BIBS 218 / 318 JUDAISM IN THE TIME OF JESUS

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1 BIBS 218 / 318 JUDAISM IN THE TIME OF JESUS Semester Intensive: Monday February 22nd to Friday February 26th. Lecturer: Revd Dr James Harding james.harding@otago.ac.nz Welcome to this paper on Judaism in the Time of Jesus. We will be looking at the history, beliefs, practices, and literature of Judaism in the late Second Temple period, both in Palestine and in the Diaspora. The idea is to trace the development of the traditions we find in the Hebrew Bible up to and beyond the time of Jesus, and to explore the Jewish background to the New Testament and Rabbinic Literature. What did it mean to identify as a Jew in the Second Temple period? What was the history of Judaism during this period, and what sources do we have that can help us to reconstruct it? How should we read and interpret these sources? How did Jews at this time live, and what did they believe? What sorts of literature did Jewish authors write, and who exactly were they? How and why did rabbinic Judaism emerge, and what sort of literature has been attributed to the rabbis? How, when, and why did Judaism and Christianity split? In asking these questions, we will be trying to fill in the gaps in our knowledge that will enable us to read between the lines of the later books of the Hebrew Bible and the books of the New Testament, so that our understanding will be closer to that of a Jewish contemporary of Jesus and His disciples. Ideally, this paper will build on what you have already studied in BIBS112 Interpreting the Old Testament and/or BIBS121 Interpreting the New Testament, but you do not need to have done these papers to benefit from this one. DEPARTMENT OF THEOLOGY & RELIGION University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand

2 At the end of this paper, all students will have: LEARNING OBJECTIVES a solid outline of the history of the Second Temple period a clear understanding of the practices and beliefs of the majority of Jews in the Second Temple period, and of the institutions that bound them together a clear grasp of the evidence for sects in the Judaism of the late Second Temple period an understanding of how the Hebrew Bible emerged during the Second Temple period, and of the range of texts that circulated around it in the Second Temple period an understanding of how rabbinic Judaism and Christianity emerged out of Second Temple Judaism At the end of this paper, students at 200 level will have: completed an essay on one key idea, practice, or institution of the Second Temple period summarized three readings from the textual evidence for the Second Temple period, including at least one ancient text, and at least one modern scholarly source At the end of this paper, students at 300 level will have: responded critically in an assignment to Eva Mroczek s recent work on the problem of the hegemony of the Bible in the study of Second Temple Judaism summarized three readings from the textual evidence for the Second Temple period, including at least one ancient text, and at least one modern scholarly source (of greater difficulty than the readings assigned for the equivalent 200-level assignment) TEACHING This paper will be taught as an Intensive at St John s Theological College, St Johns Road, Meadowbank, Auckland, between Monday February 22, 2016 and Friday February 26, 2016 (inclusive). All distance students are required to attend this Intensive, as there will be no subsequent videoconferences. On-campus students will be taught separately through weekly lectures during Semester 1, Students are required to provide their own lunch. Tea and coffee will be provided. Parking is available on site. ESSENTIAL RESOURCES The Course Book and this accompanying Course Outline, which can be found on Blackboard, to which you must have access. 2

3 You also need to have a Bible, preferably a copy of The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha (ed. M. D. Coogan, M. Z. Brettler, C. A. Newsom, and P. Perkins;; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), which contains all relevant biblical texts for this paper, with introductions and notes. The following essential textbook, which you can buy from the University Bookshop in Dunedin: Shaye J. D. Cohen, From the Maccabees to the Mishnah (3rd ed.;; Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2014). You must have your own copy of this, because the course book is predominantly a comprehension guide to the material covered in the textbook. UBS will send it to you if you live outside Dunedin. The supplementary readings, which may be accessed through ereserve, a library database to which you will be linked through Blackboard The material contained in the Theology & Religion Student Resources and Information page of the departmental website: You must use these resources to prepare your assignments. Please note that your assignments will not be regarded as having been submitted unless and until a plagiarism declaration has been attached. INTENSIVE COURSE Attendance at the one-week Intensive in Auckland from February 22-26, 2016 is compulsory for distance students. The Intensive will follow the following schedule. SESSION STUDY UNITS PREPARATION AND FOLLOW- UP Monday What do we mean by Judaism in the Time of Jesus? Coursebook: Module 1 Textbook: Cohen : 1-18 Tuesday Jews and Gentiles in the Second Temple period Coursebook: Module 2 Textbook: Cohen : Tuesday Judaism: Practice and Belief Coursebook: Module 3 Textbook: Cohen : Wednesday The Jewish Community and its Institutions Coursebook: Module 4 Textbook: Cohen :

4 Wednesday Sectarian and Normative Judaism(s) Coursebook: Module 5 Textbook: Cohen : Thursday Thursday The Canonization of Scripture and its Implications 7. The Emergence of Rabbinic Judaism Coursebook: Module 6 Textbook: Cohen : Coursebook: Module 7 Textbook: Cohen : Friday The Evidence for a Parting of the Ways between Jews and Christians Coursebook: Module 8 Textbook: Cohen : TEXTBOOK You must have access during this paper to the required textbook, Shaye J. D. Cohen, From the Maccabees to the Mishnah (3rd ed.;; Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2014). This book can be obtained, either in person or by post, from: University Book Shop Tel.: Great King Street Fax: Dunedin North ubs@unibooks.co.nz Web: BLACKBOARD Blackboard will be used to upload essential course documents and powerpoint files from the lectures (the powerpoints must not be cited in assignments). You will also have access to extra readings through ereserve, to which you will be linked via Blackboard. You will also need to upload your assignments electronically via Blackboard. ASSESSMENT There will be three pieces of assessment for this paper, as follows: an essay (worth 20%) a summary of three key readings (worth 20%) a final examination (worth 60%) 4

5 The difference between 200 and 300 level assignments will be indicated by the difficulty of the readings and essay topics set. Essential information for the preparation of assignments can be found online on the departmental website: Please note that when you submit your assignments, you will be deemed to have read and understood the information on the Student Resources page, and you must be compliant with it. Assignments submitted without a plagiarism declaration will not be marked unless and until such a declaration is submitted. The assignments are designed to be challenging, and you must plan your preparation time so that you can do your research and writing adequately. You will not be able to produce an adequate piece of work at the last minute, so organize your time accordingly: this is your responsibility. Note that unless you are able to produce a medical certificate in support of your case, extensions will not be granted, and a 5% penalty applies for each working day your assignment is late. BIBS218 Assignment 1 This assignment requires you to offer a summary of the evidence for one key idea, practice, or institution in the Jewish literature of the late Second Temple period. Pick one of the following ideas, practices, and institutions and survey the evidence for it in the extant literature (including both inscriptions and the New Testament, where relevant) of Judaism from ca. 323 BCE to 70 CE (i.e., from the death of Alexander to the destruction of the Second Temple, but extending to Josephus). Rather than trying to synthesize all the evidence into a single, coherent system, you should pay close attention to the distinctive views on each that the various different Jewish texts from the period attest. Use Cohen to begin with, but you must make use of the primary and secondary sources he cites to the fullest extent possible within the stated word limit. 1. Marriage 2. Resurrection (and immortality in general) 3. Wisdom 4. Messianism 5. Theodicy 6. High priesthood 7. Synagogue 8. Scripture Word limit: 1500 words Value: 20% of final mark Due date: Friday April 22,

6 Assignment 2 This assignment requires you to summarize three readings. For this assignment, you do not need references and bibliography: you just need to summarize the reading, and briefly explain how the text helps us to understand the history, practices, beliefs, and literature of Judaism in the late Second Temple period. You do, however, need to be able to show that you have read your chosen reading(s) from list A, and any relevant primary sources to which your chosen reading(s) from list B refers. You need to choose at least one primary source (from list A) and at least one secondary source (from list B), and one more source (from either list A or list B). You should write a 500 word summary of each. Word limit: 1500 words Value: 20% of final mark Due date: Friday May 20, 2016 List A 1. 1 Maccabees 2. 2 Maccabees 3. Jubilees 4. Pesher Habakkuk 5. 1 Enoch 6-16 List B 1. Jonathan Klawans, Impurity and Sin in Ancient Judaism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), Sidnie White Crawford, Rewriting Scripture in Second Temple Times (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2008), Timothy H. Lim, The Formation of the Jewish Canon (Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library;; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013), , BIBS318 Assignment 1 This assignment requires you to engage critically with a particular scholarly position, with thorough reference to the relevant primary sources. Use Cohen, the readings in the study guide, and the footnotes in Mroczek s article to trace additional primary and secondary sources. Word limit: 1500 words Value: 20% of final mark Due date: Friday April 22,

7 Critically discuss Eva Mroczek s claim that: [A]s much as Second Temple Judaism is central for the study of the Bible, it does not follow that the Bible must be central for the study of Second Temple Judaism (2015: 2). Assignment 2 This assignment requires you to summarize three readings. For this assignment, you do not need references and bibliography: you just need to summarize the reading, and briefly explain how the text helps us to understand the history, practices, beliefs, and literature of Judaism in the late Second Temple period. You do, however, need to be able to show that you have read your chosen reading(s) from list A, and any relevant primary sources to which your chosen reading(s) from list B refers. You need to choose at least one primary source (from list A) and at least one secondary source (from list B), and one more source (from either list A or list B). You should write a 500 word summary of each. Word limit: 1500 words Value: 20% of final mark Due date: Friday May 20, 2016 List A 1. Philo, In Flaccum 2. Philo, Legatio ad Gaium 3. Damascus Document 4. Josephus, Contra Apionem 5. 1 Enoch List B 1. Peter Schäfer, Judeophobia: Attitudes towards Jews in the Ancient World (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997), Daniel Boyarin, Border Lines: The Partition of Judaeo-Christianity (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004), , John J. Collins, Introduction: Towards the Morphology of a Genre. Semeia 14 (1979): William Horbury, The Benediction of the Minim and Early Jewish-Christian Controversy, Journal of Theological Studies n.s. 33 (1982): Final examination There will be a final examination for BIBS218 and BIBS318, which will be worth 60% of the final mark. Details of where you will sit the examination will be available through e:vision. 7

8 REFERENCING SYSTEM For writing essays, the Department requires that you use the 16th edition of the Chicago Style Guide, which is the norm for many academic journals in the humanities and often recommended for theses in the humanities. The Department has prepared a Study and Style Guide, which outlines the Chicago Style and offers other advice on essay presentation. You may find it via the Department s web site: SUBMITTING WRITTEN WORK All assignments shall be submitted electronically via the Assignment feature on Blackboard by midnight on the due dates notified. Please do not submit paper copies. For full instructions about how to submit assignments electronically via Blackboard as well as other important information on plagiarism, grading, and deadlines, please see the 'Essential Information' web page. PLAGIARISM All Assignments submitted in the Department of Theology and Religion must be prefaced with a student Plagiarism Declaration Form. It can be downloaded from It is also on the Blackboard site for this course. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY Academic integrity means being honest in your studying and assessments. It is the basis for ethical decision-making and behaviour in an academic context. Academic integrity is informed by the values of honesty, trust, responsibility, fairness, respect and courage. Students are expected to be aware of, and act in accordance with, the University s Academic Integrity Policy. Academic Misconduct, such as plagiarism or cheating, is a breach of Academic Integrity and is taken very seriously by the University. Types of misconduct include plagiarism, copying, unauthorised collaboration, taking unauthorised material into a test or exam, impersonation, and assisting someone else s misconduct. A more extensive list of the types of academic misconduct and associated processes and penalties is available in the University s Student Academic Misconduct Procedures. It is your responsibility to be aware of and use acceptable academic practices when completing your assessments. To access the information in the Academic Integrity Policy and learn more, please visit the University s Academic Integrity website at or ask at the Student Learning Centre or Library. If you have any questions, ask your lecturer. 8

9 STUDENT SUPPORT The Essential Information' web page provides helpful information on how to access the University Library s resources, as well as a guide to the support services available to students at the University of Otago, including the Student Learning Centre and Disability Support. For all administrative enquiries, please contact: The Administrative Assistant for Theology and Religion. theology@otago.ac.nz Phone: For all questions and issues regarding distance learning, please contact: Katherine Rae, Administrative Assistant for Theology and Religion. katherine.rae@otago.ac.nz Phone: We recommend that you contact the Department as soon as possible if you have any problems participating in the course or accessing resources. Please remember to check your University account regularly for updates and announcements. 9