Early Judaism

Fortress Press has released a revised edition of Early Judaism: Texts and Documents on Faith and Piety, a book edited by George W. E. Nickelsburg and Michael E. Stone. The book is a reader on early Jewish belief and practice.

Fortress has provided the following information about this revised edition of Early Judaism:

Jewish writings from the period of Second Temple present a rich and potentially overwhelming variety of first-hand materials. George W. E. Nickelsburg and Michael E. Stone, experts on this formative period, have updated their classic sourcebook on Jewish beliefs and practices to take into account current thinking about the sources and to include new documents, including texts from Qumran not available in the first edition, in a brilliantly organized synthesis.

Included are chapters on Jewish sects and parties, the Temple and worship in it, ideals of piety and conduct, expectations concerning deliverance, judgment, and vindication, different conceptions of the agents of God's activity, and the figure of Lady Wisdom in relationship to Israel.

Outline of Chapter 1

1. Sects, Parties, and Tendencies

The Samaritans

A Samaritan Story of the Formation of the

Judahite (Jewish) Sect

The Samaritan Chronicle II, J–L

The Judahites (Jews) on the Origins of the Samaritans

2 Kings 17

Samaritan and Judean Relations

Josephus, Antiquities 11:306–12

The Hasideans (Hasidim)

Psalm 149

Apocryphal Psalms, col. 18

The Psalms of Solomon

Passive Resistance

1 Maccabees 1:62–64

Revolt

Further Passive Resistance

1 Maccabees 2:29–38

The Hasideans Join the Armed Resistance

1 Maccabees 2:42–44

The Hasideans Abandon the Revolt

1 Maccabees 7:12–18

Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes

The Pharisees

Josephus, Antiquities 18:12–15

Josephus, Jewish War 2:162–63

Josephus, Antiquities 13:297–98

Nahum Commentary on 2:12 (col. 1:4–8)

Nahum Commentary on 3:1–4 (col. 2:1–10)

Nahum Commentary on 3:6–7 (col. 3:1–8)

Nahum Commentary on 3:8 (col. 3:8–9)

Nahum Commentary on 3:9b–11 (col. 3:12—4:8)

The New Testament

The Sadducees

Josephus, Antiquities 18:16–17

Josephus, Jewish War 2:164–66

Acts 23:6–10

The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan, A 5

The Essenes

The Essenes According to Josephus

Josephus, Antiquities 18:18–22

Josephus, Jewish War 2:119–61

Essene Texts from Qumran

The History of the Sect

Damascus Document 1:1–13

The Essene Teaching on the Two Spirits

The Rule of the Community 3:13–4:23

The Zealots

Judah the Gaulanite

Josephus, Antiquities 18:4–6, 9–10

Josephus, Jewish War 7:418–19

Josephus, Antiquities 18:23–24

Mishnah Sanhedrin 9:6

The Therapeutae

The Daily Life of the Therapeutae

Philo, On the Contemplative Life 24–33

The Dance and the Chorus

Philo, On the Contemplative Life 83–85, 88–89

Hellenism and Apocalypticism: Two Tendencies within Judaism

Hellenistic Judaism

4 Maccabees 1:1–6, 15–18

Apocalypticism

1 Enoch

1 Enoch 1:1–3

1 Enoch 93:1–2, 10; 91:11

1 Enoch 104:10–13

To promote Early Judaism to a wider audience, Fortress Press has made available the Table of Contents, the Introduction, and Chapter 1 of the book in PDF format.

Claude Mariottini

Professor of Old Testament

Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Early Judaism