An Introduction to Early Judaism

by James C. VanderKam

One of today's most respected scholars of biblical history and the Dead Sea Scrolls, James C. VanderKam here offers a superb new introduction to early Judaism.

Based on the best, most recent archaeological research, this illustrated volume explores the history of Judaism during the Second Temple period (516 B.C.E. - 70 C.E.), describing the body of Jewish literature written during these centuries and the most important groups, institutions, and practices of the time. Particularly interesting are VanderKam's depiction of events associated with Masada and the Kokhba revolt, and his commentary on texts unearthed in places like Elephantine, Egypt, and Qumran.

Written in the same accessible style as VanderKam's widely praised Dead Sea Scrolls Today , this volume provides the finest classroom introduction to early Judaism available.

Genres: Judaism, Biblical Studies, History, Theology, Religion, Christianity, Nonfiction

246 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2000

Reviews

[Sense of History]

I've read the 2001-edition and that clearly was outdated (don't know whether more recent editions were updated). VanderKam also only looks at the post-exile period. There better and more up-to-date studies around (just some that I've read: Historical and Biblical Israel: The History, Tradition, and Archives of Israel and Judah by Reinhard G. Kratz, A Concise History of Ancient Israel: From the Beginnings Through the Hellenistic Era, Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?).

[Isaiah Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

An interesting textbook and work of historiography. The book definitely assumes a pretty high level of background biblical knowledge on the part of the reader.

VanderKam provides a brief but interesting overview of Second Temple Judea and Judaism from 500BC to 70AD. This overview is however only 50 of the book's 200 pages. Since the history was mainly what I wanted, I found how little was dedicated to it to be disappointing.

The middle 100 pages of the book deal with biblical apocrypha/ parts of the Old Testament not recognized by Jews or Protestants as being canon. This section is very thorough. I enjoyed how the author explained what is known about the authorship and the historicity of the events described in the works, but I found this section to be very repetitive and more detailed than I cared for. I did find explorations of Josephus as a historical source, the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Qumran community, and the story and archeological finds of the Masada site quite interesting, though.

The final pages deal with social structures, groups, and worship during the second temple. This section is only about 50 pages, and I wish that some topics such as holidays, their origins, and their significance were explored in greater detail.

While an interesting book and a good introduction/ reference work for people looking to explore Judaism and the kingdom of Judea from 500BC to 70AD, this book is definitely not designed for laypeople. Two things will stick with me from this book: how much of human history is forever lost and how written records from ancient times were still written by human beings with bias, motives, and incentives that need to be considered critically when accepting their account of events.

[Rodney Harvill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typically, when I start a new book, I scan through the table of contents, which for this book was very lengthy and detailed. So, knowing that this book is a survey of early Judaism, I began to worry that it might read like a series of encyclopedia articles. I needn’t have worried. While there is a lot of detail about Second Temple Judaism, the focus of the book, it flows very well, consisting of three chapters covering:

• the history of the Second Temple Period
• the Jewish literature of the period, comprising that written within Judea as well as that originating within the Diaspora
• leadership, Jewish sects and how they formed and changed over time, institutions and forms of worship, and the Jewish scriptures

I especially appreciated how he approached some controversial topics. For example, while there is a scholarly consensus that Qumran was the location of a group of Essenes and that the Dead Sea Scrolls was their collection of writings, hidden away for safekeeping on account of a Roman campaign during the Jewish Revolt, there are some who challenge that view, proposing that the site had a completely different function and that the scrolls had been hidden in caves by evacuees from Jerusalem. I remember reading about this controversy in Biblical Archaeology Review several years ago but don’t remember the details. At any rate, Dr. Vanderkam agrees with the consensus view and gives his reasoning. It is always good to be reminded that our views of the past must necessarily be based on the evidence and is always colored by our interpretations. There will always be some uncertainty.

One point within his reasoning that I found particularly fascinating was his biblical explanation for the existence of an Essen settlement in the desert northwest of the Dead Sea. One text from the scrolls, the Rule of the Community cites Isa. 40:3 (Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. NASB) as a warrant for separating from the impious and settling in the wilderness. A Christian, I am long accustomed to this passage being cited by John the Baptist for his evangelistic work in the wilderness but had never heard of this Essene application. Dr. Vanderkam suspects that the Essenes chose the site based on Ezek 47, which describes a river flowing from the temple into the Dead Sea. In other words, the Essenes chose the site in expectation of it becoming prime river-front real estate when the prophecy was fulfilled, transforming the desert in accordance with Isa. 35.
In summary, I appreciated Dr. Vanderkam’s survey of Second Temple Judaism and learned a lot in the process of reading this book.

[Tyler Horton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Retains the excellence of the first edition. There was not much room for improvement within the parameters set for the project, but I would also note that this is a very light revision. If you own the first edition, there is no need to rush out and buy the second. If you need an accessible introduction to Early Judaism, there is still no better place to start.

[Markus McDowell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good intro, sparse in some places. No critical analysis to speak of.

[Charles Meadows · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little introduction to Judaism. This book mostly deals more with the Hellenistic period, and VanderKam is an expert in the Dead Sea scrolls. He touches on the Persian and Roman periods too. Perhaps the biggest part of the book is a survery of religious texts from the time period. The author concentrates on nonbiblical texts here, noting that there’s plenty of commentary on biblical books elsewhere. He discusses them in terms of genre and religious outlook. He also briefly touches on topics like the temple, feasts, calendars, sects, etc. overall the book is general. He discusses the scholarly consensus without too much speculation. Great little book and with the read.

[Mike Schellman · Rating 3 out of 5]

VanderKam's book is a good survey of 2nd Temple Judaism, but I was hoping for some more theological insight into how beliefs of the 2nd Temple period paved the way for Christianity. If you are looking for a brief summary of the literature and culture of the era - this book will be a good introduction, the bibliography may point to a more in depth treatment of any of the topics you're interested in.

[Jeremiah Batson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great overview, an introduction to the Second Temple period. This covers Jewish and Early Christian, history, literature, and archeological discoveries from the later Old Testament books (the post-exilic period), the "Inter-Testamental" period and the first century A.D. It provide great background for studying books of the Bible such as Daniel, Ezra, and the Gospels. I wish it was more detailed in discussing the extrabiblical literature.

[Melvin Kauffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative but concise and easy to read intro to the history, literature, archeological finds, and institutions of 2nd Temple Judaism. This book is for you if you're interested in the period but afraid of it's tomes of literature.

But don't let it replace reading the primary sources! They are amazing! 10/10 recommend Josephus' "The Jewish War", the apocryphal books 1 Maccabees, Judith, Tobit, and the Psalms of Solomon, and of course 4 Ezra (2nd Esdras)!

[Abbie Liu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and easy to understand for the non-scholar. I appreciated how VanderKam listed the Second Temple events and historical Jewish documents chronologically and then further listed Rulers and Leaders and groups in Part III. Detailed studies and summaries of the Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphal writings.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was as promised. The introductory chapters on the historical era, and especially the Hasmonean era, were welcome. But I was disappointed to read very little about the evolution of monotheism in Judaism, with the only references being off-hand comments in chapters that mostly served as introductions to the various kinds of literature surviving from this era.

[Sarah (TheLibrarysKeeper) · Rating 4 out of 5]

VanderKam's introduction to Early Judaism is a great covering of the scriptures and prominent features of the second temple period time. I was hoping that this book would be a little more detailed as I was planning on using it for my directed research I've been doing this semester in school. This book is fantastic for an undergraduate level course on Judaism and if I end up having the opportunity to teach on it, I plan to implement this book.

[Dmcconkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent little volume giving a concise overview of early Judaism. Great summary of important time era that helps in understanding and interpreting the NT and early Christianity.

[Zendali · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm fairly new to the subject and I enjoyed reading this.

[Brenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful entry-level introduction to the second temple period including a survey of non-canonical literature.