Personal Religion in the Persian Period

1Personal Religion in the Bible Religion 36 Fall 2010 Amherst College

Professor Niditch Office Hours: Monday 3:00-4:00 Office: Chapin 114 and by appointment

Required Books from Amherst Books:

David Brakke et. al., eds. Religion and the Self in Antiquity Michael D. Coogan, ed. Oxford History of the Biblical World Moshe Greenberg Biblical Prose Prayer King, P.J. and Stager, L.E. Life in Biblical Israel McGuire, Meredith Lived Religion: Faith and Practice in Everyday Life Niditch, Susan Ancient Israelite Religion NRSV Bible Stavrakopoulou, Frances Religious Diversity in Ancient Israel and Judah and John Barton, eds. NRSV Bible

Sept. 8: Introduction

Religion: Personal, Material, Lived

Readings:

Sept. 13: Meredith B. McGuire, Lived Religion: Faith and Practice in Everyday Life (Oxford/NY: Oxford University Press, 2008) 3-96; 185-213 (buy). Robert Orsi, “Is the Study of Lived Religion Irrelevant to the World We Live In?” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 42(2003) 169-74 (Ereserve). Colleen McDannell, Material Christianity: Religion and Popular Culture in America (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1995) 1-16. (Ereserve).

Sept. 15: David Brakke, Michael L. Satlow, and Steven Weitzman, eds., Religion and the Self in Antiquity (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005) 1-11 (buy). Saul M. Olyan, “The Search for the Elusive Self in Texts of the Hebrew Bible,” Religion and the Self in Antiquity (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005) 40-50 (buy).

Sept. 17: Essay #1 due Friday by 5 p.m.: a 2-3 page response essay applying one or more of these readings to Psalm 142 or Psalm 6. Ancient Israelite Culture

Readings:

Sept. 20: Susan Niditch, Ancient Israelite Religion, (Oxford/NY: Oxford University Press, date) (buy). Philip J. King and Lawrence E. Stager, Life in Biblical Israel (Louisville: Westminster, John Knox, 2001) 1-19 and soundings (work to be divided up) (buy). W. Malandra and Michael Stausberg, “Iran” in Religions of the Ancient World, ed. Sarah Iles Johnston (Harvard U. Press: Cambridge, MA, 2004) 197-205, plus entries at 301-302; 339-340 (Ereserve).

Readings on Personal Religion and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures: Models and Questions

Readings:

Sept. 22: Carol Meyers, “Household Religion,” in Religious Diversity in Ancient Israel and Judah, eds. F. Stavrakopoulou and J. Barton (London: T + T Clark, 2010) 118-134 (buy). Rainer Albertz, “Personal Piety” in Religious Diversity, 135-146 (buy). Theodore J. Lewis, “Family, Household, and Local Religion at Late Bronze Age Ugarit,” in Household and Family Religion in Antiquity, eds. John Bodel and Saul M. Olyan (Oxford: Blackwell, 2008) 60-88 (Ereserve). Rainer Albertz, “Family Religion in Ancient Israel and its Surrounds,” Household and Family Religion, eds. Bodel and Olyan, 89-112 (Ereserve). Saul M. Olyan, “Family Religion in Israel and the Wider Levant of the First Millennium BCE,” Household and Family Religion (eds. Bodel and Olyan) 113-126 (Ereserve). Susan Ackerman, “Household Religion, Family Religon, and Women’s Religion in Ancient Israel,” Household and Family Religion (eds. Bodel and Olyan) 127-158 (Ereserve). What do we mean by “material culture?”

Sept. 23: A lecture by Professor David Vanderhooft, Boston College, “On the Concept and Reality of the Jewish Exile,” 7:30 p.m., 101 Chapin Hall.

Sept. 27: Essay #2 due in class: Having read the essays for Sept. 22, explain in the light of Colleen McDannell’s work (assigned for Sept. 15) what we mean by material culture in ancient Israel and discuss its significance for an appreciation of worldview.

A Closer Look at Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods

Readings:

Sept. 27: On political history Michael D. Coogan, ed., The Oxford History of the Biblical World (Oxford: Oxford U. Press, 1998) 348-417 (one half article by Cogan and essay by Mary Joean Winn Leith) (Buy). Lester L. Grabbe, “’They Shall Come Rejoicing to Zion’ or Did They.? The Settlement of Yehud in the Early Persian Period.” Exile and Restoration Revisited. Persian and Babylonian Periods in Memory of Peter R. Ackroyd, eds. Gary N. Knoppers and Lester Grabbe with Deirdre N. Fulton (Library of Second Temple Studies73; London: T and T Clark, 2009) 116-127 (Ereserve).

On Babylonian versus Persian Rule D. Vanderhooft, “From Neo-Babylonian to Achaemenid Administration,” Yahwism After the Exile. Perspectives on Israelite Religion in the Persian Period, eds. Rainer Albertz and Bob Brecking (STAR 5; Assen: Van Gorcum) 219-235 (Ereserve).

On Judah vs. Diaspora Jill Middlemas, The Troubles of Templeless Judah (Oxford: Oxford U. Press, 2005) intro, 1-23, 229- 235 (my sum) (Ereserve).

Sept. 29: On Judeans and Samarians Gary N. Knoppers, “Revisiting the Samarian Question in the Persian Period,” Judah and the Judeans in the Persian Period, eds., Oded Lipschits and Manfred Oeming (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2006) 265-289 (Ereserve).

On self-perception versus socio-historical realities Hans M. Barstad, “After the ‘Myth of the Empty Land’: Major Challenges in the Study of Neo- Babylonian Judah,” Judah and the Judeans in the Neo-Babylonian Period, eds., Oded Lipschuts and Joseph Blenkinsopp (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2003) 3-20 (Ereserve).

On theology Rainer Albertz, Israel in Exile, The History and Literature of the Sixth Century BCE (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003) 435-445 (Ereserve).

We will divide up the assigned work for the next two or three classes, a process to be explained in class.

Oct. 4, 6: On material culture: methodological challenges Avraham Faust, “Judah in the Sixth Century BCE: A Rural Perspective,” Palestine Exploration Quarterly 135(2003)37-53 (Ereserve). Avraham Faust, “Settlement Dynamics and Demographic Fluctuations in Judah from the Late Iron Age to the Hellenistic Period,” A Time of Change, ed. Yigal Levin (London: T+T Clark, 2007) 23-51 (Ereserve). Jeffrey R. Zorn, “Tell en-Nasbeh and the Problem of the Material Culture of the Sixth Century,” Judah and the Judeans in the Neo-Babylonian Period, eds., Oded Lipschits and Joseph Blenkinsopp (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2003) 413-447 (Ereserve). Kenneth Hoglund, “The Material Culture of the Persian Period and the Sociology of the Second Temple Period,” Second Temple Studies III. Studies in Politics, Class and Material Culture, eds. Philip R. Davies and John M. Halligan (JSOT Supp. 340; Sheffield: Sheffield University Press, 2002) 14-18 (Ereserve). John W. Wright, “A Tale of Three Cities: Urban Gates, Squares and Power in Iron Age II, Neo- Babylon and Achaemenid Judah,” Second Temple Studies III. Studies in Politics, Class and Material Culture, eds. Philip R. Davies and John M. Halligan (JSOT Supp. 340; Sheffield: Sheffield University Press, 2002) 19-50 (Ereserve). Oded Lipschits, “Persian Period Finds from Jerusalem: Facts and Interpretations,” Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 9 (2009) 1-30 (available free online). Ephraim Stern, “The Religious Revolution in Persian-Period Judah,” Judah and the Judeans in the PersianPeriod, eds. Oded Lipschits and Manfred Oeming (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2006) 199-205 (Ereserve).

Oct. 13: On sociological dimensions D.L. Smith-Christopher, “Reassessing the Historical and Sociological Impact of the Babylonian Exile (597/587-539 BCE),” in Exile: Old Testament, Jewish, and Christian Conceptions, ed. James M. Scott (Leiden: Brill, 1997) 7-36 (Ereserve). Joseph Blenkinsopp, “Temple and Society in Achaemenid Judah,” Second Temple Studies I. Persian Period, ed. Philip R. Davies (JSOT Supp. 117; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1991) 22-53 (Ereserve). Kenneth Hoglund, “The Achaemenid Context,” Second Temple Studies I. Persian Period, ed. Philip R. Davies (JSOT Supp. 117; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1991) 54-72 (Ereserve). Daniel L. Smith, The Religion of the Landless. The Social Context of the Babylonian Exile (Bloomington, IN: Meyer-Stone Books, 1989) 1-90 (Ereserve). John Kessler, “Persia’s Loyal Yahwists: Power Identity and Ethnicity in Achaemenid Yehud,” Judah and the Judeans in the Persian Period, eds. Oded Lipschits and Manfred Oeming (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2006) 91-121 (Ereserve).

Some Approaches to Personal Religion in Persian Period

Readings:

Oct. 18: Rainer Albertz, A History of Israelite Religion in the Old Testament Period, Vol. II (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1994) 401-411 (Ereserve). Jon L. Berquist, “Psalms, Postcolonialism, and the Construction of the Self,” Approaching Yehud: New Approaches to the Study of the Persian Period, ed. Jon L. Berquist (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007) 195-202 (Ereserve). Moshe Greenberg, Biblical Prose Prayer as a Window to the Popular Religion of Ancient Israel (Berkeley: University of California, 1983) (buy).

Sin Responsibility and Divine Justice

Readings:

Oct. 25: James Sanders, “The Exile and Canon Formation,” in Exile, ed. James M. Scott (Leiden: Brill, 1997) 54-58 (Ereserve). Ezekiel 18, Jeremiah 31:29-30, Ecclesiastes

Oct. 27: Job Gerald L. Mattingly, “The Pious Sufferer: Mesopotamia’s Traditional Theodicy and Job’s Counselors” in The Bible in the Light of Cuneiform Literature Scripture in Context III, eds. William W. Hallo, Bruce William Jones, and Gerald L. Mattingly (Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 1990) 305-340, Ereserve. Oct. 31: Essay #3 due: dealing with sin and responsibility in Ecclesiastes, Ezekiel, or Job. Details to be announced

Incantations to Autobiography and the Power of Personal Prayers

Readings:

Nov. 1, 3: Incantations and Laments, “national” and “personal.” Lamentations 3, Psalms 74, 77, 79, 80, 83, 89:38-52; Psalms 3, 6, 7, 13, 17, 22, 35, 38, 57, 69, 70,109, 5, 25, 26, 27:7-14, 28, 31, 42, 43, 51, 54, 55, 56, 59, 61, 63, 64, 71, 86, 88, 102, 120, 130, 140, 141, 142, 143.

Nov. 8: Confessions of Jeremiah Kathleen M. O’Connor, The Confessions of Jeremiah: Their Interpretation and Role in Chapters 1- 25, SBL Diss. Ser 94. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988, pp. 1-96 (copies on reserve in Chapin Lounge). Jer 11:18-12:6; 15:10-21; 17:14-18; 18:18-23; 20:7-13 (18).

Nov. 10: Servant Songs of Isaiah Isa 41:8-13; 42:1-9, 42:18-25; 49:1-13; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12.

Nov. 12: Essay #4 due: dealing with the individual and tradition.

Autobiographies, Ezra-Nehemiah Memoirs

Readings

Nov. 15: Janet Gyatso, Apparitions of the Self: The Secret Autobiographies of a Tibetan Visionary (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998) 3-11 (Ereserve). Ronald Hendel, “The Exodus in Biblical Memory,” Journal of Biblical Literature 120 (2001) 602-22 (Ereserve). Ezra-Nehemiah Daniel L. Smith, “The Politics of Ezra: “Sociological Indicators of Postexilic Judean Society,” Second Temple Studies I. Persian Period, ed. Philip R. Davies (JSOT Supp. 117; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1991) 73-97. Lester L. Grabbe, “Reconstructing History From the Book of Ezra,” Second Temple Studies I. Persian Period, ed. Philip R. Davies (JSOT Supp. 117; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1991) 98-106. Morton Smith, Palestinian Parties and Politics that Shaped the Old Testament (London: SCM, 1987) 96-112; 195-202 (Ereserve or Reserve). L.S. Fried, “The Political Struggle of Fifth Century Judah,” Transeuphrate’ne 24 (2002) 9-21 (Ereserve). Joseph Blenkinsopp, “The Nehemiah Autobiographical Memoir,” in Language, Theology, and the Bible. Essays in Honour of James Barr, eds. Samuel E. Balentine and John Barton (Oxford: Clarendon, 1994) 199-212 (Ereserve).

Nov. 17: Essay #5 due: Does Nehemiah contain a “memoir?” Little Things/Ordinary People

Readings:

Nov. 17 Ruth Nov. 17: Guest Lecture, Edward L. Greenstein, Bar Ilan University, “The Book of Ruth: A Story On Many Levels.”

Personal Ritual: Vows

Readings

Nov. 29: Jacques Berlinerblau, The Vow and “Popular Religious Groups” in Ancient Israel (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1996) (buy online at Amazon). Michael L. Satlow, “Giving for a Return: Jewish Votive Offerings in late Antiquity,” Religion and the Self in Antiquity (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005) 91-108 (buy). Tony W. Cartledge, “Conditional Vows in the Psalms of Lament: A New Approach to an Old Problem,” in The Listening Heart. Essays in Wisdom and the Psalms in honor of Roland E. Murphy, O. Carm., eds. Kenneth G. Hoglund, et al. (JSOT Supp. 58. Sheffield, England: JSOT Press, 1987) 77-94 (Ereserve). Tony W. Cartledge, “Were Nazirite Vows Unconditional?” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 51 (1989):409-422, (Ereserve). Numbers 6 and 30

Visions: The Changing Role of the Seer

Readings:

Dec. 1, 6: Peter T. Struck, “The Self in Artemidorus’ Interpretation of Dreams,” Religion and the Self in Antiquity (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005) 109-120 (buy). Passages Susan Niditch, “Experiencing the Divine: Heavenly Visits, Earthly Encounters, and the Land of the Dead” in Religious Diversity in Ancient Israel and Judah, eds. F. Stavrakopoulou and John Barton, 11-22 (buy).

Angelology and Demonology

Readings:

Dec. 8: A few examples from Zechariah, Job, Daniel, and 1 Enoch

Dec. 13: Guest Lecture, Charles E. Carter, Seton Hall University, 8:00 p.m., 101 Chapin Hall.

Dec. 13, 15: Summing up. Report on final Essay #6. A set of topics will be provided.