Program Overview

Unit Overview

The unit THBS212 - Jewish Society and Literature (516 BCE to 200 CE) explores the diverse literature and social world of the Second Temple period, a major turning point in the formation of Early Jewish and Christian identity and practice.

Unit Rationale, Description, and Aim

The Second Temple period was a time of significant cultural, historical, and literary development, marked by the production of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the coexistence of diverse practices and beliefs in Judaea and the diaspora. This unit will examine the literature of this period, including the social institutions and practices that shaped it, and will carry the story down to the Mishnaic Period (ca. 70-200 CE).

Learning Outcomes

To successfully complete this unit, students will be able to:

• Differentiate a range of social, political, and cultural factors that affected Jewish communities between 516 BCE and 200 CE and various responses to them.
• Summarise salient features of the literature from the Second Temple and Mishnaic periods, with sensitivity to issues of plurality and diversity and emerging notions of scripture.
• Critique processes of continuity and change in the Second Temple and Mishnaic periods and their significance for modern theology.

Unit Content

Topics will include:

• Judaean history from the Persian to the Roman Empires.
• The phenomenon of Hellenism.
• The Jewish diaspora.
• Social institutions and practices, including prayer and sacrifice, Temple, priests, and scribes.
• The Dead Sea Scrolls.
• The formation, plurality, and fluidity of the Jewish canon.
• Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha.
• The beginnings of Rabbinic Judaism.
• Groups, sects, and identity formation.
• Problems of terminology and categorisation.

Assessment Strategy and Rationale

The assessment tasks for this unit are designed for students to progressively demonstrate their achievement of each learning outcome. The tasks include:

• A short research task that requires students to identify and describe an important social, cultural, or historical topic or concept for the study of Jewish society and literature in the Second Temple and Mishnaic periods.
• An extended research task that invites students to demonstrate fundamental skills and knowledge by researching and analysing examples of texts from the Second Temple and/or Mishnaic period(s).
• An extended research and reflection task that requires students to expand upon the previous tasks by identifying and analysing processes of continuity and change in the social practices and/or literature of the Second Temple and Mishnaic periods.

Learning and Teaching Strategy and Rationale

This unit involves 150 hours of focused learning, including formally structured learning activities such as lectures, tutorials, and online learning. The unit is normally offered in multi-mode, and students learn through critically reflecting, analysing, and integrating new information with existing knowledge.

Representative Texts and References

• Brooke, George J. and Charlotte Hempel. T &T Clark Companion to the Dead Sea Scrolls. London: Bloomsbury, 2019.
• García Martínez, Florentino. The Dead Sea scrolls translated: the Qumran texts in English. Leiden: Brill, 1994.
• Grabbe, Lester L. An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism: History and Religion of the Jews in the Time of Nehemiah, the Maccabees, Hillel and Jesus. London: Bloomsbury, 2010.
• Horbury, William, et. Al. The Cambridge History of Judaism, Vols. 14. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 19842006.
• Howell Chapman, Honora and Zuleika Rodgers. A Companion to Josephus. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World 110. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2016.
• Josephus, The Jewish War. Trans. G. Williamson and with contributions from E. Mary Smallwood. London: Penguin, 1981.
• Neusner, Jacob. Rabbinic Literature: An Essential Guide. Nashville: Abingdon, 2005.
• Vanderkam, James C. An Introduction to Early Judaism. Winona Lake: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2001.
• Vanderkam, James C. The Dead Sea Scrolls Today, Revised ed. Winona Lake: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2010.
• Vanderkam, James C. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible. Winona Lake: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2012.

Credit Points

10

Year

2026