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Archive for the ‘Judaism’ Category


Jewish War under Trajan and Hadrian

In Cambridge University Press, Empire, Jesse Nickel, Judaism, War, William Horbury on August 3, 2016 at 2:00 pm

9780521622967

2016.08.14 | William Horbury. Jewish War under Trajan and Hadrian. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. pp. 520. ISBN: 9780521622967. Hardcover.

Review by Jesse Nickel, University of St Andrews.

Many thanks to Cambridge University Press for providing a review copy.

In Jewish War under Trajan and Hadrian, William Horbury offers a fresh historical presentation of the two major Jewish uprisings against Rome that occurred in the first half of the second century CE: first, that which took place in Cyrenaica, Egypt, Cyprus and Mesopotamia in 115–117, towards the end of Trajan’s principate; and second, that which took place in Judaea in 132–135, during the reign of Hadrian. With this work, Horbury, a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and the British Academy, adds to his already significant contributions to the historical study of Judaism. Read the rest of this entry »


Richard Bauckham, “Divine and Human Community in the Gospel of John”

In Community, Durham, John, Judaism, Justin A. Mihoc, Richard BAUCKHAM, SEMINAR REPORTS on February 14, 2012 at 1:07 am

This is a report on a paper presented by Prof Richard Bauckham, formerly of University St Andrews and fellow of the British Academy, at the New Testament Research Seminar, Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University, 13th of February 2012. The list of forthcoming papers in the NT Research Seminars at Durham University can be found here.

Prof Bauckham’s paper was written as a companion to his essay on ‘individualism’ in the Gospel of John, which he presented at the British New Testament Conference (Nottingham, 2011). In the present paper, Prof Bauckham offers a fresh interpretation of John’s usage of the ‘oneness’ language (focussing on the word ἕν), and assesses its relevance for understanding the divine and human community. He examines the Scriptural uses of the community language, with a special emphasis on Jesus’ prayer in John 17, and also the developments of this language in systematic theology.

The word ‘one’

According to Prof Bauckham, in 12 instances in 8 Johannine texts, the word ‘one’ becomes a very potent theological term. Although one might be compelled to regard this word as straight-forward, this initial impression is in fact wrong, as it is used by John at least in two different ways.

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David Kim, “Hearing the Unsung Voice: Women in the Qumran Community”

In Archaeology, David KIM, DSS, Edinburgh, Judaism, Kerry Lee, Philo, Qumran, SEMINAR REPORTS, Women on February 3, 2012 at 2:56 pm

A report on a paper given by Dr. David Kim (Visiting Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh) at the New College Biblical Studies Research Seminar, 3 February 2012. Dr. Kim received his PhD from the University of Sydney. His research has largely been centred around Coptic texts related to the New Testament and Christian origins. He is currently working on the Gospel of Judas.

The list of forthcoming papers in the Biblical Studies Seminars at Edinburgh can be downloaded from here. RBECS is also on facebook, here.

In his paper, Dr. Kim gathered together a wide range of evidence in order to call into question the scholarly opinion that the Qumran community consisted exclusively of celibate males. This evidence fell into three categories: evidence from Hellenistic Jewish writings, evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls, and evidence from archaeology at Qumran.

Reading texts from Philo of Alexandria and Josephus, Dr. Kim pointed out that in describing Palestinian ascetic communities, especially the Essenes, both authors depict a mixed picture where marriage and the presence of women in the community was, on one hand, held with suspicion while, on the other hand, marriage was in many places accepted or even the norm. Read the rest of this entry »


René Bloch, “Who was Philo of Alexandria? Tracing Autobiographic Passages in Philo”

In Durham, Judaism, Justin A. Mihoc, Philo, René BLOCH, SEMINAR REPORTS on October 28, 2011 at 6:04 pm

This is a report on a paper presented by Professor René Bloch, Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Bern, at the New Testament Research Seminar, Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University, 24th of October 2011.

The list of forthcoming papers in the NT Research Seminars at Durham University can be found here. You can find RBECS on facebook, here.

Prof Bloch presented a very interesting and engaging paper on a difficult topic, the identity of Philo, an important author for Philosophy, New Testament, Classical and Jewish studies. Following Gregory Sterling, Bloch proposed a study of ‘Philo for Philo’. He commenced his analysis by providing some general information on Philo and his oeuvre. Philo of Alexandria, the most prolific Jewish-Hellenistic writer and the first Jewish philosopher sufficiently known to us through his works, left us a number of 40 extant tractates written in Greek and translations in other languages. Many of Philo’s works were preserved in the writings of the Church Fathers. Read the rest of this entry »