Table of Contents

Note on Transliteration

Introduction: Anthropological and Other Perspectives

1 Time—or its Absence—in Early Rabbinic Culture

2 Timing and Time-Reckoning

3 Calendar, Chronology, and History

4 Time and Ethics: From Antiquity to the Middle Ages

5 The Greeks and Jewish Hellenistic Culture

6 Jewish Culture and the Ancient Near East

Concluding Remarks

Bibliography
Index

About the Author

Sacha Stern is Professor of Rabbinic Judaism at University College London. His published works include Jewish Identity in Early Rabbinic Writings (1994) and Calendar and Community: A History of the Jewish Calendar, Second Century BCE–Tenth Century CE (2001).

Reviews

‘This is a well-informed study raising issues of the degree of Hellenization of ancient Judaism, as well as links between Judaism and other ancient Near Eastern cultures.’
- Stephen D. Benin, Religious Studies Review

‘A fascinating demonstration that there was no concept of time in ancient Judaism . . . has huge implications for any understanding of “historical” texts, and will impact on the understanding of “sacred time”, eschatology, and liturgy.’
- M. Barker, Society for Old Testament Study Book List

‘This excellent, illuminating, insightful, perceptive, cogently argued, clearly written book is one of the most interesting books I have read in a long time, offering a new perspective on the world-view of ancient Judaism and its links with other cultures of the Near East of late antiquity. Stern casts his new wide and his findings are intriguing . . . Readers may find this book a source of delight and astonishing breadth, one that they cannot put down. It makes an original contribution to the fields of Rabbinics and Jewish studies. It is also cross-disciplinary with the fields of philosophy, classics, history of ideas, history in general, and anthropology.’
-David B. Levy, H-Judaic