The Sage in Jewish Society of Late Antiquity

191 Pages·1999·0.63 MB·English

by  Richard Kalmin

THE SAGE IN JEWISH SOCIETY OF
LATE ANTIQUITY
Persian society of late antiquity was rigidly hierarchical and movement
between and even within classes was very difficult. Roman society, in contrast,
exhibited egalitarian tendencies and social boundaries were generally more
fluid. What past generations have viewed as a fundamental distinction
between Judaism and Christianity is shown by Richard Kalmin to be
culturally conditioned, rather than built into the deep structure of the religion.
It is true of rabbinic Judaism in one locality but not the other.
The Sage in Jewish Society of Late Antiquity explores the social position
of rabbis in Palestinian (Roman) and Babylonian (Persian) society from the
period of the fall of the Temple in 70 CE to late antiquity. The author argues
that ancient rabbinic sources depict comparable differences between
Palestinian and Babylonian rabbinic relationships with non-rabbis. Palestinian
sages interacted closely with non-rabbis, in part because of their relatively
insecure place in society, whereas Babylonian sages occupied a stronger place
in society and could therefore afford to keep their distance from non-rabbis.
Richard Kalmin also discusses the historicity of rabbinic portrayals and places
rabbinic scriptural comments in a historical context. He argues that these
interpretations were motivated not only by a desire to explicate the Biblical
text but also by social, cultural, religious, polemical and apologetic concerns.
The Sage in Jewish Society of Late Antiquity provides an erudite and
stimulating analysis of the role of the sage in late antiquity and sheds new
light on rabbinic comments on diverse topics such as biblical heroes and
genealogy and lineage.
Richard Kalmin is the Theodore R.Racoosin Professor of Talmud and
Rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He is the author of Sages,
Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia.

THE SAGE IN JEWISH
SOCIETY OF LATE
ANTIQUITY
Richard Kalmin
London and New York
First published 1999
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
© 1999 Richard Kalmin
The right of Richard Kalmin to be identified as the Author of this
Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Kalmin, Richard Lee.
The sage in Jewish society of late antiquity/Richard Kalmin.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Judaism—History—Talmudic period, 10–425. 2. Tannaim. 3.
Amoraim. 4. Rabbis—Palestine—Office. 5. Rabbis—Iraq—
Babylonia—Office. 6. Jews—Palestine—Social conditions. 7.
Jews—Iraq—Babylonia—Social conditions. 8. Bible. O.T. —
Criticism, interpretation, etc. —History. I. Title.
BM177.K35 1999
296.6′1′09–DC21 98–8228
ISBN 0-415-19694-9 (hbk)
ISBN 0-415-19695-7 (pbk)
ISBN 0-203-05062-2 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-16404-0 (Glassbook Format)
For Dr Mortimer and Miriam Ostow
in friendship

CONTENTS
Preface viii
Introduction 1
PART I
Historical studies 25
1 Non-rabbinic Jews 27
2 Genealogy 51
3 Hasmonean royalty 61
4 Bible-reading non-Jews and heretics 68
5 Rainmaking 75
PART II
Exegetical studies 81
6 King David 83
7 Moses 94
8 Ahitofel 101
Conclusion 110
Notes 115
Bibliography 153
General index 165
Index of rabbinic and other ancient sources 171

vii
PREFACE
The primary rabbinic sources used throughout this book are the Mishnah,
the Tosefta, the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds (also known as the
Yerushalmi and Bavli), and various midrashic compilations.1 The Mishnah
and Tosefta are Tannaitic works, and the Talmuds were edited during the
post-Tannaitic period but contain much Tannaitic material. Some midrashic
compilations are primarily Tannaitic (although in all likelihood they were
edited after the Tannaitic period) and others are post-Tannaitic, although
like the Talmuds even the latter contain much Tannaitic material.
The term “Tannaitic” describes, approximately, rabbinic literature deriving
from the first two centuries CE and the term “post-Tannaitic” describes the
classical rabbinic literature composed after this date, ending in approximately
the eighth century CE.2 The term “early” used throughout this book
corresponds roughly to the Tannaitic period, and the term “later” to the
post-Tannaitic period.3
The Mishnah, Tosefta, Yerushalmi, and midrashic compilations were
edited in Roman Palestine, while the Bavli was edited in Persian Babylonia.
The Tosefta and the two Talmuds are based primarily on the Mishnah and
the midrashic compilations are based on the Bible.
The rabbis who are this book’s primary objects of study occupied
important positions in the political, social, cultural, and religious life of the
Jewish people of late antiquity. The study focuses on Babylonian rabbis,
who flourished under Persian rule between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
in what is part of modern-day Iraq. These rabbis, also referred to as
Babylonian Amoraim, were active from the editing of the Mishnah in the
early third century CE until the final editing of the Bavli in the sixth or
seventh centuries CE.4 This study also examines rabbis who lived in Palestine
under Roman domination from the late first century CE, the approximate
date of our earliest reliable rabbinic sources,5 until the eighth century CE,
the approximate date of the final editing of the latest classical midrashim.
This book refers to Palestinian rabbis of the first, second, and early third
centuries CE as Tannaim, and to Palestinian and Babylonian rabbis, who
flourished subsequently, as Amoraim.
viii
PREFACE
This book follows the convention of referring to Palestinian rabbis as
“R.,” an abbreviation for “Rabbi,” and to Babylonian rabbis as “Rav.”
For example, Yo?anan, a Palestinian Amora, is called R.Yo?anan, but
Yehuda, a Babylonian Amora, is called Rav Yehuda. Even though this
convention is very likely a post-Talmudic scribal imposition onto the
sources, and numerous exceptions are preserved in medieval testimonia,
manuscripts, and early printed editions of ancient rabbinic texts, it is
nevertheless a convenient way to distinguish between Palestinian and
Babylonian rabbis. The gain in ease of expression more than compensates
for the slight loss of precision.
Portions of this book have appeared as articles in earlier publications and
have been substantially revised for inclusion in this book. Part of the
Introduction was included in “Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity as a
Source for Historical Study,” in Where We Stand, Issues and Debates in
the Study of Ancient Judaism, ed. Jacob Neusner and Alan J.Avery-Peck
(Leiden: E.J. Brill, forthcoming). Part of Chapter One was published as
“Relations Between Rabbis and Non-Rabbis in Rabbinic Literature of Late
Antiquity,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 5 (1998), pp. 1–15; part of Chapter
Two was included in “Genealogy and Polemics in Rabbinic Literature of
Late Antiquity,” Hebrew Union College Annual 67 (1996), pp. 77–94;
Chapter Three was part of “Portrayals of Kings in Rabbinic Literature of
Late Antiquity,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 3, No. 4 (1996), pp. 321–9;
Chapter Four was part of “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature
of Late Antiquity,” Harvard Theological Review 87, No. 2 (1994), pp.
155–69; and Chapter Eight was part of “Attitudes Toward Biblical Heroes
in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity,” in The Talmud Yerushalmi in
Graeco-Roman Culture, ed. Peter Schäfer (Tübingen: J.C.B.Mohr, 1998),
pp. 369–85.
Several sections of Part Two of this book were presented at a conference
entitled Text and Context: The Talmud Yerushalmi in its Graeco-Roman
Environment in Berlin, Germany, on October 15, 1996. I wish to thank
the organizers of the conference, especially Professor Peter Schäfer, and
the participants, especially Professors Shaye J.D.Cohen, David Goodblatt,
Martin Goodman, Christine Hayes, and Martin Jaffee for their insightful
comments and questions. An abbreviated version of Chapter One was
read at the Twelfth World Congress of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, Israel,
August, 1997, and the present version benefited from comments by
Professors Yaakov Elman, Isaiah Gafni, and Moshe David Herr. I owe
special thanks to Professors Chaim Milikowsky, Seth Schwartz and Jeffrey
Rubinstein, and to Ms Carol Bakhos, who read an earlier version of this
book and helped me clarify my thoughts on numerous important issues.
I alone, of course, bear full responsibility for any errors of fact or
judgment.
ix