| Creating Judaism: History, Tradition, Practice Michael L. Satlow |
Discussion Questions:
1. What is the "Second Temple period"? Do you think that this is a useful designation of the
period, or not? What are alternative ways to label this period?
2. What languages did Jews use during this time? Did they use different languages for different
purposes?
3. Were there any Jews in antiquity who in any meaningful way resisted Hellenism? What does it
mean to talk of the "hellenization of the Jews"?
4. What role did the Bible play for Jews during this time?
5. What did it mean to be a "Jew"?
6. Do you think that the division of modern Jewish movements is similar to ancient Jewish
sectarianism?
Resources
There are several good introductions to this historical period. Shaye J. D. Cohen, From the
Maccabees to the Mishnah (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1987); James C. VanderKam, An
Introduction to Early Judaism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001); John J. Collins, Between Athens
and Jerusalem: Jewish Identity in the Hellenistic Diaspora (New York: Crossroad, 1983); Elias
Joseph Bickerman, The Jews in the Greek Age (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988);
Martin Jaffee, Early Judaism (reprint at University Press of Maryland, 2005); and Erich. S. Gruen,
Diaspora: Jews Amidst Greeks and Romans (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002). Gruen
also surveys Jewish life outside the Land of Israel during the Greco-Roman period in his essay
“Hellenistic Judaism” in Biale, Cultures of the Jews, pp. 77–132.
The texts discussed in this chapter are all available in good English translations. Haggai, Zechariah,
Daniel, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah are all books from the Hebrew Bible. Any edition
of the Apocrypha or the “Old Testament Apocrypha” (found separately or as part of a Catholic
Bible) contains the books of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) and 1 and 2 Maccabees. Pseudepigraphical
books, such as the books of Enoch, along with the fragments of other Jewish writings in Greek (e.
g., Aristobulus, Ezekiel the Tragedian, Letter of Aristeas, 4 Maccabees), can be found in James
Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 2 vols. (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday,
1983–1985). The most readable translations of Philo and Josephus can be found in the
appropriate editions of the Loeb Classical Library, published by Harvard University Press. There
are many translations of the Dead Sea scrolls—that of Geza Vermes, The Complete Dead Sea
Scrolls in English (New York: Penguin, 1998), is probably best for popular reading.
A blog that does a good job keeping up with modern news stories relating to this period is
Paleojudaica.
Multimedia Resources
1. What is the "Second Temple period"? Do you think that this is a useful designation of the
period, or not? What are alternative ways to label this period?
2. What languages did Jews use during this time? Did they use different languages for different
purposes?
3. Were there any Jews in antiquity who in any meaningful way resisted Hellenism? What does it
mean to talk of the "hellenization of the Jews"?
4. What role did the Bible play for Jews during this time?
5. What did it mean to be a "Jew"?
6. Do you think that the division of modern Jewish movements is similar to ancient Jewish
sectarianism?
Resources
There are several good introductions to this historical period. Shaye J. D. Cohen, From the
Maccabees to the Mishnah (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1987); James C. VanderKam, An
Introduction to Early Judaism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001); John J. Collins, Between Athens
and Jerusalem: Jewish Identity in the Hellenistic Diaspora (New York: Crossroad, 1983); Elias
Joseph Bickerman, The Jews in the Greek Age (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988);
Martin Jaffee, Early Judaism (reprint at University Press of Maryland, 2005); and Erich. S. Gruen,
Diaspora: Jews Amidst Greeks and Romans (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002). Gruen
also surveys Jewish life outside the Land of Israel during the Greco-Roman period in his essay
“Hellenistic Judaism” in Biale, Cultures of the Jews, pp. 77–132.
The texts discussed in this chapter are all available in good English translations. Haggai, Zechariah,
Daniel, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah are all books from the Hebrew Bible. Any edition
of the Apocrypha or the “Old Testament Apocrypha” (found separately or as part of a Catholic
Bible) contains the books of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) and 1 and 2 Maccabees. Pseudepigraphical
books, such as the books of Enoch, along with the fragments of other Jewish writings in Greek (e.
g., Aristobulus, Ezekiel the Tragedian, Letter of Aristeas, 4 Maccabees), can be found in James
Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 2 vols. (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday,
1983–1985). The most readable translations of Philo and Josephus can be found in the
appropriate editions of the Loeb Classical Library, published by Harvard University Press. There
are many translations of the Dead Sea scrolls—that of Geza Vermes, The Complete Dead Sea
Scrolls in English (New York: Penguin, 1998), is probably best for popular reading.
A blog that does a good job keeping up with modern news stories relating to this period is
Paleojudaica.
Multimedia Resources
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"Between Athens and Jerusalem" |
| Copyright Michael L. Satlow 2007 All rights reserved Comments? Suggestion? Contact the author! |
Stepped pool near the Temple Mount
in Jerusalem that may have served
as a mikveh, a pool in which one
might ritually pruify before entering
the Temple.
in Jerusalem that may have served
as a mikveh, a pool in which one
might ritually pruify before entering
the Temple.
A view of the Dome of the Rock
standing on the Jewish Temple
Mount and the medieval walls of the
Old City of Jerusalem.
standing on the Jewish Temple
Mount and the medieval walls of the
Old City of Jerusalem.
An ossuary currently located in the
Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem.
Some Jews during the Second Temple
period would have their bones (after
decomposition) gathered and
deposited in a container like this.
Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem.
Some Jews during the Second Temple
period would have their bones (after
decomposition) gathered and
deposited in a container like this.
A model of the Second Temple in the
Herodian period.
Herodian period.
The outcropping that contains the
caves in which most of the Dead Sea
scrolls were found. Picture taken
across the valley in the settlement of
Qumran.
caves in which most of the Dead Sea
scrolls were found. Picture taken
across the valley in the settlement of
Qumran.