. And (2) My interest here is sociological and historical, not theological (let alone eschatological!), and my citation of this and related stories is not an endorsement of their content. The latter link also has some relevant comments on Breaking Israel News.

This particular initiative was first noted here, but there have been new developments. That post has links to previous posts on the ancient half-shekel tax and see also here.

Of Amorites, truffles, and giants

THE WORLD IS FULL OF HISTORY: Peoples of the Bible: The legend of the Amorites. And why were the biblical peoples so terrified of migrant shepherds that they described them as raw-meat eating, ancestor-abusing giants? ■ Part 1 (Philippe Bohstrom, Haaretz).

Amorites: A people descended from Emer, the fourth son of Canaan, according to the book of Genesis 10:16.

The problem with understanding the Amorites is that they have two wildly different points of reference, an earlier Mesopotamian one and a later biblical one, over a thousand years distant from one another, and which seem to have no connection whatsoever except for the name. Even defining Amorites as a single people may be inaccurate: we cannot be sure they were one, since the Amorites are from a deep, unknown past. But this is what we can say.

One more brief excerpt from a long article:

In the Marriage of Martu, a Sumerian creation legend that took place in the distant past even in biblical times, in which the blushing bride weds an Amorite ("martu" in Sumerian), the stereotype is personified:

“The Amorite he is dressed in sheep skins: he lives in tents in wind and rain; He doesn’t offer sacrifices. Armed vagabond in the steppes, he digs up truffles and is restless. He eats raw meat. Lives without a home; And when he dies, he is not buried according to proper rituals."

The Bible also describes the Amorites with dread, in this case, being of immense stature. Og of Bashan, one of their kings, is said to be the last of the giants, who had to be buried in a sarcophagus measuring four by 1.8 meters (Deuteronomy 3:11).
While that is extremely unlikely, who were these Amorites, who frightened the other peoples of the bible so badly?

It's complicated.

That was Part 1. So far, so good. Stay tuned for Part 2. And Part 1 is a premium article, so read it now before it goes behind the paywall.

Review of Becker, Porphyrios, 'Contra Christianos'

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW:

Matthias Becker, Porphyrios, 'Contra Christianos'. Neue Sammlung der Fragmente, Testimonien und Dubia mit Einleitung, Übersetzung und Anmerkungen. Texte und Kommentare, Bd 52. Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter, 2016. Pp. x, 667. ISBN 9783110440058. $196.00.

Reviewed by Ariane Magny, University of Ottawa (amagny@uottawa.ca)

Preview

In this colossal and meticulous work, Matthias Becker offers a new collection of the fragments of Against the Christians by the Neoplatonist philosopher Porphyry of Tyre. C. Chr. has survived only fragments in the works of late antique, Christian scholars. Becker’s is the first fragment collection to be produced by a German scholar since Adolf von Harnack first published his in 1916. Recently, other collections have been produced in English, Spanish, and Italian.1 A French one is currently in progress for Les Belles Lettres (by Sébastien Morlet). This interest in C. Chr. is part of a wider, renewed interest in Porphyry’s work in general,2 and contributes to our understanding of late antique inter-religious debates, for it seeks to reconstruct an anti-Christian treatise that was destroyed on the orders of various Christian emperors.

[...]

Porphyry is important for the history of NeoPlatonism and, more indirectly, Gnosticism, but he also is of some interest for ancient Judaism. He was the first to advance arguments for the Book of Daniel being composed during the Maccabean revolt. Porphyry also commented on some Gnostic Old Testament pseudepigrapha, as noted here. And some other PaleoJudaica posts pertaining to Porphyry are here, here, here, and here.

Another review of Gardner, The Origins of Organized Charity in Rabbinic Judaism

H-JUDAIC: Schwartz on Gardner, 'The Origins of Organized Charity in Rabbinic Judaism'.

Author: Gregg Gardner
Reviewer: Joshua Schwartz

Gregg Gardner. The Origins of Organized Charity in Rabbinic Judaism. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016. 251 pp. $99.99 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-107-09543-4.

Reviewed by Joshua Schwartz (Bar-Ilan University)
Published on H-Judaic (January, 2017)
Commissioned by Katja Vehlow

Charity with DignityCharity is one of the most important concepts in Judaism. The most famous definition of charity in Jewish thought is that of Maimonides, in his "Eight Levels of Giving" ("Laws about Giving to Poor People," Mishneh Torah, 10:7-14). Ironically, the highest level of charity might not even be considered as charity today. Maimonides suggests "charity" options such as giving an indigent an interest-free loan, forming a partnership with him, or finding a job for a poor person so that he or she will be able to support themselves. The lowest level of charity is giving out of pity, most likely to a beggar, a type of giving that has generated opposition in some circles today.[1] Avoiding the pitfalls and problems of giving to beggars, and finding different, viable charity solutions are core issues of Gardner's study.

Gardner enters a field that has not suffered neglect as of late.[2] Is there a need for another book on Jewish charity? The answer to this question is encapsulated in one sentence: "The study of organized charity in Judaism is inextricably intertwined with the study of material culture" (p. 63). Finally! While this truism is self-evident in the academic circles that the author of this review frequents, unfortunately the study of relevant material culture and its meaning is often ignored in the study of ancient Judaism.[3] While Gardner's study, using material culture, makes a significant contribution to the study of charity in rabbinic Judaism, it also serves as a methodological model for future research not only on this topic in particular, but also on the social history of ancient Jewish life.

[...]

Past PaleoJudaica posts on the book are collected here.

Biblical Studies Carnival 131

WESTAR INSTITUTE: Biblical Studies Carnival 131 – January 2017 (Cassandra Farrin). Hopefully this will be corrected soon, but as the post currently stands, the first reference to me should be to Jim West. All other references to "Jim" are to me.

The Judaism and Rome Project

THE EUROPEAN RESEARCH COUNCIL:

The ERC project "Judaism and Rome"

Welcome to the website for the ERC project "Re-thinking Judaism’s Encounter with the Roman Empire: Rome’s Political and Religious Challenge to Israel and its Impact on Judaism"!

On this website you will find useful resources for studying Roman imperial ideology, or Roman imperial discourses, artefacts and performances, displayed in literary records, epigraphy, numismatics, as well as through monuments, statues and other material artefacts. There is a particular focus on sources connected to the three sub-themes of the project, “Roman Power,” “Roman Law” and “Roman Citizenship”.
You will also find Jewish, Greek, Egyptian and Christian sources documenting the responses of some of the provincials of the Roman empire to the challenge of Roman domination. By "responses," however, we do not intend only the provincial sources that explicitly mention Rome and address issues such as Roman law courts or grants of Roman citizenship. We also take into account the way the Roman imperial context led provincials to formulate their own conceptions of power, law, and citizenship or membership with a given group.

The site is searchable and has many useful resources already posted.

Textual criticism summer school in Salzburg

ON BIBLICAL MANUSCRIPTS AND THEIR USE IN BIBLICAL STUDIES: Summer School in Salzburg, Austria 3-7 July 2017 The Hebrew and Greek Texts of Esther with Professor Kristin De Troyer.

Historical reliability of Luke-Acts, part 2

THE BIBLE PLACES BLOG: uke & Acts: Historical Reliability - 2 (Michael J. Caba).

The first two verses of the third chapter of the Book of Luke contain references to eight individuals in prominent positions at the beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist. The text itself is shown below.

This post focuses on Pontius Pilate.

The first post in the series was noted here.

The Arshama Project

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: The Arshama project.

The Arshama Project is not new, but since it is a valuable resource for the study of Achaemenid history, we would like to introduce it briefly.

I noted the existence of the Arshama Project in passing here, but this post will take you to a link for the project itself, which involves an archive of Aramaic parchments from Elephantine.

Pasts posts on the Elephantine papyri are here and many links. Cross-file under Aramaic Watch.

The Talmud on walls and neighbors

THIS WEEK'S DAF YOMI COLUMN BY ADAM KIRSCH IN TABLET: What the Talmud Says About Trump’s Border Wall, Paid For by Mexico. In this week’s ‘Daf Yomi,’ when it comes to privacy, good fences may indeed make good neighbors

This week, Daf Yomi readers began a new tractate, Bava Batra, which begins by considering these same questions about walls. Who builds them, who is responsible for them, and what purpose do they serve? ...

So far, matters are entirely straightforward. The difficulty, and the source of legal interest, arises when one partner wants to build a wall and the other partner does not. Can one compel the other to build the wall, or to pay for its construction? The Gemara points out that what is at stake here is whether there is such a thing as a right to privacy. Does one neighbor have the right to be shielded from the observation of the other neighbor? If he does, then he can force the latter to build a wall, even against his will?

Timely, insofar as the subject is walls and neighbors, but not all that informative about the issue in the headline.

Earlier Daf Yomi columns are noted here and links.

Interview with Burke and Landau

EERDWORD BLOG: Eerdmans Author Interviews: Tony Burke & Brent Landau.

Tony Burke and Brent Landau are co-editors of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, a new compilation of little-known and never-before-published apocryphal Christian texts in English translation.

Learn their goals for the project, why they say studying noncanonical texts is important, and some of their favorite apocryphal literature ...

A video interviews. The More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Project gets a shout out.

Background on the book is here, here, here, and links. Cross-file under New Testament Apocrypha Watch.

The return of the Diaspora in Second Temple Judaism

READING ACTS: Hope for the Future during the Exile.

The scattering of the Jewish people throughout the world is the foundation for the hope or restoration to the land in the future as the twelve tribes of Israel. The Diaspora will eventually come to an end, the land will be repopulated, Jewish cities will be rebuilt and the people will worship God in Jerusalem.

Conclusion:

But to what extent are these hopes a kind of fantasy for people living in distant lands hoping for a restoration of the “good old days”? Or, are these the hopes of Judeans now living in a barren and oppressed land, people who are looking forward to a future liberation? Is this kind of hope a form escapism? Or more troubling, have Christians transformed some of these Jewish hopes for restoration into a hope for heaven?

Also, modern Zionism arises ultimately from these hopes and it belongs in this discussion.

Past posts in Phil Long's new series on the Second Temple Period are noted here and links.