Language:
English
Year of publication:
2024
Titel der Quelle:
Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Period
Angaben zur Quelle:
55,1 (2024) 76-99
Keywords:
Temple of Jerusalem (Jerusalem, Israel) Equipment and supplies
;
Bible. Criticism, interpretation, etc., Jewish
;
Tabernacle
;
Jewish law Biblical teaching
;
Jewish art and symbolism
;
Implements, utensils, etc. (Jewish law)
;
Post-biblical literature History and criticism
;
Rabbinical literature History and criticism
Abstract:
In discussing the dismantling and transport of the tabernacle and its furnishings, Numbers 4:20 prohibits any viewing of the “holy,” except by Aaron, the priest, and his sons. Philo of Alexandria, as well as several modern scholars, read this as a prohibition on any non-priestly viewing of the sacred, Jewish cultic vessels, including the menorah, the shewbread table and the incense altar. Accordingly, a dominant view in research holds that during the Second Temple period these cultic utensils were concealed from the sight of non-priests. However, this view partly overlooks and partly misinterprets our main source in that respect: Josephus indicates that the Jewish holy vessels were actually displayed to the Jewish crowd gathered in the temple court during the Second Temple period. This is supported by the images on certain Hasmonean coins as well as by later texts, such as P.Oxy. 840 and rabbinic literature.
DOI:
10.1163/15700631-bja10074
URL:
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