Loading…

Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture, Volumes 1–3: Commentary is unavailable, but you can change that!

The Hebrew Bible is only part of ancient Israel’s writings. Another collection of Jewish works has survived from late- and post-biblical times, a great library that bears witness to the rich spiritual life of Jews in that period. This library consists of the most varied sorts of texts: apocalyptic visions and prophecies, folktales and legends, collections of wise sayings, laws and rules of...

Although Antiochus’s persecutions involved the desecration of the Temple cult, 2 Maccabees clearly explains that God’s choice of the Temple is secondary to his choice of the people; so when the people of Israel sins, the Temple also suffers (5:19). This statement has a strong Diaspora flavor, for the People of Israel is all over the world, and the Temple is only in Jerusalem. This Diaspora orientation is also apparent in Heliodorus’s emphasis that although God takes special
Page 2834
Buy this book at Logos.com