Some Topics for Research Papers
RelSt 525 Varieties of Judaism

The main object of these research papers is to encourage you to struggle as directly as possible (most of you will need to use translations) with the surviving ancient evidence (mostly texts). Most of the topics have been written on by modern scholars, but you are asked to use such helps only as a last resort -- form your own ideas and interpretations first, to the extent that is possible. The topics provided here are meant to be suggestive. You may be interested in other subjects (please get my approval), and you may need to modify these as you proceed with the research. Try not to exceed about 5000 words (15 old style pages) for your main treatment (any notes, appendices, bibliography, etc., can be considered extra).

You should submit a general idea, with a brief outline or description of how you plan to approach the subject, before the end of October (by email, if possible). The finished product is due at the start of the exam period, and I will need some time to read it before you do your "exit interview" (which will be comprehensive, not simply dealing with the paper). These projects may be submitted in "text only" format by email (not as attachments!), or put on your own web page for me to read, or printed out in the traditional fashion. Opportunity to supplement or rewrite, if advisable, will be permitted, so don't delay submission once you have the main body of the study together in readable form.

Focus on Josephus

• Josephus on the relationships of the Herodian family members to Judaism and Jewish customs (how were the children raised? do the Herodian rulers follow Jewish custom themselves and/or with regard to their subjects? does Josephus give us any idea how they were viewed by non-Jewish Romans? etc.)
• Josephus on "ancestral customs" of groups other than Judaism (basically a word and phrase study, most easily done if one can recognize key Greek terms, but not impossible by working with translations)
• What was Josephus' relationship to or connection with Sadducees? (start with word study for his references, then refine the treatment in view of what he says about himself and his history)
• Josephus, the Herodians, and Marriage Customs in the 1st century Roman World. (Herod the Great had several wives at the same time, but his descendants seem to have been serial monogamists; can an explanation be found by exploring modifications of Greco-Roman law and custom in this period?)

Focus on Philo

• Philo's formulas of quotation as a clue to the chronology of his writings (Greek would be most useful here; the old study by Ryle [1895] is badly in need of updating, and perhaps turning into a web resource; the main question is whether Philo's explicit references to Jewish scriptures show significant variation between different groups of his writings suspected to have been written at different periods in his career)
• Philo on those who out-allegorize him (probably his comments on alternative interpretation in the Questions in Genesis and in Exodus would be an appropriate place to start; Greek not needed)
  
• Philo on "literalistic" interpretation (similar to the previous topic, looking at another facet of interpretation)
  
• Philo and non-Jewish Greco-Roman Religions and Literatures (what does Philo know, and cite, from the rich cultural heritage of his Greco-Roman world? does this tell us anything about his own education, etc.?)
  

Focus on Jewish Subgroups

• Locating "Samaritans" on the Map of Palestinian Groups in the Greco-Roman Period (how are they represented in the sources? are they considered "Jewish" by outsiders? in their own selfimage? etc.)
• Therapeutae, Qumranites, and Essenes: how different? (probably too big a topic, but several aspects could be treated individually -- e.g. community organization, literature and interpretation, attitudes to surrounding groups and cultures)
• Non-apocalyptic Jewish perspectives in our period (which groups or sources show least interest in "apocalyptic" perspectives and expectations, whether eschatological or more generally revelational?)
• Varieties of Judaism in the Greco-Roman Diaspora (what can be known about different sorts of Judaism outside of Palestine?)
• Greco-Roman Roots of Rabbinic Judaism (what continuities can be traced from our period to what became classical or rabbinic Judaism? Here one needs some prior acquaintance with classical Judaism)

Focus on Surviving Texts

• Is Sirach a "Sadducean" Text? (how does the thought-world represented in the "Wisdom of Joshua Son of Sirach" relate to what we think we know of the Sadducees -- or of any other identifiable group?)
• The Exodus according to Wisdom of Solomon and Philo (comparisons/contrasts; a long section of the Wisdom of Solomon consists of sermonic reflections on the Exodus events; how does this compare with Philo's treatment of the same materials?)
• Histories of the "Watchers" in Jubilees and the Enoch Materials (getting acquainted with this stream of ancient Jewish thought can be fascinating, but it's a gigantic [pun intended] topic, and you will need to try to keep it under control somehow, such as limiting the ancient sources you explore)
• Psalms of Solomon and the Qumran Hymns/Hodayot (similarities, dissimilarities, etc.)

//end, for now//