Jutta Jokiranta

Changes in Research on Judaism in the Hellenistic and Early Roman Periods

This article offers an overview of what every theologian and scholar of religion should know about changes in biblical studies that have taken place concerning the past depreciation of Second Temple Judaism, the use of newly discovered sources and their implications, as well as integrative approaches to top-down (reflected beliefs, prescribed practices, textual sources) and bottom-up (intuitive beliefs, lived practices, material culture) processes. Changes in the field lead to the re-writing of the history of the Bible and of Judaean society in the Greco-Roman context. By means of this co-authored research article, we wish to demonstrate the benefit of, as well as the need for, interdisciplinary work in the study of antiquity.

The Dead Sea Scrolls in Their Hellenistic Context 1

This introduction aims at situating the contributions of the Thematic Issue into wider debates on Hellenism and Hellenisation and changes taking place in scholarship. Essentialist notions of Hellenism are strongly rejected, but how then to study the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Qumran site during the Hellenistic period? Each contextualisation depends on the (comparative) material selected, and themes here vary from literary genres, textual practices, and forms of producing knowledge, to material culture, networks, and social organizations. All contributors see some embeddedness in ideas and practices attested elsewhere in the Hellenistic empires or taking place because of changes during the Hellenistic period. In this framework, similarities are overemphasized, but some differences are also suggested. Most importantly, the question of Hellenism is a question of relocating Jewish and Judaean evidence in the study of ancient history.

Beyond the Qumran Community: The Sectarian Movement of the Dead Sea Scrolls. By John J. Collins. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009. Paperback. Pp. 278. US

Dear readers, when you are hunting the new book collection to read this day, beyond the qumran community the sectarian movement of the dead sea scrolls can be your referred book. Yeah, even many books are offered, this book can steal the reader heart so much. The content and theme of this book really will touch your heart. You can find more and more experience and knowledge how the life is undergone.

25.00. ISBN 9780802828873.

The debate on the relationship between the Rule of the Community (S) and the Damascus Document (D) can be distorted by concentrating on the differences between the documents, without a clear appreciation of the significance of their mutual correspondences. The concept of Idem identity is here adopted to demonstrate that what the movement was considered to be is at least as important to ask as who its members were considered (and considered themselves) to be (questions of their ipse identity). The movement could be perceived to be the same , persisting overtime, despite various kinds of differences. The article seeks to identify critical elements of diversity allowed within the same movement. An experiment on the Idem identity is provided by looking at the rule documents and the admission in particular. In its shared social identity, the movement seems to depict itself rather in terms of its activities such as counsel and qualifications than particular forms of communities and organizations.