An Introduction to Early Judaism

by James C. VanderKam

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2001

Overview

Based on modern archaeological research, this illustrated volume explores the history of Judaism during the Second Temple period (516 BC–AD 70), describing the body of Jewish literature written during these centuries and the most important groups, institutions, and practices of the time. Particularly interesting are VanderKam’s depiction of events associated with Masada and the Kokhba revolt, and his commentary on texts unearthed in places like Elephantine, Egypt, and Qumran.

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Contents

Top Highlights

“The age after Alexander is known as the Hellenistic period, a time when aspects of Greek culture and knowledge of the Greek language became widespread and dominant. The new cultural and political reality left a heavy imprint on Jewish history for the next several centuries.” (Page 11)

“However the translation may have come about, the Torah appears to be the first scriptural text of any religion to be translated into another language. The work of the translators not only gave to the Jews of the Hellenistic world who lived outside of Judea access to their scriptures (something that they no longer had because Hebrew was not their native language), but also made those scriptures available to a wider audience. The translation begun in the early Hellenistic period became known as the Septuagint which means ‘seventy,’ after the seventy(-two) translators who are supposed to have done the work. This Greek Bible, in various forms, became the scriptures of Hellenistic Judaism and later of the early Christian church.” (Page 14)

“The book of Ezra relates that the temple was completed, with royal permission and support, on the third of the month Adar (the twelfth month) in the sixth year of King Darius (516/15 bce; Ezra 6:15), thus inaugurating the era known as the second temple period.” (Page 3)

“With Nehemiah the curtain closes on the historical stage in Judah, at least for all practical purposes. Very little information has come down to us regarding events between his time and the rise of the Maccabees in the 160s bce. About the only data that have survived come from the pen of the Jewish historian Josephus in his work Antiquities of the Jews (see the section on Josephus in Chapter 2).” (Page 6)

Product Details

• Title: An Introduction to Early Judaism
• Author: James C. VanderKam
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Publication Date: 2000
• Pages: 246
• Resource Type: Introductions
• Topic: Bible Backgrounds

About James C. VanderKam

James C. VanderKam is John A. O’Brien Professor of Hebrew Scriptures at the University of Notre Dame. He has edited twelve volumes in the series Discoveries in the Judaean Desert and is a member of the editorial committee for the remaining unpublished Dead Sea scrolls. He is one of the two editors in chief of the Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls (2000) and author of the prize-winning The Dead Sea Scrolls Today (1994), From Revelation to Canon: Studies in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Literature (2000), An Introduction to Early Judaism (2001), The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls (2002), and From Joshua to Caiaphas: High Priests after the Exile (Fortress Press, 2004). Prof. VanderKam is the editor of the Journal of Biblical Literature.