Signs and Meanings

Divination and the Production of Knowledge in Jewish Antiquity
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-0-520-43631-2
Verlag: University of California Press

Buch, Englisch, 190 Seiten, Cloth Over Boards, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm

Signs and Meanings explores the range of divinatory techniques that appear in Jewish texts of the Greco-Roman era, from lot oracles and death oracles to human physiognomy and use of the Scriptures. Pushing back against the view of divination as irrational and superstitious, Hanna Tervanotko looks beyond the Hebrew Bible to a broader range of ancient Jewish texts, including the Dead Sea Scrolls and the pseudepigrapha, and draws on anthropological frameworks that consider divination as a knowledge system in its own right. Considering Jewish divinatory practices in the broader context of ancient Eastern Mediterranean and Near Eastern cultures, this book demonstrates that ancient Jews did not live in isolation from neighboring cultures, but rather on a cultural continuum within the ancient Eastern Mediterranean world. This book focuses on individuals instead of institutions, highlighting marginalized people—including women—and lived traditions that show the efficacy of these ancient practices even in today's world. Tervanotko's lived religion approach provides a fuller and more equitable representation of divinatory practices in the ancient world.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Tervanotko, Hanna

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Jüdische Studien
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Bibelwissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte Religionen der Antike

Inhaltsverzeichnis

CONTENTSAcknowledgments1. IntroductionTwo Types of DivinationMaterial and MethodsGoals of the Study2. Letting the Dice Determine: The Lot OracleMateriality of the LotsLots in the Decision-Making of the Qumran CommunityWhen the Lots FailMundane Activity. but God Casts the LotsThe Popularity of the LotsConclusions3. Revealing the Quality of the Mind from the Quality of the Body: Physiognomic Examination as a Tool to Predict the FutureJewish Physiognomic DescriptionsPhysiognomic Awareness: Sarah’s Beauty in The Genesis ApocryphonPhysiognomy as Method to Protect Communal SpacesPhysiognomic AwarenessConclusions4. Exchanges with the Deceased: The Oracle of the DeadProhibitions on Practicing NecromancyNecromancy in Jannes and JambresOracles, Graves, and BodiesCommunicating with the Dead as an ExchangeNecromancy and ForeignnessConclusions5. Divinatory Use of the Scriptures: Books as Living KnowledgeAn Inspired Divinatory Approach to the ScripturesTechnical Consultation of the Scriptures: Bibliomancy and Other Avenues of Accessing the TextConsulting the Scriptures Like GodsComparisonConclusions6. Agents, Objects, and Rituals: The Many Manifestations of Jewish Divinatory TechniquesMaterialityTechnical Divination and RitualsCrisis Management7. ConclusionsEpilogueNotesBibliographyIndex

Über Autor(innen)

Hanna Tervanotko is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at McMaster University and author of Denying Her Voice: The Figure of Miriam in Ancient Jewish Literature.