An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism: History and Religion of the Jews in the Time of Nehemiah, the Maccabees, Hillel, and Jesus

✍ Scribed by Lester L. Grabbe

• Publisher: A&C Black
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 167
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

An internationally respected expert on the Second Temple period provides a fully up-to-date introduction to this crucial area of Biblical Studies. This introduction, by a world leader in the field, provides the perfect guide to the Second Temple Period, its history, literature, and religious setting. Lester Grabbe magisterially guides the reader through the period providing a careful overview of the most studied sources, the history surrounding them and the various currents within Judaism at the time. This book will be a core text for courses on the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, as well as Qumran, Intertestamental Literature and Early Judaism.

✦ Table of Contents

CONTENTS
PREFACE
OUTLINE OF MAJOR EVENTS
1 INTRODUCTION: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW AND SOURCES
1.1 Historical and Religious Background
1.1.1 The Period of the Israelite and Judahite Monarchies
1.1.2 Persian Rule
1.1.3 The Greek Conquest and Ptolemaic Rule
1.1.4 The Seleucids and the ‘Hellenistic Reform’
1.1.5 The Maccabaean Revolt
1.1.6 The Hasmonaean Dynasty
1.1.7 The Roman Yoke
1.1.8 The Reign of Herod the Great
1.1.9 A Roman Province Once Again
1.1.10 The 66–70 War with Rome and its Consequences: A New Form of Judaism
1.1.11 Further Jewish Revolts against Rome
1.2 The Sources: How Do We Know What We Know?
1.2.1 Books of the Bible
1.2.2 Josephus
1.2.3 Philo of Alexandria
1.2.4 The Apocrypha
1.2.5 The Pseudepigrapha
1.2.6 The Dead Sea Scrolls
1.3 Guide to Further Reading
2 TEXTUAL JUDAISM: THE PRIESTLY AND SCRIBAL CURRENT
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Priests and Levites
2.3 Priestly Rule of Judah
2.4 The Wise and the Intellectual Tradition
2.5 Scribes
2.6 The Pharisees
2.6.1 The New Testament
2.6.2 Rabbinic Literature
2.6.3 Josephus
2.6.4 Conclusions
2.7 The Sadducees
2.8 The Essenes
2.9 Conclusions
2.10 Guide to Further Reading
3 REVOLUTIONARY JUDAISM: THE POLITICAL AND ‘MESSIANIC’ CURRENT
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The Maccabaean Revolt
3.3 The Roman Overlords
3.4 Revolts during the ‘War of Varus’
3.5 The ‘Fourth Philosophy’ and the Sicarii
3.6 The Zealots and the 66–70 War
3.7 The Bar Kokhba Revolt
3.8 Messianic Expectations
3.9 Conclusions
3.10 Guide to Further Reading
4 ESCHATOLOGICAL JUDAISM: THE APOCALYPTIC CURRENT
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Definition and Origins of Apocalypticism
4.3 Apocalypses and Related Literature
4.4 Ideas about Life after Death
4.4.1 Introduction
4.4.2 Resurrection of the Dead
4.4.3 The Immortality of the Soul
4.5 Expectations far the End of the World
4.6 Calculating the Endtime
4.6.1. The Age of the World
4.6.2 The Seventy-Weeks Prophecy
4.7 The Heavenly Messiah
4.8 Conclusions
4.9 Guide to Further Reading
5 INVERTED JUDAISM: THE GNOSTIC CURRENT
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Gnostic Sources
5.2.1 Nag Hammadi Codices
5.2.2 Patristic Sources
5.3 The Basic Gnostic Myth
5.4 Manichaeans
5.5 Mandaeans
5.6 Examples of Jewish and Gnostic Parallels
5.6.1 Plays on Semitic Words
5.6.2 The Myth of the Fallen Angels
5.6.3. The Garden of Eden
5.6.4. Other Parallels
5.7 Conclusions
5.8 Guide to Further Reading
6 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
CITATION INDEX
INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJECTS
A
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INDEX OF MODERN AUTHORS
B
C
D
F
G
H
J
K
L
M
N
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P
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V
W
Y

✦ Subjects

Religion, Biblical Studies, History & Culture