Early Judaism: Religious Worlds of the First Judaic Millennium

by Martin S. Jaffee

Book Overview

An analysis of the world view, the various religious and cultural ideas, rituals, and customs in Judea that gave rise to Christianity, Rabbinic Judaism, the Therapeutae, and the Essenes. This book introduces the complex reality of Judaism in ancient times using an approach grounded in the interdisciplinary framework of the comparative study of religions. The aim of the book is to immerse students in theoretical problems regarding the interpretation...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1883053935
• ISBN13: 9781883053932
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Eisenbrauns
• Length: 277 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 8.5" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

Concise, up-to-date and very well-written intro text

This book is extremely well-written and covers ancient Judaism from the earliest times up through the beginnings of merkavah mysticism in the Talmudic period. It's not a huge book, and one might think it too slender to effectively cover the topic. But the writing is economical and very readable, and the opinions presented are contemporary and take advantage of the latest scholarship.It's unfortunate that this title is so expensive -- especially considering the binding is of the cheapest kind. For this money we deserve signature binding, or at least better glue. Still recommended, most highly!