L3 Forms of Jewish Scripture

In the first century CE the Jewish Bible was a central symbol of Jews throughout the world yet also as diverse in its forms and in its interpretations as Judaism was itself diverse and even divided in its response to Hellenistic culture and Roman rule. Different groups of Jews disagreed on what books constituted Scripture. They read their texts in different languages, some in Hebrew some in Greek. Distinct lines of biblical interpretations also developed in this time period as the Dead Sea Scrolls (Qumran Bible) reveal.

Our knowledge of the Jewish Scriptures in the first century of the common era (C.E.) is based on literary evidence.
1. Judaism at that time was distinctly unified and internally divided. From the outside it appears as an extended family, a “second race” among the nations. From within, Judaism takes many and competing forms.
2. The term Torah can stand as a central symbol that unified Jews throughout the Mediterranean world. The Torah is a shared set of texts, the Law of Moses. Torah connotes a shared story for all Jews, a story of their sense of identity among the nations. Torah represents a shared set of values, that God is One, that God elected the people of Israel and that God and the people of Israel are bound by covenant. Torah contains commandments spelling out the obligations of people regarding Sabbath as well as moral and ritual obligations. Torah also provides a philosophy of life based on the covenant and commandments.
3. Jews in the Mediterranean world were diverse and sometimes divided. Geographically Jews lived in the Diaspora and in Palestine. Linguistically they spoke Greek, or Aramaic, or Hebrew. Culturally they were a minority in the Diaspora among pagan neighbors. Ideologically, Jews disagreed on how to respond to cultural challenges posed by Greco-Roman culture and Roman imperial rule. Jewish sects, the Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, Zealots had political as well as religious differences.
4. This combination of factors generated a large literature in both Hebrew and Greek that forms the basis of our knowledge.

If Torah is a symbol of unity in Judaism it is also a source of contention.
1. There was no firm agreement on what constituted Torah as Scripture. The Samaritans worshiped at the temple at Shechem and the Sadducees focused on the temple in Jerusalem, each based their practice on Torah. In Alexandria, Hellenistic Jewish historian Philo focused on the Law of Moses in his writings although he was aware of the prophets and other writings. At Qumran, the Essene sect recognized the Law and the Prophets but also wrote other apocryphal texts of their own. The Pharisees seem to have had the most inclusive sense of Scripture, including the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings.
2. Diversity appears in the version of scripture used by Jews. In the western Diaspora, the Hebrew text was translated into Greek by 250 BCE. This was regarded as divinely inspired by Hellenistic Jews who used the Septuagent LXX, perhaps unaware of the differences between the Greek and Hebrew texts. In Palestine, Hebrew was used exclusively in synagogue worship and study. Aramaic Targums (interpretative translations of the Hebrew) were used by some within Israel.
3. Jews in the first century also interpreted their Scripture from distinctive perspectives. Philo of Alexandria read the LXX in the manner of a Greek philosopher seeking moral instruction and interpreting difficult passages allegorically. Pharisees used midrash as a way of contemporizing ancient written commandments to new circumstances. The Qumran sect interpreted the Hebrew text from the perspective of their sectarian identity as a community of the pure, formed and instructed by the teacher of righteousness.

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran and other archaeological and literary study provides some insight into the situation among Jews and their diverse sects.
1. Among the compositions were many biblical manuscripts in Hebrew, the oldest extant witnesses to the text. The numbers of copies of some compositions suggest the important they held for the community. Comparing biblical compositions to the LXX and to later standard versions of the Hebrew (Masoretic text) indicates a highly fluid textual situation.
2. The sect’s practice of collecting and writing suggests the central position of Torah and its malleability. The same can be said about Qumran’s sectarian mode of interpretation: the Torah is all important, but it is also read in light of contemporary experience.

In my first Old Testament course in seminary, we were divided into groups, each representing the sects of the first century. We were to describe our view of scripture, what we believed based on scripture, and how that shaped our worship and our lives. The

Essenes lived around the Dead Sea, and were withdrawn from the worshipers in Jerusalem. They differed about who was legitimate priestly cast, and took instruction from a priest called the “teacher of righteousness.” The cliff dwellers were sharply divided into hereditary priests and nonpriests. They had a hierarchy of officers and councils who guided life by a detailed set of rules based on biblical law. Property was held in common, celibacy was practiced, economic and social relations with outsiders was limited/prohibits, and any behavior not sanctioned by judges and leaders was punished by excommunication. The Essenes were apocalyptic in their thought and orientation, ready for the intervention of God to destroy evil. They were destroyed by the Romans in AD 68.

Sadducees exists from 2^nd C BCE to 1^st C CE, their name in Hebrew means the “righteous ones”. They are mentioned by Josephus and rabbinic literature but there is none of their own literature in existence today. The Sadducees according to Josephus rejected the immortality of the soul, and attributed all human activity to free will, not to fate. They rejected the traditions of the Pharisees. Sadducees were associated and influential only with a few wealthy families, not the common people. They may have been mostly priests and wealthy powerful community leaders who sat in the Sanhedrin, greatly hellenized and cultivated good relationships with the Romans. The New Testament (Mark 12:18) contrasts the Sadducees with the Pharisees as to their belief or lack of it in life after death and where is the right place to worship (Matt 3;7).

The Zealots were opposed to Roman occupation of Palestine (which began in 63 BCE). A nationalist party responsible for the revolt against Rome in 66-70 AD ending with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. An older connotation to the term, zealot, is one who is devoted to the law (Num 25:13; Acts 22:3).

Pharisees: this group were observant and influential Jews mainly in Palestine from 2^nd C BC to first century CE. The name may mean “separate ones” in Hebrew, referring to their observance of ritual purity and tithing or less probably “the interpreters” referring to their unique interpretations of biblical law. The New Testament pictures them as blind to Jesus’ message, as legalists and hypocrites. According to Josephus, the Pharisees were the most influential with the people, were noted for their accurate and authoritative interpretations of Jewish law, and had their own traditions and way of life to which they were faithful. They accepted a role for free will and fate in human relations and events. They believed the soul survived death and is punished or rewarded with another life. They had their own traditions on how to live a life faithful to the Judaism to which they were devoted. Their internal rules were sectarian with emphasis on ritual purity, food tithes, and Sabbath observances. They were admired by the people and functioned at least some of the time as a social and political force against foreign and hellenized Jewish leaders. Some or all were learned in the law and some were politically powerful.