Books by Simon J. Joseph
Jesus, the Essenes, and Christian Origins: New Light on Ancient Texts and Communities
Jesus and the Temple: The Crucifixion in its Jewish Context
2015
The Nonviolent Messiah: Jesus, Q, and the Enochic Tradition
Jesus, Q, and the Dead Sea Scrolls: A Judaic Approach to Q
Papers by Simon J. Joseph
“I Shall be Reckoned with the Gods”
Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, Jun 10, 2020
The categorical identification of the historical Jesus continues to be a central challenge in Jes... more The categorical identification of the historical Jesus continues to be a central challenge in Jesus Research yet the identification of the historical Jesus as a first-century Jewish mystic has long been a popular topic among Western esotericists, Christian mystics, contemporary New Age authors, and some biblical scholars. Taking a critical look at the category and study of mysticism in Jesus Research in light of the ancient etymological origins of modern mysticism, the concept of ‘religious experience,’ and the epistemological problems associated with perennialism as a religionist discourse, this article argues that the comparative study of mysticism still proves to be an explanatorily powerful analytical, theoretical, and interpretative lens in Jesus Research.
“His Wisdom Will Reach All Peoples”: 4Q534–536, Q 17:26–27, 30, and 1 En. 65:1–67:3, 90 1
Dead Sea Discoveries, 2012
Abstract The Qumran Aramaic texts represent a distinctive group within the larger Qumran corpus t... more Abstract The Qumran Aramaic texts represent a distinctive group within the larger Qumran corpus that is of considerable significance to the study of Jewish messianism and the New Testament. The identities of the figures in 4Q246 and 4Q534, in particular, have been the subject of ongoing debate. The Parables of Enoch, although not found at Qumran, also plays a role in the comparative study of the Enochic corpus and the New Testament. This discussion revolves, in part, around the identification of Jesus as “son of man,” a title used both in Q and the Parables. Using Q 17:26–27, 30 as a control text, this study focuses on the identity of the mysterious Elect of God figure in 4Q534 in order to explore whether 4Q534, like 4Q246, provides evidence of a confluence of apocalyptic traditions in Early Judaism and nascent Christianity.
Jesus and the Temple: The Crucifixion in its Jewish Context
2015
Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, Apr 27, 2018
In Jesus and the Chaos of History (jch), James G. Crossley invites us to 'rethink some of the way... more In Jesus and the Chaos of History (jch), James G. Crossley invites us to 'rethink some of the ways we approach the historical Jesus.' The result of many years of critical engagement in Jesus Research, jch is a helpful overview of the current state of the field and a programmatic set of essays seeking to 'redirect' Jesus Research by finding new ways to account for the social, economic, and political factors inherent and implicit in 'historical change.' In this review, I would like to engage and think with four of Crossley's proposals: (1) the concept of an 'Earliest Palestinian Tradition'; (2) the construction of Jesus as a 'Great Man'; (3) the Jewish Jesus' Torah observance; and (4) Jesus' relationship to politico-military revolution and '(non)violence' .
The Temple Incident: Toward a New Model of Eschatological Restoration
Jesus and the Temple
“I Shall be Reckoned with the Gods”
Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, 2020
The categorical identification of the historical Jesus continues to be a central challenge in Jes... more The categorical identification of the historical Jesus continues to be a central challenge in Jesus Research yet the identification of the historical Jesus as a first-century Jewish mystic has long been a popular topic among Western esotericists, Christian mystics, contemporary New Age authors, and some biblical scholars. Taking a critical look at the category and study of mysticism in Jesus Research in light of the ancient etymological origins of modern mysticism, the concept of ‘religious experience,’ and the epistemological problems associated with perennialism as a religionist discourse, this article argues that the comparative study of mysticism still proves to be an explanatorily powerful analytical, theoretical, and interpretative lens in Jesus Research.
Yuwipi: A Postcolonial Approach to Lakota Ritual Specialization and Religious Revitalization
Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 2018
JESUS, THE ESSENES, AND CHRISTIAN ORIGINS: NEW LIGHT ON ANCIENT TEXTS AND COMMUNITIES. By Simon J.Joseph. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2018. Pp. 240. Hardcover, $35.95
Religious Studies Review, 2019
The Quest for the “Community” of Q: Mapping Q Within the Social, Scribal, and Textual Landscape(s) of Second Temple Judaism
Harvard Theological Review, 2018
Was there a “Q community”? There are many who think that any quest for a “Q community” is a fool&... more Was there a “Q community”? There are many who think that any quest for a “Q community” is a fool's errand. In this paper, I revisit this vexing question by focusing on several distinctive textual coordinates with which we can map Q's author within the social, textual, and theological landscape(s) of Second Temple Judaism. Since the author of Q was capable of crafting innovative scriptural allusions and adapting inherited Jesus traditions, I suggest that Q is not an isolated “Galilean” phenomenon but a textual production that combines Galilean Jesus traditions in conversation with contemporary Jewish apocalyptic traditions and can be located alongside the wider “Essenic” networks that pre-dated and co-existed with the Palestinian Jewish Jesus movement.
Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, 2018
In Jesus and the Chaos of History (JCH), James G. Crossley invites us to ‘rethink some of the way... more In Jesus and the Chaos of History (JCH), James G. Crossley invites us to ‘rethink some of the ways we approach the historical Jesus.’ The result of many years of critical engagement in Jesus Research, JCH is a helpful overview of the current state of the field and a programmatic set of essays seeking to ‘redirect’ Jesus Research by finding new ways to account for the social, economic, and political factors inherent and implicit in ‘historical change.’ In this review, I would like to engage and think with four of Crossley’s proposals: (1) the concept of an ‘Earliest Palestinian Tradition’; (2) the construction of Jesus as a ‘Great Man’; (3) the Jewish Jesus’ Torah observance; and (4) Jesus’ relationship to politico-military revolution and ‘(non)violence’.
Jesus and the Temple Incident: A New Proposal
Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, 2016
The Temple incident was a pivotal moment in the ministry of the historical Jesus, if not the caus... more The Temple incident was a pivotal moment in the ministry of the historical Jesus, if not the causal factor that led to Jesus’ execution. Yet the incident continues to present interpretive problems, not least of which is determining precisely what Jesus objected to about the Temple and its administration. This study proposes a new working model for Jesus’ critical stance towards the Temple, identifying the Temple incident as a symbolic act of eschatological Temple restoration.
Q, the Essenes, and the Dead Sea Scrolls: A study in Christian origins
‘Blessed is Whoever is Not Offended by Me’: The Subversive Appropriation of (Royal) Messianic Ideology in Q 3–7
New Testament Studies, 2011
Jesus is never explicitly identified as the ‘messiah’ or christos in Q. The conspicuous absence o... more Jesus is never explicitly identified as the ‘messiah’ or christos in Q. The conspicuous absence of this particular term—so frequently used in the Pauline letters and the Gospels—is often taken to mean that the Q community was uninterested in, unaware of and/or rejected kerygmatic traditions which understood Jesus as a ‘messianic’ figure. Yet a careful analysis of the literary structure of Q 3–7 demonstrates that the redactor of Q both appropriated and subverted ‘traditional messianic expectations’ of a popular warrior-king by framing Jesus' baptism, temptation and Inaugural Sermon within announcement and confirmation passages that serve to both affirm and qualify Jesus' relationship to ‘messianic’ traditions. Located within a text dominated by the theme of eschatological reversal, the literary structure of Q 3–7 serves as a rhetorical defense in the redactor's construction of a new identity for Jesus.
Seventh from Adam' (Jude 1:14-15): Re-Examining Enochic Traditions and The Christology of Jude
The Journal of Theological Studies, 2013
“Why Do You Call Me ‘Master’…?”: Q 6:46, the Inaugural Sermon, and the Demands of Discipleship
Journal of Biblical Literature, 2013
The most significant realization in recent Q studies is that Q contains extensive sapiential trad... more The most significant realization in recent Q studies is that Q contains extensive sapiential traditions, some of which may have been collected prior to the composition of Q. This study looks at Q 6:46 as the climax of the Inaugural Sermon. James M. Robinson has described this as the “hardest saying of Jesus” because it demands that Jesus’ disciples actually do what he says. In the context of the other ethical “commands” and imperatives in the Sermon, Q 6:46 proposes that the disciple is to be like his Teacher, a “son” of the “Father.” A careful literary analysis of Q 6:46 in its Q context may yet shed new light on ongoing debates regarding the relationship(s) between the sapiential, eschatological, and apocalyptic elements in the “Sayings Gospel” Q.
Was Daniel 7.13's 'Son of Man' Modeled after the 'New Adam' of the Animal Apocalypse (1 Enoch 90)? A Comparative Study
Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, 2013
1 Enoch (1 En.) has become a major site of discussion in contemporary biblical scholarship. Its e... more 1 Enoch (1 En.) has become a major site of discussion in contemporary biblical scholarship. Its evident use by the Qumran community, citation in Jude, and canonical status in the Ethiopian Church all illustrate its significance in Second Temple Judaism despite its non-canonical status in rabbinical Judaism and orthodox Christianity. This article compares the ‘son of man’ figure from Daniel 7 and the eschatological ‘Adam’ or ‘white bull’ from the Animal Apocalypse (1 En. 90) in an attempt to determine whether direct literary dependence between these two contemporary texts can be posited in either direction.
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Books by Simon J. Joseph
Papers by Simon J. Joseph