Jesus-oriented visions of Judaism in antiquity

This article argues that the Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions 1.27–72, the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies, and the Didascalia Apostolorum – third and fourth century-texts, which combine adherence to Jesus with Jewish law observance – would have made sense to Jews in antiquity as Jewish, although non-rabbinic visions of the history and calling of the people of Israel, and that they ought to be considered as part of the history of Judaism. Recent years have witnessed an emerging trend to reread texts previously regarded as ‘Jewish-Christian’ or ‘heretical Christian’ as Jewish texts, and as evidence of diversity within Judaism in the post-70 period. This understanding emerges from the related insights that rabbinic Judaism was not the only, or even the dominant form of Judaism during the early centuries ce, that there was no definitive early split between a well defined Christianity and an equally well defined Judaism, and that Jewish self-identity in antiquity seems to have allowed for adherence to Jesus as an option within Judaism. Abandoning the practice of using rabbinic Judaism as the sole criterion for defining Jewishness in this time period allows us to see the theologies developed by such Jesus-oriented groups with a Jewish self-identity as profoundly Jewish, although non-rabbinic, visions of the history and calling of biblical Israel

The attemped murder by Laban the Aramean: an example of intertextual reading in Midrash

This article deals with the question of why Laban the Aramean, a rather harmless character as presented in the biblical text, is generally portrayed in rabbinic literature as a major enemy of Israel. It is argued that the view of Laban as a villain developed as a result of rabbinic hermeneutics, and that the characteristics attributed to him in rabbinic literature were not arbitrarily chosen due to some extra-textual issue or an ideologically motivated wish to provide him with a set of negative characteristics. Rather, they are an outcome of a reading of the biblical text, albeit a reading that is naturally biased and conditioned by a certain set of assumptions. The rabbis were grappling with the biblical text in a process where they filled in gaps that they perceived in the text and explained repetitions and inconsistencies having certain assumptions of how these features were to be understood. It is suggested that a factor which most probably played a significant  role in developing a negative view of Laban was an intertextual reading of Deut 26:5 and Gen 31:23-25 that seems to have given rise to the idea that Laban attempted to kill Jacob when the latter fled from Haran

The attemped murder by Laban the Aramean: an example of intertextual reading in Midrash

This article deals with the question of why Laban the Aramean, a rather harmless character as presented in the biblical text, is generally portrayed in rabbinic literature as a major enemy of Israel. It is argued that the view of Laban as a villain developed as a result of rabbinic hermeneutics, and that the characteristics attributed to him in rabbinic literature were not arbitrarily chosen due to some extra-textual issue or an ideologically motivated wish to provide him with a set of negative characteristics. Rather, they are an outcome of a reading of the biblical text, albeit a reading that is naturally biased and conditioned by a certain set of assumptions. The rabbis were grappling with the biblical text in a process where they filled in gaps that they perceived in the text and explained repetitions and inconsistencies having certain assumptions of how these features were to be understood. It is suggested that a factor which most probably played a significant  role in developing a negative view of Laban was an intertextual reading of Deut 26:5 and Gen 31:23-25 that seems to have given rise to the idea that Laban attempted to kill Jacob when the latter fled from Haran

Negotiating Identities : Conflict, Conversion, and Consolidation in Early Judaism and Christianity (200 BCE–600 CE

Covering the period from 200 BCE to 600 CE, this book describes important aspects of identity formation processes within early Judaism and Christianity, and shows how negotiations involving issues of ethnicity, stereotyping, purity, commensality, and institution building contributed to the forming of group identities. Over time, some of these Jewish group identities evolved into non-Jewish Christian identities, others into a rabbinic Jewish identity, while yet others remained somewhere in between. The contributors to this volume trace these developments in archaeological remains as well as in texts from the Qumran movement, the New Testament and the reception of Paul’s writings, rabbinic literature, and apocryphal and pseudepigraphical writings, such as the Book of Dreams and the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies. The long timespan covered in the volume together with the combined expertise of scholars from various fields make this book a unique contribution to research on group identity, Jewish and Christian identity formation, the Partings-of-the-ways between Judaism and Christianity, and interactions between Jews and Christians

Editorial

Editorial for issue 28(2) of Scandinavian Jewish Studies