Evil Within and Without: The Source of Sin and Its Nature as Portrayed in Second Temple Literature (2013 Brand), book
Evil Within and Without: The Source of Sin and Its Nature as Portrayed in Second Temple Literature (2013) is a book by Miryam T. Brand.
Abstract
"Miryam T. Brand explores how texts of the Second Temple period address the theological problem of the existence of sin and describe the source of human sin. By surveying the relevant Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, and Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as the works of Philo and (where relevant) Josephus, the study determines the extent to which texts’ presentation of sin is influenced by genre and sectarian identification and identifies central worldviews regarding sin in the Second Temple period. The analysis is divided into two parts; the first explores texts that reflect a conviction that the source of sin is an innate human inclination, and the second analyzes texts that depict sin as caused by demons. The author demonstrates that the genre or purpose of a text is frequently a determining factor in its representation of sin, particularly influencing the text’s portrayal of sin as the result of human inclination versus demonic influence and sin as a free choice or as predetermined fact. Second Temple authors and redactors chose representations of sin in accordance with their aims. Thus prayers, reflecting the experience of helplessness when encountering God, present the desire to sin as impossible to overcome without divine assistance. In contrast, covenantal texts (sectarian texts explaining the nature of the covenant) emphasize freedom of choice and the human ability to turn away from the desire to sin. Genre, however, is not the only determining factor regarding how sin is presented in these texts. Approaches to sin in sectarian texts frequently built upon already accepted ideas reflected in nonsectarian literature, adding aspects such as predestination, the periodization of evil, and a division of humanity into righteous members and evil nonmembers."--Publisher description.
Editions
Published in Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2013.
Contents
Symbols employed in text transcriptions -- Dead Sea Scrolls -- Ben Sira (Hebrew) -- Introduction -- Sin, religious thought, and the state of research -- The source of sin -- Identity -- Determinism and free will -- Definition of sin -- Rationale and method of the present study -- Texts included in this study -- Terminology -- "Sectarian" and "Non-sectarian" texts -- Determinism, "Fate, " and the Qumran community -- Authors and audiences -- Angels and demons -- The plan of the present study -- Theoretical concerns -- The Qumran community -- Reading gender in Second Temple works -- Textual editions and translations used -- The human inclination to sin -- Nonsectarian Second Temple prayer and the inclination to sin -- 11QPsa col. XXIV (Syriac Psalm 155) : divine assistance against the desire to sin -- 4QBarkhi Nafshi : direct intervention in the human condition -- The words of the Luminaries : divine assistance -- 4QCommunal confession : God's responsibility for sin -- Psalms of Solomon : prayer and the need for divine assistance -- The road not travelled : prayers without an inclination to sin -- Conclusion : innate inclination to sin and inevitability in Nonsectarian prayer -- Inclination, physicality, and election in Sectarian prayer -- The Hodayot : the physical dimension of sin -- The "Hymn of praise" : ongoing sin and chosenness -- Sectarian prayer : Hodayot and the Community Rule hymn -- Conclusion : Second Temple prayer and the innate inclination to sin -- Free will and the inclination to sin in covenantal texts -- The Damascus document (CD) II.14-III.12a : freedom of choice and the inclination to sin -- CD II. 14-III.12a : a history of sinners -- Terminology of sin and choice in CD III.2-12a -- Freedom in the context of predestination -- The community rule : a "free choice" redaction -- The inclination to sin in covenantal texts -- The inclination to sin in the book of Ben Sira and the writings of Philo of Alexandria -- The book of Ben Sira : textual history -- Ben Sira 15:11-20 -- The medieval gloss in sir 15:14 : rewriting of a theological argument -- The meaning of yeser in the book of Ben Sira -- The choice between good and evil in Sir 15:11-20 -- Sir 33:7-15 : election and the evildoer -- Other references to the source of sin in the book of Ben Sira -- Sir 25:24 : original sin or a wicked wife? -- Sir 17:31 : pondering evil -- Sir 21:11 : controlling one's inclination -- Sir 23:2-6 : prayer and sin -- Ben Sira's approach to sin -- Philo of Alexandria and the inclination to sin -- Conclusion : Ben Sira and Philo -- After the destruction : 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch -- 4 Ezra -- Inevitable sinfulness in 4 Ezra -- The angel and 4 Maccabees -- 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra -- Adam's sin in 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch -- Conclusion : the choice to sin in 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch -- Excursus: inclination to sin and the gentile -- Demonic influence -- Demonic sin and 1 Enoch -- Genres and provenance of "Demonic" texts -- The watchers myth and 1 Enoch -- The watchers in 1 Enoch : the book of the Watchers (chapters 1-36) -- 1 Enoch 6-11 -- The role of sin in the three traditions of 1 Enoch 6-11 -- The watchers myth in 1 Enoch 12-16 -- Forbidden knowledge in 1 Enoch -- 1 Enoch 19:1-2 : worship of demons -- Summary : Watchers in 1 Enoch -- Jubilees and demonic sin -- The book of Jubilees : textual background -- The watchers in Jubilees 4 and 5 : reflection of Genesis 6 and 1 Enoch 10-11 -- Jub. 7 : Watchers, the law, and human freedom -- Jub. 10 :1-6 : prayer and human helplessness -- Mastema : bringing demons into the fold -- Mastema and his role in the book of Jubilees -- Summary : Mastema in Jubilees -- Mastema in the Damascus document -- Belial and the nations : a complex view of sin -- Abram's prayer : a complex demonic reference in Jub. 7 -- Summary and conclusion : Jubilees and the demonic source of sin -- Apotropaic prayer and views of demonic influence -- The Watchers in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Sectarian Apotropaic prayer -- The Watchers and other demons of influence in Sectarian Apotropaic prayer -- Songs of the sage (4q510-511) -- 4QIncantation (4Q444) -- 11 Qapocryphal Psalms (11q11) -- The plea for deliverance and Levi's prayer in the Aramaic Levi document -- The plea for deliverance -- Levi's prayer in the Aramaic Levi document -- The rule of demons in the plea and Levi's prayer -- Comparison of Sectarian and nonsectarian Apotropaic prayers -- Belial in the Damascus document and the War Scroll -- Belial in the Damascus document -- "Angels of hostility" and belial in the Apocryphon of Jeremiah -- Summary : Belial in the Damascus document and the Apocryphon of Jeremiah -- Belial in the War Scroll -- Conclusion : Belial in the Damascus document and the War Scroll -- Belial in liturgical curse texts and the community rule -- 4QBerakhot : periodization of demonic evil and evildoers -- Belial in the community rule : demonic presence and absence in a covenantal text -- 4QCurses (4Q280) : an integrative approach -- 4QFlorilegium : a pesher view of Belial -- Conclusion: Belial in the Dead Sea Scrolls -- Sin and its source in the treatise of the two spirits -- 1QS III.13-18a : introduction to the treatise -- 1QS III.18b-25a : a central (secondary?) Crux -- The visions of Amram -- 1QS III.25b-IV.14 : the spirits of light and darkness -- 1QS IV. 15-23 : predestination and the Eschaton -- 1QS IV. 23-26 : the two spirits and predestination -- The redacted treatise -- Sources of the treatise -- Connection to wisdom thought -- Conclusion : "purpose" of the treatise -- Summary and conclusions -- Genre, free will, and the source of sin -- Prayer -- Covenantal texts -- Wisdom and philosophical literature -- Demonic influence and the periodization of evil -- Identity -- The law versus sin -- Gentiles and sin -- The treatise of the two spirits and views of sin at Qumran -- Adam and "Original sin" -- Implications for post-second temple thought -- Bibliography -- Modern authors index -- Source index -- Subject index.