Scrolls, Testament and Talmud: Issues of Antisemitism in the Study of Ancient Judaism

Abstract

The study of ancient Judaism raises numerous issues regarding antisemitism such as: Greco-Roman antisemitism and early antisemitic (or anti-Judaic) literature,1 early Jewish-Christian relations,2 and antagonism to the Jews in Babylonia.3 These phenomena continue to be studied by numerous scholars. What has been lacking in research is a meta-analysis that seeks to show how antisemitism has affected the study not only of ancient anti-Judaism but of ancient Judaism and Jewish history in Late Antiquity as a whole. Aspects of this problem include the effects of antisemitism on descriptive terms for Judaism in Antiquity and Late Antiquity; approaches to periodization within the larger ancient historical framework; construal of Jews and Judaism in light of New Testament images and later anti-Jewish material in the Church Fathers; effects of the Reformation and Protestantism on views of the Jews and Judaism; and numerous such topics. More recently, there has been fundamental questioning of the basic geographical and historical facts of ancient Jewish history as a result of modern Middle Eastern issues, to name just a few of the most prominent problems. Some might wonder why one would consider the field of Judaic Studies at a conference devoted to antisemitism. At first glance, it would appear that Judaic Studies is itself a strong antidote to anti-Jewish/Judaic prejudice. Indeed such a notion lay behind the rise of the Wissenschaft des Judentums, the scientific study of Judaism, as it developed in Germany and elsewhere in the nineteenth century.4 Its earliest advocates thought it could be utilized as a strategy for combating