Rewriting Scripture in Second Temple Times

by Sidnie White Crawford

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2008

Overview

The biblical manuscripts found at Qumran, contends Sidnie White Crawford, reflect a spectrum of text movement from authoritative scriptural traditions to completely new compositions. Treating six major groups of texts, she shows how differences in the texts result from a particular understanding of the work of the scribe—not merely to copy but also to interpret, update, and make relevant the Scripture for the contemporary Jewish community of the time.

This scribal practice led to texts that were "rewritten" or "reworked" and considered no less important or accurate than the originals. Propounding a new theory of how these texts cohere as a group, Crawford offers an original and provocative work for readers interested in the Second Temple period.

Contents

Top Highlights

“a scholarly consensus now exists that in the Second Temple period there was no ‘canon’ of sacred Scripture.^{22” (Page 6)}

“(1) The work is quoted or alluded to as having special authority or scriptural status.” (Page 8)

“It is found in 1 Enoch in the Apocalypse of Weeks (1 En 93, 91), in the later Testament of Levi, and in Dan 9:24–27, almost contemporary with Jubilees.” (Page 69)

“Jubilees, Genesis Apocryphon, the Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum of Pseudo-Philo, and Josephus’s Antiquities.” (Page 10)

“The word ‘rewritten’ implies the existence of a prior (written) text, which is then revised or recast.” (Page 3)

Praise for the Print Edition

Allegro lived a fascinating life, and readers will benefit from having Brown's book available. She has provided us an important window into the early life of the field of Dead Sea Scroll studies.

—Jason Kalman, The Review of Biblical Literature

Product Details

• Title: Rewriting Scripture in Second Temple Times
• Author: Sidnie White Crawford
• Series: Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature
• Publisher: W. B. Eerdmans
• Publication Date: 2007
• Pages: 304

About Sidnie White Crawford

Judith Anne Brown is the daughter of John Marco Allegro, a freelance writer and editor, and an associate of the Plain Language Commission. Her work on John Marco Allegro also appears in Manchester and the Dead Sea Scrolls, edited by George J. Brooke. She lives in Derbyshire, England, with her husband and two children.