Proximity to Power and Jewish Sectarian Groups of the Ancient Period : : A Review of Lifestyle, Values, and Halakha in the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Qumran / / Hillel Newman.

• Superior document: The Brill Reference Library of Judaism ; 25
• VerfasserIn: Newman, Hillel,
• TeilnehmendeR: Ludlam, Ruth M.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden; , Boston : : BRILL,, 2006.
• Year of Publication: 2006
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: The Brill Reference Library of Judaism ; 25.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (352 p.)
• Notes: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

This book deals with the values, lifestyle and code of law of four Jewish sectarian groups in the Hellenistic and Roman (Second Temple) period, in the land of Israel. It reviews the groups according to their proximity to power, highlighting the fact that political involvement has a decisive impact on the life and development of these social groups. The groups under review, the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes and Qumran, receive a new historical description, from the viewpoint of their proximity to power. The issue of what determines the course of a social group, whether normative or sectarian, is discussed, and the traditional terminology is re-examined. Original terminology is established. The first part of the book deals with the question of terminology, the available sources and the presentation of the different groups.

Table of Contents

Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- Introduction -- List of Abbreviations and Sources -- Chapter One Terminology and Methodology -- 1.1: Terminology -- 1.2: Methodology -- Chapter Two Jewish Groups in the Hasmonean Period and their Proximity to the Regime -- 2.1: Introduction -- 2.2: The Pharisees -- 2.3: The Sadducees -- 2.4: The Essenes -- 2.5: The Qumran Group -- 2.6: The Distinction Between the Groups According to Involvement in the Center -- Chapter Three Seceding Groups and Dissenting Groups: Lifestyle -- 3.1: Communal Eating as a Sectarian Feature -- 3.2: Clothing as a Sectarian Characteristic -- 3.3: The Family as a Sectarian Characteristic -- 3.4: Conclusions: Lifestyle -- Chapter Four Seceding Groups and Dissenting Groups: Halakhic System -- 4.1: The Place of Halakhah in the Lives of Jewish Groups -- 4.2: The Halakhic System of Dissenting Groups -- 4.3: The Halakhic System of Seceding Groups -- Chapter Five Seceding Groups and Dissenting Groups: Theology and Ideology -- 5.1: Theological and Ideological Characteristics in Research -- 5.2: The Importance of "Continuing Prophecy" in a Group's Leadership -- 5.3: "Prophetic Ability" in the Lives of Seceding Groups -- 5.4: The Prophetic Aspect among Dissenting Groups -- 5.5: Continuing Prophecy among the Jewish Groups -- 5.6: The Status of "Earthly Life" in the Spiritual System -- Conclusions -- Bibliography -- Index -- INDEX OF ANCIENT SOURCES -- INDEX OF MODERN SOURCES -- INDEX OF NAMES -- INDEX OF TOPICS.