The Secret of Time: Reconfiguring Wisdom in the Dead Sea Scrolls

by Arjen F Bakker

Overview

This book contributes to the rethinking of the Dead Sea Scrolls as an essential and integral part of Judaism in the Greco-Roman period. The Qumran manuscripts attest to the reconfiguration of Jewish wisdom concepts in this period. Strikingly, reflection on time as the organizing principle behind all of reality is formative for these emerging concepts, which are expressed by the enigmatic phrase rāz nihyeh. The secret of time invites us to venture beyond existing categorizations and explore a rich conceptual framework that is manifested across a wide range of texts, beyond generic categories, and overcoming the sectarian divide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789004529748
Publisher:	Brill Academic Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	04/19/2023
Series:	Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah , #143
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Arjen Bakker (PhD Leuven 2015) is Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism at the University of Groningen. He has published articles and co-edited volumes on the Dead Sea Scrolls, Wisdom Literature, Enoch, and the history of biblical scholarship.

Table of Contents

Contents
Preface
Abbreviations

1 Beyond the Limits of Wisdom
 1 Rethinking Categories
 2 The Sectarian Divide

2 Redefining the Sage
 1 mēbîn
 2 maśkîl
 3 ḥākām
 4 Conclusion

3 Continuous Study
 1 By Day and by Night
 2 Keeping Watch
 3 Celestial Beings
 4 Conclusion

4 The Dynamics of Revelation
 1 The Body and Evil Forces
 2 The Fleshly Spirit
 3 Heavenly Light
 4 Conclusion

5 Rāz Nihyeh
 1 Turning to the Past
 2 The Divisions of the Times
 3 Divine Thinking
 4 Conclusion

Bibliography
Index of Modern Authors
Index of Ancient Sources
Subject Index