A Companion to the Hellenistic and Roman Near East. Группа авторов. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

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against Rome (66–73 CE), which he published around 75 CE, and for his Anqtiquities of the Jews (published around 95 CE), which tells the story of Israel in 20 books from the creation of the world until the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, using as sources the books of the Hebrew Bible, and non-canonical Jewish texts like Maccabees. Josephus’s works, therefore, cover the whole of Herod’s reign, the fortunes of Herod’s family, and the rule of the Roman governors in Palestine until the outbreak of war, relying on sources no longer available to us. Although not conspicuous for his loyalty to his own people during the war of 66–70, and sometimes presenting events in which he was directly involved in a less than dispassionate manner, Josephus is the only writer to have left us a connected narrative of the history of the Jewish people from pre-Hasmonean times to the fall of the Temple. He wrote in Greek, and was thus able to command a non-Jewish readership which preserved his writing for posterity. Of all the Jewish sources noted in this essay, he is undoubtedly the best known, and certainly the most widely investigated as a source for historical material (Feldman and Hata 1989; Hadas-Lebel 1993; Rajak 2002; Mason 2003a; Sievers and Lembi 2005; see also Chapter 7).

      Some literary relationship (its precise nature is debated) is apparent between IV Ezra and a later text known as II Baruch, or the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch, composed most likely around 135 CE at the end of the Second Revolt against Rome. Predictions of a glorious future for Israel in a Messianic age following her humiliation at the hands of the Gentiles are here set forth as part of a programme determined by God, who will judge the wicked and Israel’s oppressors, and create for His people prosperity and peace (Harnisch 1969; Nir 2003). It is noteworthy that we possess no Jewish source in our period later than II Baruch which deals with future hopes and Messianic expectations in such detail. There is little doubt that hopes for the future fuelled the Second Revolt against Rome, which broke out on 132 CE under the leadership of Simeon ben Kosiba, whose followers called him Bar Kokhba (the Son of the Star) with reference to the messianic prophecy recorded in Numb 24:17. Between 1950 and 1965, documents in Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek relating to this revolt came to light: they were discovered in caves located in Nahal Hever (or in the case of some documents possibly in Nahal Se’elim) in the Judaean desert. Whilst these documents, sometimes referred to as the Bar Kokhba Letters, tell us little about the causes and overall progress of the revolt (these still remain matters of considerable debate), they indicate that Bar Kokhba was known to his supporters as “Prince of Israel”; that some non-Jews had joined the revolt (thus supporting some classical accounts of the revolt, indicating that it was no minor affair); and that the Jews were remarkably well-organized militarily, a fact corroborated by archaeological evidence from the same geographical area as the literary discoveries and from other sites (Eck 1999; Yadin e.a. 2002; Zissu e.a. 2011). Also at Nehal Hever were found documents belonging to a Jewish lady, Babatha (“the Babatha archive”), which date from the period c. 93–132 CE and are remarkably informative about the legal systems, both Jewish and Roman in use during this period (Oudshoorn 2007; see also Chapter 11).

      “Rabbinic Literature”

      That the Rabbis themselves formed a somewhat enclosed, rather exclusive group, small in numbers and accessible only to those with the necessary expertise to enable them to appreciate and take part in Rabbinic discourse, may nonetheless be granted; and the promulgation of their first written document, the Mishnah (English translation Danby 1933), underscores this point. It consists of a collection of Oral Torah (individual legal norms in conditional and unconditional formulations; disputes; some mini-narratives about named authorities, often illustrating legal points; rules for good conduct; and some parables and wisdom-utterances) deriving from the Tanna’im, the “repeaters” of the Oral Law. It is organized under six main headings or “orders.” These are Zera’im, “seeds” (the laws of agriculture); Mo’ed (the laws of festivals);