Hellenism represented the synthesis of Greek culture with the native cultures of the Near East. In a dynamic process, the ever-evolving Hellenistic culture, itself an amalgamation of the Greek and the native, became the raw material for further synthesis with other native cultures not yet under the sway of Hellenism. Indeed, it was not even […]
The Qumran corpus began in the distinctive historical experience of a sectarian group, one that emerged out of Second Temple Judaism and then withdrew to Qumran, where it accumulated a library. The sect came into being the moment the group came together as a recognizable movement with its own self-consciousness and self-definition. At that point, […]
The Dead Sea Scrolls shed light on the period between Alexander the Great’s conquest of Palestine in 332 BCE through the Great Revolt, which ended in 73 CE, with an emphasis on the period from the Maccabean Revolt (168–164 BCE) through the turn of the century. However, in order to fully comprehend the Qumran sect, […]
Excerpted from Lawrence H. Schiffman, Texts and Traditions, Ktav, Hoboken 1998, p.512. Josephus here gives his opinion about how the Pharisees came to be the dominant party in the time of the Hasmonean queen, Salome Alexandra (76-67 B.C.E.). Again we see the Pharisaic role in political affairs. (110) And now the Pharisees joined themselves to […]
Excerpted from Lawrence H. Schiffman, Texts and Traditions, Ktav, Hoboken 1998, p.267-268. Here Josephus elaborates on the three sects which he identifies amongst the Jews. We include here only the material on the Pharisees and the Sadducees, reserving his extensive discussion of the Essenes to be discussed below. In regard to the Pharisees and Sadducees, […]
Excerpted from Lawrence H. Schiffman, Texts and Traditions, Ktav, Hoboken 1998, p.156-160 and Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Apocrypha, copyright 1957 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Image courtesy of Avi Deror, Wikimedia […]
Overview Overview- Background Primary sources 1 Maccabees 1-4- The Maccabean Uprising Josephus, War I, 110-12- The Pharisees in Power Josephus, War II, 119-66- Three Philosophical Schools Secondary sources Judaism, Hellenism and Sectarianism, Lawrence H. Schiffman, Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, 1994. Hellenism as a Cultural Phenomenon, Lawrence H. Schiffman, Reclaiming the […]