Fighting Over the Bible: Jewish Interpretation, Sectarianism and Polemic from Temple to Talmud and Beyond

Contents
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1 The Name of the Volume
2 The Purpose of the Volume
3 A Brief Survey of the Classical Jewish Exegetical Works
4 Structure and Overview
Part 1 The Hebrew Bible and Its Jewish Interpretive Presuppositions and Polemics
Chapter 1 The Place of the Bible in Jewish Religion and Culture: Written and Oral Torah
1 The Centrality and Neglect of the Hebrew Bible in Judaism: An Enigmatic Constellation
2 The Rabbinic Presuppositions and Principles of Scripture
3 Written Torah and Oral Torah
4 Some Principles of the Classical Jewish Biblical Interpretation
5 Defense of the Religious and Cultural Heritage
6 Conclusion
Chapter 2 Rabbinic Exegesis in Contradiction to the Simple Meaning of Biblical Texts
1 Introduction
2 The Biblical Lex Talionis and Its Disputed Later Reinterpretations
3 Civil and Religious (Mis)Interpretation of Biblical Laws and Narratives
4 Theological and Ethical (Mis)Interpretation of Biblical Narratives and Laws
5 Excursus: The Rabbinic Attitude to Converts
6 Conclusion
Chapter 3 Theologies and Methodologies in Classical Jewish Interpretation: A Study of Midrash Psalms and Its View of God
1 Introduction
2 Theological and Methodological Features of Midrash Psalms
3 The View of God in Midrash Psalms
3.1 The Characterization and Centrality of God
3.2 “Negative Theology”
3.3 The Oneness of God
3.4 Forgiveness
3.5 God Suffers with Israel
4 Conclusion
Chapter 4 Encounters and Polemics between Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Medieval Jewish Exegesis
1 Introduction
2 The Struggle against Opposition within Judaism
2.1 Karaite Bible Exegetes and Their Critics
2.2 Criticism by Mainstream Scholars
3 The Dispute with External Opponents: Christianity and Islam
4 Controversies between Jews and Christians
5 Controversies between Jews and Muslims
5.1 Background and Overview
5.2 Karaite Jews and Muslims
5.3 Rabbanite Jews and Muslims
6 Conclusion
Chapter 5 A Bridge or a Barrier? Jews, Christians and the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament: The Roots of Jewish-Christian Controversy
1 Introduction
2 Are Jews and Christians Bound by their Common Scriptures?
3 Is the “Hebrew Bible” Truly Equivalent to the “Old Testament”?
4 Do Jews and Christians Share the Interpretation and Theology of Their Common Texts?
5 Jewish-Christian Disputes regarding Common Biblical Themes
6 The Common Biblical Texts and Themes: A Bridge or a Barrier?
7 Conclusion
8 Appendix: And What Now?
Part 2 Interpretation, Sectarianism, and Disputes: Case Studies from Late Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism
Chapter 6 The Binding of Isaac: Biblical Narrative in Late Second Temple and Rabbinic Exegesis and Thought
1 Introduction
2 The Rabbis and the Theological-Ethical Merits of the Aqedah
2.1 God Tests Abraham
2.2 Abraham the “Knight of Faith”
2.3 The Aqedah and Afterwards
3 Did God Test Isaac?
4 What Really Happened upon the Mount?
4.1 Isaac Was Not Hurt
4.2 Isaac was Injured and Bled
4.3 Isaac Died and Was Resurrected
5 Where was Sarah?
6 Conclusion
Chapter 7 The Day of Atonement in the Late Second Temple Period: Disputes between Sadducees, Pharisees, and Qumranites
1 Introduction
2 The Centrality and Uniqueness of Yom Kippur
3 The High Priesthood in the Late Second Temple Period
4 Leviticus 16 and the Presuppositions of the Sadducees and Pharisees
5 The Dispute between the Sadducees and the Pharisees regarding How to Enter the Holy of Holies
6 Reading of Scripture to the High Priest on Yom Kippur
7 The Attack on the Qumranites’ Leader by the Jerusalem High Priest on Yom Kippur
8 Conclusion
Chapter 8 The Hiding of the Temple Vessels in Jewish and Samaritan Literature
1 The Jewish Literature
2 The Samaritan Literature
3 Conclusion
Chapter 9 The Relations between Jews and Arabs-Syrians in Pre-Islamic Jewish Sources
1 The Relations between Jews and Arabs and the Identification of Ishmaelites with Arabs
2 The Identification of the Biblical Ammonites and Moabites with Arabs in Late Second Temple and Rabbinic Sources
3 Jewish-Syrian Relations and the Attitude towards Syrians in Targum Jonathan
4 Conclusion
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index of Sources
1 Hebrew Bible
2 Ancient Biblical Versions
3 Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
4 Dead Sea Scrolls
5 Rabbinic Sources
6 Jewish Medieval Sources
7 Samaritan Sources
8 New Testament and Christian Sources
9 Islamic Sources
10 Ancient Near Eastern and Archaeological Sources
11 Greek, Jewish-Hellenistic, and Roman Sources
Index of Authors
Index of Subjects
Index of Key Hebrew Terms and Expressions