Early Jewish Messianism in the New Testament

Reflections in the Dim Mirror
Erscheinungsjahr 2020
ISBN: 978-90-04-43292-5
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 36, 286 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 569 g

Reihe: Jewish and Christian Perspectives Series

In Early Jewish Messianism in the New Testament Serge Ruzer takes a new tack on the investigation of early Christian polemical strategies against the backdrop of Second Temple Judaism. Complementing traditional inquiry on the subject, Ruzer focuses on those elements of Messiah- and Christ-centered ideas that bear witness to patterns of broader circulation namely, the Jewish messianic ideas that provided the underpinning for the identity-making moves of Jesus early followers. The volume suggests that such attempts can be expected to reflect eschatological ideas of the Jewish Other. Exploring cases where the New Testament shows itself an early witness for belief patterns found in contemporaneous or only later rabbinic sources, this volume reveals a fuller picture of Second Temple Jewish messianism.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ruzer, Serge

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Geschichte des Judentums Geschichte des Judentums: Biblische & Klassische Periode
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Bibelwissenschaften Neues Testament: Exegese, Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Previously Published Studies Incorporated in This Volume

Introduction

1 What Kind of Messiah? The Nature of Jesus’ Messiahship vis-à-vis Second Temple Patterns of Messianic Belief

1 Jesus as a Prophetic Anointed of the Spirit in the Narration of his Baptism

2 Excursus: the Epistle to the Hebrews

3 What Kind of Prophetic Anointment?

4 Additional Aspects of Jesus’ Messiahship

5 From the ‘Three Crowns’ to the Heavenly Redeemer

6 Between Daniel and Parables of Enoch

7 Conclusion

2 The Problem of Davidic Messiahship

1 Problematic Character of the Davidic Messiahship Claim

2 Dead Sea Scrolls Evidence

3 Synoptic Narrative

4 The Book of Acts

5 Acts 1:6–11

6 Acts 2:22–36

7 Acts 4:25–28

8 Acts 15:13–21

9 Romans 1:1–4

10 Epistle to the Hebrews and the Book of Revelation

11 Conclusion

3 Inauguration of the Messianic Advent

1 Mark 1:11 as the Programmatic Opening of Jesus’ Messianic Biography

2 The Figure and Function of John the Baptizer

3 Introduction of Jesus into the Narrative

4 The Commencement of the Messianic Event according to Genesis Rabbah

5 Conclusion

4 Son of God as Son of David

Adapting a Problematic Second Temple Designation to the Messianic Agenda

1 Biblical Evidence

2 Second Temple Period Background

3 Son of God in the New Testament: General Remarks

4 Son of God in Luke

5 Jesus’ Baptism as Establishing His Divine Sonship in the Synoptic Tradition: Mark

6 Jesus’ Baptism as Establishing His Divine Sonship in the Synoptic Tradition: (Matthew and) Luke

7 Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Son of God: Luke’s Version

8 Conclusion

5 Jesus as the Messianic Interpreter of the Torah

1 Jesus as a Champion of the Pharisaic Mode of Interpretation in the Sermon on the Mount

2 Antitheses in Light of the Programmatic Statement in Matt 5:17–20

3 The Anti-Qumranic Stance of Matt 5:43–48

4 Practicing Piety: Almsgiving, Fasting and Prayer

5 The Lord’s Prayer and the Alternative Path to Forgiveness of Sins

6 Conclusion

6 Jesus as the New Moses – Signs and Wonders

1 Rabbinic Evidence

2 The Fourth Gospel’s Messianic Strategies

3 Signs and Wonders at the Time of Exodus and Jesus’ Miracles

4 Conclusion

7 Jesus as the New Moses – Bearers of Logos’ Path to Divinization

1 Jesus as Bearer of God’s Logos in the Johannine Prologue

2 Conclusion

8 The Heavenly Redeemer from Daniel 7 as a Messianic Figure

1 Singling Out the Heavenly Son-of-Man Motif

2 Son of Man in the New Testament

3 “Son of Man” as Generic Appellation

4 “Son of Man” as Relating Specifically to Jesus

5 The Heavenly Son of Man and the Jerusalem Crisis

6 Harmonizing Earthly and Heavenly Messianic Scenarios in Acts 1

7 The Heavenly Son of Man before the Jerusalem Crisis

8 Summing Up

9 Rabbinic Discourse on the Davidic and Heavenly Messiah

10 Conclusion

9 The Search for the Meaning of Crucifixion

1 Persecution of God’s Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and in Luke

2 Book of Acts on Jesus’ Death

3 The Pattern of the Martyr’s Beneficiary Death

4 Isaiah 53: a Prophet’s Suffering with a Vicarious Redemptive Meaning

5 Conclusion

10 Reassessing Eschatological Failure as God’s Mystery

1 Heavenly Secrets as the Content of Revelation

2 Dead Sea Scrolls Evidence

3 Mystery Language in Pesher Habakkuk

4 Mystery Terminology and Postponement of the End in the New Testament

5 Conclusion

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Serge Ruzer, Ph.D. (1996), Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is Associate Professor at that university. He has published books and numerous articles on nascent Christianity's Jewish matrix and on Early Syriac Christian literature, including Mapping the New Testament (Brill, 2017).