Second Temple Period

This is an archive of extra-canonical (deuterocanonical) compositions from the period of the Second Temple.

Resources filtered by LANGUAGE: “Greek (Ancient, to 1453 CE)”” (clear filter)

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תהלים קנ״א | Psalms 151, as found in the Septuagint (LXX)

This is Psalms 151 as found in the Septuagint (LXX) in Greek translation (here offered with its translation into Hebrew by Avraham Kahana). The psalm as it is found in Hebrew in the Dead Sea Scrolls is designated as Psalms 151a.

Categories:

Second Temple Period

Tags:

apocryphal psalms, Psalms 151

Contributor(s):

Avraham Kahana (Hebrew translation), Septuagint/ⅬⅩⅩ (translation) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

Σουσαννα | שׁוֹשַׁנָּה וְהַזְּקֵנִים | Shoshanah & the Elders, according to Theodotion translated and cantillated in Masoretic Hebrew by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

The story of Shoshanah & the Elders, according to the text of Theodotion translated into Biblical Hebrew.

Categories:

Second Temple Period

Tags:

anti-predatory, Antiquity, deuterocanonical works, Jewish Antiquities, sexual predation

Contributor(s):

Theodotion (translation/Greek), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

Βηλ Και Δρακων | בֵּל וְהַתַּנִּין | Bel & the Dragon, according to Theodotion translated and cantillated in Masoretic Hebrew by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

The story of Bel and the Dragon according to the text of Theodotion, translated into biblical Hebrew.

Categories:

Second Temple Period

Tags:

anti-predatory, Antiquity, captive animals, captives, deuterocanonical works, dragons, חבקוק Ḥabaquq, iconoclastic, Jewish Antiquities, קפיצת הדרך ḳfitsat haderekh, the Pit

Contributor(s):

Theodotion (translation/Greek), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

💬 The Martyrdom of Isaiah — the Jewish core of the work, translated into Hebrew with cantillation by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

The following is a cnatillated Hebrew translation of the Martyrdom of Isaiah, the Jewish core of the work — 1:1—3:12 and 5. Also included is the corresponding Geʽez text, and the preserved fragments of the Greek text when available. When proper names are mentioned in the text attested in Greek, the translation follows the Greek.

Categories:

Nittel Nacht Readings, Second Temple Period

Tags:

deuterocanonical works, early Judaism, martyrdom, Mäṣḥäf Ḳədus, mytho-historical chronicles, parabiblical aggadah, pre-rabbinic judaism, Yeshayahu

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) and Unknown

Selections from 1 & 2 Maccabees and Pesiqta Rabbati on the Desecration and Rededication of the Temple and the Rekindling of the Sacred Fire

Selections from 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, and Pesiqta Rabbati which inform the story of Ḥanukkah: the desecration and re-dedication of the Temple (especially as it relates to Sukkot and the Brumalia), divine intervention in the Maccabean battles, and the Rekindling of the Sacred Fire.

Categories:

Second Temple Period, Ḥanukkah Readings

Tags:

2nd century B.C.E., 37th century A.M., Angels, Classical Antiquity, combating anti-Jewish oppression, dedications and consecrations, kindling, Maccabean Revolt, המקבים Maccabees, military, נר תמיד ner tamid, המזבח the Mizbe'aḥ

Contributor(s):

Jason of Cyrene, Septuagint/ⅬⅩⅩ (translation), Unknown and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Βαροὺχ | Sefer Barukh (3:9-5:8), a poem of wisdom in exile and its ultimate liberation

The poetic portion of the deuterocanonical work, Barukh, in Greek with English translation.

Categories:

Second Temple Period

Tags:

2nd century B.C.E., 37th century A.M., Classical Antiquity, deuterocanonical works, early Judaism, exile, שבת נחמו Shabbat Naḥamu, wisdom

Contributor(s):

Jospeh Ziegler (translation), Septuagint/ⅬⅩⅩ (translation), Barukh ben Neriyah and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

ספר ברוך | Sefer Barukh (1:1-3:8), from the Reconstructed Hebrew Vorlage by Prof. Emmanuel Tov, vocalized and cantillated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

The book of Barukh (also, Baruch and Barouch) in its reconstructed Hebrew vorlage from verse 1:1 till 3:8.

Categories:

Second Temple Period

Tags:

2nd century B.C.E., 37th century A.M., Classical Antiquity, deuterocanonical works, early Judaism

Contributor(s):

Jospeh Ziegler (translation), Emmanuel Tov (Hebrew reconstruction), Septuagint/ⅬⅩⅩ (translation), Barukh ben Neriyah, Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

💬 מגילת ניקנור | Megillat Niqanor (Ⅱ Maccabees, chapters 13-15), a reading for the Day of the Elephantarch

It is challenging to think of how to mark Nicanor Day, as it remains at a disadvantage, not only on years when it conflicts with Ta’anit Esther but on all years since it has no mitzvot. This is probably the main reason that, unlike Chanukah and Purim, it was lost to Jewish practice for more than a thousand years. Nevertheless, we do have its megillah, which has been translated into Hebrew and English. Perhaps, if we start reading chapters 13-15 of 2 Maccabees, even just to ourselves, on the 13 of Adar, we can begin to resurrect a holiday that was celebrated and instituted by Judah Maccabee and his followers over two millennia ago, and which they envisioned would continue throughout Jewish History. With the return of Jews to Israel and Jewish sovereignty to Jerusalem, I believe it is about time.

Categories:

Second Temple Period, Extracanonical Megillot, Yom Niqanor Readings

Tags:

2nd century B.C.E., 37th century A.M., ארץ ישראל Erets Yisrael, המקבים Maccabees, military

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Seckel Isaac Fränkel (translation), Unknown and Jason of Cyrene

אָבִינוּ יִתְקַדֵּשׁ | Avinu Yitqadesh, a rabbinic Hebrew translation of the Lord’s Prayer by Shem Tov ibn Shaprut (14th c.)

A rabbinic Hebrew translation of the “Lord’s Prayer.”

Categories:

Second Temple Period

Tags:

1st century C.E., 38th century A.M., Classical Antiquity, התבודדות hitbodedut, Lord's Prayer, Needing Vocalization

Contributor(s):

Shem Tov ibn Shaprut (translation), Mattai ben Alphaeus haLevi and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Ὑμνεῖν με δεῖ τὸν θεόν | “I Must Praise God,” excerpted from the Discourses of Epictetus

A short discourse on the necessity for prayer by the Stoic philosopher, Epictetus.

Categories:

Second Temple Period, Pedagogical Essays on Jewish Prayer

Tags:

1st century C.E., 39th century A.M., Antiquity, Stoicism

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Morrison David Bial and Epictetus the Stoic

The Story of Gedalyah, as told by Titus Flavius Josephus in Antiquities of the Jews

The story of Gedaliah as recorded by Josephus in his Jewish Antiquities.

Categories:

Second Temple Period, Tsom Gedalyah Readings

Tags:

1st century C.E., 39th century A.M., assassination, Jewish Antiquities

Contributor(s):

Ralph Marcus (translation), Titus Flavius Josephus and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/index.php?cat=3404

Associated Image:

Dirk van Santen and the Keur Bible New Insights into Jacob Judah (Arye) Leon Templo's Model Temple, p. 9

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)

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