Papers by Binyamin Katzoff
![Research paper thumbnail of The Tannaitic Tradition Concerning the Passover Celebrations of King Hezekiah (Tarbiz 89 [2023], pp. 555-580)](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/111801774/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Tarbitz, 2023
The purification of the Temple by king Hezekiah, and the following celebrations of the Passover, ... more The purification of the Temple by king Hezekiah, and the following celebrations of the Passover, as described in 2Chr. 29-30, have attracted much contemporary scholarly attention. They also attracted the attention of the ancient rabbis. Because Hezekiah is described in the Hebrew bible as a righteous king, who followed God’s law, the way he celebrated the Passover was assumed by the rabbis as legally valid. Yet, the Chronicler refers to Hezekiah’s Passover celebrations and says that they were not done in accordance with the law (2Chr. 30:18). This has troubled the ancient rabbis, and the Tannaitic tradition concerning Hezekiah’s Passover attempts to resolve this problem. That tradition exists in two versions: one in the Tosefta in tractate Pesahim, and the other in the Tosefta in tractate Sanhedrin, and in the parallel baraitot in both the Palestinian and the Babylonian Talmud. The present article suggests that a close reading of the two versions indicates that the text was expanded, and it suggests an identification of the secondary material which was added. This makes possible a re-consideration of the purpose and meaning of the added comments, and a better treatment of the variant readings existing in the major text-witnesses of the Tosefta.
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Papers by Binyamin Katzoff