Judaism
The Use of the Hebrew Bible in Early Jewish Magic
By , Yeshiva University (September 2009)
Section: Judaism
Subjects: Biblical Studies, Ancient Near East Religions, Judaism, Religion.
Key Topics: magic, ritual, folk practices, Bible.
Abstract
This study seeks to enumerate the extensive and variegated use of the Hebrew Bible in early Jewish magic. The survey focuses mainly on the key Jewish magical corpora from late antiquity and the early Middle Ages – Palestinian Amulets, Babylonian magic bowls, assorted magical texts from the Cairo Geniza, and several magical handbooks deriving from Babylonia and other indeterminate locations. The article is divided into three substantive sections. The first treats numerous methodological pitfalls tied to the use of the terms ‘magic,’‘Jewish magic,’ and ‘Hebrew Bible.’ The second and third sections are devoted, respectively, to the two broad formal categories into which magical use of the Hebrew Bible may be divided, citations of biblical verses and biblical historiolae.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-8171.2009.00167.x
This article abstract has been viewed 437 times.
Top 5 related articles
-
Social Scientific Approach to the Hebrew Bible
By , Lubbock Christian University
(Vol. 3, April 2008)
Religion Compass -
Medieval Jewish Biblical Commentaries and the State of Parshanut Studies
By , Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion University of the Free State, South Africa
(Vol. 3, August 2008)
Religion Compass -
Opening New Doors: The Jewish Women's Experience in the Early American West, 1848–1930
By , University of Denver
(Vol. 1, November 2006)
Religion Compass -
Towards a New Understanding of Jewish Language in the Twenty-First Century
By , Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion
(Vol. 3, October 2008)
Religion Compass -
When What You See Is Not What You Get: Rashbam's Commentary on Job and the Methodological Challenges of Studying Northern French Jewish Biblical Exegesis
By , Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion
(Vol. 3, August 2008)
Religion Compass
Top 5 Related Blackwell Reference Chapters
Magic (Ancient Near Eastern)
[viii] Incantation priests (see Temples (ancient near eastern)) recited spells as part of magical rituals ...
Magic (Ancient Egyptian)
[vi] Important in daily life, Egyptian magic was based upon the ‘sympathetic’ principle, affirming that ...
Magic
The art of influencing events by the occult control of natural and spiritual forces. In the Bible sorcery, ...
Greek Religion and the Ancient Near East
In fact, the names of nearly all the gods came to Hellas from Egypt. For I am convinced by inquiry that ...
By Scott B. Noegel
Magic
[xxiv] Ritual activity intended to produce results without using the recognized causal processes of the ...