Book contents
- The Evil Inclination in Early Judaism and Christianity
- The Evil Inclination in Early Judaism and Christianity
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Reconsidering the Semantics of the “Inclination” (yeṣer) in Classical Biblical Hebrew
- 3 The “Inclination” (yeṣer) as Rendered in the Septuagint
- 4 “Fleshly Spirit” and “Vessel of Flesh” in 4QInstruction and the Thanksgiving Hymns
- 5 Theological Anthropology in the Enochic Tradition
- 6 The Perils of Philosophical Persuasion: Philo on the Origin of Moral Evils
- 7 The Evil Inclination (yeṣer ha-ra‘) in Tannaitic Literature: Demonic Desires and Beyond
- 8 Conflicting Intrapersonal Powers in Paul’s Letters
- 9 The “Two Inclinations” and the Double-Minded Human Condition in the Letter of James
- 10 An Evil Inclination in the Early Targums to the Pentateuch and Prophets?
- 11 “Gnostic” Theologies of Evil
- 12 The Rabbinic “Inclination” (yeṣer) and the Christian Apocrypha
- 13 Origen on the Origin of Sin
- 14 Augustine on the Diabolical Suggestion of Sin
- 15 Jerome and the “Inclination” (yeṣer): The Evidence of the Vulgate
- 16 Rabbinic Inclinations and Monastic Thoughts: Evagrius Ponticus’ Doctrine of Reasoning (logismoi) and Its Antecedents
- 17 “Inclination” (yaṣrā) in the Syriac Tradition
- 18 Evil, Sin, and Inclination (yeṣer) in Jewish and Christian Poetic Disputes between the Body and Soul
- 19 The Wizard of Āz and the Evil Inclination: The Babylonian Rabbinic Inclination (yeṣer) in Its Zoroastrian and Manichean Context
- 20 The Evil Inclination in the Targums to the Writings
- References
- Index of Names
- Index Locorum
4 - “Fleshly Spirit” and “Vessel of Flesh” in 4QInstruction and the Thanksgiving Hymns
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 February 2021
- The Evil Inclination in Early Judaism and Christianity
- The Evil Inclination in Early Judaism and Christianity
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Reconsidering the Semantics of the “Inclination” (yeṣer) in Classical Biblical Hebrew
- 3 The “Inclination” (yeṣer) as Rendered in the Septuagint
- 4 “Fleshly Spirit” and “Vessel of Flesh” in 4QInstruction and the Thanksgiving Hymns
- 5 Theological Anthropology in the Enochic Tradition
- 6 The Perils of Philosophical Persuasion: Philo on the Origin of Moral Evils
- 7 The Evil Inclination (yeṣer ha-ra‘) in Tannaitic Literature: Demonic Desires and Beyond
- 8 Conflicting Intrapersonal Powers in Paul’s Letters
- 9 The “Two Inclinations” and the Double-Minded Human Condition in the Letter of James
- 10 An Evil Inclination in the Early Targums to the Pentateuch and Prophets?
- 11 “Gnostic” Theologies of Evil
- 12 The Rabbinic “Inclination” (yeṣer) and the Christian Apocrypha
- 13 Origen on the Origin of Sin
- 14 Augustine on the Diabolical Suggestion of Sin
- 15 Jerome and the “Inclination” (yeṣer): The Evidence of the Vulgate
- 16 Rabbinic Inclinations and Monastic Thoughts: Evagrius Ponticus’ Doctrine of Reasoning (logismoi) and Its Antecedents
- 17 “Inclination” (yaṣrā) in the Syriac Tradition
- 18 Evil, Sin, and Inclination (yeṣer) in Jewish and Christian Poetic Disputes between the Body and Soul
- 19 The Wizard of Āz and the Evil Inclination: The Babylonian Rabbinic Inclination (yeṣer) in Its Zoroastrian and Manichean Context
- 20 The Evil Inclination in the Targums to the Writings
- References
- Index of Names
- Index Locorum
Summary
The Dead Sea Scrolls preserve some of the earliest literature that bears witness to the demonizing of sin and the reification of evil. In two compositions, 4QInstruction (1Q26; 4Q415–18, 423) and the Thanksgiving Hymns, evil yeṣarim are found alongside and interwoven with “flesh” language. Early on in the study of 4QInstruction Elgvin noted a number of distinctive terms shared between these document, including “fleshly spirit” (בשר רוח). In the hymns the expression “vessel of flesh” (יצר בשר) occurs twice (1QHa xviii 25; xxiv 6), and the two terms occur in close proximity in the opening column of 4QInstruction (4Q416 1 16; par.
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- The Evil Inclination in Early Judaism and Christianity , pp. 49 - 64Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021