Interpretive Methods of the Second Temple Period As partial requirement for my Ph.D. in Biblical Studies I created a short paper illustrating how NT authors in their writing of Scripture used Second Temple interpretive methods. They were... more
Interpretive Methods of the Second Temple Period As partial requirement for my Ph.D. in Biblical Studies I created a short paper illustrating how NT authors in their writing of Scripture used Second Temple interpretive methods. They were men of their time. Richard Longenecker, Distinguished Professor of New Testament at McMaster University captured the import of this when he said, It is hardly surprising to find that the exegesis of the New Testament is heavily dependent on Jewish procedural precedents. Theoretically, one would expect a divine redemption that is worked out in the categories of a particular history-which is exactly what the Christian gospel claims to be-to express itself in all its various manifestations in terms of the concepts and methods of that particular people and day." 1 I concur with his statement, and in the NT we discover the following Second Temple interpretive methods. The Literal Method-Acts 23:1-5 Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day." At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!" Those who were standing near Paul said, "How dare you insult God's high priest!" Paul replied, "Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.'" The dramatic exchange in Acts 23:1-5 underscores the pervasiveness of the literal method of interpreting scripture employed by Second Temple writers and exegetes. It is not a reflective discourse on an OT passage. Rather, it shows an ingrained and reflexive approach to Scripture for these appeals to the OT were made in the heat of the moment. Being struck by an officer of 1 Richard N. Longenecker,
Many conservative/evangelical Christians believe that every time a New Testament (NT) writer says that an Old Testament (OT) passage was “fulfilled,” then that means the OT passage contains predictive prophecy and the prediction was... more
Many conservative/evangelical Christians believe that every time a New Testament (NT) writer says that an Old Testament (OT) passage was “fulfilled,” then that means the OT passage contains predictive prophecy and the prediction was fulfilled the way stated by the NT writer. That is not always the case as I shall show in this paper, restricting my scope to those OT fulfillments in the Gospels.
World Congress of Jewish Studies, August 10th 2017, Jerusalem Many scholars have shown the deep intertextual connections between interpretive works found at Qumran and scriptural passages. For instance, Nitzan has shown how Pesher... more
World Congress of Jewish Studies, August 10th 2017, Jerusalem
Many scholars have shown the deep intertextual connections between interpretive works found at Qumran and scriptural passages. For instance, Nitzan has shown how Pesher Habakkuk employs intertextual references to develop ideas that are not found explicitly in the verses before the pesharist. More directly, the pesharist in some cases expounds a verse based on an allusion to a scriptural verse found elsewhere where only knowledge of the latter allows a deep understanding of the pesher and its unique method of interpretation. Since the question of which texts at Qumran and in the Second Temple period were authoritative is still debated it is incumbent upon scholars to develop as many indicators of a text's authoritativeness as possible, whether it be physical features of discovered manuscripts or evidence within the texts themselves. In this presentation I will attempt to show that it is possible to identify allusions to sectarian texts in Pesher Psalms (4Q171) in the same way as others have identified allusions to Scripture, such that a particular pesher can only be understood by knowing the intertext. Such a claim is important in its own right when approaching the study of sectarian literature, but is also significant because it may offer further parameters for identifying authoritative texts for the Qumran community and understanding how an authoritative text was actually used.. With that said, it is important to make clear that my claim is a limited one whose method should be applied cautiously and a discussion of such limitations will be included in my presentation.
Edward Cornally lived beyond the European zone of occupation for twenty years (circa 1860–1880). Daisy Bates interviewed him writing two hundred pages of interview notes. Within Cornally’s corpus there is his eight page rutter that... more
Edward Cornally lived beyond the European zone of occupation for twenty years (circa 1860–1880). Daisy Bates interviewed him writing two hundred pages of interview notes. Within Cornally’s corpus there is his eight page rutter that describes twenty Aboriginal Law Provinces — from the Fortescue to below the Irwin River and inland as far as Wiluna.
The focus of this thesis is classic Australian society and its prehistory using the pre-occupation, post-smallpox, Cornally corpus. Its vantage point is well suited to unravelling the system of land tenure, the implications of the means of communication, the intricacies of kinship including the generational marriage cycle, property as gifts in knowledge, and the infrastructure for the massive pyro-scultpted landscape.
Distance plays a major role in Cornally’s social evidence, he repeatedly refers to 150 miles applied to various customs including; marriage and initiation, meetings and message relays. A distance beyond the boundaries of the Law Provinces, overlaps that form centre-coast Law Regions and together turn form large latitudinal Law Blocs — each distinctly described in his interviews.
From Cornally’s evidence the thesis outlines the Australian sexual division of labour and by its prehistory a critical revision in social evolutionary theory is produced.
Pre-scientific societies were no less conceptually complex than our own; humans have a habit of filling their intellectual sphere to its capacity whatever their condition, but as these mental representations are objectively tested daily... more
Pre-scientific societies were no less conceptually complex than our own; humans have a habit of filling their intellectual sphere to its capacity whatever their condition, but as these mental representations are objectively tested daily they cannot be dismissed as so much foolishness and superstition used in place of real knowledge. Elevating spiritual aspects of such concepts is also a substitute for a real answer; all knowledge has a spiritual aspect to it and therefore emphasis does not advance understanding. Esoteric analysis, in such societies, is used as the means to solve real problems, but when techniques are described externally they tend to either lapse into psychology, or the mystic, solving nothing. Esoteric thought treats religious stories as pesharim, a puzzle, that can solve contemporary questions. The stories act as an analogue to practical knowledge that appears absent within them, yet in a parable-like way they are capable of containing many layers of meaning. That they are used to solve problems both natural and social is beyond dispute, but how this is achieved hangs unanswered. What is the epistemic nature of analogous knowledge and how this can be understood philosophically? For instance; Aboriginal Law spans a huge repository of stories — the Dreaming. Problems unanticipated by the stories are consulted; often at length and sometimes involving a large number of specialists. Discovering an epistemological answer provides common ground between historical science, an Ancient body of literature, and the people that maintain it through a shared element.
