Description
Book SynopsisTrade Reviewmentioned in Chronicle of Higher Education June 2006
Reference & Research Book News/ August 2006 -- mention
"The prose is clear and accessible." -- Theological Book Review
" this colume is a very welcome and learned addition to the Companions to the Qumran Scrolls series. It is written clearly and accesibly while at the same time offering much more than an introductory text that is essential reading for students and scholars of the scrolls and Jewish mysticism" from the Journal of Jewish Studies -- Charlotte Hempel
"This important and insightful commentary is based on the premise that there was mysticism at Qumram." Reviewed in International Review of Biblical Studies, 2007.
'A very thorough and clearly written presentation of the famous 'Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice' from Qumran. Philip Alexander puts the hymns into the larger context of the religious history of ancient Judaism, boldly claiming that they represent an early manifestation of Jewish mysticism that originated in priestly circles in Jerusalem. A small book, written by a first-rate scholar, which most certainly will provoke a fruitful controversy.' Peter Schaefer, Perelman Professor of Jewish Studies at Princeton and author of 'Mirror of His Beauty'. * Blurb from reviewer *
Table of Contents1. Mysticism at Qumran: the State of the Question; 2. The Qumran Mystical Corpus; 2.1. The Celestial Temple and its Liturgy; Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice; 2.1.1 The Manuscripts; 2.1.2 Contents, Song by Song; 2.1.3 Themes and Issues; 2.1.4 Related Dead Sea Texts; 2.2 Ascent to the Celestial Temple; 2.2.1 Introduction; 2.2.2 The Ascent of Enoch; 2.2.3 The Ascent of Levi; 2.2.4 The 'Ascent' of the Maskil; 2.3 Preliminary Conclusions; 3. Mystical Praxis at Qumran; 3.1 Introduction; 3.2 The nature of the Unio Mystica at Qumran; 3.3 How was the Unio Mystica achieved at Qumran; 4. Qumran and the genealogy of Western Mysticism; 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 Heikhalot Mysticism: Definition; 4.3 Heikhalot Mysticism: Comparisons and Contrasts with Qumran Mysticism; 4.4 Possible historical links between Qumran and Heikhalot; Mysticism; 4.5 Qumran and Scholem's Paradigm of Jewish Mysticism; 4.6 Qumran and the Genealogy of Christian Mysticism.
