BOOK LIST 9.

Apocrypha and Postbiblical Studies

197

NEUSNER, JACOB, The idea of History in Rabbinic Judaism (Brill Reference Library of Judaism, 12; Leiden: Brill, 2nd edn, 2004), pp. xvii + 340. 89.00/ $109.00. ISBN 90-04-13583-9; ISSN 1571-5000. This is a revised and augmented edition of the author's The Presence of the Past, the Pastness of the Present: History, Time and Paradigm in Rabbinic Judaism (Bethesda: CDL Press, 1996). Its eight characteristically discursive and unequivocal sections, reproduced here, present Neusner's thesis that rabbinic literature from 200 to 600 CE totally rejects the HB's historical way of thinking and replaces it with a paradigmatic approach to time and events. ('The past takes place in the present. The present embodies the past.' p. 3.) The contrast between rabbinic and biblical thought is spelt out and there are discussions of narrative, biography and liturgy. There is also a challenge to Yosef Hayyim Yerushalmi's view (shared by many) that the 'absence of historical writing among the rabbis may itself have been due in good measure to their total and unqualified absorption of the biblical interpretation of history' (quoted on p. 193). Five new chapters ('documentary characterisation') are added to this edition. The Mishnah is interested in holiness, not history. For the Yerushalmi, moral regeneration and Torah observance, not historical action, will bring the Messiah. Genesis Rabbah sees Genesis as a typology for Israel's history, leading to salvation, while for Pesiqta deRab Kahana the natural world, the calendar and liturgy define Israel's life and link it directly with the heavenly bodies.
S.C. REIF

NEWSOM, CAROL A.. The Self as Symbolic Space: Constructing Identity and Community at Qumran (STDJ, 52; Leiden: Brill, 2004), pp. x + 376. 115.00/$155.00. ISBN 90-04-13803-X. This rich volume offers a detailed analysis of selected Qumran texts. Chapter 1, 'Communities of Discourse', outlines the methodology. In a nutshell N.'s standpoint is summed up on p. 11: 'Only Adam had fresh words to use. The rest of us have to make do with used ones'. This book deals with the sophisticated, subtle, and effective ways in which the authors of the Community Rule and the Hodayot 'make do' and re-accentuate familiar language. Chapter 2 maps out a broader Second Temple context and is of considerable interest beyond the 'community of discourse' of Qumranologists. The remainder of the volume consists of two chapters on the Community Rule and the Hodayot respectively, a conclusion, a bibliography and indexes. Chapter 4 is effectively a commentary on the Community Rule from Cave 1, although the other manuscripts are dealt with en passant. My only misgiving here is the way in which the restoration of the words 'for the Maskil' at the beginning of lQS 1 ends up being treated as a reading (e.g. pp. 103, 108). Much more could have been made, not least to bolster the supposed restoration in lQS 1, of the presence of a reference to the Maskil in the opening words of 4QS'', a crucial piece of evidence that is almost lost except in a brief and undeveloped footnote (p. 136). The Hodayot chapters offer close readings of selected hymns and important reflections on the collection as a whole. All in all, the close readings of the texts are

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Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 29.5 (2005)

a goldmine of insights and the analyses of the larger issues of identity and community open up new paths across some very well-trodden territory. C. HEMPEL NICKELSBURG, GEORGE W.E. and JAMES C. VANDERKAM, / Enoch: A New Translation Based on the Hermeneia Commentary (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2004), pp. ix + 170. 9.99. ISBN 0-8006-3694-5. This new translation of 1 Enoch is based on years of work with the sources. Chapters 1-36 and 83-103 were prepared by Nickelsburg and are mainly the same as in the first volume of his commentary {B.L. 2003, pp. 179-80). Chapters 37-71, also by Nickelsburg, will appear in the second volume of his commentary together with VanderKam's translation of 1 Enoch 72-82. The translation is offered with some brief footnotes which always cite in English translation variants in the original sources. This is a very handy volume for class use.
G.J. BROOKE

PATTERSON, STEPHEN J., Beyond the Passion: Rethinking the Death and Life of Jesus (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2004), pp. x + 161. 11.99. ISBN 0800-6367-40. In this book P. argues persuasively that the death and resurrection of Jesus cannot be properly understood apart from his life. He considers that life under three headingsvictim, martyr and sacrificeand in the course of the discussion provides a great deal of material about the nature of life in the Roman empire together with some consideration of contemporary Greek and Jewish views on martyrdom and sacrifice.
J.T. WILLIAMS

RAKEL, CLAUDIA, Judit-uber Schonheit, Macht und Widerstand im Krieg: Eine feministisch-intertextuelle LektUre (BZAW, 334; Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 2004), pp. X -t- 326. 688.00. ISBN 3-11-017926-1. This monograph, a doctoral study under the direction of Irmtraud Fischer, puts Judith 16.1-17 (the hymn of praise to God in the last chapter) at the centre of its study. According to R., this hymn recapitulates and interprets the events of the previous chapters and also introduces three themes of importance to her study: beauty, force and resistance. As the subtitle suggests, the methods used are feminist and intertextual exegesis. The book of Judith is particularly rich in intertextual references, and an appendix contains a translation of 6.1-17 with an intertextual apparatus. Judith herself comes out as an ambivalent figure who exercises force and contradicts the female gender stereotype. She fits the social figure of a powerless widow but is also a rich, independent and educated woman. As well as matching feminine biblical parallels (e.g., Jael), she has some of the same qualities as masculine figures in other texts. She slays like David; she sings like Moses. She is also a counterpart to Judas Maccabaeus: there are a number of parallels with