Judaism in the Time of Jesus (BS9500Z)

Content

This unit introduces students to the beliefs, practices, and social movements of Second Temple Judaism from around the 2nd century BCE up to the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE. Students will learn about: the historical and material contexts of different Jewish groups and individuals (e.g. bandits, prophets, and messiahs); influential sects (e.g. Pharisees and Sadducees); ancient writings (e.g. Dead Sea Scrolls and Josephus); religious rituals (e.g. sacrifice and burial); and popular ideas (e.g. heavenly journeys and end times).

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

Recommended 24 points in Field B

Pedagogy

Weekly lectures and seminar style discussion/tutorials of primary and secondary readings

Indicative Bibliography

James C. Vanderkam, An Introduction to Early Judaism, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2022).

Jodi Magness, Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011).

John J. Collins and Daniel C. Harlow (eds.), Early Judaism: A Comprehensive Overview (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012).

Joseph Sievers and Amy-Jill Levine (eds), The Pharisees (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2022).

Geza Vermes, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, 7th ed. (London: Penguin, 2012).

Richard A. Horsley and John S. Hanson, Bandits, Prophets, and Messiahs: Popular Movements at the Time of Jesus (London, T&T Clark, 1999).

Josephus (ed. Martin Goodman), The Jewish War (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017).

Joan E. Taylor, The Essenes the Scrolls and the Dead Sea (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).

Neil Faulkner, Apocalypse: The Great Jewish Revolt Against Rome AD 66-73 (Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing, 2011).

Jonathan Klawans and Laurence M. Wills (eds.), The Jewish Annotated Apocrypha (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020).

Assessment