Palestinian Judaism Research Articles

Paul and Judaism: The Jewish Matrix of Early Christianity: Issues in the Current Debate

0. Fifteen years ago, E. P. Sanders published his book Paul and Palestinian Judaism (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977) and began what might well be called a Copernican revolution in Pauline studies. One of the leading advocates of the newer knowledge has dubbed it New Perspective on Paul. The revolution, however, is not yet complete. Some of us, moreover, continue to believe that the evidence still points to a geocentric universe—at least so far as Paul's theology is concerned. In this brief paper I can hardly do justice to the subject, but I nevertheless propose to analyze the recent discussion of Paul and Judaism and also at the same time to offer some critique. 1. The fundamental point of the new perspective on Paul has to do not with Paul himself, but with the nature of first century Judaism: contrary to the widespread view held even in leading reference works, Judaism was not and is not a religion where acceptance with God is earned through the merit of righteousness based on works. In the same way that Copernicus had his predecessors, this main insight of the new perspective on Paul was adumbrated long before Sanders' book

First century Palestinian Judaism: a bibliography of works in English

First century Palestinian Judaism: a bibliography of works in English

The Text of Matthew 13. 21a and Parallels in the Syriac Tradition

Christian Orientalists have always been fascinated by the fact that the Greek text of the canonical Gospels is in some way secondary to a Semitic tradition. Indeed, even if we accept that all four Gospels were written in Greek, we must allow, somewhere in the chain of tradition from the teaching of Jesus to the Gospel-writers, for a transition from Aramaic to Greek. Consequently, a fruitful exegetical approach to the Gospel text has been the attempt to go beyond the Greek text-form to the more original Aramaic wording and to understand this wording in its proper setting in Palestinian Judaism of the 1st century AD. Several methods have been applied within this approach. G. Dalman championed the retroversion of significant New Testament terms into Palestinian Jewish Aramaic (and Hebrew), and investigated the use of the retroverted terms in Jewish texts of the first centuries. J. Wellhausen, and others, searched for anomalies in the Greek Gospel-text which might be explained as mistaken translations of Aramaic expressions. The history of research on this question up to 1946 is discussed and evaluated by M. Black in his Aramaic Approach to the Gospels.

Pharisaic Dominance Before 70 CE and the Gospels' Hypocrisy Charge (Matt 23:2–3)

The following study treats two distinct but related questions. First, were the Pharisees the dominant party in Palestinian Judaism before the destruction of the temple? And second, did Jesus of Nazareth engage in controversy with them? Many scholars today would answer one or both of these questions negatively. My thesis, however, is that both should be answered affirmatively and, further, that it was precisely the status of the Pharisees as the dominant party that makes intelligible Jesus' charge of hypocrisy.

Did Paul Advocate Separation from the Synagogue? A Reaction to Francis Watson: Paul, Judaism and the Gentiles: A Sociological Approach

A Major watershed in the interpretation of Paul is generally acknowledged as having emerged with the publication of E. P. Sanders' Paul and Palestinian Judaism (SCM, 1977). His attack on the misrepresentation of Judaism contained in much of this century's scholarship (particularly the Lutheran) has received widespread support. Scholars are now beginning to produce Pauline studies in the post-Sanders mould. H. Räisänen is one such, and the present study by Francis Watson, Paul, Judaism and the Gentiles: A Sociological Approach (CUP, 1986), follows in like vein. Sanders' thesis is essentially that Paul opposes Judaism not because of any inherent errors such as ‘self-righteousness’ or ‘legalism’, but simply because it is not Christianity. Watson's study attempts to give a historical and sociological grounding for this viewpoint (p. 67).

Die gesprek tussen AB du Toit en EP Sanders oor Paulus en die Palestynse Judaisme: Die pad vorentoe

The debate between AB du Toit and EP Sanders on Paul and Palestinian Judaism: The road ahead The aim of the article is to analyse the underlying structure of the critical reaction of AB du Toit against EP Sanders’s Pauline interpretation. It is shown that Du Toit’s criticism of Sanders rests on his identification of Paul’s opponents and their theology in Romans 4. This is questioned because of the dubious grounds on which his argument rests: the antithesis which is interpreted as polemical and the use of mirror reading. Secondly the underlying structures of their arguments are analysed. From this it becomes clear that there are hermeneutical and methodological differences between them which prevents Du Toit to do justice to Sanders’s interpretation. Lastly it is suggested that a movement away from a strictly ‘theological approach ’ to one which also takes the social context seriously, may be of much help in understanding what the historical Paul was saying.

Gesetzesgerechtigkeit und Glaubensgerechtigkeit in Rom 4:13—25: In Gesprach mit E P Sanders

Righteousness through the law and rightousness through faith in Rm 4:13—25: A reaction to EP Sanders In his book Paul and Palestinian Judaism EP Sanders has presented us with a most stimulating approach. His main thesis that traditional New Testament research has misunderstood Paul as well as first century Palestinian Judaism, received positive comment from many quarters. According to Sanders first century Judaism should be understood within a context of gratuity rather than as a religion of works. A survey of Rm 4:13-25 shows, however, that at least Paul viewed righteousness through the law as an entrance requirement in Judaism. As far as the Jewish sources are concerned a preliminary investigation indicates that Sanders' usage and interpretation of these sources are questionable. It seems highly probable that Sanders has misinterpreted Palestinian Judaism and for that reason also Paul's criticism of it.

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: Ezekiel 2: A Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, Chapters 25–48. By Walther Zimmerli. The Prophets, Vol. II: The Babylonian and Persian Periods. By Klaus Koch. Intertestamental Literature by Martin McNamara. Palestinian Judaism and the New Testament by Martin McNamara. Jesus and the World of Judaism. By Geza Vermes. The Rediscovery of Jesus's Eschatological Discourse. By David Wenham. Sexism and God Talk: Towards a Feminist Theology. By Rosemary Ruether. In Memory of Her: A Feminíst Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins. By Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza. Equal Woman: A Christian Feminist Perspective. By Myrtle Langley. Sexual Desire and Love, Origins and History of the Christian Ethic of Sexuality and Marriage. By Eric Fuchs. What Are They Saying about Peace and War? By Thomas A. Shannon. The Dangers of Deterrence: Philosophers on Nuclear Strategy Edited by Nigel Blake and K. Pole. The Cross and the Bomb: Christian Ethics and the Nuclear Debate. Edited by Francis Bridger. Foundations of Ethics. Edited by Leroy S. Rouner. Freud and Human Nature. By Ilham Dilman. What is a Law of Nature By D.M. Armstrong. Bentham. By Ross Harrison. Locke. By John Dunn. Leibniz. By G. Macdonald Ross. Berkeley. By J.O. Urmson. Kant. By Roger Scruton. Marx's Social Critique of Culture. By Louis Dupré. The Hermeneutical Theory of Paul Ricoeur: A Constructive Analysis. By David E. Klemm. Science, Folklore and Ideology: Studies in the Life Sciences in Ancient Greece. By G.E.R. Lloyd. Averroes' Middle Commentaries on Aristotle's ‘Categories’ and ‘De Interpretatione’. Translated, with Notes and Introductions, by Charles E. Butterworth. Miracle in the Early Christian World: A Study in Sociohistorical Method. By Howard Clark Kee. Pagan‐Christian Conflict over Miracle in the 2nd Century. By Harold Remus. Frame of the Universe: A History of Physical Cosmology. By Frank Durham and Robert D. Purrington. The Changing of the Gods. By Frank E. Manuel. English Romanticism: The Grounds of Belief. By John Clubbe and Ernest J. Lovell, Jr. A Short History of the Catholic Church. By J. Derek Holmes and Bernard W, Bickers. The Life and Writings of the Historical Saint Patrick. By R.P.C. Hanson. Rupert of Deutz. By John H. Van Engen. Thomas More. By Anthony Kenny. Luther in Mid‐Career 1521–30. By Heinrich Bornkamm. The Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in the 16th & 17th Century. By Carlo Ginzburg. Piety and Politics: Religion and the Rise of Absolutism in England, Württemberg, and Prussia. By Mary Fulbrook. Doctor Russell of Maynooth. By Ambrose Macaulay. Paul Cardinal Cullen and the Shape of Modern Irish Catholicism. By Desmond Bowen. The 1980 Synod of Bishops ‘On the Role of the Family’. By Jan Grootaers and Joseph Selling. The Godly Order: Texts and Studies relating to the Book of Common Prayer. By Geoffrey Cuming.

Agrippa I and Palestinian Judaism in the first century

A number of scholars have argued that Agrippa I, upo? becoming king of Judea, aligned himself with, or at least followed the practices of, the Pharisees. While by no means the unanimous opinion of modern scholarship, this assertion has found its way into almost all recent reference work.1 The religious orientation of Agrippa is significant not just for the biography of the king. It is relevant to issues in the history of first-century Judaism. Affiliation with the Pharisees on the part of a popular ruler would support the widely-held view that the former were an extremely influential group and/or that Pharisaism was the dominant form of Palestinian Judaism. A shrewd politician like Agrippa would be unlikely to adopt religious practices rejected by the majority of his Jewish subjects or to align himself with a peripheral faction lacking broad appeal. While such a posture is not impossible ? especially if Agrippa's motivation was genuine conviction rather than political pragmatism ? a Pharisaic orientation that involved "swimming against the stream" would presumably be reflected in the popular standing of the king,or at least in the sources concerning him. So if we were able to prove that Agrippa followed the Pharisees we would have a strong argument for the dominant position of the Pharisaic party.2 But if, as I hope to show, the Judaism of Agrippa was not Pharisaic in character our understanding of the religion of first-century Judea will be different. I shall argue that the practices of Agrippa in fact reflect the common form of first-century Judaism, but that the common form was not Pharisaic. I shall return to these issues below; first we must examine the available evidence concerning the Judaism of Agrippa. I begin with the testimony of Josephus and then I shall discuss the evidence of rabbinic literature. An appendix follows my conclusions in which I argue that a well known source about "Yannai the King" actually refers to Agrippa I.

The Suffering Servant between the Testaments

Traditionally Christians have interpreted Isaiah 52. 13–53. 12 as a prophecy of the passion of Christ,1but modern biblical scholars have disagreed about how this identification of the suffering servant with Jesus arose. In particular, those who have investigated the question of whether Jesus saw himself as occupying the role of the servant have reached conflicting conclusions.2In the background of this discussion is another contentious issue, namely, whether a messianic interpretation of the suffering servant had already been adopted in pre-Christian Judaism. Representative of a negative response to this question is H. H. Rowley, who writes: ‘There is no serious evidence … of the bringing together of the concepts of the suffering servant and the Davidic Messiah before the Christian era.’3A much more positive assessment is given by Jeremias, who has championed the view that the first and fourth servant songs were consistently interpreted messianically in Palestinian Judaism, and that it is highly probable that a messianic interpretation of the sufferings of the servant was associated with this.4

Galatians 2.16 and Paul's Break with Judaism

In his Manson Memorial Lecture for 19821 James Dunn credits E. P. Sanders2 with ‘breaking the mould of Pauline studies’ and giving us ‘what amounts to a new perspective on Paul’, not least by showing that the traditional Christian picture of Judaism is ‘fundamentally mistaken’.3 Dunn agrees with Sanders' characterization of ancient Palestinian Judaism as ‘covenantal nomism’, in the framework of which ‘Israel's covenant relation with God was basic’.

The Alexandrian Epistle of Jude

The hypothesis of Jude's Alexandrian origin, which was set forth by Ernst Th. Mayerhoff in 1835 and has been supported by D. Schenkel, W. J. Mangold, H. Holtzmann, O. Pfleiderer and James Moffatt, deserves to be revived.Its associations with Syria and Palestine are superficial. Although theApostolic Constitutions(Apost. Canon 85) canonizes all of the Catholic Epistles, it was not until the early sixth century that Philoxenus brought Jude into the Syriac canon. Eusebius (hist.eccl.ii,23.25; iii,25.3) placed it among the disputed writings. J. N. D. Kelly deems it unlikely that the readers ‘were converts from Palestinian Judaism, for the Gnostic libertinism attacked cannot have had much attraction for people brought up to reverence the Law’. There is no evidence that libertine Gnostics ever were a problem anywhere in Syria either. There is no point of contact between Jude and either the Judas Thomas apocrypha or Ignatius or the Docetic and Judaizing errors he opposed at home or on the road. Hans Windisch remarked that the suppression of the blood relationship of Judas with Jesus bespeaks the non-Palestinian origin of the letter. The readers of the epistle did respect both Judas and James, who represented Palestinian dynastic Christianity. But such esteem did not prevail at Antioch (Acts 15.1; Gal. 2. 12) or where Matthew (12. 46–50) and Mark (3. 31–35), with their bias against the Lord's brothers, were written. The Synoptic Gospels did not influence Jude. The remoteness of Rome and the West from Judaean Christianity argues against any association with our epistle. Neither 1 Clement nor the Shepherd of Hermas reveals an awareness of the problems with which Jude deals. The epistle has nothing in common with Revelation or Asian millenarianism; Papias did not even include Judas in his list of disciples. Justin's ignorance of Jude tends to forbid its connection with Ephesus or Rome.

Book Review: Palestinian Judaism and the New Testament

Book Review: Palestinian Judaism and the New Testament

Archaeology, the Rabbis, and Early Christianity: The Social and Historical Setting of Palestinian Judaism and Christianity. Eric M. Meyers and James F. Strange.

<i>Archaeology, the Rabbis, and Early Christianity: The Social and Historical Setting of Palestinian Judaism and Christianity</i>. Eric M. Meyers and James F. Strange.

Paul and Palestinian Judaism. A Comparison of Patterns of ReligionSandersE.P. Paul and Palestinian Judaism. A Comparison of Patterns of Religion SCM PressLondon, 1977, xviii, 627, £15.00

Paul and Palestinian Judaism. A Comparison of Patterns of ReligionSandersE.P. <i>Paul and Palestinian Judaism. A Comparison of Patterns of Religion</i> SCM PressLondon, 1977, xviii, 627, £15.00

Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion

Book Review| June 01 1979 Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion, E. P. Sanders. Anthony J. Saldarini Anthony J. Saldarini Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Journal of Biblical Literature (1979) 98 (2): 299–303. https://doi.org/10.2307/3265525 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Anthony J. Saldarini; Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion. Journal of Biblical Literature 1 June 1979; 98 (2): 299–303. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3265525 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveSBL PressJournal of Biblical Literature Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Copyright 1979 Society of Biblical Literature1979 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Comparing JudaismsPaul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion. E. P. Sanders

Previous articleNext article No AccessReview ArticleComparing Judaisms Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion. E. P. Sanders Jacob NeusnerJacob Neusner Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by History of Religions Volume 18, Number 2Nov., 1978 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/462813 Views: 7Total views on this site Citations: 5Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1978 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article: 김정훈 A Critical Study on the Fundamental Frame of the New Perspective on Paul, and of Its Understanding of ‘Justification’ and Believer’s ‘Deeds’, Korea Reformed Theology 52, no.nullnull (Nov 2016): 88–147.https://doi.org/10.34271/krts.2016.52..88Terence L. Donaldson “Gentile Christianity” as a Category in the Study of Christian Origins, Harvard Theological Review 106, no.0404 (Oct 2013): 433–458.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0017816013000230S. J. Michael Barnes Theology and the Dialogue of Religions, 1.2 (Dec 2009).https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511613425Beverly Roberts Gaventa Comparing Paul and Judaism: Rethinking Our Methods, Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture 10, no.11 (Jul 2016): 37–44.https://doi.org/10.1177/014610798001000106 Jacob Neusner Map without Territory: Mishnah's System of Sacrifice and Sanctuary, History of Religions 19, no.22 (Oct 2015): 103–127.https://doi.org/10.1086/462839

Book Review: I. Biblical Studies: Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion

Book Review: I. Biblical Studies: Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion

Book Review: Paul and Palestinian Judaism

Book Review: Paul and Palestinian Judaism

Book Review: Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion

Book Review: Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion