This article points to a method of interpretation found only in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Paul's lett... more This article points to a method of interpretation found only in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Paul's letter to the Romans (Rom 10:6-8), and rabbinic texts. This rhetoric of scriptural interpretation, which this article refers to as midrash-pesher, splits a passage into building blocks and laces the interpretation through the citation. The lemmata and their interpretations are connected only by a pronoun. This technique has not been studied as a phenomenon that appears across these three corpora. What follows is intended to fill this lacuna, describe the midrash-pesher technique, and explain how it operates hermeneutically in its different contexts. Ultimately, this article problematizes and nuances the scholarly practice to label relevant interpretations from Qumran as well as Paul's interpretation in Rom 10:6-8 as "midrash" or "midrash-like." The Dead Sea Scrolls, Paul, and the Tannaim use the same interpretation method in different ways and for different ends.
This article proposes to rethink the genealogy and origin of the rabbinical terms Oral Torah and ... more This article proposes to rethink the genealogy and origin of the rabbinical terms Oral Torah and Written Torah. The terms appear for the first time in Tannaitic literature, yet scholars have attempted to ascribe to them an earlier date and to present them as a Second Temple, specifically Pharisaic, distinction. This article problematizes the existing genealogies and considers neglected evidence found in Paul's Letter to the Romans that advances our understanding of the Oral Torah/Written Torah distinction in the first century CE. According to my rereading of Rom 10:5-13 and 3:19-31, Paul has a notion of double-nomos within scripture, and his twofold torah is presented as oral and written. Apart from rabbinic literature, it is only in Paul that we find the use of an Oral Torah/Written Torah distinction. This evidence affects both how the history of the rabbinic terms is understood and how Paul is configured in his Jewish matrix.
Re-Imagining the Temple
An Online Workshop (University of Oxford),
March 4th 9-13 UK time
Co... more Re-Imagining the Temple An Online Workshop (University of Oxford), March 4th 9-13 UK time Co-Organized by Yael Fisch (Oxford and TAU) and Hallel Baitner (Oxford). We bring together Biblicists, Classicists, Art Historians, and Rabbinicists to think about textual and visual recasting of temple architecture. Held (online) in the Centre for the Study of the Bible in the Humanities (CBH), Oriel College, Oxford, and the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies (OCHJS). Speakers: Rina Talgam, Naphtali Meshel, Max Leventhal, Hallel Baitner and Yael Fisch. Opening Remarks: Hindy Najman. Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/re-imagining-the-temple-tickets-132806938127?fbclid=IwAR2EHRUDsQe3qUtjW6Bivo2D4w5u24c32rJ1W_3BGk-6X8VUrj4fB98IJoU
Hermeneutic Interventions Conference -
1-2 December 2019
Co-sponsored by CBH, OCHJS and the Fac... more Hermeneutic Interventions Conference - 1-2 December 2019 Co-sponsored by CBH, OCHJS and the Faculty of Theology Conference Organizers: Hindy Najman (Oriel); Daniel Weidner (ZFL); Adriana X. Jacobs (St. Cross); Yael Fisch (Oriel); Rebekah Van Sant-Clark (Oriel)
Is a common reading possible across languages, cultures, and disciplines? Under what terms may texts be compared and shared while acknowledging their differences? Revisiting Hartman and Budick’s 1986 volume Midrash and Literature, this conference will examine the continued relevance of the hermeneutical vocabulary by which we bring texts together, but also consider the possibility of new models and approaches. Bringing together scholars whose work and reading practices move between the ancient and modern, we will address the philological, compositional, and literary implications of a common reading.
This article points to a method of interpretation found only in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Paul's lett... more This article points to a method of interpretation found only in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Paul's letter to the Romans (Rom 10:6-8), and rabbinic texts. This rhetoric of scriptural interpretation, which this article refers to as midrash-pesher, splits a passage into building blocks and laces the interpretation through the citation. The lemmata and their interpretations are connected only by a pronoun. This technique has not been studied as a phenomenon that appears across these three corpora. What follows is intended to fill this lacuna, describe the midrash-pesher technique, and explain how it operates hermeneutically in its different contexts. Ultimately, this article problematizes and nuances the scholarly practice to label relevant interpretations from Qumran as well as Paul's interpretation in Rom 10:6-8 as "midrash" or "midrash-like." The Dead Sea Scrolls, Paul, and the Tannaim use the same interpretation method in different ways and for different ends.
This article proposes to rethink the genealogy and origin of the rabbinical terms Oral Torah and ... more This article proposes to rethink the genealogy and origin of the rabbinical terms Oral Torah and Written Torah. The terms appear for the first time in Tannaitic literature, yet scholars have attempted to ascribe to them an earlier date and to present them as a Second Temple, specifically Pharisaic, distinction. This article problematizes the existing genealogies and considers neglected evidence found in Paul's Letter to the Romans that advances our understanding of the Oral Torah/Written Torah distinction in the first century CE. According to my rereading of Rom 10:5-13 and 3:19-31, Paul has a notion of double-nomos within scripture, and his twofold torah is presented as oral and written. Apart from rabbinic literature, it is only in Paul that we find the use of an Oral Torah/Written Torah distinction. This evidence affects both how the history of the rabbinic terms is understood and how Paul is configured in his Jewish matrix.
Re-Imagining the Temple
An Online Workshop (University of Oxford),
March 4th 9-13 UK time
Co... more Re-Imagining the Temple An Online Workshop (University of Oxford), March 4th 9-13 UK time Co-Organized by Yael Fisch (Oxford and TAU) and Hallel Baitner (Oxford). We bring together Biblicists, Classicists, Art Historians, and Rabbinicists to think about textual and visual recasting of temple architecture. Held (online) in the Centre for the Study of the Bible in the Humanities (CBH), Oriel College, Oxford, and the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies (OCHJS). Speakers: Rina Talgam, Naphtali Meshel, Max Leventhal, Hallel Baitner and Yael Fisch. Opening Remarks: Hindy Najman. Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/re-imagining-the-temple-tickets-132806938127?fbclid=IwAR2EHRUDsQe3qUtjW6Bivo2D4w5u24c32rJ1W_3BGk-6X8VUrj4fB98IJoU
Hermeneutic Interventions Conference -
1-2 December 2019
Co-sponsored by CBH, OCHJS and the Fac... more Hermeneutic Interventions Conference - 1-2 December 2019 Co-sponsored by CBH, OCHJS and the Faculty of Theology Conference Organizers: Hindy Najman (Oriel); Daniel Weidner (ZFL); Adriana X. Jacobs (St. Cross); Yael Fisch (Oriel); Rebekah Van Sant-Clark (Oriel)
Is a common reading possible across languages, cultures, and disciplines? Under what terms may texts be compared and shared while acknowledging their differences? Revisiting Hartman and Budick’s 1986 volume Midrash and Literature, this conference will examine the continued relevance of the hermeneutical vocabulary by which we bring texts together, but also consider the possibility of new models and approaches. Bringing together scholars whose work and reading practices move between the ancient and modern, we will address the philological, compositional, and literary implications of a common reading.
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An Online Workshop (University of Oxford),
March 4th 9-13 UK time
Co-Organized by Yael Fisch (Oxford and TAU) and Hallel Baitner (Oxford). We bring together Biblicists, Classicists, Art Historians, and Rabbinicists to think about textual and visual recasting of temple architecture.
Held (online) in the Centre for the Study of the Bible in the Humanities (CBH), Oriel College, Oxford, and the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies (OCHJS).
Speakers: Rina Talgam, Naphtali Meshel, Max Leventhal, Hallel Baitner and Yael Fisch. Opening Remarks: Hindy Najman.
Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/re-imagining-the-temple-tickets-132806938127?fbclid=IwAR2EHRUDsQe3qUtjW6Bivo2D4w5u24c32rJ1W_3BGk-6X8VUrj4fB98IJoU
1-2 December 2019
Co-sponsored by CBH, OCHJS and the Faculty of Theology
Conference Organizers: Hindy Najman (Oriel); Daniel Weidner (ZFL); Adriana X. Jacobs (St. Cross); Yael Fisch (Oriel); Rebekah Van Sant-Clark (Oriel)
Is a common reading possible across languages, cultures, and disciplines? Under what terms may texts be compared and shared while acknowledging their differences? Revisiting Hartman and Budick’s 1986 volume Midrash and Literature, this conference will examine the continued relevance of the hermeneutical vocabulary by which we bring texts together, but also consider the possibility of new models and approaches. Bringing together scholars whose work and reading practices move between the ancient and modern, we will address the philological, compositional, and literary implications of a common reading.
An Online Workshop (University of Oxford),
March 4th 9-13 UK time
Co-Organized by Yael Fisch (Oxford and TAU) and Hallel Baitner (Oxford). We bring together Biblicists, Classicists, Art Historians, and Rabbinicists to think about textual and visual recasting of temple architecture.
Held (online) in the Centre for the Study of the Bible in the Humanities (CBH), Oriel College, Oxford, and the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies (OCHJS).
Speakers: Rina Talgam, Naphtali Meshel, Max Leventhal, Hallel Baitner and Yael Fisch. Opening Remarks: Hindy Najman.
Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/re-imagining-the-temple-tickets-132806938127?fbclid=IwAR2EHRUDsQe3qUtjW6Bivo2D4w5u24c32rJ1W_3BGk-6X8VUrj4fB98IJoU
1-2 December 2019
Co-sponsored by CBH, OCHJS and the Faculty of Theology
Conference Organizers: Hindy Najman (Oriel); Daniel Weidner (ZFL); Adriana X. Jacobs (St. Cross); Yael Fisch (Oriel); Rebekah Van Sant-Clark (Oriel)
Is a common reading possible across languages, cultures, and disciplines? Under what terms may texts be compared and shared while acknowledging their differences? Revisiting Hartman and Budick’s 1986 volume Midrash and Literature, this conference will examine the continued relevance of the hermeneutical vocabulary by which we bring texts together, but also consider the possibility of new models and approaches. Bringing together scholars whose work and reading practices move between the ancient and modern, we will address the philological, compositional, and literary implications of a common reading.