Josephus's Seven Purities and the Mishnah's Ten Holinesses

Matan Orian

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper compares two descriptions of the Jewish hierarchy of holiness in relation to the Jerusalem temple: one from Josephus's Jewish War, books 1 and 5, where the relevant hierarchy is referred to as the seven purities, and the other, in Mishnah Kelim 1:6-9, titled (the) ten holinesses. After analyzing the guiding principles behind the seven purities, this paper will examine the two hierarchies against the background of the biblical instructions for the exclusion of impure persons from the desert camp, and the interpretation of these instructions according to Josephus, the Temple Scroll from Qumran, and rabbinic literature. It will show that, while the seven purities is a cultic perception coherent to the exclusion of different categories of people from the temple, the ten holinesses follows different guiding principles.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)183-211
Number of pages29
JournalJournal for the Study of Judaism
Volume47
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Jewish War
  • Josephus
  • Kelim
  • Mishnah
  • exclusion from Temple
  • halakah
  • holiness hierarchy
  • ritual impurity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • History
  • Religious studies
  • Literature and Literary Theory

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Josephus's Seven Purities and the Mishnah's Ten Holinesses'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this