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Editorial Note
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Hanan Eshel as a Historian of the Jews
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Abstract
This article in memory of Hanan Eshel (1958–2010) focuses on his contributions as a historian of the Jews. It analyzes selected discussions of Eshel’s work, exemplified in his book The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Hasmonean State (Hebrew 2004; English 2008). The article emphasizes the integrative aspects of Eshel’s work, his success at bringing the scrolls, archeological evidence, and Josephus to shed light on each other and expand our knowledge and understanding of the events of the Hasmonean era. The article argues that a key aspect of Eshel’s contribution was to validate the testimony of Josephus, not only as a field guide to the geography and archeology of the Land of Israel, but also as a historian of the Jews. The article compares Eshel’s achievement to that of one of the most distinguished historians of antiquity active in the twentieth century, Louis Robert (1904–1985) who also brought together philology, history, numismatics, papyrology, epigraphy, and archeology in a way unequalled by others, and thus succeeded in solving many complex difficulties concerning the ancient world. The article concludes with a discussion of the collaborative work by H. Eshel, M. Broshi, R. Freund, and B. Schultz, “New Data on the Cemetery East of Khirbet Qumran,” DSD 9 (2002): 135–165.
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Reading for History in the Dead Sea Scrolls
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Abstract
The authors of the pesharim clearly had traditions available to them, whether oral or written, that we do not now have in textual form. Figures like the “Man of the Lie” and “Wicked Priest” can not be dismissed as fictional, even if their identities are obscure. While the ostensibly historical allusions in the scrolls are always tendentious, they do at least permit us to infer the general context in which the sect developed. It is clear that conflict over the interpretation of the Torah was the primary reason for the formation of the sect. The conflict with the Wicked Priest should be located late in the Teacher’s career. A plausible occasion for that conflict is provided by the decision of Alexandra Salome and her high priest, Hyrcanus II, to follow the teachings of the Pharisees, after the death of Alexander Jannaeus.
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Between Text and Archaeology
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Abstract
Historical research on the Qumran manuscripts, despite being provided with archaeological and external literary evidence, has generally suffered from a lack of discussion and application of methodology, which could easily have been instructed from the scholarship in biblical history. Despite the fact that the Qumran caves and their contents form part of the site of Khirbet Qumran, archaeology has very little to contribute to understanding the manuscripts, while the manuscripts make no reference to the settlement. External sources relate mainly to the possible identification of the authors and the site as Essene—an important consideration. But the scrolls’ authors exhibit little or no interest in the contemporary world outside their sectarian boundaries. The historian is able only to retrieve information about the movement’s own memories of its past, which will have been shaped by its own processes of identity formation and maintenance. But even to do this, it is indispensable to engage with the history of the documents themselves through detailed literary-historical exegesis, and this has yet to be realized by many Qumran scholars who seek history from the scrolls.
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Yannai and Pella, Josephus and Circumcision*
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Abstract
Josephus’ notice that Alexander Yannai destroyed Pella because its inhabitants refused to Judaize (Ant. 13.397), which does not sit well in its context and also contradicts Josephus’ reports elsewhere, seems to be based upon a Greek source. Given the fact that Greek writers about conversion to Judaism usually focused upon circumcision, failure to mention it here may indicate that Yannai did not demand it—a possibility that directs attention to the fact that Qumran texts show little interest in circumcision, apparently because they adhered to a priestly view according to which Gentiles cannot become Jews. Sadducees, such as Yannai, probably held the same view.
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Expectations of the End: A Comparative Traditio-Historical Study of Eschatological, Apocalyptic and Messianic Ideas in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament. By Albert L. A. Hogeterp. STDJ 83. Leiden: Brill, 2009. Hardcover. Pp. xvi + 570. € 162.00/US$ 231.00. ISBN 9789004171770.
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