For Second Temple Jewish readers and writers, there was no “Bible;” instead what we find in the literature from this period is a broad spectrum of sacred texts from Genesis and the Books of Enoch to Chronicles, Jubilees, and hundreds of different Davidic Psalms. While the publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls along with decades of new research has proven that “Bible” is a misleading anachronism for the Second Temple period, scholarship is still without consensus on what to call this literature or how exactly we might classify, or “map” this corpus.

Molly Zahn will discuss how we could form useful new categories, based on her new book, Genres of Rewriting in Second Temple Judaism: Scribal Composition & Transmission (Cambridge University Press, 2020). Responses will be offered by Elena Dugan, Nathan Mastnjak, and Eva Mroczek, followed by open discussion.

This event is Part 1 of a 2-part series curated by James Nati: Ancient Hebrew Literature Beyond "The Bible." Part 2 will feature work by David Lambert, with Chontel Syfox, Laura Carlson Hasler, and Seth L. Sanders.

Date & Time: Thursday, 8/20 @ 2:00pm EST on Zoom.

Please register to receive the link and short pre-circulated paper by Molly Zahn. These will be sent out by a BRANE volunteer, so please be patient.