Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Veils in the Old Testament
- 3 Functionality and Identity of the ‘Veil of the Temple’
- 4 The Veil in Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism
- 5 Matthew's Temple and Jesus' Death: Hermeneutical Keys to the Rending of the Veil
- 6 Analysis of the Matthean Velum Scissum Pericope
- Conclusion: Matthew's velum scissum – Retrospect and Prospect
- Diagram: Veil Language in the Structure of the Tabernacle
- Appendix 1 Veil Language in the Old Testament
- Appendix 2 Veil Language in the Two Tabernacle Accounts
- Appendix 3 Kαταπέτασμα and the חכרפ
- Bibliography
- Index of Texts
- Index of Select Subjects
- Index of Modern Authors
- Index of Select Terms
4 - The Veil in Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Veils in the Old Testament
- 3 Functionality and Identity of the ‘Veil of the Temple’
- 4 The Veil in Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism
- 5 Matthew's Temple and Jesus' Death: Hermeneutical Keys to the Rending of the Veil
- 6 Analysis of the Matthean Velum Scissum Pericope
- Conclusion: Matthew's velum scissum – Retrospect and Prospect
- Diagram: Veil Language in the Structure of the Tabernacle
- Appendix 1 Veil Language in the Old Testament
- Appendix 2 Veil Language in the Two Tabernacle Accounts
- Appendix 3 Kαταπέτασμα and the חכרפ
- Bibliography
- Index of Texts
- Index of Select Subjects
- Index of Modern Authors
- Index of Select Terms
Summary
Introduction
Traditions in Second Temple and rabbinic literature pertaining to either of the temple curtains are not as prevalent as one might expect, given the centrality of the temple to Jewish identity. Yet this has not hindered New Testament scholars from looking largely to these sources for their understanding of the rending of the veil in the synoptic passion accounts. To complicate matters, the few relatively early sources that are available and that contain data pertaining to the veil provide confusing and, at times, contradictory historical accounts of the curtains in the Herodian temple. Because many New Testament scholars see the velum scissum as in some sense symbolic, it is important to see whether the veil developed any symbolic qualities during this time. It is also important to attempt to discern what it symbolised and whether those symbols were fixed to any degree by the time of the writing of Matthew's veil account in the latter half of the first century, particularly in sources that may have been accessible to Matthew. To address these, and questions of identity and function, I will here provide a comprehensive treatment of Second Temple and Rabbinic Jewish texts as they pertain to the veils and curtains of the ‘heavenly sanctuary’ and each of Jerusalem's temples. I will approach these issues by considering the veil in both the physical structure of the historical (Herodian) temple in Jerusalem and any ideological, theological or symbolic developments in these various Jewish traditions.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Torn VeilMatthew's Exposition of the Death of Jesus, pp. 72 - 96Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006