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This article offers a new approach for reconstructing the original form and meaning of Jesus's legal woe sayings in Matt 23:16-26 (and the parallel in Luke 11:39-44) as part of a broader Jewish intersectarian discourse. A close analysis of this unit alongside an early rabbinic source embedded in Mishnah tractate Yadayim 4:5-8 reveals that Jesus's condemnation of the Pharisees was not unique. His arguments concerning oaths, tithes, and ritual purity belong to a pre-Matthean stratum, and they match a familiar rhetorical pattern condemning the Pharisees' lenient and compromising approach. According to this pre-Matthean tradition, Jesus drew his argument and depiction of the Pharisees from the current intersectarian debate concerning the essential principles of torah observance. Jesus is portrayed as exploiting current anti-Pharisaic accusations, familiar also from Qumran literature and directed originally against the Pharisees' distorted conceptions of purity and holiness, as he attempts to uncover their moral faults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the reference in Q to "crowds" generally, John the Baptist's response in Matt 3:7 to "Pharisees and Sadducees" who arrive for baptism is, "Offspring of vipers [γεννηματα εχιδνων], who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?" In Matt 12:34, Jesus himself denounces the Pharisees as "offspring of vipers [γεννηματα εχιδνων]." Similarly in Matt 23:33, he demands of "scribes and Pharisees" alike, "Snakes, offspring of vipers [óφεισ γεννηματα εχιδνων], how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?" The fundamentally ambiguous and frequently negative overtones of serpent imagery elsewhere in Second Temple Judaism and the wider Mediterranean world, the prevalence of wordplay and its application to intercommunal Jewish polemic, and the broader function of texts as instruments of community definition together provide an appropriate series of contexts for understanding this invective. Notwithstanding the plausibility of such language on the lips of John and Jesus alike, these terms are singularly appropriate to Matthew's own task of situating his community in relation to that of Pharisaic Judaism in the immediate aftermath of the first Jewish war. This study explores, first, analogous language from Hellenistic and Jewish (especially Dead Sea and Mishnaic) literature and, second, the possibility that behind the references to serpents lies an invidious wordplay on one or both of רפס, "scribe," and םישןךפ "Pharisees." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an examination into the early reception of Christianity in the first century, questioning whether or not it was seen as a sect within Judaism or as a separate religion at its first emergence. Subjects addressed toward this end include the church-sect model of religious sociologist Ernst Troeltsch, the initial sectarian arguments of the scholar Robin Scroggs, and multiple passages in the New Testament which lack sectarian characteristics.

This article presents discussion regarding the relationship between the Qumran community of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Jewish Essene sect as described by the historian Josephus. Details are given describing the arguments for and against the connection between the two groups, reviewing several textual similarities between their documents and in descriptions of both communities. Conclusions are offered affirming the theory of their connection.

This article presents an exploration into the figure of Taxo in the apocryphal Biblical text "The Assumption of Moses." Multiple questions are raised associating the identity of Taxo to the thematic and historical context of the work. Details are given reviewing the history of the text, tracing its original language and religious sect characteristics within Judaism, and its date of composition. Theories regarding the Christian authorship of the work are particularly examined.

This article presents an exploration into the Qumran community's religious and legal structures, and their interdependence on each other through prophetic interpretation of their scriptures and legislative constructions. The relationship between law and prophecy in the Hebrew Bible is discussed, along with its representation through the Qumran community and other post-biblical Jewish societies.

This article presents an exploration into the social history behind the writing of the Gospel of Matthew, particularly in relation to the ethnic and religious identity of the writer and their relationship to greater Jewish culture. It is suggested that the writer of Matthew represented a group in conflict with the Pharisaic sect and the gospel's use by both parties is analyzed.

Presents an examination of the chronological framework of the traditional form of the Essene Hypothesis based on the Dead Sea scholarship on the Jewish sect known as Essenes led by a man called "the Teacher of Righteousness" in the ancient Khirbet Qumran. Methods of dating the archaeology of Khirbet Qumran; Historical references and allusions in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The article examines the historicity of the theory of the Pharisaic revolution, or the emergence of the Pharisees to religious power within ancient Israel during the Hellenistic period. Focus is given to the writings and views of the period historian Flavius Josephus concerning Pharisaic influence. Topics addressed include the responsibility of the pharisees to promulgate the law, his systematic portrayal of the law, and the Biblical views of the priesthood.

The article discusses the historical eschatology of the Jewish community at Qumran. Topics addressed include the diversity of content and views found within the Qumran scrolls, the outlining of elements of the Qumran community's identity within the Essene belief system, and scholastic efforts to reconstruct of Qumran doctrine.