A Kingdom of Priests: Ancestry and Merit in Ancient Judaism

Martha Himmelfarb

Published by University of Pennsylvania Press 2007

A Kingdom of Priests

Ancestry and Merit in Ancient Judaism

Martha Himmelfarb

In the series Jewish Culture and Contexts

https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812202274

Overview
Contents

About this book

Considers a range of texts—including the Book of Watchers, Book of Jubilees, legal documents from the Dead Sea scrolls, writings of Philo of Alexandria, and the Book of Revelation—to explore the tensions inherent in Second Temple Judaism's emphasis on ancestry as the primary criterion for inclusion among the chosen people of Israel.

Author / Editor information

Martha Himmelfarb is Professor of Religion at Princeton University. She is the author of Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses and Tours of Hell: An Apocalyptic Form in Jewish and Christian Literature, the latter also published by the University of Pennsylvania Press.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 1. Priest and Scribe Ancestry and Professional Skill in the Book of the Watchers, the Wisdom of Ben Sira, and Aramaic Levi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
Chapter 2. Jubilees' Kingdom of Priests Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
Chapter 3. Priesthood and Purity Laws The Temple Scroll and the Damascus Document Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	85
Chapter 4. Priesthood and Sectarianism The Rule of the Community, the Damascus Document, and the Book of Revelation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
Chapter 5. Priesthood and Allegory Philo and Alexandrian Judaism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
Chapter 6. "The Children of Abraham Your Friend" The End of Priesthood, the Rise of Christianity, and the Neutralization of Jewish Sectarianism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	160
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	237
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	255
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	269

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 280
Keywords: Religion; History; Ancient Studies; Jewish Studies; Religious Studies

eBook

Published: May 29, 2013
ISBN: 9780812202274