scholarly journals A Therapeutic Medium?: Crisis and History in Oracula Sibyllina 4

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 915
Author(s):  
Miguel M. Vargas

This article argues that the oracles of Oracula Sibyllina 4 interpreted and responded to specific crises facing ancient Mediterranean Jewish and pagan communities. With this in mind, it advances the idea that the text can be read as a Jewish reaction to the fall of the Jerusalem temple in 70 CE, which is a reading that recent scholarship has been hesitant to accept. Rather than read Oracula Sibyllina 4 as a reflection of the author’s pre-existing views, the present article approaches the text as a creative medium through which a new historical consciousness was crafted, one that accommodated the fall of the temple and the events surrounding its destruction. To do so, the article briefly contextualizes the text to demonstrate that crisis-mediation was an expected task of ancient Sibylline literature, then proceeds to interpret the contentious passages that have led scholars to offer alternative readings.

Author(s):  
Eyal Regev

This concluding chapter discusses two general issues that build on the previous chapters, namely, the relationship of the early Christians to Judaism and the implications of comprehending the Jerusalem Temple in the first century. Early Christian authors draw heavily on the Temple as a major Jewish institution as well as on the concepts of the Temple and the sacrificial cult. They do so while minimally discrediting the legitimacy of the Jerusalem Temple and the sacrifices, even as they propose alternatives after its destruction. Whether referring to the Temple in the standard manner or a radical one, these authors are undoubtedly aware that they are sharing this key symbol with non-Christian Jews, and this seems to be one of their hidden messages: that they share the same holy center devoted to the one and only God despite their differences and persecution by fellow Jews.


2015 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Katrine De Hemmer Gudme

Was the Yahweh temple on Mount Gerizim modelled after the temple in Jerusalem? This question is important for our understanding of the sanctuary on Mount Gerizim and the people who worshipped there; if the Gerizim temple was modelled after the Jerusalem temple the argument in favour of the Gerizim cult as derived from the cult in Jerusalem is strengthened. On the other hand, if no such connection can be demonstrated convincingly one must look elsewhere for the answer to the question of Samaritan origins.The present article gives a brief introduction to the relationship between early Judaism and early Samaritanism, or rather Southern and Northern Yahwism, followed by a presentation of Mount Gerizim and the excavations that were recently carried out there. Finally I shall turn to the theory that the temple on Mount Gerizim was modelled after the Jerusalem temple, which has recently been recast by Dr Yitzhak Magen. I conclude that the archaeological remains from the Persian period sanctuary on Mount Gerizim offer no evidence that this temple was modelled on the temple in Jerusalem.


Moreana ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (Number 205- (3-4) ◽  
pp. 17-44
Author(s):  
Gabriela Schmidt

Paratexts have attracted increasing attention in recent scholarship as an especially privileged tool for managing the reception of a text in early print culture, and Thomas More was certainly an exceptionally versatile user of this strategic publishing device. Not only does he make ample use of conventional paratextual techniques such as prefaces, marginal glosses and commendatory poems, he also takes the medium one step further by making his paratexts part of the narrative setting of his works, especially in the literary dialogues. In creating a plethora of (semi-)fictional voices and contexts, he effectively blurs the line between text and context, fact and fiction, and author and editor/printer. While this textual game of hide-and-seek has been extensively studied in Utopia and has often been seen as a typically ‘humanist’ feature of the text, the present article explores similar techniques throughout More’s work, thus overcoming the alleged rift between his pre- and post-reformation writings.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 352-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre J Jordaan

Scholars differ among each other about the importance of the Jerusalem temple in 2 Maccabees. Some see the temple as of minor importance while others are of the opinion that the temple takes centre stage in this book. This article concurs with the second view. However, it goes further by also exploring crucial temple dynamics. These temple dynamics are determined by certain pre-set criteria and centre mainly on the relationship between God and the nation. The result is that three different temple episodes can be distinguished. The positive/negative view of each temple episode is determined by this relationship between the nation and God. This opens a new way of exploring 2 Maccabees.


2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Fonfeder ◽  
Mark P. Holtzman ◽  
Eugene Maccarrone

We examine the Hebrew Talmud's account of internal controls in the ancient Jerusalem Temple (c.823 B.C.E. to 70 C.E.) This far-reaching enterprise involved an extensive system of sacrificial offerings, management of three annual pilgrimages, a court system and maintenance of a priestly class. We outline the annual process of collecting half-shekel and other donations, withdrawals from the Temple treasury and the sale of libations. The Talmud describes numerous internal controls: donations were segregated according to their specific purposes and donation chests were shaped with small openings to prevent theft. When making withdrawals from the Temple treasury, the priest-treasurer was required to wear specific clothing to prevent misappropriation of assets. The Treasury chamber itself had seven seals, requiring the presence of seven different individuals, including the king, in order to open it. The process of selling libations and meal offerings required purchasing and then redeeming different tickets, which were specifically marked to prevent fraud. In explaining the reasoning for this tight system of internal controls, the Talmud reveals that an individual “shall be guiltless before G-D and before Israel” [Numbers 32: 22], so that a sound system of internal controls prevents both theft and any suspicion of theft, thus establishing the fiscal credibility of the Temple institution in the eyes of its congregants. Such an approach indicates that accounting did not represent a profane, secular vocation at odds with the Temple's mission. To the contrary, a system of accountability formed integral steps in the Temple's ritual processes.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Hollender

AbstractBased on Ivan Marcus’s concept of “open book” and considerations on medieval Ashkenazic concepts of authorship, the present article inquires into the circumstances surrounding the production of SeferArugat ha-Bosem, a collection of piyyut commentaries written or compiled by the thirteenth-century scholar Abraham b. Azriel. Unlike all other piyyut commentators, Abraham ben Azriel inscribed his name into his commentary and claims to supersede previous commentaries, asserting authorship and authority. Based on the two different versions preserved in MS Vatican 301 and MS Merzbacher 95 (Frankfurt fol. 16), already in 1939 Ephraim E. Urbach suggested that Abraham b. Azriel might have written more than one edition of his piyyut commentaries. The present reevaluation considers recent scholarship on concepts of authorship and “open genre” as well as new research into piyyut commentary. To facilitate a comparison with Marcus’s definition of “open book,” this article also explores the arrangement and rearrangement of small blocks of texts within a work.


2008 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Shepardson

AbstractThe fourth-century Syriac writings of Aphrahat and Ephrem, and Greek homilies by the Syrian John Chrysostom, warn Christian congregants against joining Jewish festival celebrations such as Passover. In light of the respected age of Judaism's scriptures and traditions, not all of these authors' church attendees were easily convinced by supersessionist claims about Judaism's invalidity. These authors surpass earlier Christian claims that the Temple's destruction revealed God's rejection of the Jews, by arguing that Jewish scripture requires ritual sacrifices that were confined to the Jerusalem Temple. us without the Temple sacrifices, fourth-century Jewish festivals, these authors claimed, defied God's biblical commands, a declaration with sharp implications for Judaizing Christians. Demonstrating the nuances of this argument, which crossed eastern linguistic and political boundaries, contributes to complex discussions regarding these texts' audiences, highlights distinctive elements that their contexts shared, and reveals an unrecognized role that the Temple's destruction played in fourth-century anti-Judaizing discourse.


1960 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Strong ◽  
J. B. Ward-Perkins

The name and date of the little round temple in the Forum Boarium at Rome (popularly known as the ‘Temple of Vesta’) are long-standing problems of Roman topography. Its identification is still quite uncertain. On the chronology, however, general opinion seems to have hardened and, for reasons which are discussed below, most scholars appear now to believe that the building is Augustan, rejecting the attractive theory of Altmann and Delbrueck that it was erected some time in the later second century B.C. The present article is not concerned at all with the problem of identification, nor does it attempt the full and detailed study of the design and construction without which a definitive solution of the problem of dating is clearly impossible. Its purpose is twofold: to draw attention to some significant features of the architectural design and decoration, and to illustrate and discuss some surviving fragments which can be shown to belong to the lost entablture, but which seem hitherto to have escaped attention.The foundations of the temple were first exposed by Valadier in the early nineteenth century, in the course of restoration work undertaken to free the building of later accretions and to consolidate the ancient remains.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Jonathan R. Trotter

Abstract Many diaspora communities identify not only with a distant homeland but also with others distant from the homeland. How exactly do these intercommunal connections take place and contribute toward a shared identity? What specific aspects of diasporan identity are created or strengthened? What practices are involved? This study will begin to answer these questions through investigating two practices which were widespread among diaspora Jewish communities during the last two centuries of the Second Temple period (1st cent. B.C.E.–1st cent. C.E.). First, we will show how sending offerings and making pilgrimages to the Jerusalem temple from these communities enabled regular intercommunal contact. Then, we will suggest some ways in which these voluntary practices reinforced a cohesive Jewish identity and the importance of the homeland, especially the city of Jerusalem and the temple, for many diaspora Jews, whether they lived in Alexandria, Rome, Asia Minor, or Babylonia.


Author(s):  
Eyal Regev

This chapter focuses on Mark's criticism of the Temple. The Temple plays an important role in Mark 11–15. It is central in Jesus's cleansing of the Temple, the reference to the “abomination of desolation,” the purported prediction of the destruction of the Temple in Mark 13, and several additional passages—all of which leads interpreters of Mark to conclude that Mark holds a completely negative view of the Temple. Important commentators think that Mark introduces Jesus as a new Temple that substitutes for the old one. Others argue that Jesus's mission in Mark is “anti-Temple”—that the Temple “stands condemned of corruption by trade and politics,” leading to Jesus's “disqualification” of it since “the Kingdom has been dissociated from the Jerusalem Temple.” The chapter then looks at an alternative approach which views Mark as less critical of the Temple.


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