Judaism 10 23 2012 EARLY JUDAISM Major Themes of The Hebrew Bible Cosmogonic myth Adam and Eve creation story o Pain and childbirth is a result of the original sin o Why people have to labor for their food o Origin of common things in humanity o In the beginning the god S created the heavens and the Earth literal translation one god or multiple gods The Flood Noah s Arc the only righteous man to walk the Earth 2 of every animal o Origin of the rainbow o Picture of Yahweh very ambiguous abstract force out there but described in human terms hands of God Covenant with Israel o Very important goes back to Abraham reciprocal relationship if you obey God he ll reward you Forms backbone of Jewish theology Moses and the revelation at Mount Sinai Israelite baby left in the river found by Egyptian o Burning bush when he runs away God says his name learns God s name Yahweh I am Let my people go parting of the red sea o o o Law o At Mount Sinai ten commandments basis of Jewish Law Theological laws only worship one God vertical Ethical laws other 9 commandments horizontal Wandering in the wilderness and entrance into the land o God condemns the Israelites to wander around in Sinai area until the can enter the promised land Canaan for one generation because they did o Leads army of Israelites throughout Canaan with Israelites cleanses the land basically wipes out all people that live there not fully obey him Joshua conquers Canaan o Part of the second generation o Levi priestly caste Priests and ritual sacrifice animals consumed from fire Formation of the monarchy o Sacrifice is essential goes back to the idea of the covenant maintaining the covenantal balance between them and God typically blood sacrifice of o Crying out to God for a King God gives them King Sol quickly removed and replaced with David o King David 1000 BCE begins the Davidic Monarch looked at as a utopian period that one should strive to return to The break up of the Davidic kingdom 721 BCE o David screws up commits adultery and murders God punishes David and his lineage God punishes his descendants when they sin breakup of the monarch Northern Kingdom Israel Southern Kingdom Judah Hebrew Bible focuses on what s happening in Judah The political fortunes of the kingdom of Judah understood in terms of covenant God and the History of Israel obedience Prophets o mouthpieces of Yahweh intermediates between Yahweh and Judians o Jeremiah weeping prophet always ridiculed by the people around him Told the people that because of their disobedience a Babylonian army would come and that they should not put up a fight The destruction of the Temple and the exile to Babylon 586 BCE the Davidic o Babylonians imprison them and take them to Babylon remain for a couple monarchy ends for good of generations home End of the exile Persians conquer the Babylonians allows Judians to go back o Construction of the Second Temple 516 BCE restore the temple the Babylonians destroyed Second Temple Period Between the religion of ancient Israel and rabbinic Judaism 516 BCE 70 CE Traditions that flourish in this period o Apocalypticism end of the world o Messianism lots of people claiming to be a Messiah including Jesus not considered to be as a religious figure but a political figure person that was going to reestablish the Davidic monarchy through military force give the kingdom of Judah independence o Life after death afterlife to the land of the dead now there are reworkings of afterlife heaven and hell o Emergence of the Hebrew Bible as an authoritative text writings complied into one text contribute to the reshaping of Judaism History of the Second Temple Period o 516 BCE 332 BCE Persian rule o 332 BCE conquest of Alexander the Great conquers the Persians GREEK INFLUENCE when he died he distributed his massive empire to some of his generals Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleucid Syria Empires 198 BCE Seleucids take over Judah they re anti Jewish and their religion Seleucids are polytheistic Antiochus IV Epiphanes 175 164 BCE Seleucid king Began anti Jewish policies put images of Greek deities in the Jerusalem temple o Maccabean revolt tried to drive Seleucids out of Judah they had enough they won miraculous moment where God helped them drive them out Begins period of Hasmonean dynasty 100 years of very shakey independence 164 63 BCE high anxiety because there are powers in every direction that could come and conquer them Emergence of the Jewish apocalypses Jewish literature becomes very popular because it provides answers for what s going to happen in the future Jewish Apocalypticism Important genre Most apocalypses NOT in the Bible o Some are though Daniel 1 Enoch 4 Ezra 2 Baruch Characteristics of Apocalyptic literature o Supernatural revelation visions book is named after whoever has these visions o o Final judgment the way in which things are going to end evil people will be punished for their sins good people will be rewarded o Dualism things are black and white you re either good or evil Intentionally cryptic the language they use is very cryptic not straightforward uses a lot of allegories symbolisms and metaphors used because it can include a wide range of interpretations o Concern with the angelic world elaborate cosmologies all sorts of angelic figures fighting it out supernatural creatures that don t usually exist in the actual religion o Many people claiming to be a Messianic figure although overtly political figure rather than a religious figure Arises during Second Temple Period o Hebrew Bible arises during Second Temple Period as the single authoritative text of Judaism HOMEWORK Who are the watchers Who are the nephilium blood The sons of heaven who desired the beautiful daughters fallen angels The great giants conceived from the waters and their wives who would eat men and drink What happened to the watchers and nephilium Sent against each other in a war of destruction perished blinded watchers were imprisoned and nephilium was sent to death judgment day What kind of world is described at the end A righteous pure blessed place trees of joy will be planted An Early Jewish Apocalypse 1 Enoch 108 chapters 5 separate books 3rd BCE 1st CE Part of the OT in the Ethiopian Church Cited in the NT as scripture Jude Enoch man is the seventh generation after Adam taken to heaven and shown secrets how the end will come about by the angels the watchers The Origins of Rabbinic Judaism How do you maintain a sense of Judaism Jewish identity without a temple 70
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