Judeans and Jews: Four Faces of Dichotomy in Ancient Jewish History
© 2014
In writing in English about the classical era, is it more appropriate to refer to “Jews” or to “Judeans”? What difference does it make? Today, many scholars consider “Judeans” the more authentic term, and “Jews” and “Judaism” merely anachronisms.
In Judeans and Jews, Daniel R. Schwartz argues that we need both terms in order to reflect the dichotomy between the tendencies of those, whether in Judea or in the Disapora, whose identity was based on the state and the land (Judeans), and those whose identity was based on a religion and culture (Jews).
Presenting the Second Temple era as an age of transition between a territorial past and an exilic and religious future, Judeans and Jews not only sharpens our understanding of this important era but also sheds important light on the revolution in Jewish identity caused by the creation of the modern state of Israel.
Product Details
- Series: The Kenneth Michael Tanenbaum Series in Jewish Studies
- World Rights
- Page Count: 192 pages
- Illustrations: 6
- Dimensions: 6.3in x 0.8in x 9.3in
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Reviews
“Daniel R. Schwartz is perhaps the leading authority of post-Achemenid Second Temple Jewish history. His career-long involvement with Josephus scholarship and his recent magisterial commentary on II Maccabees mean Judeans and Jews contains the mature reflections of a master in the field.”
David Goodblatt, Distinguished Professor and Endowed Chair in Judaic Studies, Department of History, University of California, San Diego“Judeans and Jews is a most interesting and instructive read, an ingenious volume that represents the fruits of long reflection and that gives scope to a distinguished author’s individual voice.”
Tessa Rajak, Professor Emeritus of Ancient History, University of Reading -
Author Information
Daniel R. Schwartz is a professor in the Department of the History of the Jewish People and Contemporary Jewry and the academic director of the Scholion Interdisciplinary Research Center in the Humanities and Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. -
Table of contents
Introduction
I. Judean Historiography vs. Jewish Historiography: The First and Second Books of Maccabees
II. Priestly Judaism vs. Rabbinic Judaism
III. From Joseph b. Mattathias, a Priest of Judea, to Flavius Josephus, a Jew of Rome
IV. Judeans, Jews, and the Era that Disappeared: On Heinrich Graetz’s Evolving Treatment of the Second Temple Period
Conclusion
Appendix: May We Speak of “Religion” and “Judaism” in the Second Temple Period?
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