Scholars have long believed that the “ancestral customs” of the Pharisees mentioned in texts such as Antiquitates judaicae 13.297 and Matt 15:1-9 were proto-rabbinic oral tradition, based on apparently corroborating readings of Rabbinic works. However, in this article, I will show that this terminology should be understood within the context of the codes of Graeco-Roman associations. Such language is consistent with both the use of association terminology elsewhere in Josephus, as well as with the corpus of association-related inscriptions and papyri presently extant. The idea of the Pharisees as a semi-private association is not unique, though this terminology provides further corroboration that the Pharisees were understood as a semi-private, itinerant association by contemporary Jewish writers.
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Jacob Neusner, “Emergent Rabbinic Judaism in a Time of Crisis,” in Early Rabbinic Judaism (ed. Jacob Neusner; sjla 13; Leiden: Brill, 1975) 44; idem, From Politics to Piety: The Emergence of Pharisaic Judaism(2nd ed.; New York: Ktav, 1979) 83-90; A.I. Baumgarten, “Graeco-Roman Associations and Jewish Sects,” in Jews in a Graeco-Roman World (ed. Martin Goodman; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998) 105. For E.P. Sanders’ compelling refutation based on problems with Neusner’s criteria for antiquity of traditions and priestly observance, see Jewish Law from Jesus to the Mishnah: Five Studies (London/Philadelphia: scm Press/Trinity Press International, 1990) 139-254.
Davies and Allison, Matthew, 2.520; Joel Marcus, “Scripture and Tradition in Mark 7,” in The Scriptures in the Gospels (ed. C.M. Tuckett; betl 131; Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1997) 177-181. It should be noted that Davies and Allison view this as a purposeful archaization on the part of the Pharisees, who seem to be used to attacks on the validity of their traditions, based on A.J. 13.297 (see below).
E.g. J. Andrew Overman, Church and Community in Crisis: The Gospel According to Matthew (Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 1996) 225.
Ibid., 72. This, it should be noted, is generally in line with the general treatment of this section during the 1980’s; e.g. Daniel R. Schwartz, “Josephus and Nicolaus of Damascus,” jsj 14.2 (1983) 157-171.
Contra Basser, “Confirming,” 173-180. Basser uses a number of texts to argue that there is a chain of influence running from biblical texts to later rabbinic texts relating to oral tradition. These connections occur in texts including Deut 17:9-12 and Ezek 20:36, which refer to rulings to be followed, and are then compared to that which is said in the rabbinic material much later, which use similar terminology. In his treatment of Ezek 20:36, he makes the connection between the masoret and paradosis through interpretations found in Theodotion (2nd century ce) and Rashi’s commentaries (11th century ce), which only illustrates the selectivity of materials chosen (Basser does not deal with the og, which does not match) and the centuries/millennia he is willing to span between texts. Given the lack of intermediate literature, the connection of terminology proves little beyond the fact that the later Rabbis interpreted the texts in this way, with no proof of the idea of consistent, oral tradition. We are in better stead following the lead of Klawans, who states that what we have in Josephus may illuminate the later Rabbinic ideas, we lack requisite proof that they are connected, especially given the fact that neither Matthew nor Josephus actually mention oral tradition; Klawans, Josephus, 144-146.
Daniel R. Schwartz, “Josephus on the Pharisees as Diaspora Jews,” in Josephus und das Neue Testament (ed. Christfried Böttrich and Jens Herzer; wunt 209; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007) 138-139; Steve Mason, Flavius Josephus on the Pharisees(S. P-B. 39; Leiden: Brill, 1991) 255. Mason goes so far as to argue that A.J. 13.288-97 was originally a pro-Hyrcanus and pro-Pharisaic story, which Josephus redacts in order to stress the factionalism preceding the First Jewish Revolt.
Gunter Haaland, “What Difference does Philosophy Make? The Three Schools as a Rhetorical Device in Josephus,” in Making History: Josephus and Historical Method (ed. Zuleika Rodgers; sjsj 110; Leiden: Brill, 2007) 262-288; E.P. Sanders, Judaism: Practice and Belief (London: scm Press, 1992) 407-409.
Mason, Flavius Josephus, 100-110; idem, Life of Josephus (fjtc 9; Leiden: Brill, 2001) 123 n. 1177. While Mason rules out generalizing these terms completely, he stresses their synonymous usage in Josephus, especially in relation with the Pharisees.
Paul Spilsbury, “Reading the Bible in Rome: Josephus and the Constraints of Empire,” in Josephus and Jewish History in Flavian Rome and Beyond (ed. Joseph Sievers and Gaia Lembi; sjsj 104; Leiden: Brill, 2005) 222-226; Tessa Rajak, “The Against Apion and the Continuities in Josephus’ Political Thought,” in The Jewish Dialogue with Greece and Rome: Studies in Social and Cultural Interaction (ajec 48; Leiden: Brill, 2001) 206-207; see also Yehoshua Amir, “Theokratia as a Concept of Political Philosophy: Josephus’ Presentation of Moses’ Politeia,” sci 8-9 (1985-1988) 83-105. It is noteworthy, though, that certain customs not included in the Pentateuchal Law (e.g. weekday prayers in the synagogue in Vita 279) are also spoken of in the abovementioned terms, as it suits Josephus’ purposes.
Etienne Nodet, “Josephus’ Attempt to Reorganize Judaism from Rome,” in Making History: Josephus and Historical Method (ed. Zuleika Rodgers; sjsj 110; Leiden: Brill, 2007) 111.
See Cameron Boyd-Taylor, “Linguistic Register and Septuagintal Lexicography,” in Biblical Greek Language and Lexicography (ed. Bernard A. Taylor, et al.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004) 152.
Sanders, Judaism, 458-490; Lee I. Levine, The Ancient Synagogue: The First Thousand Years (2nd ed.; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008) 466-498.
See John S. Kloppenborg, “Collegia and Thiasoi: Issues of Funciton, Taxonomy, and Membership’ ” in Voluntary Associations in the Graeco-Roman World (ed. John S. Kloppenborg and Stephen G. Wilson; London: Routledge, 1996) 16-30.
For various taxonomies, see Runesson, Origins, 467-470; Philip A. Harland, Associations, Synagogues, and Congregations (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003) 28-52; Richard S. Ascough, Paul’s Macedonian Associations (wunt 2.164; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003) 20-24.
E.g. Wayne A. Meeks, The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983) 78-80.
See Baumgarten, Flourishing, 58-59; Moshe Weinfeld, The Organizational Pattern and the Penal Code of the Qumran Sect: A Comparison with Guilds and Religious Associations of the Hellenistic-Roman Period (ntoa 2; Fribourg: Academic Press Fribourg, 1986).
Saldarini, Pharisees, 88, 120; Julius Wellhausen, Die Pharisäer und die Sadducäer: Eine Untersuchung zur inneren jüdischen Geschichte (Bamburg: Greifswald, 1874); John P. Meier, The Marginal Jew, vol. 1: The Roots of the Problem and the Person (abrl; New York: Doubleday, 1991) 277; Sanders, Judaism, 383.
Roland Deines, “The Social Profile of the Pharisees,” in The New Testament and Rabbinic Literature (ed. Reimund Bieringer, et al.; sjsj 136; Leiden: Brill, 2010) 121.
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Scholars have long believed that the “ancestral customs” of the Pharisees mentioned in texts such as Antiquitates judaicae 13.297 and Matt 15:1-9 were proto-rabbinic oral tradition, based on apparently corroborating readings of Rabbinic works. However, in this article, I will show that this terminology should be understood within the context of the codes of Graeco-Roman associations. Such language is consistent with both the use of association terminology elsewhere in Josephus, as well as with the corpus of association-related inscriptions and papyri presently extant. The idea of the Pharisees as a semi-private association is not unique, though this terminology provides further corroboration that the Pharisees were understood as a semi-private, itinerant association by contemporary Jewish writers.
All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 169 | 10 | 3 |
Full Text Views | 181 | 4 | 0 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 44 | 10 | 2 |