Please join us for a talk with Hindy Najman for the Annual Montefiore Lecture. This talk focuses on rethinking methodological presuppositions that are central to the field of biblical studies.
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Please join us for a talk with Hindy Najman for the Annual Montefiore Lecture
This talk focuses on rethinking methodological presuppositions that are central to the field of biblical studies. A central theme of the talk is the importance and centrality of the Hellenistic period for understanding the vitality of Judaism. In contrast to standard views, I claim that this period is one of the most important and formative periods for the history of Judaism. The language that I employ is that of vitality. This is intended to signal the transformative and life-giving dynamic of a Judaism that continued to configure itself and its texts over time and in the face of great loss and the threat of destruction. This dynamic and resilient nature is exemplified by a whole host of texts across the Second Temple period. Judaism is framed by a past and a future which are textual. Through the convergence of cultures in the Hellenistic period, Scriptural traditions create patterns for the shaping of law, interpretation, and new conceptual innovation.
Speaker
Hindy Najman (MA and PhD Harvard, NELC 1998) is the Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture and a fellow at Oriel College. She is the director and founder of the Centre for the Study of the Bible in Oriel College. In the University of Oxford, she is a member of the faculty of Theology and Religion, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, and member of the Sub-faculty Classics, and a member of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.
Event information
This event will be held in-person and online.
If you have any questions about this event please contact parkes@soton.ac.uk