THE DINUR CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN JEWISH HISTORY
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Talmon, Shemaryahu 1920-2010

Personal: Born 1920, Skierniwice (Poland); Ph.D. 1955, Hebrew Univ.; Lect. 1957; Sen. Lect. 1963; Assoc. Prof. 1966; Prof. 1974; Judah L. Magnes Professor of Bible; Emeritus 1988; Recipient, Israel Prize in Bible, 1997.

Research Interests:

Israelite society in the biblical period. The Bible as literature. The history of the Bible text and versions.

Research Projects:

1. The Hebrew University Bible Project (with Profs. E. Tov, C. Rabin and the late Prof. M.H. Goshen-Gottstein). Funding: The Avi-Hayishuv Fund; The Perry Foundation for Biblical Research, Hebrew Univ.

2. Preparation of a commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah.

3. Hebrew manuscript fragments from Masada (edition).

4. Documents from Qumran (edition).

Abstracts of Current Research:

Biblical Israel in the post-exilic period society, literature, concepts:

A study was made of the internal diversification of the Jewish people in that period. The divergence ultimately led to the emergence of early Jewish sectarianism: the Samaritans and the Qumran Covenanters community.

Literary patterns and conceptual thought in biblical Israel:

Motifs and other literary conventions were analyzed to shed light on the speculative thought of ancient Israel.

The Hebrew Bible in the making:

This study investigates the connections and interrelations of biblical stylistics and techniques in the Bible text, in Hebrew and ancient translations. It further probes the processes which underlie the inlibration of ancient Hebrew literary works, i.e., the gradual crystallization of traditions into book-form, and the ultimate emergence of a canon of Hebrew Scriptures.

Qumran studies:

This project entails investigation of the conceptual world of the "Community of the Renewed Covenant" and its societal structure in the framework of Second Temple Judaism. The research project includes the editing and interpretation of fragments of the community's solar calendar found in the Qumran caves.

Key words: Bible; Ezra-Nehemiah; Qumran scrolls; Masada

Recent Publications:

Talmon, S. (1991) A Joshua Apocryphon from Masada. In: Shai Le-Chaim Rabin: Studies on Hebrew and Other Semitic Languages Presented to Professor Chaim Rabin on the Occasion of his Seventy-Fifth Birthday, eds. M. Goshen-Gottstein, S. Morag and S. Kogut, Jerusalem, Academon Press, pp.147-148 (Hebrew).
Talmon, S., ed. (1991) Jewish Civilization in the Hellenistic-Roman Period. Sheffield, JSOT Press, 269 pp.
Talmon, S. (1991) Ezra-Nehemiah: Historiographie oder Theologie? In: Ernten, was man s?t. Festschrift Klaus Koch zu seinem 65. Geburtstag, eds. D.R. Daniels, U. Glessmer, M. R?sel, Neukirchen-Vluyn, Neukirchener Verlag, pp.329-356.
Talmon, S. (1991) "Oral tradition" and "written transmission" or the "heard" and the "seen word" in Judaism of the Second Temple period. In: Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition in, Before and Outside the Gospels, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, Academic Press, pp.121-158.
Talmon, S. (1992) Juden und Christen im Gespr?ch. (Gesammelte Aufs?tze Band 2.) Neukirchen-Vluyn, Neukirchener Verlag, 242 pp.
Talmon, S. (1993) Literary Studies in the Hebrew Bible - Form and Content. Jerusalem, Magnes Press, 318 pp.
Talmon, S. (1993) Die Bedeutung der Qumranfunde f?r die j?dische Religionsgeschichte. In: Qumran - Ein Symposion, eds. J.B. Bauer, J. Fink and H.D. Galter, Grazer Theologische Studien, 15: 117-172.
Talmon, S. (1992) The concepts of Mashiah and Messianism in early Judaism. In: The Messiah: Developments in Earliest Judaism and Christianity, ed. J.H. Charlesworth, Minneapolis, Fortress, pp.79-115.
Talmon, S. (1992) The "Topped-Triad" in the Hebrew Bible and the "ascending numerical pattern." In: "Let Your Colleagues Praise You": Studies in Memory of Stanley Gevirtz, Part II (Maarav, 7/8), eds. R.J. Ratner et al. pp.181-198.
Talmon, S. (1993) Tora-Nomos-Gesetz: Die Bedeutung des Judentums f?r die christliche Theologie. In: Lerner in Jerusalem - Lernen mit Israel, ed. M. St?hr; Ver?ffentlichungen aus dem Institut Kirche und Judentum, ed. P. von der Osten-Sacken, Bd. 20, Berlin, Institut f?r Kirche und Judentum, pp.130-147.
Talmon, S. (1993) Fragments of a Psalms scroll from Masada. In: Minhah le-Nahum: Biblical and Other Studies Presented to Nahum M. Sarna in Honour of His 70th Birthday, eds. M. Brettler and M. Fishbane, JSOTS 154, Sheffield, UK, Academic Press, pp.318-327.
Talmon, S. (1993) The "Dead Sea Scrolls" or "The Community of the Renewed Covenant." The Albert T. Bilgray Lecture, Tucson, AZ, April, 1993, 32 pp.
Talmon, S. (1994) Counting the day in the biblical and early post-biblical period: From the morning or from the evening In: The Bible in the Light of Its Interpreters - Studies in Memory of Sarah Kamin, ed. S. Japhet, Jerusalem, Magnes Press, pp.109-129 (Hebrew).
Talmon, S. (1994) The community of the renewed covenant. In: The Community of the Renewed Covenant. The Qumran Symposium on the Dead Sea Scrolls, eds. E. Ulrich and J. Vanderkam, Notre Dame, IN, University of Notre Dame Press, pp.3-24.
Talmon, S. (1994) "Good Samaritan" - a "Good Israelite" In: Wer ist wie Du, Herr, unter den G?ttern? Studien zur Theologie und Religionsgeschichte Israels f?r Otto Kaiser zum 70. Geburtstag, eds. I. Kottsieper, J. van Oorschoot, D. R?mheld and H.M. Wahl, G?ttingen, Vendenhoeck & Ruprecht, pp.472-485.
Talmon, S. (1994) "Qumran studies: Past, present, and future. Qumran Studies, Jewish Quarterly Review, 85: 1-31.
Talmon, S. (1995) Israels Gedankenwelt in der hebr?ischen Bibel. Gesammelte Aufsatze. Band 3, Neukirchen-Vluyn, Neukirchener Verlag, 280 pp.
Talmon, S. (1995) A calendrical document from Qumran Cave IV (misBb, 4Q325. In: Solving Riddles and Untying Knots: Biblical, Epigraphic, and Semitic Studies in Honor of Jonas C. Greenfield, eds. Z. Zevit, S. Gitin and M. Sokoloff, Winona Lake, IN, Eisenbrauns, pp.315-332.
Talmon, S. (1995) A calendrical scroll from Qumran Cave IV: MismarotBa (4Q321). In: Pomegranates and Golden Bells, Studies in Biblical, Jewish and Near Eastern Ritual, Law and Literature in Honor of Jacob Milgrom, eds. D.P. Wright, D.N. Freedman and A. Hurvitz, Winona Lake, IN, Eisenbrauns, pp.265-299.
Talmon, S. (1995) Was the Book of Esther known at Qumran Dead Sea Discoveries, 2: 249-267.
Talmon, S. (1996) Fragments of a Joshua Apocryphon - Masada 1039-211 (final photo 5254). Journal of Jewish Studies, 47: 128-139.
Talmon, S. (1996) Fragments of a Psalm's scroll - MasPsa, Ps 81:2b-85:6a (1039-160 MasIe, final photo 5255). DSD, 3: 1-17.