Search

The book of Jesus ben Sira, the so-called Ecclesiasticus or Siracides, considered in Jewish and Protestant tradition to be apocryphal, but in the Catholic Church to be an authentic biblical book, is very peculiar in the history of the biblical canon with regard to its use and understanding in midrashic and talmudic tradition. Composed as a book of proverbs and maxims, it claims to be an ethical tribunal not only for Israel's contemporary society but also for its past. Ben Sira is one of the firs…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Bible – III. Judaism – IV. Islam –V…

[German Version] (Leone Modena da Venezia; 1571, Venice – 1648, Venice). Modena enjoyed a broad education, including Italian literature, music, and song. His family's precarious finances forced him to make a living in various occupations: in his autobiography, he lists 26 different activities. His primary profession, however, was intellectual: he was a writer, teacher, and preacher. Running counter to the fashion of his period, he severely criticized the Kabbalah and defended the teaching of M. Maimonides. His apologetic Magen va-Herev, which remained unfinished, castigate…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Judaism – III. Christianity – IV. Islam I. Religious Studies Any kind of written document relating to a religious symbol system (Symbols/symbol theory) can be considered a holy Scripture. The existence of a written text as a criterion is a convenient starting point for a systematic orientation within the variety of religious texts produced throughout history. The process of reducing something to written form always implies more or less distanced reflection on what …

[German Version] was a Hellenistic Jewish historiographer whose work, Concerning the Kings in Judea, is preserved fragmentarily in excerpts from Alexander Polyhistor (transmitted by Eusebius and Clement of Alexandria). He should probably be identified with the Eupolemos mentioned in 1 Macc 8:17 and 2 Macc 4:11 as the leader of the Jewish embassy to Rome. His work, which may be dated around 158/157 bce, covers the period from Moses to his time. A brief passage concerning Moses as the “first sage” a…

[German Version] I. Definition The combination of the terms Judaism and philosophy suggests two distinct but deeply related issues: the place of Judaism in the history of philosophy and the emergence of a distinctive “Jewish” philosophy. Viewed historically, the compound Jewish philosophy points to a process of cultural debate between Greek “philosophy” and thought shaped by Jewish religion and culture, during which the two were often treated as irreconcilable. The question of the existence and nature of “Jewish philosophy” was first r…

[German Version] The philosopher and historiographer Hecataeus was a contemporary of Alexander the Great and of Ptolemy I (Jos. Apion. I 183; Ptolemaic Dynasty). In his famous book, Aegyptiaca, Hecataeus deals with part of Jewish history, as well as Jewish customs, religion and military matters (fragments in Diodoros Siculus XL 3). Josephus cites Hecataeus's essay On the Jews ( Apion. I 183ff., cf. I 214), although its authentic…

[German Version] (1604, Madeira – 1657, Middelburg, Netherlands), rabbi, author and printer, who lived mostly in Amsterdam. Menasseh was a theologian of Judaism who knew how to use secular and rabbinic knowledge in defense of Judaism. In 1626 he founded the first Jewish printing works in Amsterdam. He published a number of writings which were intended to appeal to non-Jews as well as Jews ( De creatione, 1635; De resurrectione mortuorum, 1636; De fragilitate humana, 1642). He was seen as an intellectual representative of the Jewish people, and was in contact with H. G…

[German Version] I. History of Religions – II. Biblical – III. Greco-Roman Antiquity – IV. Judaism – V. Practical theology I. History of Religions 1. Term . Astrology is the functional use of quantitative astronomical observations and calculations in the service of a qualitative cosmic and anthropological interpretation of the heavens. Inasmuch as the first of these two elements has not yet been, or is minimally, developed, it is better to speak of astral mythology (there has never be…

[German Version] I. History and Archaeology 1. History and archaeology. On a favorable site, on the road from Etruria to Latium and Campania, at a ford over the Tiber about 30 km from its mouth, and also on the road from the coast going in the direction of the Apennines, and in fertile lands by the river, there were small settlements from at least the 14th century bce (esp. on the Capitol). According to legend, Rome was then founded in 753 bce by Romulus, who became its first king. Other legends make Aeneas, son of Anchises ¶ and Aphrodite, the most important Trojan hero after Hector, into the founding father of the Julian-Claudian tribe. Rome is said…

[German Version] (c. 1530, Osimo – c. 1593, Padua), one of the most important rabbis of the Renaissance. When the expulsion of the Jews commanded by Pius V in 1569 (Persecutions of Jews) forced Moscato to leave Osimo, he became the official preacher of the Jewish community in Padua and in 1587 its chief rabbi. His approach was eclectic. In addition to his rabbinic training, he mastered several secular disciplines – medicine, music, astronomy, rhetoric, a…

[German Version] I. General – II. History and Sociology I. General Since 1861 (the establishment of the Kingdom of Italy), Italy has been the name of the first unified nation on the Italian peninsula since the Lombard invasion in 568. Following a referendum in 1946, Italy became a republic (Repubblica Italiana) with a bicameral parliament. The president is the representative chief of state; the government is headed by the prime minister. Since 1870, with the dissolution of the Papal States, the capital has been Rome (population 2.7 million in 2000). Italy has an area of 187,179 km2, with…

[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. Ancient Near East – III. Greco-Roman Antiquity – IV. Old Testament – V. New Testament – VI. Church History – VII. Judaism – VIII. Islam I. History of Religion “Hospitality” refers to the customs that regulate the temporary admittance of a stranger to a particular group. This aspect can be well illustrated, for instance, with the Greek term for hospitality, ϕιλοξενία/ philoxenía (the “welcoming of a stranger”). The host protects the guest fr…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Tes…

[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…

[German Version] is the name of a female demon (Demons and Spirits: II) of Babylonian/Sumerian origin that is mentioned only once in the Bible in Isa 34:14. From a philological and tradition-historical point of view, the name Lilith cannot be deciphered with certainty (“night demon”?). In analogy to the Babylonian demon Labartu or Lamashtu, the endangering of pregnant women and the killing of newborn children are attributed to her. The Babylonian Talmud particularly emphasizes her sexual curiosity (Lilith as the seductress of men) and her position within demonology (b. ʿErub. 100b; b.…

[German Version] (c. 1511, Mantua – c. 1577, Mantua). After the expulsion of the Jews from the Papal States in 1569, de' Rossi moved to Ferrara, where he witnessed the earthquake of Nov 18, 1570. This event inspired him to devote himself to literary activities. De' Rossi's chief work, Meʾor ʿEnayim ( Light of the Eyes), consists of three parts: Qol Elohim (“The Voice of God”), in ¶ …

[German Version] (of Prague; 1525 – Aug 12, 1609, Prague), known as “the Maharal” (“our rabbi, Rabbi Loew”), distinguished himself as a teacher of the Talmud and as a rabbi. Judah's legendary life is historically attested for the period from 1559 to 1573 in which he was the rabbi of Nikolsburg and the chief rabbi of Moravia. In 1573, he moved as a private individual to Prague, where he became the head of the school Die Klaus. After the visit of the German emperor Rudolf II, Judah left Pragu…

[German Version] We know Aristeas only through a “precise report” ( diḗgēsis) concerning the causes and circumstances of the translation of the LXX for the (fictive) Philokrates. Though the description of events forms the framework of the letter (occasion for the translation: 1ff.; Philadelphos's request to the high priest Eleazar and positive response: 9–11; 28–51; the translators: 102–127; reception by the king: 172–181; translation: 301–302), but the content is shaped by Jewish (Alexandrian?) apologetics. Several “additions” exhibit no direct connection to the translation: the reference to the liberation of the prisoners of war (12–27), the description of the king's gifts (51–72), the detailed report of the journey to Palestine, of the temple, and of the land (83–128), Eleazar's speech (128–171), and the depiction of a symposium (182–300). The “symposium” provides…

[German Version] (acronym: Shadal; Aug 22, 1800, Trieste – Sep 30, 1865, Padua), Orthodox Jewish scholar. Luzzatto was an expert at combining biblical and general learning. In 1829 he was appointed professor of Bible, grammar, Jewish history,…

[German Version] I. Translations into Ancient Languages – II. Christian Translations into European Languages since the Middle Ages– III. Translations into Non-European Languages in Modern Times I. Translations into Ancient Languages 1. Translations of the Old Testament into Greek a. The first written translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (LXX), owes its name to the circumstance that the Letter of Aristeas refers to 72 elders who had come to Alexandria from Jerusalem in order to translate the Torah of the Jews into…

[German Version] I. Definition – II. Historical Expansion I. Definition Hellenism as a periodization concept goes back to J.G. Droysen, who gave a positive assessment of the amalgamation of Greek and Near Eastern cultures, seeing this as a characteristic feature of the period and as a precondition for Christianity. Thus, instead of a negative judgment of the period equaling it with a time of decline, its distinct character was highlighted in the definition of the concept. The Greek usage (ἑλληνισμός/ hellēnismós, for the assimilation of non-Greeks to the Greek language and way of life; cf. ἑλληνισταί/ hellēnistaí ¶ in Acts 6:1; 9:29) and its modern understanding explain the genesis of the scholarly concept, but are no more binding than Droysen's historico-theological specifications for the periodization concept that has since become established. The accessibility of the East since Alexander the Great, but also colonization, urbanization and civilizatory cosmopolitanism, changes in the economic and social structure, indigenous reactions fluctuating between symbiosis and resistance, as well as the unstable political system of the Hellenistic states are generally seen to justify the use of the concept “Hellenistic period.” The nature and scope of the acculturation processes (Inculturation) as well as the appropriate determination of the chronological and geographical limits of Hellenism are subject to discussion. The secular significance of the Anabasis of Alexander suggests that the Macedonian “world conquest” marks a turning point in history; the political and cultural developments allow us to associate the end of Hellenism with Augustus or with the Roman Imperial Period and Late Antiquity. The fact that, on account of its political focus in the West, the Roman Empire did not expand beyond the Euphrates and thus faile…

[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. Bible – III. Dogmatics – IV. Philosophy – V. Philosophy of Religion – VI. Ethics – VII. Practical Theology – VIII. Judaism I. History of Religion The concept of love describes a relationship of affection, tenderness, or devotion between human beings and between humans and God (Love of/for God) or the gods. The Old Testament speaks of the love of God for humanity; in Judaism, the commandment of obedience to God is followed by the commandment to love God (Deut 6:5) and one's fe…

[German Version] I. History of Religion (Ancient Near East and Antiquity) – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Church History – V. Iconography – VI. Practical Theology – VII. Judaism – VIII. Islam I. History of Religion (Ancient Near East and Antiquity) The term “demon” as used in European language groups derives from the Greek (δαίμων/ daímōn), where it initially also referred simply to gods (…

[German Version] I. Philosophy The term rationalism is used in philosophy in a wider and a narrower sense. In its wider sense, it stands for all those antiskeptical positions (Skepticism: I) in the theory of being and its epistemology that see the only reliable source of certain knowledge not in sensory perception but in the activity of ratio, reason (I). The paradigm for reasoning activity that guarantees certainty (I) is provided by mathematical thought with its concepts of tautologies and deductive conclusions. In its narrower sense, Rationalism stands for a particular period in the history of philosophy, namely for pre-Kantian, continental European philosophy, as distinct from the Anglo-Saxon Empiricism (I) of about the same period; its most important representatives were G.W. Leibniz and his German successors C. Wolff and A.G. …

[German Version] (Aug 5, 1877, San Francisco – Oct 27,1948, New York), Rabbi, one of the founders of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Magnes was ordained as a rabbi in 1900 at the Hebrew Union College. In 1902 he gained a doctorate at Heidelberg. In 1904 Magnes was Reformed rabbi of the Temple Israel in Brooklyn and in 1906 of the Temple Emanu-El in New York. Disappointments with Reform Judaism led him to …

[German Version] (Philo Alexandrinus or Philo Judaeus; 20/10 bce – 45 [?] ce), best-known and most influential philosopher and exegete in ancient Judaism (I). Scarcely anything is known of his life. According to the historian Flavius Josephus, Philo belonged to one of the leading families of Alexandria. The only certain fact about his life is that he took part in a legation to the Roman emperor Caligula in 39/40 ce (Jos. Ant. XVIII 259f.), which he describes in his Legatio ad Gaium. From the fact that he w…

[English Version] von Alexandrien (Ph. Alexandrinus oder Ph. Judaeus; 20/10 v.Chr. – 45 [?] n.Chr.), der bekannteste und einflußreichste Philosoph und Exeget des antiken Judentums (: I.). Von seiner Vita ist kaum etwas bekannt. Nach dem Historiographen Flavius Josephus soll er zu den führenden Familien Alexandriens gehört haben. Das einzige sichere Datum seines Lebens ist seine Teilnahme an einer Gesandtschaft zum röm. Kaiser Caligula in den Jahren 39–40 n.Chr. (Flav.Jos.Ant. XVIII 259f.), die er i…

[English Version] I. Philosophisch Der Terminus »R.« wird in der Philos. in einem weiteren und einem engeren Sinn verwendet. In seinem weiteren Sinn steht er für alle antiskeptischen Positionen (Skepsis/Skeptizismus: I.) in der Theorie des Seins und seiner Erkenntnis, die die einzig verläßliche Quelle für Erkenntnisgewißheit nicht in der sinnlichen Wahrnehmung, sondern in der Tätigkeit der ratio…

[English Version] Rossi, Azaria de' (ca.1511 Mantua – ca. 1577 ebd.). Nach Vertreibung der Juden aus dem Kirchenstaat 1569 zog er nach Ferrara, wo er das Erdbeben des 18.11.1570 erlebte, das ihn zu seiner lit. Tätigkeit anregte. R.s Hauptwerk, »Me'or ‘Enayim« (»Licht der Augen«), besteht aus drei Teilen: »Qol Elohim« (»Gottes Stimme«) über das Erdbeben; »Hadrat Zeqenim« (»Glanz der Ältesten«), eine hebr. Übers. des Aristeasbriefes; »Imre Bina« (»Sprüche des Verständnisses«) über Philo von Alexandrie…

[English Version] I. Definition Die Verbindung zw. Judentum und Philosophie deutet auf zwei unterschiedliche, aber doch tief miteinander verbundene Sachverhalte hin: die Stellung des Judentums in der Gesch. der Philos. und die Entstehung einer eigenen »jüd.« Philos. Das Kompositum »jüd. Philos.« verweist dabei hist. gesehen auf einen Prozeß kultureller Auseinandersetzung zw. der griech. »Philos.« und des durch die jüd. Rel. und Kultur geprägten Denkens, wobei beide Seit…

[English Version] I. Geschichtlich und archäologisch 1.  Geschichtlich-archäologisch An einer günstigen Stelle, nämlich der Straße von Etrurien nach Latium und Campanien, einer Furt durch den Tiber, etwa 30 km von der Mündung des Tibers entfernt, weiterhin an der Straße von der Küste Richtung Apennin sowie an fruchtbaren Gegenden am Fluß, gab es zumindest seit dem 14.Jh. v.Chr. kleine Siedlungen (v.a. auf dem Capitol). Der Sage nach wurde R. dann 753 v.Chr. gegründet, und zwar von Romulus, der auch ers…