The Letter of Barnabas and the Jerusalem Temple

This article examines a short passage in the Letter of Barnabas (16:3-4) which appears to refer to a rumoured, planned, or actual contemporary rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple under Roman auspices. I identify a possible historical context and set the possible attempted reconstruction of the Temple...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Sheppard, Anthony (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2017
In: Journal for the study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman period
Year: 2017, Volume: 48, Issue: 4/5, Pages: 531-550
Further subjects:B Barnabas 4 Ezra Jerusalem temple colony
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
Description
Summary:This article examines a short passage in the Letter of Barnabas (16:3-4) which appears to refer to a rumoured, planned, or actual contemporary rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple under Roman auspices. I identify a possible historical context and set the possible attempted reconstruction of the Temple in the framework of Roman policy relating to colonies and indigenous temples. In particular, I reject attempts to date Barnabas from a cryptic apocalyptic quotation (4:4-5), preferring to rely mainly on an apparent reference to 4 Ezra, datable to ca. 100 ce. Combining this approach to dating with a search for possible historical contexts leads me to opt for a Hadrianic date, specifically during the planning of the Roman military colony of Aelia Capitolina, for the actual or, more likely, planned/rumoured reconstruction of the Temple.
ISSN:1570-0631
Contains:In: Journal for the study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman period
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700631-12481176