Bibliography
| Title: The Reading of the Bible in the Synagogue in the First Century Secondary Title: Bijdr Volume: 51 Pages: 68-84 Type: Journal Article Year: 1990 Abstract: "In regard to the reading of Torah in the synagogue, two aspects have been underestimated so far: the changes in the synagogue that were caused by the destruction of the Second Temple, and the redactional structure of the Torah itself. After 70, many features of the Temple-liturgy were incorporated in the synagogue. The one-year festival cycle of the Temple became competitive with the triennial pattern of the Torah-reading which had been predominant in the synagogue until then. The assumption of a triennial cycle which started in Nisan and was the normal pattern until 70 but was after that year in a sense overruled by the yearly festivals, provides us with the most solid basis for further research, especially in the field of the New Testament".
"The research in the reading of Torah in the synagogue, especially during the first century C.E. has led to an interesting conclusion by Ch. Perrot in his contribution to the volume Mikra of Compendia Rerum Judaicarum ad Novum Testamentum. Nevertheless, in my opinion it is possible so set up a new and coherent hypothesis, out of the rare and often contradictory facts about the two known cycles of torahreading (the annual cycle and the triennial cycle) and their interpretation by Perrot. Two aspects have been underestimated so far: the changes in the synagogue that were caused by the destruction of the Second Temple, and the redactional structure of the Torah itself. After 70, many features of the temple-liturgy were incorporated in the synagogue. The one-year festival-cycle of the Temple became competitive with the triennial pattern of the torahreading, which has been predominant in the synagogue until then. The Mishnah reflects in its indications for the reading the problems that were caused by this conflict, as do other later documents. The triennial cycle was a self-evident "system", that needed no external regulations. The overall structure of the Torah is triennial. The explicit dates in it confirm this view". Keywords: Interpretation of the Bible in Ancient Judaism |