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[German Version] I. Judaism 1. Antiquity. The Trisagion from Isa 6:3 (Heb. Qedusha, Q ) appears in three places in the synagogal liturgy (VII; see also Worship: II, 3), sometimes in combination with Ezek 3:12 and Ps 146:10: (1) as an interpolation in the third benediction of the ʿAmida ( Q. ha-ʿAmida), (2) in the first benediction of the Shemaʿ ( Q. ha-Yotser), and (3) after the weekly portion ( Q. de-Sidra). The origin and relative age of the individual forms of the Qedusha are disputed; its absence in the liturgical texts from Qumran is noteworthy (esp. the Sabbath Songs). A dating of the earliest use of Qedusha …

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[German Version] I. Wisdom of S…

[German Version] The Peshitta is a translation of the Old Testament into the Aramaic dialect of Edessa; in an ¶ extended sense, …

[German Version] Reckoned among the apocryphal books (Apocrypha: II) of the Old Testament, the book of Tobit contains a didactic narrative with strong legendary traits. The first part (1:1–3:17) describes the law-abiding Tobit as he is led into Assyrian exile, where he suffers heavy blows of fate (loss of fortune, blindness). At the same time, the text also relates the story of Sarah, who lives in Media and whose seven husbands have been killed by the demon Ashmedai on their wedding nights. God an…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Antiquity – III. Bible – IV. Church History – V. Practical Theology – VI. Philosophy of Religion – VII. Judaism – VIII. Islam I. Religious Studies No definition of magic has as yet found general acceptance. Approaches that go back to the late 19th century (E.B. Tylor, J.G. Frazer) view magic as a primitive cognitive system, the lowest rung on an evolutionary ladder (Evolution) that progres…

[German Version] (also: Ecclesiasticus, Jesus Sirach, Ben Sira). Until the 1896 discovery of the Hebrew original in the Cairo Genizah, Sirach was known only in Greek, Syriac, and Latin versions and translations dependent on them. Despite initial doubts as to the antiquity of the Hebrew texts (see Reiterer for the history), additional fragments from Masada and Qumran (1962/1965) have confirmed its authenticity (some 68% of the text; Beentjes’s edition is complete). All the extant versions, however,…

[German Version] I. Terminology The word syncretism in its broadest sense denotes any blend or combination of diverse cultural phenomena. This usage derives from an apparently reasonable but false etymology: syncretism is commonly derived from the Greek verb συνκεράννυμι/ synkeránnymi, “mix.” In fact, however, it is a neologism coined by Plutarch ( Mor. 490b), who called the way Cretans came together in the face of external enemies synkretismos. Erasmus of Rotterdam than borrowed the term and introduced it into the language of Christian theology. In theology th…

[German Version] I. Concept and Scope – II. Religious Studies – III. Bible – IV. Judaism – V. As a Theological Discipline – VI. As a Philosophical Discipline (Business Ethics, Discourse Ethics, Economic Ethics, Ethics, Bio-Medical Issues, Ethics Commissions, Ethics Education, Ethics of Conviction, Ethics of Duty, Ethics of Goods, Ethics of Responsibility, Evolutionary Ethics, Fr…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Christianity – III. Philosophy – IV. Judaism – V. Islam I. Religious Studies Gnosis (Gk γνῶσις/ gnṓsis, “knowledge”) is a particular form of religious knowledge that brings salvation per se…

[German Version] (acronym RaSaG; 882, Faiyum, Upper Egypt – 942, Sura, Babylonia), from 928 the first non-Babylonian head (Gaon) of the rabbinic academy in Sura. As a philologist, exegete, controversialist, and philosopher, he was an outstanding figure in 10th-century Judaism. In 915 he settled in Palestine, where he wrote his first philological work, Sefer ha-Agron. From the year 921 at the latest, Saadia – who appears to have been a contentious character all his life – lived in Babylonia. There he became involved in the so-call Ben Meir controv…

[German Version] Judeo-Persian is the common term for the language of all New Persian documents written in Hebrew script. Despite several differences from standard New Persian, it is not a distinct language but the local Persian dialect of the various regions where it emerged. The earliest Judeo-Persian document is the Tang-i Azao inscription, the oldest written example of New Persian. From the 8th-13th centuries only a few documents of religious or secular content have survived. The real beginning of Judeo-Persian literature, associated with th…

[German Version] Manasseh, Prayer of, a penitential psalm classified among the Old Testament apocrypha (II). It probably represents a later continuation of the new tradition of 2 Chr 33, as against 2 Kgs 21, to the effect that the otherwise negatively portrayed king did penance during his Assyrian captivity and that his prayer is preserved in the “Chronicle of the Kings of Israel” (2 Chr 33:18). In spite of a number of parallels to the biblical text, the authenticity of the attribution remains unc…

[German Version] The six passages in the LXX not extant in the MT (A, F=Mordecai's dream before Esth 1 and at Esth 10:3; B, E=the king's letters at Esth 3:13 and 8:12; C=prayers of Esther and Mordecai at Esth 4:17; D=Esther before the king at Esth 5:1), which were first placed as additions at the end of Esth in the Vulgate (Bible translations: I, 2.c), are, …