Going to Teach a Course on Early Judaism and NT

Last updated on: March 29, 2012 at 11:03 am by Nijay Gupta

Going to Teach a Course on Early Judaism and NT 2012-03-29T11:03:29-08:00 Nijay Gupta

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I am preparing a course for next year on Early Judaism and the New Testament for undergraduate Scripture majors. As of yet, I have taught mostly intro courses and exegesis courses, so this will be a welcome addition.

In terms of textbooks, there is a great wealth of resources. Do you have favorite introductory books on early Judaism?? Do share!
I will share some of my own thoughts and preferences.
When I was in seminary, I did an independent study with Sean McDonough on the Jewish World of the New Testament. He had me read James VanderKam’s An Introduction to Early Judaism. This book has the advantage of being concise (~250 pp.) and accurate. When I was working for Hendrickson Publishers (before my PhD), we published Frederick Murphy’s excellent Early Judaism: The Exile to the Time of Jesus. What I like about Murphy is that he includes a discussion of Jesus (ch. 9) and Jewish foundations for NT Christology (ch. 11). Still, at 400+ pages, it is a bit too long and also it focuses on history and culture, perhaps to the exclusion of talking about literature (like Josephus, Philo, DSS, etc…)
Shaye Cohen’s From the Maccabees to the Mishnah is a classic and very good on cultural issues, but I want something that helps make the connection between understanding early Judaism and interpreting the NT. I also considered George Nickelsburg’s Jewish Literature Between the Bible and the Mishnah. It is obviously more textually focused, but I want something that does history and literature both.
So, I have tentatively decided to go with The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism (eds. J.J. Collins and D.C. Harlow). It has the advantage of having articles on both texts (OT Pseudepigrapha, Philo, OT Apocrypha, etc…) and historical and cultural issues (Essenes, Pharisees, etc…). Additionally, it contains NT related articles (e.g., on the New Testament books individually, as well as particular articles on Jesus and Paul). I like having short(ish) articles from the dictionary to assign which make for easily digestible readings from one class session to the next. Sometimes book chapters can be unbearably long and tedious. Dictionary articles tend to be more succinct.
In addition, I am tempted to use Craig Evan’s masterful resource, Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies (again, published by Hendrickson while I was there, but I was working in sales and marketing, not editorial). This is not really a “read this cover-to-cover” kind of book, but as a go-to reference, it is unparalleled. Also, the introduction has a great little section on why background and contextual Jewish and Greco-Roman literary works are important, and also the methods for and pitfalls of doing this kind of research (see pp. 1-7). Towards the end of the book he has a helpful series of case studies called “Examples of NT Exegesis” where he briefly examines things like The Parable of the Talents, the comment “I Said, “You Are Gods,”” and Paul and the first Adam. Many would say you really get your money’s worth with the appendixes (when did we stop calling them appendices?). He offers a massive list of parallels he has discovered between ancient texts and the NT. I always take a quick peek at this list when I am doing research.
I also wanted to spend a few weeks in the class looking at particular aspects of the NT from this Jewish context. So, I think I will also assign Scot McKnight’s A New Vision for Israel: The Teachings of Jesus in National Context. Scot is such a great, great, great example of a competent exegete and I wanted to pick something that is well-written and represents a perspective within the “Third Quest.” Wright and Meier’s works are too dense for a two-week study. McKnight’s book comes in just over 200 pages and treats subjects like the God of Jesus, the Kingdom of God, and the Ethic of Jesus.
On the Paul side, I plan on using some short articles by E.P. Sanders, part of N.T. Wright’s Paul: Fresh Perspectives book, and part of Ben Witherington’s The Paul Quest. In addition, here are some other articles/book chapters I plan on using.
-Sandmel’s classic “Parallelomania,” JBL (1962) 2-13.
-In Mark Reasoner’s Documents and Images for the Study of Paul (Fortress), the introduction has a nice caveat on making too much or too little of parallels.
-I plan on drawing a bit from Silva/Jobes’ phenomenal Invitation to the Septuagint.
-In terms of the DSS, George Brooke has a nice chapter on “The Qumran Scrolls and the Study of the NT” in his The Dead Scrolls and the New Tetament.
-Oskar Skarsaune’s book, In the Shadow of the Temple is very well-written and has a helpful chapter I might use on the city of Jerusalem and the operations of the temple.
-When it comes to setting Paul within Judaism, John Barclay has a useful JSNT article “Paul Among Diaspora Jews: Anomaly or Apostate?”. James Dunn has an article called “Paul: Apostate or Apostle of Israel?”
-What about the history of the Dead Sea Scrolls? I just finished reading Timothy Lim’s The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Very Short Introduction. There is some good information, but I think Lim did not write at an evenly basic level (he slips into technical language too often). On my shelf (yet to read) is VanderKam’s The Dead Sea Scrolls Today.
-For Josephus, Steve Mason’s Josephus and the New Testament has some excellent advice for how NT researchers can use Josephus effectively and responsibly.
I know all this sounds like a lot, but I plan on having students read mostly short articles (perhaps 3-4 between meetings). they will also read healthy portions of primary texts. Fun, fun, fun!
Again, if you have article/essay/book suggestions, I am all ears…

Uncategorized

Previous Post

March 28, 2012

Bulletin for Biblical Research 22.1 (2012) - just released

Next Post

March 30, 2012 Moyise on Jesus and Scripture (Review)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category (Mis)Understanding Philippians 10 Things I Can't Live Without 2023 New Books 30 OT HB Scholars to Read and Follow 5 Books Series 50-2-Follow Academia Christian Theologians to Read and Follow Cruciform Scripture: Contributor Reflections Crux Sola TV Editors Behind Great Books in NT Studies Education Gendering the Holy Spirit Gupta FB Live Lectures In Faith and Doubt In Their Own Words Living the King Jesus Gospel My Top 6 OT Commentaries New Testament Resource Guide New Word Biblical Themes Nijay's A Very Library Christmas Shopping Guide Notes from an Editor Notes on New Books NTRG OT in the NT Paul Seminary Now The Bible in God's World The Word Felt Among Us SPENCER Translating Philippians Uncategorized Why I Use Accordance Women in Ministry

Select a Month March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz