An Introduction to Classical Ethiopic for Students of Early Judaism and Christianity

Ge'ez (classical Ethiopic) is one of those languages that many students of early Jewish and Christian literature know is important, and would like to be able to work with to some extent, but which remains a bit inaccessible.  Formal classes in Ge'ez are rarely offered. While there are good grammars in English, German, and Italian, they don't always offer the easiest entryway into Ge'ez for the autodidact or for the classroom.

One project I have been working on is writing an introductory Ge'ez grammar which is meant to be a stepping-stone into the language and is specifically designed with students of early Jewish and Christian literature in mind. The intended audience includes those focusing on the so-called Pseudepigrapha, as well as those working on the textual criticism and textual history of "biblical" literature. It will naturally also be useful for those who are interested in learning Ge'ez in order to interact with other important Ethiopic texts. After working through the grammar readers will have a good, basic understanding of the language, and be equipped to start engaging relevant texts, tools, and resources. Those who want to go deeper with the language could then continue on to more extensive resources, like Lambdin, Dillmann, or Tropper.

A few of the features of the grammar:

• Paradigms and examples presented both in the Ethiopic script and in transliteration.
• Footnotes indicating where more extensive discussions can be found in works like Lambdin, Dillmann, Tropper, and Weninger.
• Extensive exercises with helps, notes, and commentary so that from the beginning one is working through texts.
• Vocabulary, exercises, and examples drawn primarily from Jubilees, 1 Enoch, 4 Ezra, and "biblical" texts like Daniel, Ezekiel, Matthew, and Acts.
• Info boxes that point out common features (especially orthographic variation) that one will encounter in manuscripts.
• Tips and "tricks" for recognizing forms.

If there are features that you personally would find helpful in a grammar like this, please let me know!

Which chapters do scriptural commentaries focus on? Ethiopic Commentary on Daniel

Sometimes us ancient and religious studies folks get to play with charts and graphs too. Here is a graph I put together for an upcoming Kolloquium presentation on my dissertation project (which I explained in an earlier post). I'm working on an edition and translation of the Ethiopic commentary materials on the Book of Daniel. One of the important questions we can ask when studying scriptural commentaries is: which parts of the scriptural text receive the most attention and commentary? Ancient and medieval commentaries can be fairly uneven in their treatment of the text, offering long discourses on a handful of key verses while glossing over larger blocks of text.
I've done some Ethiopic word counts of my transcription of the Daniel Commentary, and this chart shows both the number of words for each chapter in its version of Daniel and the number of words in the commentary on that chapter. The disparities are significant. Chapters eleven, seven, twelve, and three are the ones that attract the most commentary. This is not too surprising. Daniel 7 and 12 have been significant texts for Christian eschatology and Christology. For commentaries with an interest in historical questions, Daniel 11, with its extensive descriptions of events from the Hellenistic era, gives opportunity for lots of explication. Daniel 3 has an important place in Christian lectionaries.

A Critical Edition and English Translation of the Classical Ethiopic Commentary Materials on the Book of Daniel

"Habakkuk and the Angel" (Bernini)

For my dissertation at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München I am preparing a critical edition of the Ge'ez commentary materials on the Book of Daniel. A little bit about the project:

The significance of Second Temple Judaism for religious scholarship lies partly in its influence on later religious movements and traditions.  The literature, institutions, and ideas that emerged during the time of the Second Temple, both in the Persian and Greco-Roman periods, were foundational for Rabbinic Judaism, early Christianity, and Islam.  To appreciate Second Temple literature in all of its richness we must give attention not only to the texts in their earliest contexts, but also to their reception histories.  While the study of the influence and reception of Second Temple texts will naturally include the antique and medieval Hebrew, Greek, and Latin traditions, it must also include the “oriental” traditions, which have to this point not been adequately examined by modern western scholarship.  

Among these traditions the classical Ethiopic corpus is quite significant, as it preserves texts like 1 Enoch and Jubilees that are not fully extant in their original languages or in any of their other versions.  These Ethiopic versions are indispensable for the study of these important Second Temple texts (fortunately, a new edition and translation of Ethiopic 1 Enoch is currently underway).  The Ethiopic tradition also contains versions of early Jewish texts for which the original language(s) manuscripts and other versions do exist, such as the Wisdom of Solomon or the Book of Daniel.  While their value as text-critical witnesses to the “original” text or earlier versions is open for debate, these versions are at the very least valuable for reception-oriented text-critical work that aims to understand and appreciate the textual development of a composition as a worthy pursuit in its own right.  In addition to versions of Second Temple texts, which can be studied from the perspective of reception history, the Ethiopic tradition also preserves interpretations of and commentaries on some of these texts.  While many of these works are in Amharic and are part of the andemta tradition, some are extant in classical Ethiopic/Ge'ez.  These are helpful for understanding the reception history of Second Temple literature in late antiquity and the medieval period.

The objective of my research is to contribute to the study of the reception of Second Temple Jewish literature in the classical Ethiopic tradition by offering a critical edition, English translation, and analysis of the Ge'ez Tergwāmē materials on the Book of Daniel, which contain both Ge'ez versions of the text of Daniel as well as commentary on the book.  Manuscripts of these materials have been known to western scholarship for some time, and the text of Daniel in one of the manuscripts was even collated by Oscar Löfgren in his critical edition of Ethiopic Daniel.  However, no one has yet published, critically edited, or translated these commentary materials.  My dissertation is an attempt to fill that lacuna.

1 Enoch Reading Guide (15:1-16:4)

I've posted another Ethiopic reading guide, this time for 1 Enoch 15:1-16:4, a particularly interesting portion of the Book of the Watchers.  Enoch and other Second Temple Jewish texts are of course worthy subjects of study in their own right, but this particular text might be especially relevant for understanding some bits of the New Testament, for example offering a possible answer to the question "who in the world are those demons and why do they keep trying to possess human bodies?" or providing some background for Luke's version of Jesus' response to the Sadducees (Luke 20:34-36).

You can download the reading guide here.


Or if you're not too interested in Ge'ez and want to take a peek at an English translation, you can go here.

Ethiopic Jubilees Reading Guide: The Creation, Part I

I've added another reading/vocabulary guide for Ethiopic Jubilees, based on the data from the concordance I'm creating for the book (which is coming along!).  You can download it here.  From my Academia.edu profile you can also download two other Jubilees reading guides and one for Ethiopic 1 Enoch.

Spend 2016 with Judith. Or Achilles. Or Muhammed.

Welcome to 2016!  Perhaps one of your New Year's resolutions is: "I'd really like to spend more time reading interesting ancient and medieval literature."  Such a resolution probably won't extend your life the way a quit-smoking resolution will, but it will certainly make 2016 more interesting and enjoyable.

"Judith mit dem Haupt des Holofernes"
(Lucas Cranach)

One nice approach to building a 2016 reading list is to focus on a particular author, text, or corpus.  This gives you the opportunity to really explore a few primary sources in a focused way, with a handful of interesting and helpful secondary sources as your travel companions.  The examples below reflect my personal research interests and tastes, and perhaps they aren't your cup of tea.  If you come up with your own "spend 2016 with an ancient/medieval author/text" list I'd love to see it!  Feel free to post it in the comments section at the bottom.  I've listed five categories -- Greek, Roman, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic -- but there are naturally other fun categories one could build a reading list around.

Ancient Labor Laws

In honor of the American holiday of Labor Day, here are just two examples of ancient labor laws from the Hebrew Bible:


Sabbath (Deuteronomy 5:12-15)
Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to theLord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you.15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.

Many are more familiar with the sabbath rationale given in the Exodus 20 version of the ten commandments and the famous seven day creation story in Genesis 1.  But Deuteronomy gives a different reason for observing the sabbath: because the Israelites knew what it was like to be exploited laborers.  Notice that sabbath is to be observed by the whole household, including slaves and animals.

Pay Up! (Leviticus 19:13 and Deuteronomy 24:14-15)
". . . you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning."

"You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land in one of your towns.You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset, because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt."

Ethiopic Enoch Reading Guide: Chapters 1-5

I've put together and posted another Ethiopic reading guide, this one for the first five chapters of 1 Enoch.  The first six pages include a transcription of Charles' Ethiopic text with plenty of space between lines and a large margin for taking notes.  The remaining pages have an alphabetical vocabulary list with English glosses, a list of verses where the words occur in these chapters, and a page number for the entry in Leslau's concise lexicon.

1 Enoch 1-5 is an interesting unit of the text that serves as an introduction to the Book of the Watchers and the corpus as a whole.  Lots of theophany language -- if you've ever wanted to know how to talk about mountains melting and shaking in Ge'ez, this is the text for you.

You can download the reading guide here.

You can also download two other Ethiopic reading guides for the Book of Jubilees on my Academia.edu page.

Happy translating!

Tobit in the Duino Elegies

In reading Rainer Maria Rilke's Duino Elegies I came across a reference to the Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal book of Tobit.  While their canonical status has been debated since late antiquity, the Old Testament Apocrypha have left their imprint on western art and literature.  The passage from Rilke:

"Jeder Engel ist schrecklich.  Und dennoch, weh mir,
ansing ich euch, fast tödliche Vögel der Seele,
wissend um euch.  Wohin sind die Tage Tobiae,
da der Strahlendsten einer stand an der einfachen Haustür,
zur Reise ein wenig verkleidet und schon nicht mehr
    furchtbar;
(Jüngling dem Jüngling, wie er neugierig hinaussah).
Träte der Erzengel jetzt, der gefährliche, hinter den Sternen
eines Schrittes nur nieder und herwärts: hochaufschlagend
erschlüg uns das eigene Herz.  Wer seid ihr?" (from the Second Elegy)

"Every angel is terrifying.  And yet, alas,
I invoke you, almost deadly birds of the soul,
knowing about you.  Where are the days of Tobias,
when one of you, veiling his radiance, stood at the front
     door,
slightly disguised for the journey, no longer appalling;
(a young man like the one who curiously peeked through the
     window).
But if the archangel now, perilous, from behind the stars
took even one step down toward us: our own heart, beating
higher and higher, would beat us to death.  Who are you?" (trans. Stephen Mitchell)

The reference ("one of you") is to the angel Raphael in the book of Tobit, who disguises himself as a human and serves as a guide for Tobit's son Tobias in his journey.  In the end he reveals his true identity to Tobit and Tobias and they fall on their faces in fear (12:6).

For Rilke, angels are creatures that inspire holy terror: "Jeder Engel ist schrecklich."  He draws on the ancient theme of a direct, unmediated experience of divine/heavenly beings causing fear and even death and contrasts this with the veiled presence of Raphael in the story of Tobit.  Back in those days a human could rub shoulders with a disguised Raphael, but now if he were to emerge from behind the stars and approach humanity our own hearts would "beat us to death."

If you've never read Tobit, check it out!    

Scripture in the Mishnah

An excellent resource for those interested in early Jewish interpretation of scripture is Alexander Samely's Midrashic Units in the Mishnah.  The website is a companion to his fascinating work Rabbinic Interpretation of Scripture in the Mishnah (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002).  Find it in a library here, or purchase it here. 

The website has a database and accompanying resources for all of the examples of biblical interpretation in the Mishnah with the exception of Avot (which the author indicates will be added in the future).  Samely has provided an English translation of each Midrashic unit and an analysis/commentary that uses the categories and terms he developed in his book.

You can search by tractate, biblical book, the code/category, the rabbi, formal features, or use a search term field.

This is a fantastic online resource for those interested in early scriptural interpretation and Rabbinic literature.  

A good summary quote from chapter 2 of Samely's book:

"Mishnaic interpretations do not target the whole of Scripture, or any one of its larger parts, but rather segments approximately of sentence length.  The hermeneutic licence to cut the text into small units which can be interpreted as if they stood alone creates a wide hermeneutic choice.  Its fundamental effect is that the segment, taken in isolation, is less determined in topic, reference, or meaning than as part of a Scriptural environment (co-text).  The Mishnah, in surrounding the segment with different co-text, can thus appoint a fresh topic, reference, or meaning for the biblical words" (31).

Ethiopic Jubilees Reading Guide: The Aqedah, 17:15-18:16

I've uploaded another Ethiopic Jubilees reading guide based on my concordance data.  This one lists all of the vocabulary for Jubilees' version of the Aqedah, the near-sacrifice of Isaac.  I haven't included any grammatical or syntactical notes on this one -- I may create some separate documents/resources with those later on.

Jubilees 17:15-18:16 offers a fascinating take on the famous story from Genesis 22, which includes a Job-esque challenge from Prince Mastema (a Satan figure) and the early Jewish tradition that Abraham underwent (and passed) a series of divine tests.  You can access the vocabulary guide here.  Also feel free to check out the previous reading guide for Jub. 11:1-10.

Happy translating!

Getting Wrapped up in the Story: A Molasses Slow Reading of the Text

There are a lot of ways to read a text.  Over the last two weeks I have been concording (making a concordance -- if "concording" wasn't a verb before, it is now) a portion of Ethiopic Jubilees.  This work involves going through the Ge'ez word by word, prefixed preposition and conjunction by prefixed preposition and conjunction.  While the work should probably be dull and laborious, it's actually been pretty enjoyable.  Part of the enjoyment comes from the fact that Ge'ez is fun (according to one out of one bloggers surveyed), and from the many cool little things one generally discovers when peering behind the English veil to see the original, or in this case versional language of an ancient text.  But I've also found myself enjoying the narrative more.  In particular, I've found myself more emotionally wrapped up in the story.  That's right, it turns out concording is an oddly emotional experience.

I've worked through chapters 11-20, from the beginnings of Abram's life up to the point where he starts talking about the possibility of his death (21:1).  This means I've covered a lot of narrative time (Abe is now 175 years old).  But as is characteristic of much Israelite and early Jewish narrative, that 175 years has taken very little discourse time.  A lot of time in the story world has been condensed into 10 chapters and 250ish verses.  When there's such a disparity between narrative time and discourse time we do not always have the opportunity to become emotionally wrapped up in a story and its characters.  We read about a character's birth and then, after twenty minutes of reading, we read about their death.

Midrash Vayissa'u

My copy of the much anticipated Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures came in the mail this week.  The book is a buffet of fascinating texts, but I was especially excited to see Martha Himmelfarb's introduction and translation of Midrash Vayissa'u (or Wayiaasa'u) (143-159).  This is a text I have been working with in my thesis research and I have been startled that more English language scholarship has not been devoted to it.  I am hoping that Himmelfarb's contribution encourages further research on this fascinating work.  Her translation of the war with the Ninevites is particularly important, as this tradition has been largely overlooked.   

Midrash Vayissa'u is familiar to students of both the Testament of Judah and the Book of Jubilees, since it preserves traditions about Jacob and his sons' wars with the Amorites and the Edomites that parallel the accounts in these two earlier works.  While I do not think we can rule out some form of influence by Jubilees or the Testament of Judah on this medieval composition (I think this influence was indirect), it seems to be primarily dependent on sources/traditions that it shares in common with Jubilees and the Testament.  This means that despite its later date it can give us insights into texts and traditions that existed in the Hellenistic period, making it interesting not only for those who study medieval Jewish literature, but students of Second Temple Judaism as well. 

If extracanonical traditions about wars between the Israelite ancestors and their neighbors is something you find interesting, then give Midrash Vayissa'u a read.  Himmelfarb's introduction and translation are now the best place to start, and if you are interested in digging further you might check out some of these sources as well.

Primary sources:
A PDF of Lauterbach's edition of the Hebrew text, including handwritten notes, is available here.

Harm W. Hollander and Marinus de Jonge, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: A Commentary, 451-456.  Another English translation of Midrash Wayissa'u.  There is also translation and commentary on Testament of Judah's version earlier in the volume.

Gaston's introduction to and translation of the text in the Chronicle of Jehrameel. 

English translations and introductions to the Testament of Judah and Jubilees can be found in Charlesworth's Old Testament Pseudepigrapha.

A critical Greek text of Testament of Judah can be found in Marinus de Jonge's The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: A Critical Edition of the Greek Text. 

James C. VanderKam's critical edition has the versional texts and English translation of Jubilees.

Review: "Inheriting Abraham: The Legacy of the Patriarch in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam."

Since the Torah portion for this week is Lech Lechah, which begins with the calling of Abram, I thought it would be an appropriate time to post a brief review of Jon D. Levenson's fascinating new book on Abraham.  

In an age of ecumenism and interfaith dialogue Abraham is often touted as a source of unity and fraternity among western religions like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, all of which are called "Abrahamic faiths."  But while Jews, Christians, and Muslims all cherish father Abraham, they have distinct traditions and sources that they use to understand the patriarch.  Thus Abraham can actually illustrate the differences between the faiths as much as, or perhaps more than, he can serve as a source of unity.  In his Inheriting Abraham: The Legacy of the Patriarch in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Jon D. Levenson questions the idea of Abraham as a unifier by exploring the different ways these western faiths have received and understood the patriarch, with particular attention given to Abraham in the Jewish tradition.  

At its heart Inheriting Abraham is a fascinating work on the history of interpretation that also raises important questions about the nature of religious traditions and contemporary interfaith dialogue.  Levenson gives a good deal of attention to what the book of Genesis tells us about Abraham.  But along the way he emphasizes that the book of Genesis by itself cannot tell us what Abraham has meant and continues to mean for the Abrahamic faith communities.  For Muslims Genesis is not canonical, so it is actually the Qur'an that provides the primary source for understanding Abraham's significance.  While Jews and Christians do consider Genesis canonical, both faiths have additional traditions about the patriarch that shape their understanding.  The Protestant impulses ingrained in our culture might urge us to get behind these traditions to the "real" Abraham, but the figure that we would end up with would not be the Abraham who is meaningful to Jews, Christians, or Muslims.  And how can an Abraham who is foreign to these faith traditions or which privileges one tradition's methods or sources over another foster real unity or dialogue?  In his conclusion Levenson argues: 

Anabaptists and the Apocrypha: Quick Notes and Sample Passages

The so-called "Old Testament Apocrypha" are not only interesting because of the insights they give us into early Judaism, but also because of their complex and contested place in the history of the synagogue and church.  A little while back the adult Sunday school class at my Mennonite church spent a session chatting about the place of the Apocrypha in the Anabaptist tradition.  I'm posting the study guide here for anyone who might be interested in the reception of these texts in this particular Christian tradition.  To download, click:  "Anabaptists and the Apocrypha: Quick Notes and Sample Passages." 

If what you read in the study guide interests you, then definitely check out Jonathan Seiling's article, which the study guide draws on.

Thru the Torah in a Year

Simchat Torah takes place this week, which means that the Jewish annual Torah reading cycle is about to restart.  In Jewish tradition the Torah is divided up into 54 sections which are read throughout the course of a year.  Even if you're not Jewish you might consider spending a year tracking along with the weekly readings.  If you're a student of ancient literature, the Torah is an incredibly fascinating and engrossing anthology, and giving it a year of sustained study will be very rewarding.  If you've studied Hebrew the weekly Torah portion is a great way to keep your reading skills sharp.  If you're a Christian, the Torah/Pentateuch is the heart and soul of the Old Testament, and contains an interesting blend of texts that most of us are overly-familiar with (the Garden of Eden for instance) and texts that most of us have never touched (like just about all of Leviticus).  This means that reading the Torah through the year will give you the opportunity to see familiar texts with fresh eyes and encounter unfamiliar texts perhaps for the first time.  It's also a lot shorter than the "Bible in a year" reading programs many churches do.

Some resources you might find useful:

General Resources
Reading Schedule
This tells you what sections to read each week.

Chabad.org Parsha Resources
Resources on the weekly portion.

Aish.com Torah Portion Resources
More weekly resources.

Torah from JTS
Torah commentary from the Jewish Theological Seminary

The Torah: A Beginner's Guide by Joel S. Kaminsky and Joel N. Lohr
This is a great basic overview of the Torah that gives attention to historical issues as well as the use and interpretation of the Torah in both the Jewish and Christian traditions.  Affordable and accessible.  

The Bible as it Was by James L. Kugel
I try to recommend this book or its more expansive brother as often as I can.  Kugel gives us insights into how the earliest interpreters of the Torah understood it.

Exploring the Old Testament: A Guide to the Pentateuch, by Gordon J. Wenham 
This is a good introductory textbook on the Pentateuch.

Jesus the Exorcist Study Guide

The adult Sunday school class at my church is currently studying Jesus in his Jewish context, with a particular emphasis on addressing anti-Judaism.  We are looking at four specific topics: Sabbath, exorcism, nonviolence, and social justice.  I thought I'd make some of the study guides we're using available online, in case someone might find them useful.  Click here to access the PDF on "Jesus the Exorcist."  The study guide has some general discussion and several excerpts from primary sources.  It does not explicitly address anti-Judaism in the way some of our other study sessions have, but does try to show that Jesus' ministry as an exorcist is another example of his continuity with his Jewish world.  

If addressing anti-Judaism in the church and scholarship is something that is interesting to you, then you might check out Amy-Jill Levine's The Misunderstood Jew.  You can also take a gander at our earlier post on "The Good Scribe" and the study guide on Jesus and Sabbath. 

Ancient Sukkot Passages: Zechariah, Jubilees, Maccabees, Plutarch, John, and Bar Kokhba

Tonight the Jewish holiday Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles begins.  It is a rich and wonderful holiday that has its origins in the first temple period, and is one of the three pilgrimage festivals prescribed in the Torah:

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths to the LORD.  On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. For seven days you shall present food offerings to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work. . . . . . On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest.  And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. You shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 23:34-36, 39-43; Cf. Exodus 23:16, Numbers 29:12-38 and Deuteronomy 16:13-15)

Like some other biblical festivals, Sukkot has both an agricultural and an historical meaning.  Agriculturally, it is a harvest festival, but historically it commemorates the time Israel spent in the wilderness.  Sukkot is quite significant in the Bible, where it is known simply as "the festival of the LORD" or even just "the festival."  It continued to be an important holiday throughout the 2nd Temple period and beyond.  Here are a few interesting passages on Sukkot from that time (and a little bit afterwards):

Sukkot and the Nations

Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths.  And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain; there shall be the plague with which the LORD afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. (Zechariah 14:16-19)

The post-exilic prophet Zechariah includes Sukkot in his eschatological vision.  For Zechariah, Sukkot will one day include not only Israel but also the nations, who will make an annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem to observe the feast.  If they do not, they will experience drought (Sukkot is connected not only with harvest but also prayer for rain in the coming growing season).  The Talmud also mentions the significance of Sukkot for the nations, by identifying the 70 bulls sacrificed as representing each of the 70 nations (b.Sukkot 55b).  The Talmud also predicts that God will give the Gentiles an opportunity to prove that they are willing to obey the Torah by asking them to observe Sukkot.  However, when God sends hot weather the Gentiles will give up and kick their booths.   

Ancient TV: Live Long and Prosper

Have you ever wondered about the origins of the Vulcan salute in Star Trek?  I think it's well known to many Trekkies that Leonard Nimoy based the iconic hand gesture on a Jewish ritual he witnessed as a child.  In some streams of contemporary Judaism the descendants of the ancient priestly class offer the priestly blessing from Numbers 6:24-26:

The LORD bless you and keep you

The LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you

The LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

In Numbers YHWH commands Moses to tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with these beautiful words.  (Fun fact: the first line of the blessing has three words in the Hebrew, the second line has five words, and the third line has seven words, giving the sense of the blessing expanding as it progresses).  Numbers 6 does not prescribe any accompanying physical gestures or rituals, but as the blessing has been practiced throughout history a number of traditions have been associated with it, many of which are based on other passages in the Hebrew Bible.  One of these is the raising of the hands, a practice that the Talmud supports by referring to Leviticus 9:22 where Aaron lifts his hands when he blesses the people.  We see evidence that the priest raised his hands when blessing the nation in the 2nd Temple period as well:

"Then Simon came down and raised his hands over the whole congregation of Israelites, to pronounce the blessing of the Lord with his lips, and to glory in his name; and they bowed down in worship a second time, to receive the blessing from the Most High." (Sirach 50:20-21)     

So what does any of this have to do with Spock?  

Jesus and Sabbath Study Guide

The adult Sunday school class at my church is currently studying Jesus in his Jewish context, with a particular emphasis on addressing anti-Judaism.  We are looking at four specific topics: Sabbath, exorcism, nonviolence, and social justice.  I thought I'd make some of the study guides we're using available online, in case someone might find them useful.  Click here to access the PDF on "Jesus and the Sabbath."  The study guide has some general discussion and several excerpts from primary Jewish sources on the Sabbath.  If addressing anti-Judaism in the church and scholarship is something that is interesting to you, then you might check out Amy-Jill Levine's The Misunderstood Jew.  You can also take a gander at our earlier post on "The Good Scribe."