Articles by Blake Jurgens
Visions and Violence in the Pseudepigrapha, 2021
This study examines how the sexualization of the demonic in the Testament of Solomon echoes sever... more This study examines how the sexualization of the demonic in the Testament of Solomon echoes several features and traits of Egyptian monasticism and tentatively explores what such similarities may (or may not) tell us about the provenance of the Testament. This study also offers a synopsis of the relationship between sexual temptation and the demonic in early Jewish and Christian literature.
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Wiley Blackwell Companion to Wisdom Literature, 2020
A synopsis of the figure of Solomon in early Jewish and Christian tradition from the Hebrew Bible... more A synopsis of the figure of Solomon in early Jewish and Christian tradition from the Hebrew Bible into late antiquity.
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Journal for the Study of Judaism, 2018
The Abram in Egypt episode in the Genesis Apocryphon has been the subject of several studies whic... more The Abram in Egypt episode in the Genesis Apocryphon has been the subject of several studies which have focused upon its status as an example of "rewritten scripture" and its reclamation of the character of Abram from Genesis 12:10-20. This article attempts to assess not only the redemption of Abram's character in the Genesis Apocryphon, but also the reconfiguration of the entire Abram in Egypt episode through the use of several literary techniques and tropes common to ancient Jewish fictional literature. This study argues that by remaking the entire episode of Abram's sojourn in Egypt, the author of the Apocryphon not only transforms Abram into a Jewish hero in the midst of a foreign empire, but also creates a more attractive and meaningful narrative appealing to the literary predilections and tastes of a Hellenistic Jewish audience.
Journal of Biblical Literature, 2017
The observed midrashic qualities of Jude 5-19 have led many scholars to claim that the author of ... more The observed midrashic qualities of Jude 5-19 have led many scholars to claim that the author of the epistle is engaging Scripture in ways common to early Jewish exegesis. Some have even gone so far as to claim that, because of its extensive similarities to the Qumran pesharim in both form and hermeneutic perspective, this portion of Jude is actually an example of pesher exegesis akin to texts such as the Habakkuk Pesher. Because a number of new studies have been published on both Jude and the pesharim in the past two decades, it is appropriate to offer a new assessment concerning the validity of this claim. In this study I will analyze pesher as a genre in order to ascertain which features are necessary and sufficient components of pesher exegesis and then address whether Jude 5-19 possesses these essential characteristics and therefore should be referred to as an example of pesher exegesis.
Henoch, 2017
the immediate goal of this study is to offer an explanation behind a textual variant found in esa... more the immediate goal of this study is to offer an explanation behind a textual variant found in esau's vitriolic speech in Jub. 37:20: ethiopic: if a pig (ሐረውያ) changes its hide and makes its bristles as limp as wool; and if horns like deer's (ሀየል) and sheep's (አባግዕ) horns emerge from its head, then i will observe brotherly ties with you. 1 Syriac: if a pig )ܚܙܝܪܐ( changes its hide to soft wool; and if the horns of a deer )ܐܝܐܠ( emerge on its head, then i will observe brotherly ties with you. chronicon ad annum christi 1234) Hebrew: 7 [if] a pig )החזיר( changes [its] s[kin and makes its bristles] soft [like wool], and there grow up on [its] hea[d hor]ns like the horns of a r[am ]יל( )א֯ 8 and shee]p ( ,)וצאו[ן֯ then i will practice [brotherhood] with you. (4Q223-224 [4QpapJub h ] 2 4 7-8) 2
Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, 2014
The Vision of Amram has been interpreted by many as a prime exa mple of dualistic theology, portr... more The Vision of Amram has been interpreted by many as a prime exa mple of dualistic theology, portraying two ostensibly antagonistic ¿gures contending over having authority over the person of Amra m. This study pushes against this interpretation and instead recontextualizes Amram' s otherworldly experience with a greater emphasis on both the surrounding episodes of the composition as well as the identi¿cation of Melchizedek-a ¿gure with intricate ties to priestly legitimacy-as the oppositionary ¿gure up against the ominous Melchiresha in the dream-vision. In this fashion, this study concludes that the dream-vision of Amram represents an either-or choice in which the protagonist is required to choose between a legitimate or a corrupted priesthood. Moreover, Amram' s vision thus stands as a metaphorical depiction of an underlying historical conÀict between two priestly groups, an image which the latter Qumranites certainly reappropriated to their own historical situation.
Book Reviews by Blake Jurgens
Dead Sea Discoveries 25.2, 2018
Review of Biblical Literature, 2021
It is easy to forget sometimes that the field of early Jewish studies is, relatively speaking, a ... more It is easy to forget sometimes that the field of early Jewish studies is, relatively speaking, a fairly new arena of scholarly analysis, one whose categories, methods, and disciplinary scope are still in the process of being defined, redefined, and negotiated. Keeping these issues in mind, this second edition of Early Judaism and Its Modern Interpreters charts the dynamic shifts and transformations undergone by this burgeoning discipline over the last four decades as well as provides an overarching appraisal of the contemporary state of the field and its future trajectories. Much like its highly praised 1986 predecessor of the same title (edited by Robert Kraft and George Nickelsburg), this current iteration of Early Judaism and Its Modern Interpreters examines the discipline through a collection of topically organized essays curated by Matthias Henze and Rodney Werline and written by some of preeminent scholars representing the field today.
Review of Biblical Literature 3/1/2018
Review of Biblical Literature, 2017
The first of a four-volume project, this work by Crispin Fletcher-Louis introduces his massive pr... more The first of a four-volume project, this work by Crispin Fletcher-Louis introduces his massive project and provides the necessary prolegomenon. More specifically, volume 1 of Jesus Monotheism intends to analyze the so-called "emerging consensus" that the early Christian movement held a predominately high Christology and to offer a critique of this consensus, prefacing Fletcher-Louis's own approach to be presented in the forthcoming volumes. The final goal of the entire endeavor for Fletcher-Louis is to ultimately "offer … a "new paradigm" that describes and accounts for the origins of the belief of [Jesus's] deity" (xiii).
Journal of Theological Studies, 2016
Review of Biblical Literature, 2016
The Dead Sea Scrolls Handbook is a transcription-only assemblage of the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Gree... more The Dead Sea Scrolls Handbook is a transcription-only assemblage of the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek manuscripts discovered at Qumran. It is intended to serve as a practical and convenient resource for scholars. According to its editors, what differentiates this volume from previous publications is its easy-to-handle, single-volume format and its numerically ordered presentation of all the sizable Qumran manuscripts. As such, the Handbook abrogates translation, editorial commentary, and textual analysis in order to augment the accessibility of the transcriptions themselves.
Dead Sea Discoveries, 2016
Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic Studies, 2016
Online Resources by Blake Jurgens
Geared toward undergraduate and lower-level divinity school students, this lesson plan prepared f... more Geared toward undergraduate and lower-level divinity school students, this lesson plan prepared for the Oxford Biblical Studies Online Website offers an accessible overview of the book of Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah as well as several exercises and assignments that engage some of the major features of these texts.
[ https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393361/obo-9780195393361-0013.xml ]
Conference Presentations and Papers by Blake Jurgens
This paper, presented at NAPS 2018, explores how 4th-6th century Christians used demonic discours... more This paper, presented at NAPS 2018, explores how 4th-6th century Christians used demonic discourses to renegotiate the public bathhouse and prescribe new modes of interacting with this integral, albeit ambivalent, social and cultural space. Through analysis of three particular texts (The Acts of John Prochorus, Gregory of Tours' Acts of Andrew, Gregory of Nyssa's Life and Panegyric of Gregory Thaumaturgus ), this study argues that, unlike earlier Christian writers (e.g., Clement of Alexandria, Cyprian) who predominately understood the baths in rather pessimistic and suspicious terms, these later works treat the public baths as legitimate social spaces which simply need to be exorcised of their demonic inhabitants. In this manner, these demonic discourses should be read as part of the larger trend of Christianization of the Roman Empire and its architecture in antiquity.
For a copy, feel free to message me or email me at [email protected]
For a copy, feel free to send me a message.
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Articles by Blake Jurgens
For a copy, feel free to send me a message or email ([email protected])
For a copy, feel free to message me or send me an email ([email protected])
Book Reviews by Blake Jurgens
Online Resources by Blake Jurgens
[ https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393361/obo-9780195393361-0013.xml ]
Conference Presentations and Papers by Blake Jurgens
For a copy, feel free to message me or email me at [email protected]
For a copy, feel free to send me a message or email ([email protected])
For a copy, feel free to message me or send me an email ([email protected])
[ https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393361/obo-9780195393361-0013.xml ]
For a copy, feel free to message me or email me at [email protected]