In the study of Judaism, no amount of exposure to secondary sources or commentary can take the place of direct contact with the authoritative texts embodying Jewish thought and teaching. Through a careful selection of texts, this volume introduces the reader to a broad range of important theological and historical developments, as well as to the issues central to an understanding of present-day Judaism. The texts anthologized cover: Bible exegesis (midrash), liturgy, hagiography, law, ethics, philosophy and theology, mysticism, modern varieties of Judaism, Zionism, and the State of Israel. A group of selections deals with anti-Semitism and the attitudes of host societies towards the Jewish minority.

Judaism

Religion & Spirituality

Alexander, Philip S.

Rl Innactive Titles

Written in the eighth century C.E., Targum Canticles offers one of the classic interpretations of the Song of Songs. In the relationship between the bridegroom and the bride in the Song, with its rhythm of communion, estrangement and reconciliation, the Targumist discovers allegorical history of God's relationship to Israel from the first exodus from Egypt, to the final exodus from exile when the Messiah comes. The Targum of Canticles was one of the most popular religious texts within Judaism, and it may have promoted the use of the Song of Songs as the special reading for Passover. It was adapted in the medieval and early modern periods by Christian scholars who saw in the Song a cryptic history of Christ's relationship to the Church. Targum Canticles has played a central role in the interpretation of one of the most puzzling yet influential books of the Bible. Philip S. Alexander is professor of post-biblical Jewish literature in the University of Manchester, England, and has published extensively in the fields of early Jewish Bible-interpretation (particularly the Targumim), early Jewish mysticism and magic, and the history of Rabbinic Judaism.

The Targum of Canticles (The Aramaic Bible) (Volume 17)

History

World

Michael Glazier

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Books by Alexander, Philip S.