Paul’s Use of Leviticus 19:18: A Comparative Analysis with Select Second Temple Jewish Texts

Paul’s use of Leviticus 19:18 in Romans 13:8-10 and Galatians 5:13-15 begs the question of how a command that is not repeated in the Old Testament came to the position of prominence as the summarizing and fulfilling statement of the whole law. This study aims to analyze select Second Temple Jewish texts and Paul’s letters to the Romans and Galatians in order to trace the uses of or allusions to Leviticus 19:18 and determine how Paul’s use of Leviticus 19:18 compares and differs from the selected texts. The Second Temple Jewish texts that are analyzed include the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, Tobit 4:15, Bavli Shabbat 31a, the Damascus Document, and the Community Rule. The comparative analysis reveals that Paul’s use of Leviticus 19:18 in Romans 13:8-10 and Galatians 5:13-15 is shaped by the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and is thus unique when compared to preceding and contemporary Second Temple Jewish texts

A Kingdom of Priests and Gods: Angelic and Participatory Deification in John\u27s Apocalypse

Ancient Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature contains soteriological narratives of human transformation that qualify as examples of deification in antiquity. One widely exemplified type of deification in ancient Jewish apocalypses and apocalyptic literature focuses first on the analogy between priests and angels, and then the gradual assimilation of the former to the identity of the latter. In much apocalyptic thought, God resides in a celestial sanctuary in heaven where angels serve a heavenly liturgy of worship and praise, and it is this reality which the earthly priesthood, temple, and cult mimic and extend into the human world, which led to speculation that human priests would become angels either at death or in the eschaton. This narrative of transformation also accords with what Martha Himmelfarb calls a “democratization” of the priesthood to include righteous individuals who otherwise would not enjoy such privileges. The Book of Revelation, as an apocalypse written by a Christian Jew, makes use of this traditional Jewish soteriology in a uniquely Christian framework, by appropriating its imagery and logic in the context of an early Christian participatory model of deification, the communicatio idiomatum, or “exchange of attributions.” Through participation in the angelomorphic, priestly Christ, the priestly saints are also guaranteed a share in angelic, divine glory. The study adds Revelation to an ongoing scholarly conversation about the trajectory of early Christian soteriological development

The distinctive theological vocabulary of selected Jewish apocalyptic writings

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityThe problem of this dissertation is to discover whether there is a distinctive theological vocabulary in selected Jewish apocalyptic writings. The apocalyptic writings to be treated are (1) Isiah 24-27, (2) Zachariah 9-14, (3) Daniel 7-12, (4) The Book of Enoch, and (5) The Book of Jubilees. Apocalyptic writings grew after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Israel was faced with a choice between religious transformation and religious extinction. Two forms of theological hope, the Messianic and apocalyptic which are closely interrelated, were introduced and became components of Judaic religious faith. The distinctive vocabulary of Old Testament apocalyptic is the vehicle of the Judaic expression of theological hope and influenced Judaic religion and possibly the New Testament community [TRUNCATED

Visionary Ascents of Moses in Pseudo-Philo\u27s Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum: Apocalyptic Motifs and the Growth of Visionary Moses Tradition

This dissertation explores the development of visionary Moses tradition from its origins in the Hebrew Bible through pro-Mosaic Second Temple literature and rabbinic texts. It demonstrates that throughout this variegated literature, there is a developing tendency to portray Moses as an apocalyptic seer. In the non-biblical Mosaic texts that were analyzed, Moses\u27 revelation on Sinai and Nebo is increasingly invested with esoteric content, and Moses\u27 ascents are often depicted as heavenly journeys. These revelatory developments have conceptual roots in alternative visionary traditions, notably Enochic lore. The texts investigated contain a discernible thread of dialogue with Enochic revelatory claims; Moses\u27 ascents and revelation were embellished to include speculative elements and motifs typical of Enochic traditions. Pro-Mosaic texts and traditions responded to alternative visionary developments by re-envisioning Moses\u27 ascents of Sinai and Nebo in similar transcendent terms. Moses\u27 presentation in these texts often appears to be a polemical positioning of Moses over Enoch. The second part of this dissertation considers the place of Pseudo-Philo\u27s Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum (LAB) in the trajectory of visionary Moses tradition. Analysis of the apocalyptic features of LAB reveals the formative role of alternative visionary traditions in Pseudo-Philo\u27s portrayal of Moses. Moses often takes on the exalted qualities of Enoch in the text, including the experience of heavenly ascent, journey to paradise, and esoteric disclosure of heavenly, cosmic, meteorological, protological, and eschatological secrets. LAB not only demonstrates awareness of Enochic tradition; it provides evidence of polemical dialogue with Enochic revelatory claims. This assertion contributes to the deciphering of some puzzling passages in LAB. The investigation concludes that Pseudo-Philo\u27s depiction of Moses\u27 ascents and revelation were re-crafted with apocalyptic characteristics in order to underscore Moses\u27 authority and pre-eminent position as Israel\u27s visionary par excellence. LAB links all truth, exoteric (law and covenant) and esoteric, to Moses