Paul and Palestinian Judaism: 40th Anniversary Edition

673 Pages·2017·75.12 MB·English

by  E. P. Sanders

the landmaRk woRk
that launched an eRa
This remarkable book has shaped a generation of scholarship. A new foreword by
Mark A. Chancey outlines Sanders’s achievement, reviews the principal criticisms
raised against it, and describes the legacy he leaves future interpreters.
Praise for Paul and Palestinian Judaism sandeRs
“Paul and Palestinian Judaism revolutionized New Testament studies. This great book began
the serious academic retrieval of Second Temple Judaism as the defining context, in positive
ways, of Paul’s life and work. Brilliantly analyzing a broad range of early Jewish texts, Sanders
likewise exposed the deep and abiding anti-Judaism afflicting—and disfiguring—centuries of
Christian scholarship. Both intellectually and morally, his writing sounded a summons that P
has reshaped an entire field of study. If, in the forty years since its first publication, things a
have begun to change, it is thanks to Sanders, and to the enduring achievement of Paul and
Palestinian Judaism.” l
e
Paula FRedRiksen
hebrew University, Jerusalem s
“E. P. Sanders’s Paul and Palestinian Judaism is a modern classic. It changed the way we look t P
at Paul and the way we look at ancient Judaism. Forty years later, it is still worth reading and i a
worth arguing about.” n
u
shaye J. d. cohen i 40 th anni veRsaRy editi on
harvard University a l

“For New Testament students still trapped in Billerbeck-and-Kittel scholarship, the book will n a
be revolutionary. For everyone who tries to understand early Judaism or the Christian move-

n
ment that emerged from it, Sanders’s work requires a thorough rethinking of our assumptions.” J
Pa u l a n d
wayne a. meeks, professor emeritus u d
yale University
d
Pa l e s t i n i a n J u d a i s m
a
e. P. sandeRs is Arts and Sciences Professor of Religion Emeritus at Duke Univer-
sity and has taught at McMaster University and Queen’s College, Oxford. His landmark works i
s A CompArison of pAtterns of religion
include, from Fortress Press, Comparing Judaism and Christianity (2016), Paul: The Apostle’s
Life, Letters, and Thought (2016), Jesus and Judaism (1985), and Paul, the Law, and the Jewish m
People (1983).

Religion / New Testament
e . P. s a n d e R s
With A foreWord by
mArk ChAnCey
Also by E. P. Sanders,
from Fortress Press
Paul, the Law, and the Jewish People(1983)
Jesus and Judaism (1985)
Paul: The Apostle’s Life, Letters, and Thought (2015)
Jewish Law from Jesus to the Mishnah: Five Studies (original
ed. 1990; Fortress Press ed., 2016)
Judaism: Practice and Belief, 63 BCE–66 CE (original ed.
1992; Fortress Press ed., 2016)
Comparing Judaism and Christianity: Common Judaism, Paul,
and the Inner and the Outer in Ancient Religion(2016)
In memory of Susan Phillips
July 2 1947 – September 26 1975
Paul and Palestinian Judaism

Paul and
Palestinian
Judaism
A Comparison of Patterns of Religion,
40th Anniversary Edition
E. P. Sanders,
with a Foreword by Mark Chancey
Fortress Press
Minneapolis
PAUL AND PALESTINIAN JUDAISM
A Comparison of Patterns of Religion,
40th Anniversary Edition
Copyright © 2017 Fortress Press. All rights reserved. Except for brief
quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be
reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the
publisher. Email [email protected] or write to Permissions,
Fortress Press, PO Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440-1209.
First American Edition by Fortress Press 1977; copyright© 1977 by
SCM Press Ltd., London, and Fortress Press, Philadelphia
Biblical quotations when taken from the Revised Standard Version of
the Bible, copyrighted 1946, 1952, © 1971, 1973 by the Division of
Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in
the U.S.A., are used by permission.
Cover image: Paul between two apostles (detail), fresco transferred to
canvas; first half of the twelfth century, from the Chapel of Santa
Maria, Orcau. Museo Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. The apostle holds a
book with the (misspelled) text of Acts 9:15, Vas electionis est mihi . . .
(“He is a chosen vessel unto Me [to bear My name before the Gentiles
and kings and the children of Israel . . .],” NKJV).
Commons.wikimedia.org.
Cover design: Joe Reinke
Print ISBN: 978-1-5064-3814-6
eBook ISBN: 978-1-5064-3845-0
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences — Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z329.48-1984.
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
CONTENTS
Forerwdo xi
Pref atcoe the 40th Anniversary Editixoxnv ii
Preface 1t9o7 7t hEed ition xxix
Abbreviations xxxix
INTRODUCTIO N
1.P aualn Jdu daiisnNme wT estamsecnhto larship
2.Theh olicsotmipca roifps aotnt oefrr nesl igion 1 2
Purpoofts hese t udy 18
Difficuolftt hiceeo sm parison 19
Addendpuamt:ta enrtdnr sa jectories 20
3.Sources 24
PALESTINJIUADNA ISM
PARTO NE
I TA NNAITICL ITERATURE 33
1.Thep ersisotfte hnveci eeo wfR abibnriecl iagsoi nooenf l egalistic
works-righteousness 33
2.Theu soefR abbimnaitce rial 59
PharainsRdea ebsb is 60
Dataena du thenticity 63
Thee cleucsotefi Tca nnmaaitteirci al 69
3.Then atuorfeT annlaiiattteiurcr e 76
Tannaliittiecar naTdta unrnear ietliicg ion 81
4.Thee lecatnitdoh nce o venant 84
Thet heomfge r atuity 85
Theel ecatnitdoh enex planoafit ti ons 87
Thee nduvrailnigod fti hcteoy v enparnotmails es 101
Gods'isod fte h ceo vencaonmtm:a ndamnebdnl tess sings 104
5.Obedieanndcdie s obedrieewnaacrnedpd; u nishment 107
Three quiroefom beendti ence 107
Thbeu rdeonb eodfi ence 110
Disobeadssi ieannn gcdue i lt 111
Rewaarndpd u nishment 171
6.Rewaarndpd u nishamnetdnh twe o rtlodc ome 125
Godj'uss tirceet rainibdntu htweio ortnloc d o me 125
Weighfuilnfigl maenntdtr sa nsgartteh sjesu idognmse nt 128
viii Contents
7. Salvation by membership in the covenant and atonement 147
All Israelites have a share in the world to come 147
The Sadducees 150
The 'amme ho-'arets 152
Atonement 157
Summary 180
8. Proper religious behaviour: zakah and tsadaq 183
Zak ah 183
Tsadaq 198
9. The Gentiles 206
1 o. The nature of religious life and experience 212
Studying and doing and the presence of God 217
Prayer and the time of death 223
11. Conclusion 233
II THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS 239
1. Introduction 239
2. The covenant and the covenant people 240
The covenant 240
The members of the covenant and its enemies 242
3. Election and predestination 257
4. The commandments 270
5. Fulfilment and transgression; the nature of sin; reward and
punishment 271
The requirement of fulfilment 271
Destruction of the wicked 272
Sin as transgression 272
Punishment for intra-covenantal transgression 284
Reward, the requirement of perfection and man's nothingness 287
6. Atonement 298
7. The righteousness of God and the righteousness of man 305
8. The religious life 312
9. Conclusion 316
Appendix 1 : The authorship and Sitz im Leben of the Hodayot 321
Appendix 2: IQS 8. I-<p 323
Appendix J: IQS 8.3f 326
Appendix 4: The nothingness of man and Gattungsgeschichte 327
III APOCRYPHA AND PSEUDEPIGRAPHA 329
1. Ben Sirach 329
The election and the covenant 329
The fate of the individual Israelite; reward and punishment 333
Atonement 338
Covenant, commandments, sin and atonement in Ben Sirach and
Rabbinic literature 341
The wicked and the righteous 342
l:;ontents ix
2. I Enoch 346
Introduction 346
The Book of Noah 348
I Enoch 12-36 350
I Enoch 83-<)o 351
I Enoch 91-104 352
I Enoch 1-5; 81; 108; 93.1-10; 91.12-17 359
Summary 361
3. Jubilees 362
The election 362
The commandments 364
Reward and punishment 366
The basis of salvation; the 'true Israel' 367
The Gentiles 374
God's mercy; man's repentance and atonement 375
The righteous 380
Appendix 1: Jubilees and the Essenes 383
Appendix 2: The integrity of Jubilees 386
4. The Psalms of Solomon 387
Introduction 387
The pattern of religion in Ps. Sol. 9 388
The election 389
The commandments; chastisement; reward and punishment 390
God's justice and mercy 392
Repentance and atonement 397
The identification of the righteous and the wicked 398
The righteousness of God 407
5. IV Ezra 409
IV Ezra in recent scholarship: the problem posed by the book 409
The dialogues 413
The visions 416
IV PALESTINIAN JUDAISM 200 b.c.e.-200 c.e.: Conclusion 419
Covenant and law 419
The common pattern of religion: covenantal nomism 422
Apocalypticism and legalism 423
Sects and parties 425
Judaism in the time of Jesus and Paul 426
PART TWO PAUL
V PAUL 431
1. Introduction 431
Sources 431
Method of proceeding 433
The question of the centre and the beginning point 434
2. The solution as preceding the problem 442