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Wilfrid Laurier University Scholars Commons @ Laurier Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) 1976 The Background and Nature of Temple Mythology in Rabbinic Literature V. George Shillington Wilfrid Laurier University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd Part of the Jewish Studies Commons Recommended Citation Shillington, V. George, "The Background and Nature of Temple Mythology in Rabbinic Literature" (1976). Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive). 1448. https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/1448 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) by an authorized administrator of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE BACKGROUND AND NATURE OF TEMPLE MYTHOLOGY IN RABBINIC LITERATURE V. George Shillingtcn Thesis presented to the Department of Religion and Culture in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo 1976 L J 0o tf I) UMI Number: EC56376 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent on the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. JJML Dissertation Pubiishing UMI EC56376 Copyright 2012 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This edition of the work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. *** ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writer wishes to acknowledge the invaluable expertise of his advisor. Professor Robert Fisher of Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo. His incisive analysis of content and style contributed significantly to whatever good qualities the essay may possess. The author also records his indebtedness to the members of the examining committee, including Dean Vallillee and Professors R. Teigen and D. Granskou of W.L.U. Their willingness to read and evaluate the thesis is greatly appreciated. Gratitude is also expressed to Professors Harold Remus of W.L.U. and Benjamin Hubbard of St. Jerome's College, Waterloo, for their helpful consultation. Any errors or shortcomings in the work are wholly the responsibility of the writer. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writer wishes to acknowledge the invaluable expertise of his advisor, Professor Robert Fisher of Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo. His incisive analysis of content and style contributed significantly to whatever good qualities the essay may possess. The author also records his indebtedness to the members of the examining committee, including Professors R. Teigan and D. Granskau of W.L.U. and B. Hubbard of St. Jerome's College, Waterloo. Their willingness to read and evaluate the thesis is greatly appreciated. Gratitude is also expressed to Professor Harold Remus of W.L.U. for his help­ ful consultation in some editorial matters. Any errors or shortcomings in the work are wholly the responsibility of the writer. CONTENTS Chapter page I Introduction 1 A. Aim and Scope of the Study 2 B. A Description of Primary Sources Used. 4 C. Myth and History 8 II The Historical Temple of the Jews 13 A. The Foundation: Davidic Contribution. 15 1. The City and The Sanctuary . ~\ ... 15 2. The Altar and the Sacrifices .... 19 B. The First Building: Solomonic Contribu­ tion 21 1. Architecture 21 2. Symbolism 28 C. The Second Building: Post Exilic Contribution 32 1. Conditions Promoting the Restoration of the Temple 32 a) Persian Policy 32 b) Prophetic Impetus 35 2. Function and History of the Temple After Restoration 38 Contents—continued Chapter page D. The Third Building: Herodian Contribu­ tion 43 1. Purpose of Reconstruction 45 2. Size and Beauty 46 3. Popularity and Destruction 49 III The Mythical Temple of the Rabbis 53 A. The Site and the Building 55 1. Microcosm 55 2. Centre of the Earth 58 3. Source of Fertility 61 4. Source of Light 67 5. Light and Water Ritual 69 B. The Furnishings 74 C. Temple Service 81 D. The Celestial Archetype 84 1. Background v . 84 2. Yahweh's Relation to Both Temples. 86 3. The Relation of Both Temples to Each Other 88 IV Factors Involved in the Rise of Temple Mythology 92 Contents—continued Chapter page A. Antecedent Factors 94 1. Homeland Inheritance 94 2. Exilic Analogy 99 a) Ezekiel 99 b) Second Isaiah 106 3. Post-Exilic Prototypes 108 a) Haggai and Zechariah 109 b) Ezra and Nehemiah 112 B. Contemporaneous Factors 116 1. In Palestine 117 a) Aftermath of Destruction .... 117 b) Taxation 120 c) Crop Failure 124 d) Occasions For Rebuilding .... 127 e) Messianism 133 2. In Babylonia 137 a) Migration of the Rabbinate . 138 b) Power Struggle Between Exilarch and Rabbi 145 c) Crises of Sasanian Measures. 152 C. Conclusion 157 V Summary and Conclusions 159 Contents—continued Chapter page A. The Place of the Historical Temple in the Rabbinic Temple of Myth 160 B. Contributing Factors Internal to Judaism. 163 C. Contributing Factors External to Judaism. 166 Bibliography 174 Appendix A 184 Appendix B 185 Appendix C 186 ABBREVIATIONS BASOR Bulletin of American Schools of Oriental Research"! New Haven: The American Schools of Oriental Research. BA Biblical Archaeologist. New Haven: The American Schools of Oriental Research. CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly. Washington: The Catholic Biblical Association of America. B.T. The Babylonian Talmud. Mid. R. Midrash Rabbah. M. The Mishnah. JQR The Jewish Quarterly Review, edited by I. Abrahams and C.G. Montefiore. New York: Ktav Publishing House Inc., 1966. JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. IB The Interpreter's Bible. IDB The Interpreter's Dictionary of The Bible. New York: Abingdon Press, 1962. JBL Journal of Biblical Literature. Philadelphia: The Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis. TDNT A Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, edited by Gerhard Kittel. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964-1974. JE The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Ktav Publishing House, n.d. EJ Encyclopedia Judaica. Jerusalem: The Mac- Millan Co., 1971-1972. Jos. Wars. Josephus, Wars of the Jews. Jos. Ant. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Biblical References Gen. Genesis Ex. Exodus Lev. Leviticus Num. Numbers Deut. Deuteronomy Josh. Joshua Jud. Judges Sam. Samuel Chron. Chronicles Neh. Nehemiah Ps. Psalms Eccl. Ecclesiastes Is. Isaiah Jer. Jeremiah Lam. Lamentations Ez. Ezekiel Dan. Daniel Hos. Hosea Hag. Haggai Zech. Zechariah CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Rabbinic ideas concerning the Temple of Jerusalem captured the interest of the present writer as he was researching the biblical concept of sacrifice. It was fascinating to discover that the rich symbolism of the Temple in rabbinic thought developed in a period when the Temple did not exist. The presence of the mythical Temple in the liter­ ature of the Rabbis began to raise certain questions: Why did the Jewish leaders of the post-Temple era develop such an elaborate mythology of the Temple? Why did they continue to imagine a cultus which had long since vanished? These questions are compounded by the fact that the Babylonian academies, separated as they were from Palestine, should contribute so significantly to the corporate mythology 2 associated with the Temple of Jerusalem. Especially in J.R. Brown, Temple and Sacrifice in Rabbinic Judaism (Evanston: Seabury Western Theological Seminary, 1963) . 2 Jacob Neusner holds that the Babylonian Jews were more devoted to the Temple and its cult than the Palestinians. The extensive discussion of the Temple in the Babylonian Talmud was later espoused by the Palestinian group. See Neusner's "Foreword" to The Formation of the Babylonian Talmud (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1970), pp. ix-xii, and There We Sat Down (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1972), pp. 19-24"! 1 2 A. Aim and Scope of the Study The purpose of the research is to demonstrate the relationship of the mythical Temple in rabbinic literature both to its historical prototypes and to the conditions with­ in which the myth developed. To accomplish this aim the history of the Temple will be examined to illustrate the backdrop against which the Temple of myth was construed by the Rabbis. Questions will be raised regarding the employ­ ment of mythic elements characteristic of ancient Near Eastern religion. It will be debated whether Israel borrowed and adapted the mythic ideas of her neighbours to suit her own purposes. 3 The central aim of the thesis, however, will focus on the degree to which the political and socio-economic situa­ tions of the rabbinic period contributed to the rise of the mythic interpretations of the Temple. It should also become evident as the discussion progresses that the rich imagery associated with the Temple in rabbinic literature is due 4 largely to the Rabbis* devotion to the Torah. Since the 3 See S.H. Hooke, "The Myth and Ritual Pattern of the Ancient East," S.H. Hooke, ed., Myth and Ritual (London: Oxford University Press, 1933), p. 5. Cf. John Bright, A History of Israel (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1972), pp. 155-6. 4 See Jacob Neusner, A History of the Jews in Babylonia, The Parthian Period, Vol. I (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1969) , pp. 145-174. "The school . embodied the central myth of Pharisaic-Rabbinical Judaism, the belief that the Mosaic Scriptures constituted divine revelation in written form. The 'whole Torah' consisted of both written and oral 3 Temple cult was prescribed by Torah, the Rabbis had to justify Jewish life without the Temple. They did so by rationalization and imaginative explanation. This explana­ tion, instead of diminishing the Temple's significant place in Judaism, greatly enlarged its mythological dimension. The scope of the study is circumscribed by an intentional concentration on rabbinic materials and the events of the period within which they were written, A.D.
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