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

Sidnie White Crawford teaches in the areas of Hebrew Bible, Second Temple Judaism, and Hebrew language. She is an internationally recognized scholar in the areas of Dead Sea Scrolls and Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible. Her most recent book, Rewriting Scripture in Second Temple Times, explores the phenomenon of the “reuse” of books of the Hebrew Bible to produce new religious works in the Second Temple period. Her current project, a monograph entitled Scribes, Scrolls and Scripture: The Story of Qumran, will argue that Qumran was founded as a library and scribal center in competition with the Temple in Jerusalem, and that the manuscripts found in the eleven caves at Qumran are the remnants of that library.

Dr. Crawford currently serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem, the American headquarters for archaeological research in the Holy Land. She is also a member of numerous editorial boards, including Hermeneia, The Textual History of the Bible, and The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Edition. At UNL she is the Associate Director of the Harris Center for Judaic Studies and a member of the Advisory Committee for Women’s and Gender Studies.

In her free time Dr. Crawford enjoys international travel, classical music, in particular early music and opera, and watching sports, especially Husker football and women’s volleyball. She lives in Lincoln with her husband, Dr. Dan D. Crawford, and their cat, Mollie.