Calendrical variations in Second Temple Judaism : : new perspectives on the "Date of the Last Supper" debate / / Stéphane Saulnier.

• Superior document: Supplements to the Journal for the study of Judaism ; v. 159
• Author: Saulnier, Stéphane.
• Year of Publication: 2012
• Language: English
• Series: Supplements to the Journal for the study of Judaism ; 159.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (296 pages)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

Starting from the seminal work of the French scholar Annie Jaubert on the date of the Last Supper, the present work revisits known - and identifies new - calendrical issues in the literature of Second Temple Judaism. The research supports the conclusion that all known calendrical traditions functioned on the tenet that orthopraxis in ancient Judaism meant close interconnection between cultic and agricultural cycles. From this perspective the book removes the calendrical objection leveled at the Jaubertian theory. Further, the research brings new light on current debates about Qumran calendrical documents and proposes the identification of a previously unknown calendrical polemic in the Astronomical Book of Enoch concerning the synchronization of the 364DY tradition with the lunar cycle.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- I. The Date of the Last Supper: Annie Jaubert’s Theory Revisited -- II. The Cycle of Festivals and the Seasons in the Hebrew Bible -- III. The Cycle of Festivals and the Seasons in the Book of Jubilees -- IV. The Cycle of Festivals in the Dead Sea Scrolls -- V. The Cycle of Festivals in Other Relevant Jewish Sources -- VI. Calendrical Issues in the Book of Luminaries (1 Enoch 72–82) -- VII. The Calendrical Documents from Qumran -- VIII. Conclusions -- Appendix: The 364-Day Year, the Lunar Cycle, and the Triennial Cycle -- Bibliography -- Index of Subjects -- Index of Modern Authors -- Index of Scriptures and Other Ancient Writings.