Catherine Hezser | SOAS University of London (original) (raw)

Books by Catherine Hezser

Hezser never fails to elevate our appreciation for rabbinic literature and deepen our understandi... more Hezser never fails to elevate our appreciation for rabbinic literature and deepen our understanding of the richly hued world the rabbis inhabited. In her inimitable erudite and lucid fashion, she situates the writings of the rabbis within the broader multi-cultural concept of scholasticism. Rabbinic Scholarship in the Context of Late Antique Scholasticism offers fresh insights into the writings of the rabbis in general and draws much-needed attention to the Talmud Yerushalmi.'

Biblical monotheism imagines God as a slave master who owns and has total control over humans as ... more Biblical monotheism imagines God as a slave master who owns and has total control over humans as his slaves, who are expected to show obedience to him. The theological use of slavery metaphors has a limited value, however, and is deeply problematic from the perspective of real-life slave practices. Ancient authors already supplemented the metaphor of God as a slave master with other images and emphasized God's difference from human slave owners. Ancient and modern experiences of and attitudes toward slavery determined the understanding and applicability of the slavery metaphors. This Element examines the use of slavery metaphors in ancient Judaism and Christianity in the context of the social reality of slavery, modern abolitionism, and historical-critical approaches to the ancient texts.

This volume focuses on the major issues and debates in the study of Jews and Judaism in late anti... more This volume focuses on the major issues and debates in the study of Jews and Judaism in late antiquity (3rd to 7th c. C.E.), providing cutting-edge surveys of the state of scholarship, main topics and research questions, methodological approaches, and avenues for future research.

Based on both Jewish and non-Jewish, literary and material sources, this volume takes an interdisciplinary approach involving historians of ancient Judaism, scholars of rabbinic literature, archaeologists, epigraphers, art historians, and Byzantinists. Developments within Jewish society and culture are viewed within the respective regional, political, cultural, and socio-economic contexts in which they took place. Special focus is given to the impact of the Christianization of the Roman Empire on Jews, from administrative, legal, social, and cultural points of view. The contributors examine how the confrontation with Christianity changed Jewish practices, perceptions and organizational structures, such as, for example, the emergence of local Jewish communities around synagogues as central religious spaces. Special chapters are devoted to the eastern and western Jewish Diaspora in Late Antiquity, especially Sasanian Persia but also Roman Italy, Egypt, Syria and Arabia, North Africa, and Asia Minor, to provide a comprehensive assessment of the situation and life experiences of Jews and Judaism during this period.

1. Introduction: Jews and Judaism in Late Antiquity, Catherine Hezser; PART I: Jews in the Byzantine Empire; 2. From Roman Palestine to a Christian “Holy Land”, Hagith S. Sivan; 3. Changes in the Infrastructure and Population of Byzantine Palestine, Claudine Dauphin; 4. Jews, Judaism and the Christianization of the Roman Empire, Seth Schwartz; 5. Jews and the Imperial Cult, Holger Zellentin; PART II: Judaism and Christianity; 6. Jews and the Emergence of Christianity, Maren R. Niehoff; 7. Synagogues and Churches as the Centers of Local Communities, Alexei Sivertsev; 8. The Rabbinic Representation of Jesus and his Followers, Thierry Murcia; 9. The Church Fathers on Jews and Judaism, Burton L. Visotzky; 10. Institutionalization, “Orthodoxy”, and Hierarchy, Hayim Lapin; PART III: Rabbis, Jurists, Philosophers, and Holy Men; 11. Rabbis and the Image of the Intellectual, Catherine Hezser; 12. Rabbis and Jurists in the Roman East, Yair Furstenberg; 13. Personal Representations of the Holy, Michael L. Satlow; 14. Attitudes Toward the Body, Catherine Hezser; 15. Travel Narratives and the Construction of Identity, Joshua Levinson; PART IV: The Creation of Rabbinic Literature; 16. From Oral Discourse to Written Documents, Reuven Kiperwasser; 17. Antiquarianism, Scholasticism, and Rabbinic Anthologies, Catherine Hezser; 18. Rabbinic Literature and Roman-Byzantine Legal Compilations, Marton Ribary; 19. Rabbinic and Patristic Interpretations of the Bible, Carol Bakhos; 20. Jewish Letter Writing in Late Antiquity, Lutz Doering; PART V: The Development of a Jewish Visual Culture; 21. Visuality in Rabbinic Judaism, Karen B. Stern; 22. The Appearance of Jewish Figural Art, Lee I. Levine; 23. Synagogue Architecture, Decoration, and Furnishings, Zeev Weiss; 24. A Shared Visual Language, Rachel Hachlili; 25. The Liturgical Performance of Identity, Ophir Münz-Manor; PART VI: Rabbinic Culture in Sasanian Persia; 26. Jewish and Persian Leadership Structures, Geoffrey Herman; 27. Babylonian Jewish Communities, Simcha Gross; 28. Babylonian Judaism and Zoroastrianism, Shai Secunda; 29. Representations of Persia in the Babylonian Talmud, Jason Zion Mokhtarian; PART VII: The Expansion of the Jewish Diaspora; 30. Jews in Late Antique Rome, Samuele Rocca; 31. Jews in Late Antique Egypt, Rodrigo Laham Cohen; 32. Jews in Late Antique Syria and Arabia, Maurice Sartre; 33. Jews in Asia Minor, Paul Trebilco; 34. Jewish Communities in North Africa, Stéphanie É. Binder and Thomas Villey.

Table of Contents: Introduction: The Significance of Health in Jewish History, Culture, and Soci... more Table of Contents:
Introduction: The Significance of Health in Jewish History, Culture, and Society
Catherine Hezser
1. Trauma, Brokenness and Pain in the Book of Lamentations: Empathetic Attention as a Hermeneutic for Thinking About the Restoration of Health
Katherine E. Southwood
2. Health and Hellenism: Philo of Alexandria’s Discourse on Health in the Context of Greek Philosophy and Hippocratic Medicine
Catherine Hezser
3. Definitions of the Human Body and the Order of Creation in Rabbinic Literature
Reuven Kiperwasser
4. Physical Strength and Weakness as Means of Social Stratification in Palestinian Rabbinic Discourse of Late Antiquity
Catherine Hezser
5. Medieval Jewish Views on the Preservation of Health at the Crossroads of the Arabic and Latin Medical Traditions
Carmen Caballero Navas
6. “The Trouble That Stalks in Darkness” (Ps 91:6): Jewish Resilience During the Plague in Early Modern Prague
Maria Diemling
7. Humoral Regimens of Health in the Jewish Medical Cultures of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
Magdaléna Jánošíková
8. Somatic and Spiritual Health in Times of Change: Kabbalists, Rabbis and New Approaches to Medicine in the Eighteenth Century
Nimrod Zinger
9. Health as a Jewish National Ideal in Early Zionist Writings
Catherine Hezser
10. Quality of Life versus Sanctity of Life: Euthanasia in Modern Halakhic Discourse and in Israeli Law
Irit Offer Stark and William Friedman

Ancient Mesopotamian, biblical, rabbinic, and Christian literature was created and transmitted by... more Ancient Mesopotamian, biblical, rabbinic, and Christian literature was created and transmitted by the intellectual elite and therefore presents their world views and perspectives. This volume investigates for the first time whether and to what extent religious knowledge-"sacred" narratives, customary practices, legal rules, family traditions, festival observances-was accessible to and known by ordinary people beyond religious functionaries.

Paperback. edition, Oxford: OUP, 2020

Papers by Catherine Hezser

Handbook of the Septuagint, vol. 4: The Historical and Cultural Context of the Septuagint, ed. Walter Ameling (Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2024), 200-14.

Judaism Ancien/Ancient Judaism 11 (2024) 11-30

Paperback. edition, Oxford: OUP, 2020

Handbook of the Septuagint, vol. 4: The Historical and Cultural Context of the Septuagint, ed. Walter Ameling (Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2024), 200-14.

Judaism Ancien/Ancient Judaism 11 (2024) 11-30

in: Making History: Studies in Rabbinic History, Literature, and Culture in Honor of Richard L. Kalmin, ed. Carol Bakhos and Alyssa M. Gray (Providence, RI: Brown Judaic Studies, 2024), 385-407.

in: The Power of Parables. Essays on the Comparative Study of Jewish and Christian Parables, ed. Eric Ottenhejm, Marcel Poorthuis, and Annette Merz (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2023), 366-87.

This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

in: Looking In, Looking Out: Jews and Non-Jews in Mutual Contemplation. Essays for Martin Goodman on His 70th Birthday, ed. Kimberley Czajkowski and David A. Friedman (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2023), 179-202.

Svensk Exegetisk Årsbok [the Swedish Exegetical Annual] 88 (2023) 14-32.

in: Annette Merz, Eric Ottenheijm, and Nikki Spoelstra (eds.), The Power of Parables: Essays on the Comparative Study of Jewish and Christian Parables (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2023), 367-88.

In antiquity, parables served as media of moral and theological teaching because they employed im... more In antiquity, parables served as media of moral and theological teaching because they employed images that were based on the ancient audience's own experiences. They do not simply replicate social reality, however, but are fictional constructs that play with and subvert reality for ideological purposes. As John Dominic Crossan has already emphasized, New Testament parables "involve fictional characters in fictional stories."1 While he concedes that realistic locations may be used ("factual geography"), he argues that "all else is fiction."2 This statement seems to be an overgeneralization, however. While parables feature anonymous stock characters, who lack individual characteristics, some aspects may be based on actual practice and lived experience. Unusual elements that lead to the meaning of a parable are identifiable only on the basis of their difference from ordinary life. In the words of John Kloppenborg, "one of the hallmarks of at least some of Jesus' parables is that they tell of unusual actions or unexpected reactions. But they do so by setting a context which invokes the typicalities and commonplaces of ancient Mediterranean life."3 What is crucial for the proper interpretation of parables is the identification of unconventional and transgressive elements. This task can be accomplished only through the study of parables in the context of ancient Jewish daily life. Each individual parable requires its own contextualization. The methodological approach of comparing details of the parable as a literary text with what we know historically about everyday life in Roman Palestine applies to all parables. Everyday life encompasses many different realms, ranging from social and family relations to work conditions, meal practices, and etiquette. The historical investigation of these areas varies and depends on the available

in: Resonanzen. Gerd Theissen zum 80. Geburtstag, ed. P. von Gemünden, A. Merz, H. Schwier (Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2023), 19-23.

in: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Travel Experiences, 3rd centuries BCE—8th centuries CE, ed.S. Luther, B.P..Hartog, and C.E. Wilde (Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2023), 251-68.

Address information and Contributor Contract Date____________________ (By inserting the check mar... more Address information and Contributor Contract Date____________________ (By inserting the check mark you confirm the conclusion of the Contributor Contract for your contribution. In case of technical problems with the check mark, you can agree to the contract by typing "Confirmed" in the date field, e.g.: "Confirmed, 17.4.2020".

in: Religion and Outer Space, ed. Eric M. Mazur and Sarah MacFarland Taylor (London and New York: Routledge, 2023), 9-24.

Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. Tim Whitmarsh (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2023).

Whether the modern term anti-Semitism, popularized by the German anti-Semitic agitator and founde... more Whether the modern term anti-Semitism, popularized by the German anti-Semitic agitator and founder of the League of Antisemites Wilhelm Marr (1819-1904), is appropriate for antiquity is controversial. Scholars have proposed to use alternative terms such as Judeophobia or hatred against Jews instead. Similarly controversial is the question whether racism existed and was directed against Jews in antiquity. Greek and Latin writers' expression of anti-Jewish arguments and slanderous allegations against Jews need to be investigated within the respective social, political, and cultural contexts in which they occur. Several anti-Jewish writers lived in Egypt and created variant versions of a counter-narrative to the biblical exodus story. Egyptian "anti-Semitism" is usually explained by reference to relations between Jews and non-Jews in Alexandria and the Hellenistic and Roman rulers' treatment of the different ethnic groups. Recurrent anti-Jewish arguments are directed against beliefs and practices associated with Jews, such as Jewish monotheism, Sabbath observance, circumcision, and abstinence from pork. Rather than being based on detailed knowledge of Judaism or close observance of Jewish practices, they reflect misunderstandings and misinterpretations. Some allegations were entirely fictional. Greek and Roman authors' claims of their own culture's superiority over Jews as an ethnic and religious minority flared up in times of rebellion and defeat. Conflicts and clashes also happened in Antioch, Caesarea, and Rome, where Jews were frequently expelled. Major Roman authors expressed hostile views of Jews and Judaism. Roman emperors' policies shifted between submission and toleration. Not every form of conflict between Jews and others can be called anti-Semitism. When pagans became Christian, traditional pagan attitudes towards Jews merged with Christian anti-Judaism.

in Shaye J.D. Cohen (ed.), What is the Mishnah? The State of the Question (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2023), 141-66., 2023

Annali di Storia dell’Esegesi 39:1 (2022) 27-46, 2022

Vassiliadis (Aristotéleio Panepistímio Thessaloníkis). Annali di Storia dell'Esegesi è classifica... more Vassiliadis (Aristotéleio Panepistímio Thessaloníkis). Annali di Storia dell'Esegesi è classificata in fascia A per l'Area 11 e per l'Area 10 dall'ANVUR (Agenzia nazionale di valutazione del sistema universitario e della ricerca); e in categoria A e INT1 da ERIH (European Reference Index for the Humanities). Tutti gli articoli sono sottoposti al processo di peer-review. Gli articoli vanno inviati al seguente indirizzo:

in: Slavery in the Late Antique World, 150-700 CE, ed. Chris de Wet et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022), 129-48.

Just like other late antique societies, Jewish society in late antique Palestine was a slaveholdi... more Just like other late antique societies, Jewish society in late antique Palestine was a slaveholding society in which slavery was a common phenomenon of daily life. 1 Even though the proportional numbers of slaves within the population would not have reached the extent of Roman mass slavery, many similarities existed between Jewish and Roman slave practices and attitudes towards slaves. 2 At the same time, we must ask whether Jews, who were subjugated to Roman and Byzantine Christian imperial rule and considered the Torah 3 their most authoritative moral guide, developed different perspectives on slavery and treated slaves differently than non-Jewish Romans, whether pagan or Christian, in late antiquity. Was there something specifically Jewish about Jewish slaveholding practices in late antiquity? Did Jews, who commemorated the Exodus from Egyptian slavery in the annual Passover holiday and who were seen as a 'servile' people by Roman rulers, develop alternative approaches to slavery? I have to state at the outset that Jewish literary evidence from late antiquity consists of rabbinic literature only. The late antique rabbinic anthologies of the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds and Amoraic Midrashim deal with slaves and slavery from a specific rabbinic perspective; that is, they present the views of the self-styled rabbinic religious and intellectual elite. Although the practices of non-rabbinic Jews are also occasionally mentioned in these literary works, whatever is said about

Reading, Writing and Bookish Circles in the Ancient Mediterranean, ed. Garrick Allen (London: Bloomsbury, 2022), 66-87.

in: Overcoming Dichotomies, ed. Albertina Oegema, Jonathan Pater, and Martijn Stoutjesdijk (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022), 295-325.

The motif of finding a treasure appears in parables in the Gospels of Matthew and Thomas as well ... more The motif of finding a treasure appears in parables in the Gospels of Matthew and Thomas as well as in rabbinic parables and stories. Finding a treasure or jewellery seems to be a stock motif in ancient Jewish and Christian sources of diverse literary forms. In the respective literary contexts, the motif is expanded and used for a variety of purposes. The focus is usually on the finder's reaction and its moral and theological implications. In ancient Jewish society, finding a valuable object or money would have been considered a divine blessing, At the same time, the proper handling of a find, that is, whether it had to be announced publicly and who had ownership rights, was regulated by both rabbinic halakhah and Roman law. An investigation of the legal rules concerning finds can indicate which of the reactions and behaviours mentioned in the parables and stories can be considered transgressive and/or morally improper. The meaning of the literary texts can be understood properly only if the social reality and the legal issues concerning finds are taken into account. In the following, I shall first examine the treasure parable in its literary context in Matthew before comparing it with other Jewish and Christian parables, fables, and stories in which the treasure motif plays an important role. This comparison will indicate the variant ways in which the treasure motif was used to express different theological and ethical values and concerns. The literary, discursive role of the treasure motif functioned in a much wider socioeconomic context in which the hope for-and actual reality of-finding hidden valuables was a phenomenon that also found repercussions in rabbinic and Roman law. Although we cannot know for certain whether and to what extent the tradents and editors of the narratives were familiar with particular legal rules, the legal discussions enable us to pay attention to specific details of the texts that seem to have been relevant in connection with such finds. Archaeological evidence of hidden hoards provides a historical basis to the otherwise fanciful fairytale motif of the narratives. 9 See, e. g., b. Shab. 88b: in a statement attributed to R. Yehoshua b. Levi, the Torah is compared to "the secret treasure which has been hidden" by God before the world was created to eventually reveal it to Moses. Elsewhere (b. Shab. 10b) the Sabbath is presented as a gift that God gave to Moses.

in: Prayer and the Ancient City. Influences of Urban Space, ed. Maik Patzelt, Jörg Rüpke, and Annette Weissenrieder (Tuebingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2021), 63-76., 2021

in: La "sacerdotalisation" dans les premiers écrits mystiques juifs et chrétiens, ed. D. Hamidovic et al. (Turnhout: Brepols, 2021) 41-56.

Contrairement à l'opinion commune, la destruction du Temple de Jérusalem en 70 de notre ère n'a p... more Contrairement à l'opinion commune, la destruction du Temple de Jérusalem en 70 de notre ère n'a pas conduit à la disparition des prêtres et des sacrifices. Ces derniers perdurèrent quelques années sur les ruines du temple et les prêtres conservèrent leur statut social et symbolique dans la société juive en Judée et en dispersion. Néanmoins, le sacerdoce et les sacrifices furent au centre de débats voire de conflits dès les derniers siècles avant notre ère comme l'illustrent les manuscrits de Qumrân. Les disputes redoublèrent à la fin du i er siècle de notre ère. Les animateurs de ces âpres discussions provenaient de différents groupes sociaux établis autour du bassin méditerranéen : depuis les Sages ou rabbins jusqu'aux premiers chrétiens, depuis les partisans d'une restauration du temple aux tenants de la seule synagogue. Des traces de ces débats peuvent se lire dans les écrits laissés par ces groupes comme l'Épître aux Hébreux, l' Apocalypse de Jean, l'Homélie pascale de Méliton de Sardes, l'Évangile de Judas, les premiers écrits rabbiniques, pour ne citer que quelques exemples. Autrement exprimé, le temple étant devenu un horizon pour les juifs, il s'agit de voir comment/pourquoi/quand cette institution, alors qu'elle n'existe officiellement plus, est devenue un objet de dispute entre des groupes religieux. C'est pourquoi un projet de recherche a été noué entre David Hamidović (Université de Lausanne), Simon C. Mimouni (École pratique des hautes études, Paris) et Louis Painchaud (Université Laval, Québec) à partir de 2012. Il s'agit de comprendre les tenants et les aboutissants des débats autour du temple, des sacrifices et du sacerdoce entre ces groupes. En bref, quels sont les enjeux autour de ces éléments alors disparus ou en perte de vitesse pour les prêtres et les lévites ? S'agit-il des derniers feux d'un ancien régime ou bien les signes d'une reconfiguration de la religion juive, ses ministres et ses institutions, dans un monde juif nouveau ? Les concepts de « Templelization » 1 dans le monde anglo-saxon, de « Templisierung » 2 en Allemagne ou de « pensée du Temple » 3 en France

forthcoming in: Slavery in the Late Antique World, 150-700 CE, ed. Chris L. de Wet (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 129-48.

in: Les Mondes de l'esclavage. Une histoire comparée, ed. Paulin Ismard (Paris: Seuil, 2021), 61-66..

Review of Biblical Literature 11 (2024)

in: Theologische Literaturzeitung 149:4 (2024) 285-87.

Theologische Literaturzeitung 148: 1/2 (2023) 19-20.

Journal for the Study of Judaism 53:3 (2022) 445-7.

Theologische Literaturzeitung 147:6 (2022) 547-9.

Theologische Literaturzeitung 147:1/2, 2022

Journal for the Study of Judaism, 2022

Theologische Literaturzeitung 146:6 (2021) 538-40.

Theologische Literaturzeitung 145:10 (2020) 920-22.

Rottenburger Jahrbuch für Kirchengeschichte (RJKG) 39, 2021

BUCHBESPRECHUNGEN 425 schaft einschließt. An dieser letzten Stelle spricht Josephus seine eigene ... more BUCHBESPRECHUNGEN 425 schaft einschließt. An dieser letzten Stelle spricht Josephus seine eigene Anschauung wohl auch am deutlichsten aus. Der Exkurs »Zur Eschatologie des Josephus« liefert ein Zwischenfazit. Zunächst sichtet er die bisherige Forschung, die sich vor allem um die Alternativen Auferstehungsglaube oder Unsterblichkeitslehre dreht. Daraufhin fasst Swoboda das Ergebnis seiner Untersuchungen in 16 Punkten zusammen: 1. Josephus bedient sich disparater Vorstellungen, und das offenbar nicht nur aus pragmatischen Gründen; 2. er ermangelt einer einheitlichen Begrifflichkeit; 3. er glaubt unzweifelhaft an die Existenz einer Seele; 4. Leib und Seele trennen sich im Tod; 5. es gibt ein (wie auch immer geartetes) postmortales Weiterleben; 6. der Leib besteht aus vergänglichem Stoff; 7. die Seelen werden nach dem Tod entlohnt oder bestraft; 8. Zwischenzustände nach dem Tod sind nicht im Blick; 9. es gibt Heils-und Straforte; 10. für die guten Seelen nimmt Josephus eine Art Seelenwanderung an; 11. er akzeptiert die Vorstellung von Geistern der Verstorbenen; 12. die Formulierung einer leiblichen Auferstehungshoffnung scheint er zu umgehen-weder vertritt er sie, noch widerspricht er ihr; 13. unklar bleibt die Relation zwischen nationaler und kosmischer Eschatologie; 14. er interpretiert die jüdische Messiasprophezeiung um auf Vespasian; 15. das Ende der Welt hat die Gestalt eines Feuergerichts; 16. schließlich muss man sich klar machen, dass Josephus als Historiker schreibt und nicht als Systematiker, weshalb man seiner Eschatologie auch nicht zu viel an Stringenz abverlangen sollte. Was unter dem Titel »Textpragmatischer Vergleich« (Kap. 5) zur Sprache kommt, fügt die Beobachtungen zum Thema »Leben nach dem Tod« noch einmal in den Rahmen der Dissertation ein. Weitere Aspekte treten hinzu, die an der Auferstehungshoffnung gewonnen werden können: die Eschatologie der Juden lässt sich als Ausdruck ihres Glaubens verstehen, der die maßgebliche Motivation für Standhaftigkeit und Todesbereitschaft darstellt und sich als Quelle von Tugend erweist. Den Ertrag dieser Studie für die Josephusforschung wie für die Bibelwissenschaften bündeln dann die beiden letzten Kapitel 6 und 7. Ein Leben nach dem Tode gibt es für Josephus nicht nur bei fremden Völkern wahrzunehmen, sondern vor allem bei dem eigenen Volk. Deshalb schreibt er darüber auch nicht mit der Distanz des Beobachters, sondern mit der Empathie des Apologeten und der Kenntnis des Insiders. Zugleich versucht er, mit dem Thema eine Brücke zwischen Judentum und Völkerwelt zu bauen: Alle diejenigen, die im Sinne Gottes handeln, besitzen sowohl den Mut als auch die Tugend, »im Angesicht des Todes Jenseitiges zu bedenken« (S. 126). Der abschließende Ausblick auf das Neue Testament, namentlich aber auf das lukanische Doppelwerk, bleibt weithin im Formalen und Strukturellen stecken. Hier könnte es lohnen, noch einmal das Buch von Outi Lehtipuu, The Afterlife Imagery in Luke's Story of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Leiden-Boston 2007, zu Rate zu ziehen, denn gerade die Episode in Lk 16,19-31 bietet sich als Testfall für Jenseitsvorstellungen im Kontext erzählender Texte an. Der Blick auf Josephus hilft, die frühchristliche Hoffnung einer leiblichen Auferstehung schärfer zu erfassen. Vor allem lässt es erkennen, welches paränetische Potential darin enthalten ist. Diesen Horizont weiter ausgeleuchtet zu haben, ist das Verdienst der Arbeit von Sören Swoboda. Christfried Böttrich

Journal of Modern Jewish Studies 20 (2021)

Review of Biblical Literature (RBL), 2021

Review of Biblical Literature, 2020

The study of the representation of women in ancient Jewish and Christian texts has seen a prolife... more The study of the representation of women in ancient Jewish and Christian texts has seen a proliferation of publications since the 1990s. Scholars continue to look at the evidence from new perspectives, detect gaps in our knowledge, and open up new areas of investigation. This volume, which is based on contributions to a 2015 conference on "Women at Qumran" held in Schwerte, Germany, contributes to this research trajectory.

Rottenburger Jahrbuch für Kirchengeschichte Band 39 /2020

Journal of British Studies, Volume 58, Issue 2 , 2019

The Journal of Religion 99:3 (2019) 395-7., 2019

Forthcoming in: The Use and Dissemination of Religious Knowledge in Antiquity, ed. Diana Edelman and Catherine Hezser (Sheffield: Equinox 2020).

The papers published in this volume were presented at an international conference organised in co... more The papers published in this volume were presented at an international conference organised in collaboration with the Faculty of Theology of the University of Oslo and held at SOAS, University of London, from 5-7 November 2018. The conference examined the social and institutional contexts and oral, literary, and material formats in which religious knowledge emerged and was transmitted in antiquity, from ancient Mesopotamian until early Byzantine times. We investigated settings-e.g. the family and household; the temple, synagogue, church, and "school"-that enabled the transmission of customary practices and ancestral traditions from one person to another and from one generation to the next.

forthcoming in: Catherine Hezser (ed.). Judaism and Health: Tradition, History, and Practice (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2020).

Rather than being mere physical attributes that indicate a person's wellbeing and (impending) ill... more Rather than being mere physical attributes that indicate a person's wellbeing and (impending) illness, references to a strong or weak body have a much wider significance in Palestinian rabbinic texts of the first four centuries C.E. They serve as social markers that distinguish between youth and old age, men and women, soldiers and civilians, political office holders and intellectuals, and in the broadest terms also between the Roman conquerors and conquered Jews in the highly loaded discourse of late antiquity. In the following, I shall explore these connotations in more detail in the context of rabbinic and Graeco-Roman uses of the terminology. Since the terms and their associations are also ideologically loaded in contemporary discourse, it is important to critically examine them in the particular historical, political, and cultural frameworks and literary contexts in which they are used. While contemporary discourse is based on earlier traditions and ideas, the institutions of patriarchy and empire, social stratification and ageism are expressed differently in the distinct time periods and geographical regions.

forthcoming in: Judaism and Health: Tradition, History, Practice, ed. Catherine Hezser (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2020).

in: Catherine Hezser (ed.), Judaism and Health: Tradition, History, and Practice (Leiden and Boston: Brill, forthcoming)., 2020

forthcoming in: Parables and Fables in the Graeco-Roman World, ed. Albertina Oegema et al., WUNT, Tuebingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2019.

The motif of finding a treasure appears in parables in the gospels of Matthew and Thomas as well ... more The motif of finding a treasure appears in parables in the gospels of Matthew and Thomas as well as in rabbinic parables and stories. Finding a treasure or jewellery seems to be a stock motif in ancient Jewish and Christian sources of diverse literary forms. In the respective literary contexts, the motif is expanded and used for a variety of purposes. The focus is usually on the finder's reaction and its moral and theological implications. In ancient Jewish society, finding a valuable object or money would have been considered a divine blessing, At the same time, the proper handling of a find, that is, whether it had to be announced publicly and who had ownership rights, was regulated by both rabbinic halakhah and Roman law. An investigation of the legal rules concerning finds can indicate which of the reactions and behaviours mentioned in the parables and stories can be considered transgressive and/or morally improper. The meaning of the literary texts can be understood properly only if the social reality and the legal issues concerning finds are taken into consideration. 1. The Treasure Parable in Matthew 13:44. The gospel of Matthew transmits the following parable: ------------1 I would like to thank Jonathan J.J. Pater, Martijn Stoutjesdijk, and Albertina Oegema for their valuable comments on an earlier version of this text.

presented at the l'Institut romand des sciences biblique in Lausanne, 20 October 2021, forthcoming in workhop publication: Fonction et autorite religieuse des femmes au Ier siecle, organised by Simon Butticaz and David Hamidovic

Most of our information about ancient Jewish women's religious practice stems from late antiquity... more Most of our information about ancient Jewish women's religious practice stems from late antiquity and appears in the form of rabbinic texts and synagogue donor inscriptions. Much has already been written on this late antique source material and its usefulness for the reconstruction of Jewish women's history. 1 The later sources cannot be used for the situation and religious practices of Jewish women in the first century, however, since they reflect developments, values, and circumstances of the third to sixth centuries, a time when rabbis had established themselves as religious leaders and synagogues existed as central religious institutions in analogy to churches. 2 For the earlier period, and especially for the time before 70 C.E., we have much less source material on Jewish women's lives and practices. Besides the gospels of the New Testament, which are written from a partly polemic Christian perspective, Josephus's references to women almost exclusively concern women of the upper strata of society, especially the Herodian royal family, and their female slaves. They can therefore not be considered representative of Jewish women of the lower and middle strata of society.

presented at the conference, "Theology of Prophecy in Dialogue", University of Paderborn, 23-25 August 2021; forthcoming in conference volume.

In the Exodus narrative of the Hebrew Bible Moses is presented as the divinely sanctioned "nation... more In the Exodus narrative of the Hebrew Bible Moses is presented as the divinely sanctioned "national" leader of Israelites, who led them out of the oppressive situation they found themselves in as migrants in Egypt (Ex. 3:16-22) and conveyed to them a set of legal rules concerning all aspects of life, endorsed by the claim of divine revelation (Ex. 19 and 34). In later Jewish and rabbinic consciousness, this latter aspect predominates: the Torah was given to Moses at Sinai-Moses is the intermediary through whom God delivered his Torah to his people. 1 In their focus on Torah study, interpretation, and application rabbis considered themselves to stand in a direct line of sages that could be traced back to Moses at Sinai. 2 Their "oral" Torah was linked to the "written" Torah, rabbinic halakhah continued and expanded biblical law. 3 Like Moses, late antique rabbis main role was that of "lawgivers", who tried to regulate the behavior of their fellow-Jews not only in cultic but also in inter-personal relationships resembling Roman civil law. 4 In the Qur'an, Muhammad appears as a prophet succeeding and superseding Moses (Musa) and Jesus, whose prophecy he is believed to have completed. 5 Angelika Neuwirth has

Forthcoming in: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Travel Experiences (3rd c. BCE - 8th c. CE), ed. Barry Hartog, Susanne Luther, and Clare Wilde (Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2021).

In antiquity as nowadays, spatial perception and identity were closely linked. 1 The way in which... more In antiquity as nowadays, spatial perception and identity were closely linked. 1 The way in which an individual and a group perceived the world was an indicator of personal and group identity.

Lecture given at the University of Zurich on 23 Sept. 2019.

presented at the conference, "Children of Abraham: Jewish and Islamic Studies in an Academic Setting", University of Uppsala, Sweden, 23-24 April 2019.

Judaism in its wider meaning, encompassing the history, literature, religion, and culture of Jews... more Judaism in its wider meaning, encompassing the history, literature, religion, and culture of Jews from ancient to modern times, is taught in a variety of disciplinary contexts at European universities nowadays. While departments that are dedicated to Jewish Studies as a separate discipline are still rare and found in a few major cities only, particular aspects of Judaism are taught in courses offered by departments of Theology and Study of Religions. Although a more comprehensive study of the Jewish experience and cultural expression is possible in dedicated Jewish Studies programs only, courses on Judaism that are part of Theology and Study of Religions are beneficial for the students of those disciplines, who might otherwise not be able to acquire knowledge about Judaism at the origins of Christianity and as one of the so-called Abrahamic religions. The disciplinary context determines the subject matter taught and the subject matter corresponds to and supplements other subjects within that discipline. A conflict of interest may occur if the discipline's ideological basis conflicts with scientific approaches to Jews and Judaism. 1. Judaism in the Context of Christian Theology Until the 1960s, when separate Institutes for Jewish Studies (Institut für Judaistik) were established the Christian Bible was possible only on the basis of knowledge in ancient Judaism. Franz Delitzsch (1813-1890) had founded the first Institutum Judaicum in Leipzig in 1886. During the Nazi period the academic study of Judaism was prohibited. In 1948 a new institute was established in Münster. Nowadays the connection with Delitzsch is considered problematic, since Delitzsch was involved in missionary activity among Jews. His interest in the study of Judaism was therefore not purely academic but ideological, guided by the belief in Christianity's superiority over Judaism. 1 The embeddedness of the study of Judaism within Protestant Theology faculties has wideranging consequences as far as Germany is concerned. Like all professors at Theology faculties, a professor of Jewish Studies at an Institutum Judaicum must be a member of the Protestant Church and approved by the church on the basis of his or her affiliation with Christianity (the so-called

presented at the SBL conference in Denver in the section "Religious Competition in Late Antiquity", 17 November 2018, 2018

Forthcoming in: Matthias Armgardt and Catherine Hezser, eds, How to Interpret Ancient Law? Ancient Law and Religions 1 (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2019).

forthcoming in: Johannes Hahn (ed.), Expropriation and Destruction of Synagogues in Antiquity, (Leiden and Boston: Brill), 2023

forthcoming in: Temas Medievales vol. 25, 2017, ed. Rodrigo Laham Cohen. Buenos Aires, Argentina.

When setting out to examine the role of written texts in late antique Palestinian Judaism, one ne... more When setting out to examine the role of written texts in late antique Palestinian Judaism, one needs to take care to avoid certain pitfalls, namely, to argue retrospectively, on the basis of the later literary evidence and rabbinic study in institutional academies. Both types of evidence point to post-Talmudic, Geonic times as a period of change, 1 culminating in the circulation of the first Jews 'books' in the form of codices in the Near and Middle East of the tenth and eleventh centuries. 2 The Mishnah, Tosefta, and Talmuds have been studied in batei midrash and yeshivot since the Middle Ages. 3 The various forms of rabbinic study that developed once the written documents were compiled, once codices had replaced scrolls, and once Talmud academies had 1------------

After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. rabbinic sages seem to have replaced the Je... more After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. rabbinic sages seem to have replaced the Jerusalem Temple as locations of the holy. Unlike the Temple as a fixed and central holy place, rabbis as personal repositories of the holy were located at many different places of the Land of Israel and formed a decentralised movement. Those who sought advice from sages would not always have had local rabbis available or preferred to contact more eminent sages at more or less distant locations. They would therefore have had to travel to the sage themselves. Similarly, students travelled from their hometowns and -villages, even between Palestine and Babylonia, to study with prominent sages. This phenomenon can be compared with Graeco-Roman and Christian travel to consult "holy men" in late antiquity. This paper argues that the more personalised and individualised access to holiness and advice in leading a religious life provided by late antique sages and "holy men" was based on mobility and decentralization. In post-70 times the centralised, hierarchical, anonymous and ritualised Temple service conducted by priests was replaced by a decentralised, individualised and case-based approach to holiness represented by rabbis. This radically new approach permitted the constant adaptation of religious practice to new circumstances and facilitated the continuity of Judaism in a diasporised Land of Israel in late antiquity and in the Jewish Diaspora from the Middle Ages onwards.

in: The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Law, ed. Brent A. Strawn, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press 2015, 312-19.

Theologische Realenzyklopaedie (TRE) Bd. XXXV, Lieferung 3/4 (2003) 625-8.

Theologische Realenzyklopaedie (TRE) Bd. XXXII, Lieferung 4/5, 2001