Early Judaism- A Comprehensive Overview

The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel [that is, Jacob]. (Hewasthe

firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was

given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, so that he is not enrolled in the

genealogy according to the birthright.) (1 Chron. 5:1)

In Reuben’s case, the Chronicler explains, an exception was made to the

general rule because of Reuben’s egregious sin with his father’s concubine

(Gen. 35:22). He was still, in genealogical terms, the firstborn, but the first-

born’s special inheritance (the “birthright”) was given instead to Joseph,

Rachel’s son.

Interpretations outside the Bible

Biblical scholars have been diligent in uncovering little spots of interpreta-

tion such as these within the Hebrew Bible itself: later versions of earlier

laws sometimes modify their wording or reconfigure their application;

original biblical prophecies are sometimes supplemented or rearranged to

stress the new interpretation now given to them; later editors sometimes

inserted phrases that glossed earlier texts whose wording was no longer

understood. But considered as a whole, these inner-biblical interpretations

pale before the great body of ancient interpretation that has been pre-

served outside of the Jewish Bible, in works composed from about the

third centuryb.c.e.to the second centuryc.e.and beyond. This was the

golden age of biblical interpretation, the period in which various groups of

(largely anonymous) interpreters put their stamp on the Hebrew Bible and

determined the basic way in which the Bible would be interpreted for the

next 2,000 years.

The writings in which their interpretations are attested are quite var-

ied. Some of them are originally Jewish compositions included in Chris-

tian Bibles — identified there as “Deuterocanonical Books” or “Old Testa-

ment Apocrypha” — works such as the Wisdom of Jesus Ben Sira (second

centuryb.c.e.) and the Wisdom of Solomon (first centuryb.c.e.orc.e.).

Others are categorized as “pseudepigrapha,” compositions falsely ascribed

to ancient figures from the Bible but actually written in a later period —

works such as the book ofJubilees(early second centuryb.c.e.) or theTe s-

tament of Abraham(first centuryb.c.e.orc.e.). Much ancient biblical in-

terpretation is also preserved in the Dead Sea Scrolls; some of these texts

go back to the third centuryb.c.e.or earlier. Ancient translations, such as

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james l. kugel

EERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:04:00 PM