A search for the origins of Judaism : from Joshua to the Mishnah / Etienne Nodet ; translated by Ed Crowley

Sheffield, Eng. : Sheffield Academic Press, 1997. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine cloth copy in an equally fine dust-wrapper. Particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. Series; Journal for the study of the Old Testament.. Supplement series ; 248. Physical description; 423 p. ; 24 cm. Notes; ""This English edition reshapes the French original to a considerable degree; in addition to numerous corrections and clarifications, it offers a clearer analysis of the Maccabaean crisis ... as well as new developments on the Sadducees ... and on Jewish Galilee.""--Introduction.Includes bibliographical references (p. [391]-406) and indexes. Translated from the French. Summary; This radical reconstruction starts by observing that Josephus's sources on the early history of Israel do not agree with the Bible and that the oldest rabbinic traditions show no sign of a biblical foundation but only of secondary offshoots from the Bible. Another interesting question is raised by the Samaritan claim, at the time of the persecutions under Antiochus Epiphanes, that they had only recently received the Sabbath from the Jews. From such details, Nodet builds up a comprehensive line of argument that reveals two major sources of Judaism, as symbolized in the subtitle of his work: Joshua was the one who established locally in writing a statute and a law at the Shechem assembly, while the Mishnah was the ultimate metamorphosis of traditions brought from Babylon and mixed in with Judaean influences. Subjects; Bible. O.T — Criticism, interpretation, etc. Bible. O.T — History of biblical events. Judaism — History — Post-exilic period, (586 B.C.-210 A.D.). Sabbath — History. Samaritans — History. Judaism — Origin. Judaism — History. Judaism — History — To 70 A.D. Jews — History — To 70 A.D. Judaism — History — Talmudic period, (10-425 A.D.). Jews — History — Talmudic period, (10-425 A.D.). Judaism ; History of religion. Religion / Judaism / History. Genre; Bibliography.