Judaism in the Land of Israel
James C. VanderKam
Judaismas a designation for the entire phenomenon of the Jewish ways of
living and believing is a Greek term(Ioudaismos)first attested in 2 Macc.
2:21; 14:38. It is related to the name for the land where many Jews lived —
the land of Judah or Judea — and seems to have been coined as a way of
contrasting traditional Jewishness with Hellenism (Hellenismos; see
2 Macc. 4:13). This essay will focus on Judaism as it came to expression in
the land of Israel.The Land of Israel
The Scriptures repeatedly mention God’s promise that the descendants of
Abraham and Sarah would possess the land (Gen. 12:7; 13:14-17; 15:7, 17-21;
etc.), and the book of Joshua shows how that promise came to fruition
(e.g., Josh. 21:43-45). The people of Israel lived in the promised land for
centuries, but finally their sins, according to the Deuteronomistic History
(2 Kings 21:10-15; etc.), so sorely tried the divine patience that YHWH in-
voked the curses of the covenant upon them, and gave them into the power
of their enemies, who torched Jerusalem and the Temple and exiled many
from the land. Decades later a return to the land began and a new temple
was constructed on the site of the old one. Though a large number of Jew-
ish people by this time lived in the various diasporas, the land of Israel re-
mained a powerful symbol for them, yet this spiritual and national force
did not necessarily impel them to live there. The Temple was a center for
pilgrimages and gifts in addition to being the place where sacrifices were
continually offered. The prophets had looked forward to a day when the70EERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:03:53 PM