The Deuteronomic view of history in Second Temple Judaism

Ananda Geyser-Fouche,Young Namgung

doi:10.4102/ve.v40i1.1805

Abstract

The Babylonian Exile was a historical catalyst compelling Jewish authors of the Second Temple period to deal with their respective situations in the course of history according to – or against – various predicaments from which they suffered in an unprecedented manner. Second Temple Jews were faced with the most fundamental uneasiness: it seemed that God abandoned his people owing to their breaking of the covenant. Therefore, it was important to reconceptualise their worldview into which creation, history, and covenant could be incorporated and which could vouchsafe the ongoing relationship with God to their respective situations. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: In this article, the worldview of Second Temple Judaism is reflected on by observing how different communities in Second Temple Judaism engaged the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 31–32. This article focusses on the interpretations of this passage in Second Temple Judaism, with specific reference to selected texts from Qumran, Tobit, the Testament of Moses, Philo, Josephus and Sifre Deuteronomy. Implicated disciplines are Old Testament studies, Apocryphal studies, Dead Sea Scroll studies and New Testament studies.

Highlights

Since the Babylonian Exile, Jewish authors of the Second Temple period (515 BCE–70 CE) attempted to make sense of their respective situations in the course of history according to – or against – various predicaments from which they suffered in an unprecedented manner
Jewish authors of the Second Temple period appear to have regarded the Deuteronomic view of history in Deuteronomy 31–32 as a framework of history in their attempts to understand their respective situations
Jewish authors of the Second Temple period appear to have borne their own characteristics whenever they had the recourse to the Deuteronomic view of history in Deuteronomy 31–32

Summary

Introduction

Since the Babylonian Exile, Jewish authors of the Second Temple period (515 BCE–70 CE) attempted to make sense of their respective situations in the course of history according to – or against – various predicaments from which they suffered in an unprecedented manner. The most fundamental issue was that the Second Temple Jews believed that their God abandoned his people owing to their breaking of his covenant. In other words, they experienced feelings of despondency in their respective situations resulting from the perception that the covenant God was no longer functional and relevant.

Objectives

Conclusion