Michael L. Satlow , Jewish wedding within the antiquity. Princeton: Princeton College Drive, 2001. xii, 431 users ; twenty five cm. ISBN 069100255X $.
Tawny Holm , Indiana College or university regarding Pennsylvania.
This illuminating and total book of the Satlow happens much to show you to definitely dialogue on the subject of ong Jews, and you will among their Religious, Roman, and you may Greek natives, as it’s now during the modern American and you can progressive Jewish society. Satlow, whom observes wedding as a good socially developed, culturally dependent institution, offers an excellent refreshingly historical position on alarmist discourse of today. “The truth the discourse from social marital ‘crisis’ is indeed dated at least is always to alert us to the newest options that we was dealing with a question of rhetoric a great deal more than just facts. xvi-xvii). As for the comparing hopeful trust you to definitely modern relationships are alternatively an improvement towards bad days of the past of one’s patriarchal previous, Satlow implies that old Judaism is more challenging than of a lot imagine, and contains “one or more rabbinic articulation off relationship ideals . . . to rival our own egalitarian impression” (p. xvii).
If the “one rabbinic articulation” away from close-egalitarianism impresses all of the audience, Satlow’s situation having higher range amongst the additional Jewish groups was well-made (the fresh new Palestinian rabbis consistently are available in a better white compared to the Babylonian), with his book often therefore getting enticing not only to scholars away from Near East antiquity and you can Judaism, but for the learned societal. The study takes a vinyl method of Jewish wedding from the Mediterranean Levant (specifically Palestine) and Babylonia regarding Persian months toward rabbinic several months (california. 500 B.C.Elizabeth. in order to five hundred C.Elizabeth.). You’ll find around three first arguments: (1) individual Jewish groups of antiquity differed of one another in their understanding of matrimony, always yet not constantly conceiving marriage in terms of their historic and you can geographical context; (2) there’s nothing basically Jewish regarding the Jewish relationships up to Jews adjusted living and traditions shared with their server societies to their own idiom to erican marriages today, ancient Jewish ideals on the matrimony probably diverged significantly away from reality, and differing ancient courtroom prescriptions from the Honolulu, HI in USA bride rabbis shouldn’t be taken since the descriptive.
Satlow appropriately cautions an individual about the character of your own number 1 sources; particular episodes don’t have a lot of or skewed proof, especially the Persian several months (for which we have only Ezra-Nehemiah on Bible and you may Aramaic court files out-of Egypt) in addition to Babylonian Amoraic several months 2 hundred-five-hundred C.Elizabeth. (whereby we possess the Babylonian Talmud, an enormous source but the one that shows a shut rabbinic neighborhood rather than Babylonian Jews at-large). If you don’t the newest present also include new Palestinian Talmud and you can midrashim, Jewish website in Greek (including the Septuagint interpretation of your Hebrew Bible and also the New Testament), this new Lifeless Ocean Scrolls, scattered archaeological remains and you will inscriptions, and several records to help you Jews of the low-Jewish Greek and you may Latin experts.
Opinion from the
Following addition, where Satlow lines their arguments, efforts, method, provide, and methodology, the ebook try split into three parts. Part I, “Considering marriage,” considers this new ideology, theology, and you may legal underpinnings away from matrimony. Region II, “Marrying,” actions throughout the ideals of ancient wedding on truth, up to that is possible: relationship, who y), betrothal, the wedding, plus irregular marriages (age.grams. next marriages, polygynous marriages, concubinage, and levirate marriage ceremonies). Region III, “Being Hitched,” covers new economics out of relationships therefore the articulation of Jewish beliefs for the old books and inscriptions. Shortly after a final part regarding findings, where Satlow reorganizes his results diachronically of the period and you may area, the book closes with detailed stop notes, an extensive bibliography, and you will about three indexes: topic, premodern offer, and modern writers.