Jews and Judaism

by

Sandra Gambetti

• LAST REVIEWED: 12 July 2019
• LAST MODIFIED: 14 December 2009
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195389661-0028

Introduction

The Jewish experience in the Greco-Roman period embraces geographically the region of the Mediterranean basin and encompasses the experience of Jews living both in and outside Palestine, while it covers chronologically the period from Alexander the Great’s conquest to the last centuries of the Roman Empire. The expression “Hellenistic Judaism” refers to the encounter between the Jewish and the Greek cultures in the broadest sense; the expression “Second Temple Judaism” refers to development of Judaism during the existence of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. This entry does not cover the following topics: biblical and pre-Hellenistic Judaism, early Christianity, Babylonian Judaism, and rabbinic Judaism.

General Overviews

The three volumes of The Cambridge History of Judaism (Davies and Finkelstein 1990; Horbury, et al. 1999; Katz 2006) epitomize the historical content of this bibliography. Stone 1984 is the reference work for cultural texts. The Journal of Jewish Studies and Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period are the main journals in the field. RAMBI is the bibliographical repertoire.

• Davies, W. D., and Louis Finkelstein, eds. 1990. The Cambridge history of Judaism. Vol. 2, The Hellenistic age. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.

  The most comprehensive collection of essays on the subject, covering both historical and cultural aspects.

• Horbury, William, W. D. Davies, John Sturdy, eds. 1999. The Cambridge history of Judaism. Vol. 3, The early Roman period. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.

  The most comprehensive collection of essays on the subject, covering both historical and cultural aspects.

• Journal of Jewish Studies. 1948–. Oxford: Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

  A journal publishing articles on ancient Judaism, among other topics; available online for subscribing institutions. Conventionally abbreviated JJS.

• Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period. 1970–. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.

  A journal publishing articles exclusively on ancient Judaism; available online for subscribing institutions. Conventionally abbreviated JSJ.

• Katz, Steven T., ed. 2006. The Cambridge history of Judaism. Vol. 4, The late Roman-Rabbinic period. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.

  The most comprehensive collection of essays on the subject, covering both historical and cultural aspects.

• RAMBI: The Index of Articles on Jewish Studies. Jewish National Univ. Library.

  The online list of studies in the field. Previously published in print (Index of articles on Jewish Studies. Jerusalem: Magnes, 1966–).

• Schürer, Emil. 1973. The history of the Jewish people in the time of Jesus Christ (175 B.C.–135 A.D.). Revised and edited by Emil Schürer, Géza Vermès, Fergus Millar, Matthew Black, and Martin Goodman. 2 vols. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.

  Original edition published in 1885. The most complete and detailed, revised and updated historical survey of the central centuries of Greco-Roman Judaism.

• Stone, Michael E., ed. 1984. Jewish writings of the Second Temple period: Apocrypha, pseudepigrapha, Qumran sectarian writings, Philo, Josephus. Assen, The Netherlands: Van Gorcum.

  A reference work on the study of all Jewish texts, regardless of genre or canonization, all equally complementary to understanding Second Temple Judaism. Extrabiblical texts, Apocrypha, pseudepigrapha, wisdom and apocalyptic texts, historians, Philo, Josephus, and gnostic and sectarian texts are discussed. Good references for critical editions and basic bibliography.