This article describes an interpretive shift that occurred in Roman Palestine during the amoraic ... more This article describes an interpretive shift that occurred in Roman Palestine during the amoraic period (ca. 200-650 CE). It argues that rabbis of this era and in this region began to identify parts of Psalm 45 in light of Abraham as a form of anti-Christian polemic, a way to present Abraham as the Jewish response to Christ. It then shows that this exegetical framework, which originated as a polemic, developed a life of its own. As late antiquity slowly transitioned into the early Middle Ages, some Jews read other parts of the psalm-and then the entire psalm-as pertaining to Abraham.
Rethinking ‘Authority’ in Late Antiquity: Authorship, Law, and Transmission in Jewish and Christian Tradition
We met recently with a colleague to discuss the central place that "authority" has found among ex... more We met recently with a colleague to discuss the central place that "authority" has found among explanations for the creation and dissemination of texts in Late Antiquity. As the conversation shifted to social theories of authority, our colleague commended Bruce Lincoln's magisterial Authority: Construction and Corrosion as being particularly influential on his own thinking about the authority-asmotivation paradigm. In particular, he reflected on the central paradox of the book. According to Lincoln, authority is, at base, thinly veiled violence, or at least the implication thereof. Authority is compromised, however, whenever that violence is brought to fruition. "So, for instance, I don't hit my children because in so doing, my authority would be brought into question." He was referring to Lincoln's contention that authority, when challenged, can be cashed out either in terms of persuasion or in terms of violence, though always with a loss of value in the process. 1 Our colleague paused for a moment, returning to reality from the realm of theory, and retorted to himself, "I don't hit my kids for a lot of reasons-mostly moral and psychological. My own authority doesn't have much to do with it." In his position as a parent, our colleague's authority permeates every interaction he has with his children. To describe the relationship without reference to the structures of power that govern their interactions would be irresponsible, and myopic. Yet, to understand this parent-child relationship solely under the rubric of authority and (im)balances of power would be perilously reductive; the analysis would fail to grasp that the individuals under analysis are just that: people, with myriad interests and motivations. Our colleague does not hit his children because he loves them, and it is his duty to care for their well-being in a way that precludes any number of actions that would otherwise serve his purposes and reinforce his authority. Authority is a necessary touchstone in order to understand the parentchild relationship, but it is not sufficient. The central claim of this book is that "authority" is a necessary but ultimately insufficient category of analysis for the writing and understanding of ancient history. We begin by examining how and why authority has become part and parcel of contemporary historiography.
This study examines six manners in which rabbinic literature and Targum Psalms interact. 1. An ea... more This study examines six manners in which rabbinic literature and Targum Psalms interact. 1. An earlier rabbinic tradition provides the backdrop against which the Targum's translation must be understood. 2. The Targum applies a tradition it uses to translate one part of a psalm towards translating another verse in that same psalm. 3. The Targum revises earlier rabbinic traditions to suit its own ideological and literary concerns. 4. The Targum adapts interpretations that were originally generated well beyond the confines of the psalm being translated and even the Psalter as a whole. 5. The Targum inserts itself into popular late antique exegetical discourses of particular psalms. 6. It rejects a widespread interpretive trend attested to in rabbinic literature. Overall, by moving beyond the mere notation of parallelism, we gain a clearer portrait of the translator's relationship with rabbinic literature, his working methods, and the ideologies that impelled his creative endeavours.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
As has long been recognized, Hosea uses the verb רפא to describe YHWH pardoning Israel. This ar... more As has long been recognized, Hosea uses the verb רפא to describe YHWH pardoning Israel. This article argues that Hosea expands the meaning of Hebrew רפא from "to heal" to "remitting a punishment." The Akkadian verb bulluṭu, like Hebrew ,רפא means "heal." The words were therefore perceived as being equivalent, and part of the wider semantic range of Akkadian bulluṭu, namely, remitting the punishment of a disloyal subject, was applied to Hebrew .רפא In Hos 5:13; 6:1; 7:1; 11:3 and 14:5, this expansion of the meaning of Hebrew רפא aims to contrast submission to YHWH with subservience to Assyria.
This article examines in detail an Aramaic poem from M. Sokoloff's and J. Yahalom's magisterial J... more This article examines in detail an Aramaic poem from M. Sokoloff's and J. Yahalom's magisterial Jewish Palestinian Aramaic Poetry from Late Antiquity (SYAP) (Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1999). It begins by offering a translation of the entire poem along with an overview of some of the poem's key linguistic features. It then moves to an analysis of the poem's literary artistry. The study continues by examining the poem's central motifs; namely, the portrait of David as the learned composer of the Psalter, the role of prophecy and kingship, and their relationship to eschatology. The study then attempts to place the poem's genesis and the practice of communal psalm recitation into an historical context. It concludes by showing how a careful analysis of a single piece of poetry can contribute to several debates about the nature and constitution of the poems collected in SYAP.
This article describes an interpretive shift that occurred in Roman Palestine during the amoraic ... more This article describes an interpretive shift that occurred in Roman Palestine during the amoraic period (ca. 200-650 CE). It argues that rabbis of this era and in this region began to identify parts of Psalm 45 in light of Abraham as a form of anti-Christian polemic, a way to present Abraham as the Jewish response to Christ. It then shows that this exegetical framework, which originated as a polemic, developed a life of its own. As late antiquity slowly transitioned into the early Middle Ages, some Jews read other parts of the psalm-and then the entire psalm-as pertaining to Abraham.
Rethinking ‘Authority’ in Late Antiquity: Authorship, Law, and Transmission in Jewish and Christian Tradition
We met recently with a colleague to discuss the central place that "authority" has found among ex... more We met recently with a colleague to discuss the central place that "authority" has found among explanations for the creation and dissemination of texts in Late Antiquity. As the conversation shifted to social theories of authority, our colleague commended Bruce Lincoln's magisterial Authority: Construction and Corrosion as being particularly influential on his own thinking about the authority-asmotivation paradigm. In particular, he reflected on the central paradox of the book. According to Lincoln, authority is, at base, thinly veiled violence, or at least the implication thereof. Authority is compromised, however, whenever that violence is brought to fruition. "So, for instance, I don't hit my children because in so doing, my authority would be brought into question." He was referring to Lincoln's contention that authority, when challenged, can be cashed out either in terms of persuasion or in terms of violence, though always with a loss of value in the process. 1 Our colleague paused for a moment, returning to reality from the realm of theory, and retorted to himself, "I don't hit my kids for a lot of reasons-mostly moral and psychological. My own authority doesn't have much to do with it." In his position as a parent, our colleague's authority permeates every interaction he has with his children. To describe the relationship without reference to the structures of power that govern their interactions would be irresponsible, and myopic. Yet, to understand this parent-child relationship solely under the rubric of authority and (im)balances of power would be perilously reductive; the analysis would fail to grasp that the individuals under analysis are just that: people, with myriad interests and motivations. Our colleague does not hit his children because he loves them, and it is his duty to care for their well-being in a way that precludes any number of actions that would otherwise serve his purposes and reinforce his authority. Authority is a necessary touchstone in order to understand the parentchild relationship, but it is not sufficient. The central claim of this book is that "authority" is a necessary but ultimately insufficient category of analysis for the writing and understanding of ancient history. We begin by examining how and why authority has become part and parcel of contemporary historiography.
This study examines six manners in which rabbinic literature and Targum Psalms interact. 1. An ea... more This study examines six manners in which rabbinic literature and Targum Psalms interact. 1. An earlier rabbinic tradition provides the backdrop against which the Targum's translation must be understood. 2. The Targum applies a tradition it uses to translate one part of a psalm towards translating another verse in that same psalm. 3. The Targum revises earlier rabbinic traditions to suit its own ideological and literary concerns. 4. The Targum adapts interpretations that were originally generated well beyond the confines of the psalm being translated and even the Psalter as a whole. 5. The Targum inserts itself into popular late antique exegetical discourses of particular psalms. 6. It rejects a widespread interpretive trend attested to in rabbinic literature. Overall, by moving beyond the mere notation of parallelism, we gain a clearer portrait of the translator's relationship with rabbinic literature, his working methods, and the ideologies that impelled his creative endeavours.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
As has long been recognized, Hosea uses the verb רפא to describe YHWH pardoning Israel. This ar... more As has long been recognized, Hosea uses the verb רפא to describe YHWH pardoning Israel. This article argues that Hosea expands the meaning of Hebrew רפא from "to heal" to "remitting a punishment." The Akkadian verb bulluṭu, like Hebrew ,רפא means "heal." The words were therefore perceived as being equivalent, and part of the wider semantic range of Akkadian bulluṭu, namely, remitting the punishment of a disloyal subject, was applied to Hebrew .רפא In Hos 5:13; 6:1; 7:1; 11:3 and 14:5, this expansion of the meaning of Hebrew רפא aims to contrast submission to YHWH with subservience to Assyria.
This article examines in detail an Aramaic poem from M. Sokoloff's and J. Yahalom's magisterial J... more This article examines in detail an Aramaic poem from M. Sokoloff's and J. Yahalom's magisterial Jewish Palestinian Aramaic Poetry from Late Antiquity (SYAP) (Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1999). It begins by offering a translation of the entire poem along with an overview of some of the poem's key linguistic features. It then moves to an analysis of the poem's literary artistry. The study continues by examining the poem's central motifs; namely, the portrait of David as the learned composer of the Psalter, the role of prophecy and kingship, and their relationship to eschatology. The study then attempts to place the poem's genesis and the practice of communal psalm recitation into an historical context. It concludes by showing how a careful analysis of a single piece of poetry can contribute to several debates about the nature and constitution of the poems collected in SYAP.
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