extra-biblical Jewish literature

Christian Alexander
Christian Alexander Member Posts: 3,008 ✭✭✭
edited November 2024 in English Forum

To get a grasp of the extra-biblical Jewish literature what should I read?

Comments

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 55,539

    For the Talmud take this free Coursera course The Talmud: A Methodological Introduction | Coursera Then read the Talmud.

    For the pseudepigrapha, simply read in with a volume that has decent introductory materials.

    Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

  • DMB
    DMB Member Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Extra-biblical ... per your church's perspective? Personally I'd recommend you just sit (I suppose you're currently forced to ... smiling), and read Sirach, and when you're done, Wisdom of Solomon.

    You could read an Intro, etc.  But simply reading these two will give you a good flavor of what a 1st century Jewish view might look like (both not only showed up in various archaeological sites, but later the Apocrypha or Deuterocanon.  You'll also pick up random factoids ... like they had 'doctors'.  Paul's teachings often paralleled Wisdom.

    "If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.

  • Christian Alexander
    Christian Alexander Member Posts: 3,008 ✭✭✭

    Thanks for the suggestions. I read Sirach and now on to Wisdom. Both are very good reads.