Naming God in Early Judaism

Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek
2022
ISBN: 978-3-506-70350-7
Verlag: Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh

Buch, Englisch, Band 2, 329 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 755 g

Reihe: Studies in Cultural Contexts of the Bible

During the Second Temple period (516 BCE–70 CE), Jews became reticent to speak and write the divine name, YHWH, also known by its four letters in Greek as the tetragrammaton. Priestly, pious, and scribal circles limitted the use of God’s name, and then it disappeared. The variables are poorly understood and the evidence is scattered. This study brings together all ancient Jewish literary and epigraphic evidence in Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek to describe how, when, and in what sources Jews either used or avoided the divine name. Instead of a diachronic contrast from use to avoidance, as is often the scholarly assumption, the evidence suggests diverse and overlapping naming practices that draw specific meaning from linguistic, geographic, and social contexts.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Meyer, Anthony

Meyer, Anthony R.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Geschichte des Judentums Geschichte des Judentums: Biblische & Klassische Periode

Über Autor(innen)

Anthony Meyer holds a PhD in Religious Studies from McMater University and was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He specializes in Judaism of the Graeco-Roman period and offers courses on Jewish history and world religions at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, USA.