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Second Temple Period

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

Resources filtered by TAG: “Classical Antiquity” (clear filter)

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Wise Counsel: Selected verses from the Book of ben Sira for a Seliḥot Service by Paltiel Birnbaum

Selected verses from the book of ben Sira for a Seliḥot service

Categories:

Second Temple Period

Tags:

2nd century B.C.E., 36th century A.M., Cairo Geniza, Classical Antiquity, deuterocanonical works, Ecclesiasticus, Jews of Alexandria, מוסר mussar, wisdom

Contributor(s):

Paltiel Birnbaum (translation), Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

💬 מזמור לבן סירא על זכות אבותינו (פרקים מד-נ)‏ | Paean of Ben Sira on the Merit of the Ancestors (ch. 44-50), vocalized and cantillated with the Poetic Masoretic System by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

The poem lauding the ancestors from Chapters 44 to 50 of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) is considered by many scholars to be the original influence for the Yom Kippur Avodah service, and the paean to Shimon the Righteous bears a striking similarity to the beloved piyyut “Mar’eh Khohen.” This passage from Ben Sira, the great paean on the merit of the ancestors, takes the Hebrew text of one of the Cairo Geniza manuscripts — Bodleian MS Heb e62 — and versifies it according to the standard Septuagintal text, along with vocalization and cantillation per the standard Masoretic EMe”T system for poetic books. It could be read on Yom Kippur for the avodah service, or just studied as a fascinating piece of Jewish history.

Categories:

Second Temple Period, Yom Kippur

Tags:

2nd century B.C.E., 36th century A.M., Cairo Geniza, Classical Antiquity, deuterocanonical works, Ecclesiasticus, Jews of Alexandria, Mar'eh Kohen

Contributor(s):

Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

💬 ילקוט מזמורים לבן סירא פרק נ״א | An Appendix of Psalms of Ben Sira chapter 51, vocalized, cantillated, and translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

The end of the scroll of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) reconstructed from Cairo Geniza fragments not contained within the Septuagint.

Categories:

Second Temple Period

Tags:

2nd century B.C.E., 36th century A.M., acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, Cairo Geniza, Classical Antiquity, Dead Sea Scrolls, deuterocanonical works, Ecclesiasticus, Jews of Alexandria, reconstructed text

Contributor(s):

Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

💬 בן סירא מב:כא-מג:לא | ben Sira 42:21-43:31, a hymn of creation translated by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan

Ecclesiasticus (ben Sira) 42:21-43:31 is presented as “God the Lord of Nature” in The Sabbath Prayer Book of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (The Reconstructionist Foundation 1945), p. 376-372 in the Supplements subsection, “God in Nature.” The text of Ben Sira used here differs in places found in other manuscripts.

Categories:

Second Temple Period, Rosh Ḥodesh Readings

Tags:

2nd century B.C.E., 36th century A.M., Classical Antiquity, deuterocanonical works, Ecclesiasticus, hymns of creation, Jews of Alexandria, Openers

Contributor(s):

Mordecai Kaplan, Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira, Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

מזמור לציון | Apostrophe to Zion, according to the Nusaḥ of the Judean Desert Scrolls

The Apostrophe to Zion is an alphabetical acrostic poem, directed at Zion in the second person. It has been found in multiple locations in Qumran, including the Great Psalms Scroll 11QPsa as well as another fragmentary scroll in 4Q88. It was considered a regular part of their psalmodic canon.

Categories:

Second Temple Period

Tags:

acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, Classical Antiquity, Dead Sea Scrolls, ציון Tsiyon

Contributor(s):

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

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)

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)

💬 קִינַת שְׁאֵלָה בַּת יִפְתָּח | The Lamentation of Sh’élah bat Yiftaḥ — as found in Pseudo-Philo’s “Biblical Antiquities” and the Divrei Yeraḥmiel

The story of Yiftaḥ, or Jephthah, is read as the haftara for Parashat Ḥuqqat. However, in most practices the end of the story is not read. This is probably because it is horrific — because of Yiftaḥ’s foolish vow, he sacrifices his own daughter! Unlike the story of Isaac, there is no angel, no last-minute salvation. The knife falls, the girl dies. That would be bad enough, but the daughter of Yiftaḥ isn’t even named in the text! The text of Biblical Antiquities, traditionally albeit incorrectly attributed to Philo of Alexandria, is one of the more interesting and under-studied deuterocanonical works. Almost certainly written in Hebrew but preserved in its entirety only in Latin, it is an example of the genre of “rewritten Bible,” a proto-midrashic genre also found in texts such as Jubilees. It is the earliest source for a substantial number of legends that became part of the midrashic canon — from Abraham’s casting into the furnace to Dinah’s marriage to Job. And it has a unique tendency to elaborate on the stories of women in the Bible. In the case of Yiftaḥ’s daughter, Biblical Antiquities gives her three things she deserves: agency, a song, and a name. Agency, because she is a willing participant in the process of sacrifice, encouraging her father to go through with it and leaving the sages speechless. A song, because she laments the fact she will die a virgin. And a name — in the Latin text, Seila. In the Hebrew, Sheila, “asked for.”

Categories:

Second Temple Period, Parashat Ḥuqat

Tags:

1st century CE, 39th century AM, Antiquity, Biblical Women, Classical Antiquity, deuterocanonical works, dreams, Jewish Women's Prayers, martyrdom, mytho-historical chronicles, parabiblical aggadah, polyglot, pre-rabbinic judaism, self-sacrifice

Contributor(s):

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

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

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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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