Early Judaism: A Comprehensive Overview

by John J. Collins, Daniel C. Harlow (Editor)

Culled from "The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism," a monumental, groundbreaking reference work published in late 2010, "Early Judaism: A Comprehensive Overview" contains fifteen first-rate essays from a diverse group of internationally renowned scholars. This volume provides the most comprehensive and authoritative overview available of Judaism in the Hellenistic and early Roman periods.

Contributors: John M. G. BarclayMiriam Pucci Ben ZeevKatell BerthelotJohn J. CollinsErich S. GruenDaniel C. HarlowJames L. KugelAdam Kolman MarshakSteve MasonJames S. McLarenMaren R. NiehoffDavid T. RuniaLawrence H. SchiffmanChris SeemanGregory E. SterlingLoren T. StuckenbruckEibert TigchelaarEugene UlrichAnnewies van den HoekJames C. VanderKamJ rgen K. Zangenberg

Genres: Judaism, History, Biblical Studies, Religion, Ancient History, Old Testament, New Testament

828 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2012

About the author

John J. Collins is Holmes Professor of Old Testament at Yale Divinity School. A native of Ireland, he has a doctorate from Harvard University, and earlier taught at the University of Chicago, and the University of Notre Dame. He has published widely on the subjects of apocalypticism, wisdom, Hellenistic Judaism, and the Dead Sea Scrolls and served as president of both the Catholic Biblical Association and the Society of Biblical Literature.

Reviews

[Sense of History]

For once, the subtitle is right: this indeed is a comprehensive overview of Judaism in the period from 300 BCE to 150 CE, when ancient Israel/Palestine was successively under Greco-Egyptian (Ptolemaic), Greco-Mesopotamian (Seleucid) and Roman rule, and quite a few Jewish nuclei lived in the diaspora in the eastern part of the Mediterranean basin. This book contains 13 articles by academics, previously published in a kind of encyclopedia (Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism, 2010). These contributions do not dig very deeply, and there is some overlap, but they do give a very good idea of what Judaism was like in this period, a period in which a more or less clear Jewish identity was developed and the biblical texts as we now know them took on their definitive form and order. This process went hand-in-hand with the rise of political fanaticism and the strive for independence, which in turn led to the brutal repression by the foreign occupiers, - in fact it were more like mutually interacting processes -, culminating in the "definitive" dispersion of the Jewish people.

[Daniel Supimpa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: A collection of articles drawn from the monumental "Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism", provigind a large picture of the Judaism between the conquest by Alexander the Great (late 4th century BCE) and the Roman Emperor Hadrian and the Bar Kokhba Revolt (135 AD), or as John Collins says, the period "between the Bible and the Mishna" (p.2).

Overall, a pleasant reading, full of bibliographical gold for students of ancient Judaism, but also earliest Christianity in its Jewish context. The only setback was the often found issue with dictionary articles: lack of footnotes for specific issues exposed by authors. For example, I was really interested in Erich Gruen's chapter on Early Judaism in the Diaspora, and the ambivalent evidence of exile and return in Jewish documents from this period, pointing to a lack of interest in returning to the Holy Land, or with 'spiritual' understandings of homecoming. But... there is no specific data cited, either primary or secondary sources, which is frustrating for one trying to follow the argument more deeply. Other than that, the chapters demonstrate an evenly high quality. I was quite delighted in the clear and enthralling historical overview of Judaism by Seeman and Marshak, and the overview of the field of study by John Collins.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wide-ranging collection of articles that deal with pre-rabbinic Judaism both inside the borders of the Land of Israel and in the galut. Topics include the role of the Temple, various streams of Judaism, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the interaction between Jews and Greeks, the various aspects of the effects of Hellenism on Judaism, and more.

[Shane Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

2024 reads: 38

Rating: 4 stars

A fairly dense and thorough introduction to Early Judaism covering history, texts, theology, and social identity. Engaging (in parts) and helpful for a novice like me.

[Read for the NT Backgrounds seminar with Dr Jarvis Williams at SBTS]

[Guillaume Bourin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume contains the essays of "The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism," edited by the authors. Excellent and helpful little essays. Good introduction to the field of early Judaism

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative overview of Judaism from Alexander to Hadrian (more or less). Recommended.