The impact of Yom Kippur on early Christianity: the Day of Atonement from Second Temple Judaism to the fifth century

Daniel Sti:ikl Ben Ezra The Impact of Yom Kippur on Early Christianity The Day of Atonement from Second Temple Judaism ...

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Daniel Sti:ikl Ben Ezra

The Impact of Yom Kippur on Early Christianity The Day of Atonement from Second Temple Judaism to the Fifth Century

Mohr Siebeck TIIRPIN LIBRAHY

DANIEL STOKL BEN EzRA, born 1970; studied Theology in Bochum and Bern; Comparative Religion and Jewish Studies in Jerusalem; 2002 Ph.D.; since fall 2003 Mandel Fellow at Scholion ~Interdisciplinary Research Center in Jewish Studies, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. to my dear parents and parents in-law

Andreas StOkl and Herzeleide Stokl, born. v. Schlabrendorff Joe Ben Ezra and Corinne Ben Ezra, born Shabtai

ISBN 3-16-148092-0 ISSN 0512-1604 (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament) Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliographie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at http://dnb.ddb.de. © 2003 by J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), P. 0. Box 2040, D-72010Ttibingen.

This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form {beyond that permitted by copyright law) without the publisher's written permission. This applies particularly to reproductions, translations, microfilms and storage and processing in electronic systems. The book was printed by Guide Druck in Ttibingen on non-aging paper and bound by Spinner in Ottersweier. Printed in Germany.

'It _,·-

Preface This study presents my doctoral dissertation "The Impact of Yom Kippur on Early Christianity," accepted by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in May 2002. I have reworked many arguments, included further observations and updated the bibliography. Having come to Jerusalem from the rather intellectual religions of Prot-

estant Northern Germany and Calvinistic Switzerland, the ritual expressions of the numerous denominations assembled in the Holy City have attracted my curiosity. Reading Origen's Homilies on Leviticus, I stumbled upon the amazing sentence: Die propitiationis indigent omnes qui peccaverunt,l ("All who have sinned require a Day of Atonement."), and the principal question of this book jumped into my mind irresistibly. That the work disregards the customary borders of academic disciplines, integrating Comparative Religion with Jewish History, New Testament, Church History and Liturgical Studies has undoubtedly resulted in many flaws that will not escape the eyes of specialists in these areas. I hope, however, that the broad scope and the perspective of longue duree bring with it the advantage of bringing together a coherent collage of arguments otherwise scattered among discrete fields.

To cast so wide a net was possible only thanks to numerous scholars who were most generous with their time, advice and encouragement, and

taught me to read closely and widely. Many scholars have read through various parts of the work, pointed out errors and inaccuracies, and helped

•

me to improve extensively on the overall argumenf. All remaining mistakes are of course my own.

I am most grateful to the dissertation's three judges, my Doktorvater Guy Stroumsa, my Doktoronkel David Satran and John Gager. Their written and oral comments before and after submission have enhanced count-

less aspects of this book. Through many years, they have been most generous with their time and kind advice helping me to ove.rcome many

academic and personal hardships. What a privilege to have had them as teachers and now as colleagues. I have also benefited much from the guid-

1

Origen, Homily on Leviticus 9: I :1 (SC 287:70).

VIII

Preface

Preface

ance of Rachel Elior and Oded Irshai, the remaining members of the dissertation committee. My dearly loved wife, Dina Ben Ezra, has pored over the chapters of the book and enhanced numerous arguments with her keen intellect. I owe her

Shira Vehlow, Evelyn Vitz, Ewald Volgger, Zwi Werblowsky, Annette Yoshiko Reed and Norman H. Young. This book would not have been possible without them. Among my teachers at the universities of Bochum and Bern, I would like to thank most of all Martin Leutzsch and Marc van Wijnkoop Luthi, as well as Magdalene Frettloh, Christian Link, Ulrich Luz, Konrad Raiser and Klaus Wengst, who led me into the world of academic argumentation. I have used many libraries whose staffs have been most helpful, in particular, the library of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, the Ecole Biblique, the Bloomfield Library of the Hebrew University and the Israel National Library, all in Jerusalem; Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton University Library, the British Library in London and Cambridge University Library. I wish to express my gratitude to Jorg Frey, Martin Hengel and Ottfried Hofius for accepting the dissertation for inclusion in the series of Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, and to the staff of the Mohr-Siebeck Verlag, Tiibingen, for their friendly and efficient assistance in the production process. The English has been thoroughly revised and improved by Evelyn Katrak to whom I owe a gneat deal. Working with her has been a pleasure and an honor. It goes without saying that I alone am responsible for all mistakes, inaccuracies or deficiencies that may remain in my work. Finally, work on the thesis would not have been possible without the very generous and long-term funding of the Dr. Nelly-Halme Foundation, Stuttgart, Germany (1997-1999), and the Minerva Foundation, Germany (1999-2001). Many individuals have supported me financially, among them my parents Andreas and Herzeleide Stokl, Dieprand and Eva von Schlabrendorff, Jost (t) and Sabine Schramm, and Ruth Roberta Heck-

more than words can express. Clemens Leonhard was never too exhausted to be a discussion partner,

from the beginning of the task to its completion. In countless cases he helped me marshal material not available in Jerusalem. Part I, on early Judaism, has profited from the meticulous readership of Gary Anderson, Liora Elias, Martha Himmelfarb and Giinter Sternberger. Jorg Frey, Lukas Miihlethaler and Serge Ruzer reviewed and refined part 2, on Christianity in the first and second centuries. Peter Brown was so generous as to review part 3, on Christianity from

the third to the fifth centuries, and made most helpful suggestions. Stephane Verhelst commented in extenso on the chapter on Christian autumn festivals and kindly sent me parts of his book on early Christian and Jewish liturgy before its publi-cation. Comments by Daniel R. Schwartz on my M.A. thesis much improved those sections of parts I and 2 that grew out of it. I also wish to thank the participants and organizers of workshops and conferences in Aachen, Brussels, Jerusalem, New York, Oxford, Princeton and Toronto, who responded most helpfully to some of the ideas now contained in this book. In particular, Albert Baumgarten has been most generous and kind time and again. At different stages of writing I consulted with many other people, and the book has profited immeasurably from these discussions. Among them, I must mention at least: Ra' anan A busch, Anders Aschim, Jan Assmann, Daniel Bailey, Giovanni Bazzana, Adam Becker, Nicole Belayche, Jonathan Ben Dov, Jonathan Benthall, Katell Berthelot, Christine Beshar, Hans-Dieter Betz, Brouria Biton-Ashkelony, Daniel Boyarin, Susan Boynton, Rudolf Brandle, Georg Braulik, Sarah Brooke, Harald Buchinger, Carsten Claussen, Yaron Zwi Eliav, Daniel Findikyan, Jonah Fraenkel, Guy Geltuer, Ze'ev Gotthold, Yehoshua Granat, Moshe Greenberg, Cristiano Grottanelli, Paul Hallsall, Galit Hazan-Rokem, William Horbury, Jared Hudson, Josef Kaplan, Steve Kaplan, Wolfram Kinzig, Avner Kfir, Sergio La Porta, Herrman Lichtenberger, Amnon Linder, Basil Lourie, Christoph Markschies, Jason Moralee, Ronit Nikolsky, Lorenzo Perrone, Gerard Rouwhorst, Seth Sanders, Jonathan Schofer, Shunit Shahal-Porat, Stephen Shoemaker, Ephraim Shoham Steiner, David Shulman, Gregory Sterling, Helene St5kl, Michael Stone, Evelyne Patlagean, Michael Signer, Gregory Sterling, Michael Swartz, Stefano Tampellini, Abraham Terian, Timothy Thornton, Caes van der Freugd, Jan Willem van Henten, Katja

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scher, ?11 T.

The dissertation was awarded the Shlomo Pines "Prize by the Prof. Shlomo Pines Foundation, and the Kennedy-Leigh Award for an outstanding dissertation by the Hebrew University. I deeply appreciate both. The publication of the book has been generously supported by a grant from the Charles Wolfson Research Fund of the Institute for Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University for which I am very grateful. Jerusalem, Pentecost 2003 I Shavuot 5763

Daniel S!Okl Ben Ezra

Brief Table of Contents Preface .. ..... ............... ............. ......... ...... ...... ......... ....... ........ ............ .. .. VII Brief Table of Contents....................................................................... XI Detailed Table of Contents .... ......... .... ....... ........ ....... ......... ....... ... ... ..... XIII List of Abbreviations........................................................................... XIX Introduction.........................................................................................

I

Part One

Yom Kippur in Early Jewish Thought and Ritual Introduction......................................................................................... Chapter I: The Names of Yom Kippur................................................ Chapter 2: The Rituals of Yom Kippur................................................ Chapter 3: lmaginaires of Yom Kippur...............................................

13 15 18 78

Part Two

The Impact of Yom Kippur on Early Christianity in the First and Second Centuries

Chapter 4: Yom Kippur in the Early Christian lmaginaire................. Chapter 5: Yom Kippur Imagery in Gnosticism and in Early Christian Mysticism ..................................... :................... Chapter 6: Yom Kippur in Jewish Christian Legends ........................

145 228 244

Part Three

The Impact of Yom Kippur on Early Christianity from the Third to the Fifth Centuries Chapter 7: Christian Exegesis of Leviticus and the Polemics against the Contemporary Yom Kippur .......................................... 261 Chapter 8: Yom Kippur and the Christian Autumn Festivals ............... 290 General Conclusions............................................................................ 329 Appendix: Yom Kippur and Eastern Anaphoras .................................. 335

XII

BriefTab/e of Contents

Bibliography....................................................................................... 345 Index of Sources................................................................................. 397 Index of Modem Authors.................................................................... 425 Index of Names and Subjects.............................................................. 432

Detailed Table of Contents Preface ....... ................. ..... ........ ........ ... ........ ........ ........ ................. ....... VII Brief Table of Contents....................................................................... XI Detailed Table of Contents .................................................................. XIII List of Abbreviations........................................................................... XIX Introduction.........................................................................................

1

I. The Topic and the Research Question.........................................

I 4 4 6 7 8 I0

2. Methodological Remarks and Definitions................................... 2.1 Different Types oflnfluence ................................................ 2.2 Rite and Ritual..................................................................... 2.3 Myth and Mythology ........................................................... 2.4 The imaginaire .................................................................... 2.5 Christian Judaism ............... ............. ......... ....... ........ .. ....... ... Part One

Yom Kippur in Early Jewish Thought and Ritual Introduction......................................................................................... Chapter I: The Names of Yom Kippur................................................. Chapter 2: The Rituals of Yom Kippur .... .. ....... ........ ... ....... ............... .. I. The Question of the Historicity of the Mishnaic Version of the Temple Ritual............................................................................. 2. The Temple Ritual .............. ................ ...... .. ......... .. ..... .. ......... ..... 2.1 The Preparation Rites ...... ............ ........ ........... ............... .. .... 2.2 The Entrances to the Holy of Holies.................................... 2.3 The Sending Away of the Scapegoat ..............,..................... 2.4 The Closing Rituals............................................................. 3. The Ritual of the People............................................................. 3.1 Between Afflictions and Joy................................................ 3.2 Prayers................................................................................. 3.2.1 Yom Kippur Prayers in Palestine: Qumran.................. 3.2.2 Yom Kippur Prayers in the Diaspora: Philo................. 3.2.3 Yom Kippur Prayers after the Destruction of the Temple........................................................................ Conclusion: Prayers in and outside the Temple.................... 3.3 A Controversial, Popular Blood Sacrifice: kapparot ............

-j

1

J

13 IS 18 19 28 28 30 31 31 33 33 36 37 46 49 64 65

1 XIV

Detailed Table of Contents

Detailed Table of Contents

3.4 Pagan and Christian Descriptions of Contemporary Yom Kippur Rites . ........... ...... ....... ......... .... .. ....... ....... ........ ...... ... 3.4.1 Pagan Texts................................................................ 3.4.2 Christian Texts........................................................... Chapter 3: Imaginaires of Yom Kippur............................................... 1. The Apocalyptic Imaginaire of Yom Kippur.............................. 1.1 High-Priestly Visions of God I: Apocalyptic Texts............. 1.2 The Mythologization of 'Az'azel........................................ 1.2.1 Allusions to the Myth of'Az'azel in !Enoch 10......... 1.2.2 11 QMelchizedek: Getting Explicit.............................. 1.2.3 The Apocalypse ofAbraham: Zechariah 3 Meets the Demonology of 'Az' azel........ ....... ......... ...... ....... ....... Concluding Thoughts on 'Az'azel in the Apocalyptic Literature ...... .. ....... ...... ......... ........ ...... ...... .. ...... ...... ... 1.3 Etiologies............................................................................ 1.4 Qumran: The Current Period of Persecution as Yom Kippur Conclusion................................................................................. 2. Yom Kippur in the Greek Diaspora............................................ 2.1 The Septuagint: Conservatism and Enculturation ................ 2.2 Philo's Allegorization of Yom Kippur................................ 2.2.1 The Rationale of the People's Yom Kippur Rituals.... 2.2.2 The Allegorizations of Yom Kippur's Temple Ritual. Conclusion.......................................................................... 2.3 The Vicarious Atoning Death in 4Maccabees 17 and the Imaginaire of Yom Kippur.................................................. Excursus: The Scapegoat as Background for Vicarious Atoning Suffering in Isaiah and Josephus?.......................................

Conclusion: Yom Kippur in the Greek Diaspora ........................ 3. The Christian Jewish lmaginaire of Yom Kippur....................... 4. Aspects of the Rabbinic Imaginaire of Yom Kippur................... 4.1 Mythological Events Connected to Yom Kippur ................. 4.2 Rabbinic Interpretations of the Temple Ritual..................... 4.2.1 The High Priests......................................................... 4 .2.2 Goats . ... .............. ....... ......... ...... ......... ....... ....... ...... .... 4.2.3 Red Ribbons............................................................... 4.3 Rabbinic Interpretations of Ritual of the People.................. 5. High-Priestly Visions of God III: Aspects of Yom Kippur in the Hekhalot Literature.................................................................... Concluding Thoughts to Part One.......................................................

XV

Part Two

The Impact of Yom Kippur on Early Christianity

68 68 70 78 79 79 85 85 90

in the First and Second Centuries

Chapter 4: Yom Kippur in the Early Christian Imaginaire ······:··········· 1. Christ and the Scapegoat: Barnabas, Matthew and Galanans .... . 1.1 The Tradition of Barnabas ................................................. . 1.1.1 The First Picture (Barnabas 7:3-5) ........................... . 1.1.2 The Second Picture (Barnabas 7:6--11) ..................... . 1.1.3 The Interpretation of the Proto-Typology in Justin, Tertullian and Hippolytus .......................................... . Excursus: Did the Scapegoat Rite Influence the Earliest

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145 147 148 150 152 155

Account of the Passion? John D. Crossan's Thesis .... . 161 1.2 Barabbas as Scapegoat in Matthew 27:15-23 ..................... . 165 Excursus: The Catalytic Function of the Pharmakos and the Scapegoat .......................................................................... . 171 1.3 The Redemptive Curse: An Allusion to the Scapegoat in Galatians 3? ................................................................. ······· 173 1.4 The Scapegoat as Catalyst? John 1:29 and !Peter 2:24 ....... . 176 1.4.1 John 1:29 .................................................................. . 176 1.4.2 !Peter 2:22-24 .......................................................... . 178 2. Christ as High Priest: Hebrews . .. .. .... .......... ....... ....... .......... .. ..... 180 2.1 The Setting......................................................................... 181 2.1.1 Sacred Time: The Present Eschaton as Yom Kippur... 181 2.2.2 Sacred Space: The Heavenly Sanctuary...................... 182 2.2 The High Priest and His Actions......................................... 184 2.3 The Participation of the People........................................... 190 2.4 Conclusions Regarding the High Priest in Hebrews............. 193 2.5 History of Tradition: The Role of Zechariah 3 in the Justification of the High-Priestly Christology before Hebrews...... 194 3. Christ as kopporet (lJ.acr::111113'11111:V ?:1 ;:v u7 '?m11nw u•:l?N ,, 1'1~711 11!1. And see the appendix, below. 198 bYoma 87b. 199 See Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on (ed. Davidson, Asaf and Yoel, p. 258) gives the following wording: m•?:~ ;1N111 ll:lJ. •1111 ?:1 10~111 ;mN ••n ;J '1110 mr.n73l'111 c?1:v 't1 Y11' ;"'llN u•mm' ?J 7Y u? 7mzmw 1J':l?N"' 1·1~?0 1111 •;,• -1'J'Y 7lJ1J 11101 1'N1 101:1 o7YJ 1J.1 ?J l'K .J.71 ll'YW:> 7J ?Y u? 1:>Jm. For a full translation, see the appendix. Ma'aseh Merkavah

contains a similar prayer: see below, pp. 137-138. Michael Swartz suggests that ''the author adapted a genre of confessional prayers recited on Yom Kippur for his pmposes." See M. Swartz, Mystical Prayer in Ancient Judaism. An Analysis of Ma 'aseh Merkavah (Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 28; TO.bingen, 1992), pp.ll6-118. For the text, seeP. Schafer, M. SchlUter and H.G. von Mutius (eds.), Synopse zur Hekhalot-Literatur (Tfibingen, 1981) §548 [Ma'aseh Merkavah].

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Mar Shmuel: MiMa 'amaqei Lev (~? 'P~Y~~) or 'Attah Yodea ''Omqo she/ Lev (~? ?117 1P~1Y Y11' :mN) or 'Attah Yodea'Ma'amaqei Lev(~?;~ 'P~Y~ Y11' ;~nNY00 Levi: UveToratekha Katuv Lemar (,~N? ~lnJ 1n11n~1)201 Rabbi Yonathan: Ribbon Ha '0/amim (c•n?1Y;J 11~,) 202 Rabbi Yehudah: Ki 'Avonoteinu Rabu miLemanot veHatoteino 'Atsmu 203 miLesapper {i~C7ZJ 17j3'311l"'mu:~m n1J?j77j 1:li 1l'nll1l7 ':l) 204 Anonymous: 'Ava/ Hatanu {1lNtln [1lnJN]?~N) 205 Rabbi Harnnuna!Rava: 'E/ohai 'ad shelo Notsarti ('n1~1l N?lll 1Y •;~?N) 'Ava/ Hatanu is defined in the Gemara as the minimum to fulfill the obligations206 'Elohai 'ad she/o Notsarti was also the daily confession of Rava.207 zoo For the two last incipits 'Attah Yodea' Ma'amaqei Lev and 'Attah Yodea' 'Omqo she/ Lev attested by ancient witnesses, see Rabbinovicz, Diqduqey Soferim, vol. 4, P"· 309. Israel Abrahams claims to have found the lost version of Shmuel's confession in a (lost?) Genizah fragment reading: 1'1~7 m•1J ~1!' •1'J1J ;"'llN nP7J '11101 J? 'PllY11 Yll' illlN .;"111'1 1Jll'111Nlll Vll' il11NIU U•il?N " N1;1 ;1111( ;111N1ji'l :VW~1llY NIU1J .1111:11 N7 17.l1.l ll'111Jl111UY1 0'1'?l '1::11 unwpJ7 1JTN :ltm 11•:1'?N " l'J:>'? 0'1111111 UN u•nun:v "Thou knowest the depths of the heart and art cognisant of the mysteries of the reins. The imaginations of(all) creatures are r;vealed before Thee and our devices are not hidden from Thee. Forgiver of iniquity and transgression wast Thou called, Thou art He, 0 Lord our God who knowest that our end is the worm. Our iniquities we confess before Thee, 0 Lord our God, incline Thine ear to our entreaty." Though there is a break here, the confession seems to continue much longer. See I. Abrahams, "The Lost 'Confession' of Samuel," Hebrew Union Coll:ge Annual! (1924) 377-85. However, the Genizah manuscript may well be an elaboration of the enigmatic talmudic incipits from the Middle Ages. 201 Cf. bRH 35a. Manuscript Oxford continues with a quotation from Lev 16:30. The text of this confession is lost. 202 It is impossible to discern which of the many surviving prayers that begin with this formula is the talmudic prayer of Rabbi Yonathan. 203 Cf. Ezra 9:6. Manuscript Oxford reads lJ'lll1:.1WM1 instead of u•nNDm: see Rabbinovicz, Diqduqey Soferim, vol. 4, p. 309. This confession appears in Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on (ed. Davidson, Asafand Yoel, p. 262) as part of a long confession for the Ne'ila in lieu of 'Attah Yodea' Razey '0/am. 204 The best Talmud manuscripts and Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on (ed. Davidson, Asaf and Yoel, p. 261) do not read umN: see Rabbinovicz, Diqduqey Soferim, vol. 4, pp. 309310. Pesiqta Rabbati 35 has a long version of the confession very close to that in Seder Rav Sa'adia Ga'on (additions in square brackets, omissions in parentheses): [1JnlK]7J.N :111Nl .U'? ;'TliU N7l (O'J1t:l;"1) 1'tl:>WIJ(1J)1 1,111!1J1:11J101 [11'11:11] U111J lJYIO:J (UYW1;J] 1J'1:V;J UNI:l11 US~W1:1 unJK111'ti1Y nnN •::~ u•?:v NJ:l 7::~ 7~ p•n. 205 The text is given in full: .•mxu N? 17'N:I ,111Illlll l'WJ:V .'10:> 'J'N '111:!i"U N71U 1Y •:t?N 01Zl1 Nti11N K71U l'J:J'?lJ 11!"1 ':1' .:l7J''?::ll :liUlJ N?Zl •7JJ 1'1!1'? '1K '1;'1 •'111l'1.lJ 1Zll111 '?p "11J 'JN 1!lll'

1'110' ,,, 7Y K7 '?J.N 1'7Jll1J P111J 'llNI:llllO. 206

207

bYoma 87b. For the daily confession, see bBer 17a.

55

Yom Kippur in Early Jewish Thought and Ritual

The Rituals of Yom Kippur

The great number and variety of confessions indicate on the one hand that this part of the service was not fixed until the early Middle Ages. On the other hand, the Babylonian Talmud's listing of the various confessions reveals an interest in preserving and canonizing prayers. 208 The increased number and length of the confessions in comparison to the Bible indicate a higher level of spiritualization. However, we should not underestimate their outward aspect as a perceptible manifestation of the otherwise invisible repentance. When the dearth of outward aspects of the temple ritoal came to be acutely felt, the role of confessions may have increased as a suitable supplement to the temple rituals.

the temple service.212 Mishnah Yoma 7:1 places the reading of the bi?Iical descriptions from Leviticus 16 and 23:27-32 and Numbers 29:7-ll m the . . fr . 213 temple ritual, perhaps a projectiOn om a synagogue servtce. . Other lections were included early without it being possible to pomt to a specific century. According _to the Babylonian_T~~ud, Leviti~us 18_ (on incest) is the Torah readmg m the Mmhah serv1ce, wh!le Isruah 57 .l5ff (probably 57:15-58:14) and Jonah are the Haftarot for Shaharit and Minhah, respectively.2 15 Leviticus 18 may have been read stmply as a continuation of Leviticus 16 216 Instead of Leviticus 18, Exodus 32:11-14 (Moses interceding on behalf of the people after the incident of the golden calf) and perhaps also Exodus 34:lff(the second giving of the Law) m1ght have been read in some Palestinian communities. 217 The contents of Jonah and Isaiah 57:15-58:14 are closely connected to the ritual of the people on Yom Kippur. Pseudo-Philo On Jonah can be regarded as the first evidence for the reading of Jonah on Yom Kippur, but its date of origin is uncertain.2I8 In Palestine, however, Jonah might not have been the Haftarah; some Jews might have preferred to read !Kings 18:36ff (Elijah and the prophets ofBa'al).219

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THE READINGS: Sources on the early readings are scarce, and even where we have a source, it does not necessarily mean that the readings prescribed in it were read everywhere - in Palestine as well as in the Babylonian and Mediterranean diasporas-'09 I would expect people in the Second Temple period who pray through the whole day to start with texts that are highly respected and at the same time easily to hand and not having to be composed, such as the biblical descriptions Leviticus 16 and 23:27-32 and Numbers 29:7-11. 210 4QTargu1(l of Leviticus, the only Aramaic fragment of the five books of Moses in Qumran, could have served such a liturgical purpose. 211 Reciting the biblical pericopes on Yom Kippur is a reenactment of the high-priestly ritual and· may well have been performed in synagogues even at the time of the temple for people who could not attend

208 Did the attitude of the communities behind the Palestinian Talmud (liffer )n this aspect? 209 For literature on the development of readings, see E. Fleischer, "Annual and Triennial Reading of the Bible in the Old Synagogue" [in Hebrew with English summary] Tarbiz 61 (1992) 25--43; idem, "Inquiries Concerning the Triennial Reading of the Torah in Ancient Bretz-Israel" [in Hebrew] Hebrew Union College Annua/61 (1991) 43-61; J. Offer, "The Masoretic Divisions (Sedarim) in the Books of the Prophets and Hagiographa" [in Hebrew with English summary] Tarbiz 58 (1989) 155-189; A. Shinan, "Sermons, Targums, and the Reading from Scriptures in the Ancient Synagogue," in: L. Levine (ed.), The Synagogue in Late Antiquity (A Centennial Publication of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America; Philadelphia, 1987; pp. 97-110). C. Perrot, La Lecture de Ia Bible dans Ia Synagogue. Les anciennes lectures palestiniennes du Shabbat et des fetes (Publications de l'institut de recherche et d'histoire des textes, section biblique et massorCtique, collection massorah SCrie I. Etudes Classiques et Textes I; Hildesheim, 1973), esp. pp. 154-157, 195-199 and 265-270. 210 See also Z. Malachi, "The 'Avoda' for Yom Kippur" [in Hebrew], (Ph.D. dissertation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1974), p. 151. 211 Randy Buth has expressed a similar idea in a paper given at the Second Colloquium on the Rabbinic Background of the New Testament, Jerusalem, July 2002.

Baer, "The Service of Sacrifice in Second Temple Times," p. 112. Cf. mMeg 3:1;yMeg 3:7, 74b; only the inception is given. While Mishnah Megillah and the Palestinian Talmud mention only Lev 16 as a reading, the absence of Lev 23:2732 and Num 29:7-11 here does not mean that these texts were not part of the ritual in the Tannaitic period, given that the Tosefta does include Num 29:7-11 among the readings (tMeg 3:7; again, only the inception is given). Cf. also the section on the historicity of Mishnah Yoma, above, particularly p. 25-26. 214 bMeg 31 a; see Elbogen, Der jiidische Gottesdienst in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicklung, p. 167. 21s bMeg 31 a; see Elbogen, Der jiidische Gottesdienst in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicklung, pp. 182-183. 216 The rabbinic texts indicate only the beginning of the reading in Lev 16. In the yearly reading cycle, this section goes as far as Lev 18:30. In the longer cycles in Palestine the section might have been shorter. See Tabory, Jewish Festivals in the Time of the Mishnah and Talmud, p. 292, on alternative traditional explanations for the choice of this reading. 21 7 Ezra Fleischer, "Piyyut and Prayer in Mahzor Eretz Israel," [in Hebrew] Kiryat Sefer 63 (1990) 207-262, here p. 245. 2l8 For a discussion of the relation of Pseudo-Philo On Jonah and Yom Kippur, see below, pp. 57-59; see also the reference to Jonah in De solstitiis et aequinoctiis, discussed below, p. 253. 219 Fleischer, "Piyyut and Prayer in Mahzor Eretz Israel," p. 246. Jonah is absent from Genizah founds of Qerobot to Yom Kippur. A more frequent connection could be expected between Jonah and Yom Kippur in rabbinic texts if it was a widespread reading on Yom Kippur, as suggested by GUnter Sternberger in a much appreciated e-mail communication observing that the only major discussion of Jonah is Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer 10. 212 213

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The frequent allusions to Isaiah 58 in Christian texts on Yom Kippur, beginning with Justin Martyr, may also point to an early association in Jewish ritual, but I cannot preclude that Christians alluded to this chapter for its contents without knowledge of Jewish liturgical traditions. 220 I suggest that some synagogues may have read the passages already in Tannaitic times, or even earlier even if they are attested to only in Amoraic tradiw tions. Furthermore, long discussions of Hosea 14 in the Babylonian Talmud and of Psalm 27 in Leviticus Rabbah make it probable that in certain synagogues these texts had some function in the Yom Kippur service or during the days before, such as Sabbath Shuva. 221 In the Gaonic period in Babylonian academies, the first five verses of Genesis were also read during the Minhah or Ne'ilah service. 222 Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on also mentions Obadiah and Micah 7:18-20 for Minhah. 223 Yet I want to stress again that we cannot be sure about the provenance of most of these readings. Until the lections were unified, many different orw ders may have been in use in different places. In addition, Jonah is part of a homilY for Sabbath Sbuva: Pesiqta Rav Kahana 24:1 I (ed. Mandelbaum, pp. 361-364) and Mishnah Ta'anit2:I connects Jonah to public fasts. 220 Morgenstern even suggests the prophecy preserved in lsa 58 was made on Yom Kippur: J. Morgenstern, "Two Prophecies of the Fourth Century B.C. and the Evolution of Yom Kippur,'; Hebrew Union College Annual 24 (1952-1953) 1-74, here pp. 38-39. On lsa58 in Justin Martyr's Yom Kippur passage, see below, pp. 156. According to Perrot, La Lecture de Ia Bible dans Ia Synagogue, pp.I95-204, Luke4:18-19, which combines 1sa 61:1 with lsa 58:6, is based on an old Jewish lectionary tradition. Perrot's position is accepted by e.g. F. Bovon, Das Evange/ium nach Lukas.]. Teilband. Lk /,19,50 (Evangelisch-Katholischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament 3:1; ZOrich and Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1989), pp. 211-212. 121 Sabbath Shuva is the Sabbath between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. For Hos 14, see bYoma 86a-b; Pesiqta Rav Kahana 24:1-12.17-19 (ed. Mandelbaum, pp. 347-358, 369, 375-78); and the indirect evidence of the early Christian Roman lectionaries (see pp. 317-321). On Ps 27 and Yom Kippur, see Leviticus Rabbah 21: l (ed. Margulies, pp. 473--474). Naomi Goldstein Cohen, "Earliest Evidence of the Haftarah Cycle for the Sabbaths between the 17th of Tammuz and Sukkoth in Philo," Journal of Jewish Studies 48 (1997) 225-249, sees evidence in Philo that the traditional Haftarot from 17 Tammuz until Sukkot were ftxed already in the first century. 222 See Elbogen, Der jiidische Gottesdienst in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicldung, p. 167. 123 For the readings of Obadiah and Micah in Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on, see ed. Goldschmidt, pp. 166 and 168. For Mic 7:18-20 in Palestinian usage, see Fleischer, Eretz-Israel Prayer and Prayer Rituals as Portrayed in the Geniza Documents, pp. 134135 and 143. Mic'7:18 is quoted in a Yom Kippur/Sabbath Shuva homily in Pesiqta Rav Kahana 25:2 (ed. Mandelbaum,p. 381). In Pesiqta Rav Kahana 25, Num 14:18-20 plays a central role, but this text is never quoted in bYoma.

57

The Rituals of Yom Kippur 224

A long sermon On Jonah survived uoder the auspices of~hilo. O~gi lly composed in Greek, it has reached us m an Armeman translatiOn. ;~lker Siegert, who made a detailed investigation of this sermon, suggests it was written sometime between the second century BCE and the fo~ 225 the third tury CE' in a Hellenistic city. He suggests Alexandria before cen noc h'm th _e century CE,226 leaving open other options, among them An' £ urth century While we cannot be sure that Jonah was read on Yom Kip227 p':rr in other c~mmunities than the one behind ~egillah 31a, ~orne hin~ in the text make it probable for the commumty ~f Pseudo-Philo, too? m hich case On Jonah is the earliest extant Yom Kippur sermon. The diffi;;!lty lies in deciding if this is a depiction of the Yom Kippur of that period, of some other fast, or of the fast of Jon_ah: The description of the Ninevites' fast mentions most of the usual affhctwns of a pubhc fast like Yom Kippur, but this can be explained as merely the bookish influence of Jonah, without any connection to Yom Kippur. People repent and ~ray and abstain from food, drink, sex and adornment.228 They walk around m sackcloth and ashes and sleep on the floor. 229 The latter features are not evidence against y om Kippur despite the fact that they do not match the rabbinic tracts of Yoma, since Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer seems to kn~w. of su~h practices on Yom Kippur. Yet neither do they support an assoctahon wtth YomKippur. . I would like to draw attention to two rites that match Yom Kippur but no other public fast. First, the people put on their festal garments m the faint hope that the judgment may be delayed,230 ~d at the end of the day they dance.2' 1 These practices match the descnptwns of Chrysostom, Theodore! and Mishnah Ta 'anit 4:8.232 The mention of festal garments m Cf. F. Siegert (transl.), Drei hellenistisch-jUdische Predigten. Ps.-Phi/on, '(/be~ Jon a', •Ober Simson' und 'Ober die Gottesbezeichnung 'wohltiitig verzehrendes Feuer · Vol. J: Obersetzung aus dem Armenischen und sprachliche Erliiuterungen. Vol. 2: Kom_mentar nebst Beobachtungen zur hel/enistischen Vorgeschichte der Bibelherme?euttk (2 vols; Wissenschaftlicbe Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 20, 61; Ttibmgen,

1980, 1992). 225 Siegert, Drei he/lenistisch-jUdische Predigten, voL 2, pp. 49-51. 226 Siegert. Drei he/lenistisch-jUdische Predigten, vol. 2, pp. 40-46. . 121 Jonah is never quoted or even alluded to in Philo: see Y.-M. Duval~ Le lfllre de Jonas dans Ia /ittl}rature chrJtienne grecque et /aline. Sources et mjluence du Commentaire sur Jonas de saint Jerome (2 vols; Paris. 1973), p. 77. m See Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah, (trans!. Siegert I :30, 35, 37, 48). 229 See Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah, (trans!. Siegert 1:37). 230 See Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah, (transl. Siegert I :38). 23 1 See Pseudo-Philo. On Jonah, (trans!. Siegert 1:41 ). 232 This seems more logical to me than the recursion on a distinction between pagan and Jewish mowning practices as Siegert proposes.

.. r·

58


explicitly contradicts the biblical book of Jonah, so this speaks against a merely "bookish" influence. Its source can plausibly be seen in contemporary Jewish practice on Yom Kippur. Moreover, the author uses the Armenian equivalent for ta1tetv&, to humble oneself,233 which plays so strong a role in the Septuagint descriptions of Yom Kippur. "They humbled themselves to that extent and exercised such self-control according to the Scriptures that even their animals became intercessors of their prayers. ,234 Besides these ritual aspects, two conceptual motifs are interesting: God's position as judge is emphasized, 235 and God is depicted as knowing everything, including sins committed secretly and not admitted in confession. 23 6 "But all (secret) human knowledge was manifested to the (captain) with complete clarity and put before his eyes by that One, who alone cannot be 237 deceived." The latter motif appears explicitly also in the Delos steles, the Qumran Yom Kippur prayer 4Q508 2 1-6 and the talmudic 'Attah Yodea' Razey 'Olam. 238 Regarding these observations, it seems plausible that Pseudo-Philo's sermon On Jonah is not only the earliest sermon on Jonah but also the earliest evidence for a reading of the prophet on Yom Kippur and the earliest extant Yom Kippur sermon, even before Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer 10. 239 t Regarding the ritual status of the reading, the Mishnah reports that the high priest in the temple had the choice of performing the readings and the prayers in the holy linen garments or in a simple white stole. Why does the Mishnah mention such freedom in the most sacred ritual? If the description reflects actual practice, some of the high priests apparently considered the reading and the prayer as part of the avodah, i.e. the obligatory and effective part of the main liturgy of the day, while others did not. 240 On the 213

See Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah, (trans I. Siegert 1:37). See Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah, (transl. Siegert 1:37). Siegert translates: "Sie erniedrigten sich aber dermaJ3en und Ubten schriftgemaB solche Selbstbeherrschung, daB (sogar) ihre Haustiere zu Verteidigern ihrer Gebete wurden." 235 E.g. Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah, (trans!. Siegert 1:11). 236 See Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah, (trans!. Siegert I :11 and 23). 237 See Pseudo-Philo, On Jonah, (transl. Siegert 1: II). Siegert translates: "Doch alles (geheime) menschliche Wissen brachte derjenige, der allein unhintergehbar ist, dem (Kapitan) zu untrtiglicher Klarheit und stellte es (ibm) vor Augen." 238 See above pp. 39 and 48, note 172. 239 Cf. Friedlander (p. 66, note 5); Duval, Le livre de Jonas dans Ia littirature chritienne grecque et latine, p. 98, note 146. 240 Most commentators (incl. the Talmudim) consider the freedom to wear or not to wear the white garments as a sign that the prayer and the readings did not belong to the avodah. But this would have been the case only if the high priest had always changed to the white gannents or if one applies the logics of later (supposedly eternally valid) rationales to earlier rituals. If a high priest opted to continue reading in the holy linen 234

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59

other hand, if the description does not reflect actual practice, this choice might reflect two Tannaitic attitudes to the relation between the verbal reenactment in the synagogne and the high-priestly avodah in the temple stressing more strongly either the continuous or the substitutive aspect. THE SEDER A VODAH: The most peculiar part of the prayers of Yom Kippur is the reciting of a Seder Avodah. 241 Today, Seder Avodah is the term for very sophisticated religious poems (piyyutim ), which usually have three parts - an account of the creation, a history of men from Adam and Eve until Aaron, and a description of the high-priestly ritual on Yom Kippur. For our survey of early post-temple practices, the Sidrei Avodah are very interesting rituals, beirig complete verbal reenactments combined with such liturgical gestures as prostratiOI;I. Some key passages appear in almost all Sidrei Avodah and are so important that they even influenced the text of the Mishnah. 242 They mark those rites of the temple ritual that the high priest (supposedly) performed with words: the three confessions with the responses of the people and the two countings that accompanied his sprink-

garments, he probably did this to indicate the continuity. It is often more reasonable to assume a conceptual change behind a change in practice than to reconstruct a common rationale for both. 24 1 On Sidrei Avodah, see Malachi, «The 'Avoda' for Yom Kippur''; Mirsky, Yosse ben Yosse Poems; M. Zulai (ed.), Piyyutey Yannai [in Hebrew] (Berlin, 1938); Z.M. Rabinovitz (ed.), Mahzor Piyyutey Rabbi Yannai leTorah uleMo'adim [in Hebrew] (2 vols; Jerusalem, 1985-87); J. Yahalom (ed.), Priestly Palestinian Poetry. A Narrative Liturgy for the Day of Atonement [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem, 1996); idem, Poetry and Society in Jewish Galilee of Late Antiquity [in Hebrew] (Tel Aviv, 1999), esp. pp. 107-136; M. Swartz, "Ritual about Myth about Ritual: Towards an Understanding of the Avodah in the Rabbinic Period," Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 6 (1997) 135-155; idem, "Sage, Priest, and Poet. Typologies of Religious Leadership in the Ancient Synagogue," in: S. Fine (ed.), Jews, Christians, and Polytheists in the Ancient Synagogue. Cultural Interaction during the Greco-Roman Period (Baltimore Studies in the History of Judaism; London and New York, 1999; pp. 101-117). M. Swartz and J. Yahalom have prepared an English translation of some Sidrei Avodah. 242 The prostration of the people in response to the mention of the Tetragrammaton in the high priest's confession was not part of the original reading of the Mishnah. It does not appear in the most reliable manuscripts nor is it commented upon in the Talmudim. Apparently, the liturgical formulations of the Sidrei Avodah entered so deeply into the beads of the people that their elaborated form influenced the copiers of the Mishnah. See Rabbinovicz, Diqduqey Soferim, val. 4, p. 183; also the discussion in Rosenberg, "Mishna 'Kipurim'," vol. 1, pp. 126-142, especially 139-142. This becomes important in the discussion of the Hekhalot texts, demonstrating a closer relationship of the latter to the (priestly?) pi}yutim than to the rabbinic tracts. See pp. 134--139, below.

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61



ling of the blood.243 These sentences, distinguished from the rest of the poems by their prose form (and at least today by raising the voice), mark the central actions of the high-priestly ritual, the confessions on buii and scapegoat, the mention of the ineffable name, and the sprinkling of the buii's and the sacrificial goat's blood in the holy of holies. This matches the obligation expressed in Seder Rav 'Amram Ga 'on to read a Seder Avodah "with sprinklings and confessions."244 Today, the Seder Avodah is read only during the Mussaf service. This is an achievement of the Gaonim, who chailenged the common custom to recite a Seder Avodah in each of the three prayers of the Day of Atonement. The Mussaf best

observing either the high-priestly reading and prayer or the burning of the sin offerings. "Who sees the high priest reading does not see the bull and the goat burning, and who sees bull and goat burning does not see the high

matches a liturgical reenactment of the temple service, since both are set at the same time and since in the temple the special festival sacrifices are of-

word and of the sacrifices presupposes that both rites belong to the same category, but the determination that the two are equal goes even beyond that. 250 If watching the high priest reading the prescriptions for Yom Kip-

fered during the Mussaf. 245 The practice of reading a Seder Avodah has two roots: first, the transition of the temple cult from a one-man performance to one-man show with participation of the people; second, the interest in implementing the biblical prescriptions and the temple cult in the synagogue. Regarding the first root, the transition from the purely cultic concept of a rite performed in a secret holy place by a special person to a more col-

lective ritual may already be perceived in the temple. Sirach describes the presence of spectators at the high-priestly sacrifices in the temple.246 Elbogen has rightly noted that such observation by outsiders who get involved by praying on the outskirts of the temple changes the purely cultic concept of temple worship into a more edifying one. 247 In other words, not only the cultic performance itself is important, but also the participation (by observation) of those gathered. This change had already taken place at

priest reading - not because he is not allowed to, but because the distance is great and the work of both is equal. " 249 From this key sentence we can

conclude that in the opinion of the editors of the Mishnah the watching of the temple liturgy was as important as the participation in it. Furthermore, the Mishnah considers the reading to be as important as the burning of the sacrifices, since the Mishnah underscores that it does not matter which of the two rites one sees. This comparison of the liturgic importance of the

pur was as important as watching the performance of the prescribed sacrifices, this is the frrst step to a virtual verbal reenactment of the whole

temple service, like the Seder Avodah. 251 The second root of the custom of reciting a Seder Avodah was almost certainly the early custom of reading biblical Yom Kippur passages. 252 None of the extant Second Temple sources proposes any reenactment of

the temple ritual. This does not preclude the possibility that such a reenactment was part of the liturgies in Qumran or Alexandria However, the

theories that see a Seder Avodah in 1Q34 3 ii II 4Q509 97+98 or the influence of a Seder Avodah behind Philippians 2:6-11 or Colossians 1:12-20 need more supporting evidence. 253 The same is true for the recent sugges-

tion ofMenahem Kister to see a Seder Avodah in 5Q13 254 In Philo's account of the prayers, he is very brief regarding his explicit

at the latest. 248 Sirach's evidence is

statement about the enormous length of the Yom Kippur service. 255 We can

supported by Mishnah Yoma, which emphasizes the equal importance of

only speculate about the rest of the prayers of his community. Philo betrays a detailed acquaintance with the Halakhah of the temple ritual beyond the biblical sources. His information may stem from a Seder Avodah 256 Similarly, it is not improbable that Barnabas is based on such a

the time of Sirach, i.e. around 200

CE,

243 Malachi, "The •Avoda' for Yom Kippur,"' p. 154, states that the reenactment of the sprinklings belongs to a later stage, since they are not included in most Sidrei Avodah. However, they are included in Shtv'at Yamim (o•zp llJI':JW) and in Yose ben Yose's 'Azkir Gevurot 'Eioah (;n'?M nl11::ll 11JTM) for Mussaf and 'Asapper Gedolot (m'?nl 1!ION) for Minhah. Yose's 'Attah Konanta (il11JJ1J ;,nN) (for Shaharit) does not include the formula. The two Sdarim edited by Yahalom ( 'Az be 'Ein Kol and 'Aromem le 'El) have lacunae at these parts. 244 Goldschmidt, Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on, p. 168:7-8. 245 Hoffman, The Canonization of the Synagogue Service, pp. 108--110. 246 Sir 50:17-21. 247 Elbogen, Studien zur Geschichte desjiidischen Gottesdienstes, p. 52. 248 Despite the great influence of the end of Sirach on Sidrei Avodah and other Yom Kippur piyyutim in language, content and structure, it is not in itself a Seder Avodah: see Roth, ..Ecclesiasticus in the Synagogue Service."'

249

mYoma 7:1, my translation, with emphasis added. Cf. Sir4:14, which compares the study of Torah to temple liturgy. 251 Even if the statement does not reflect the Second Temple period, it elucidates the rationale behind the recitation of the biblical passages in the synagogue service. 252 See also Malachi, "The 'Avoda' for Yom Kippur," p. 151. 253 1Q34 3 ii has been seen as a Seder Avodah by Grintz. For a discussion, see above, p. 43. For a brief discussion of a Seder Avodah as a possible background to Philippians and Colossians, see below, pp. 206-212, below. 254 Kister, "5Ql3 and the 'Avodah." See above, p. 44-45. 255 See above, p. 46. 256 See below, p. 112, note 166. 25(1

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The Rituals ofYom Kippur

Seder Avodah. 257 Its author is acquainted with details of the Halakhah and speaks of a written source, which might perhaps have been of a liturgical nature. It is only around 400 CE that we reach safe ground. The Babylonian Talmud alludes to the recitation of a Seder Avodah in the prayer. 258 Moreover, two tiny fragments, most probably of Sidrei Avodah from around 400 CE, were unearthed in Oxyrhynchus. 259 In the nineteenth century, scholars proposed that if one takes out a few of the disputes and some thematic digressions, Mishnah Yoma might once have served as such a liturgical text. Some even tried to reconstruct such an "Ur-"Seder Avodah. 260 This hypothesis was corroborated when, in 1907, Elbogen published some Genizah fragments with a prose Seder Avodah Shiv'at Yamim 261 remarkably similar to Mishnah Yoma with the necessary adaptations and some additional lines from the Bible, Tosefta and Mishnah Tamid. 262 Elbogen does not give a date for the fragment, but it is likely to be earlier than the earliest poetic Sidrei Avodah of the fourth or fifth century by Yose ben Yose and his companions.263 Shiv'at Yamim seems to have been kept in use for a long time, as the Seder Rav 'Amram Ga 'on

(ninth century) refers to it as one of the customary Sidrei Avodah,264 highly honored by occupying first place on the list of Seder Rav 'Amram Ga 'on. With regard to Shiv 'at Yamim, we carmot simply suppose that the present wording is the same as that used when it was frrst written in the second, third or fourth century, since the manuscript includes later traditions. 265 Nevertheless, we can still deduce two important arguments from it. First, the invention of reciting a Seder Avodah does not necessarily demand a priestly origin. 266 Second, if Shiv 'at Yamim originally began directly with the preparatory week of the high priest and was circulated without a poetic preface from Genesis to Aaron's ordination, this is quite a strong argument against any attempt to suppose that connections to Yom Kippur underlie some New Testament hymns combining creatioti and atonement. 267 Usually, the argument is based on the connection of these elements in the poetic Sidrei Avodah, but it neglects that the earliest Seder Avodah, Shiv 'at Yamim, does not reflect this combination. Of comse, it is possible in principal that the connection between creation, history of sin,

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264 Goldschmidt, Seder Rav 'Amram Ga'on, p. 168:5-8. The other options referred to are: 'Azkir Sela (;'170 1'JTI(), 'Attah Konanta (;'1m.m ;mN), 'Atsaltsel (7I7!K) and 'Ashanen

(lJw•)251

See below, p. 161, note 69. While the subject of bYomo 36b might have been a simple confession without an elaborate Seder Avodah, b Yoma 56b clearly alludes to the transition from the sprinkling in the holy of holies to the sprinkling of the veil. Raba corrects the leader of the prayer who mingles the majority opinion with the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah. Elbogen's fragments display the reading according to Raba's correction (fragment A, p. l9,lines 13-14: Elbogen, Studien zur Geschichte des jiidischen Gottesdienstes, p. 108). 259 In 1915, Cowley published two very tiny Hebrew papyrus fragments from Oxyrhynchus that clearly deal with Yom Kippur and might well have been part of a Seder Avodah (A. Cowley, Journal/or Egyptian Archeology [1915] 211-212). Having little material for comparison (even less before the fmdings of Qumran, Mezada and Muraba'at), he suggests the broad period from the third to the fifth century CE, opting for 400 CE. The frrst fragment reads: ... ]1ZHI7 •7[ ... ] llll1 '::>!:1!17[ .•• ] D'JY '1'Ylll[ ... ]o•7•N 'J7n[ ... The second fragments reads: 'llll[ ... n]mm7 17 1R[ ... ];'17li' D[ ... ]lll11!:17J Olll:J. [ .. .1]1;'1tm ["] 'J!:17[... ... ]7 711l;'ll'7!7 [... ]n1711l 260 J. Derenbourg, "Essai de restitution de l'ancienne redaction de Massichet Kippourim," Revue des itudesjuives 6 (1882) 41-80; and H. Strack (ed.), Joma. Der Mischnatraktat 'VersOhnungstag' (Schriften des Institutum Judaicum in Berlin 3; Leipzig, '1904). 261 This Seder Avodah is called Shiv'at Yamim (O'IJ' nYJt!7) ("Seven Days") after its inception. 262 Elbogen, Studien zur Geschichte des jiidischen Gottesdienstes, "Anhang 1," pages 102-117. 263 The Palestinian Talmud calls the readings from Lev 16 and Lev 23:26--32 7w 1110 m• (yMeg 4:5, 75b). 258

26~

E.g. the high-priestly prayer in the holy of holies. See bYoma 53b. Yosef Yahalom and Michael Swartz have suggested that many of the early poetic Sidrei Avodah were written by priests. The poetic Sidrei Avodah reflect a different conception of priesthood and atonement from the rabbinic texts, which are usually quite critical toward priests. However, I cannot identify a priestly attitude already in Shiv 'at Yamim, which is much more focused on the Mishnah than are the later Sidrei Avodah. One gloss may point to a slightly pro-priestly attitude: a statement regarding the high priest that "Israel's purity depends on you" (fragment p. 14 line 8-9: see Elbogen, Studien zur Geschichte des jiidischen Gottesdienstes, p. l04). On the other hand, Shi'v 'at Yamim does not skip the embarrassing passage on the high priest who has to swear loyalty to the rabbinic practice of Yom Kippur, but even embellishes it (fragment p. 13, lines 1-13: see Elbogen, Studien zur Geschichte desjiidischen Gottesdienstes, pp. 103104). Furthermore, it changed the passage about people reading before the high priest to "they read before him the 'Seder HaYom' and teach him the 'Seder Yom HaKippurim'," thus reinforcing the intellectual inferiority of the high priest. On the other hand, Elbogen included a preface to Shiv'at Yamim in his appendix, a short alphabetic poem 'Attah Barata covering the creation of the world to the appointment of Aaron and his sons (Elbogen, Studien zur Geschichte des jiidischen Gottesdienstes, pp. 116-117). We do not know when this preface was added to Shiv 'at Yamim, but here Aaron is clearly the hero of Yom Kippur and not the inferior clerk of the rabbinic tracts. 2 fi7 Cf. the section on Phi12:6-l1 and Coll:13-20 on pp. 206--212, below. On the basis that these hymns combine atonement with creation, the common first part of poetic Sidrei Avodah, a number of scholars have assumed a connection to Yom Kippur. Grintz, "A Seder Avodah for Yom Kippur from Qumran," proposed one of Qumran's Festival Prayers (IQ34 3 ii) as the earliest Seder Avodah (see above, p. 43 note 150). 266



history of the forefathers of Aaron and Yom Kippur was made as early as the Second Temple period, but then we would have to assume that Shiv 'at Yamim skipped the combination of creation and atonement. Joseph Yaha!om and Michael Swartz perceive a more positive description of the high priest in the Sidrei Avodah, in opposition to the rabbinic portrayals.268 The Tannaitic literature, whieh describes the high priests as little more than stupid clerks, tried to bolster the position of the non-

of the Sabbath Sacrifice, the text of the Festival Prayers does not display a particularly close affiliation to the temple ritual. An influence of the

64

priestly sages. The Amoraic literature reflects two conflicting tendencies:

like the Tannaites, a further diminution of the historical (high) priests; and a reappraisal, as in the piyyutim. Yahalom and Swartz explain the difference between piyyutim and parts of the rabbinic literature by supposing that priestly groups, who have a stronger position in the liturgy of the synagogues, are responsible for the composition of these Sidrei Avodah. We koow that priestly circles remained very important after the transition of the spiritual centers of Judaism from Jerusalem to the Galilee. They lived in organized neighborhoods and kept records on which watch was to serve in the temple. I do not think that we can regard the increasing importance of priests as being distinct from the parall~l rise of priesthood and high-priestly Christo logy in Christianity of the third and fourth centuries. The argument of Yahalom and Swartz can be supplemented by a further factor, one that is not intracultural but intercultural: the reappraisal of the ideal historical high priests can be understood as a Jewish reaction to the evolving highpriestly Christology. The inclusion oflong praises of Levi and his sons and the complete silence about his rival, Melchizedek, in the Sidrei Avodah is only one example. I will discuss this question further in the discussion of Jewish-Christian polemics.269 Conclusion: Prayers in and outside the Temple Qumranic, Philonic and rabbinic prayers share several motifs, which, however, are not close and numerous enough to point to an extensive continuous tradition. In the Second Temple period, prayers became a major focus

of the ritual of public fasts in and outside the temple. According to Philo as well as rabbinic statements, they filled the entire day. In a certain sense, prayers also connected the rituals in and outside the temple. The high priest prayed at the end of his sacrificial ceremony, and some see in this

the origin of Qumran's Festival Prayers- although, unlike e.g. the Songs 263 See the introduction in Yahalom, Priestly Palestinian Poetry; and Swartz, "Sage, Priest, and Poet," p. 158, note 68, with reference to the earlier works by Goitein and Mirsky. 269 See pp. 283-288, below.

65

synagogal prayers on the high priest's concluding prayer seems more

likely. Ritual reenactments of the high priest's ritual were probably part of the service in some synagogues of the Second Temple period, especially in the form of reading the biblical descriptions (or a translation or a paraphrase of them). We can only speculate if some Second Temple communities even used a kind of Seder Avodah. Most likely, confessions were part of the ritual in the communities using Qumran's Festival Prayers, and in Alexandria, long before they became the main part of the rabbinic liturgy. This points to a certain "individualization" of Yom Kippur in the time of the Second Temple: private confessions were added on top of the high priest's vicarious confession. 3.3 A Controversial, Popular Blood Sacrifice: kapparot

Probably the most famous rite of post-temple Yom Kippur is the kapparot. We do not koow exactly how old this rite is.270 It is mentioned explicitly for the first time only in the early Gaonic age in Persia by Rav Sheshna (ca. 650 CE), but he already refers to it as ancient. 271 His quite detailed description of the ritual goes as follows: The agent who performs it takes hold of the rooster and places (n'JZJ) his hand upon its head. Then, removing his hand from the head of the rooster, he places it upon the head of the person for whom the ceremony is performed (1:>J117J) and says. "This (rooster] shall be instead of this (person); this rooster shall be the substitute (~17'n) for this person; this rooster shall be the ransom (7ln7J) for this person [or, this person is to be redeemed (v. lect. 771n7J) by this rooster.J''m

270 The early witnesses for this ceremony have been investigated by J.Z. Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays (Cincinnati, 1951), pp. 354-378. He also pursued developments in the centuries following Sheshna: see idem, "The Ritual for the Kapparot Ceremony," in: idem, Studies in Jewish Law, Custom and Folklore (New York, 1970; pp. 133-142). Y. Gartner, "The History of the kapparot Rite Regarding the Custom of Marseilles," (in Hebrew] Sinai 114 (1994) 198--217, published another text for the rite of Marseilles. See also I. Scheftelowitz, Das ste/lvertetende Huhnopfer. Mit besonderer Beriicksichtigung des jiidischen Volksglaubens (Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten 14/3; Giessen, 1914). 211 See the letter of Rav Sheshna from Sura, quoted in Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays,

pp. 355-357. 212 Today a different formula is used, e.g. the father of the family takes the bird and swings it around his head or that of the "benefited" saying something like: "This is my/your exchange (:1:>'7n), this is my/your substitute (:1117Jn), this is my/your atonement (i11!1J). This rooster/hen will go to its death while 1/you will enter and proceed to a good long life, and to peace." Quoted after the modern rite in Scherman, The Complete ArtScro/1 Machzor Yom Kippur Nusach Ashkenaz, pp. 2-5, here 2-3.

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H~ then swings the rooster around the head of the person for whom it is to be 3

substtt~te, while reciting the following words: 273 "A life for a life." He does th·

seven t!Dles.

IS

He then places his hand upon the head of the rooster, saying, "This rooster shall go out to death in~tead of t!tis person." Then he places his hand upon the head of the person who IS to recetve atonement by this ceremony, saying, "Thou, so and so, ~e son of so and so, shalt enter into life and thou shalt not die." This he does three times.

Then the person for whom the substitute is offered places his hand upon the

hea~ o~the r?oster, as a sort ofi'IJ'lJO [the ceremony of laying the hands upon the ~acnfi~tal ammal]. _He lays his hand (~1J101) upon it [the rooster] and slaughters it munedtately, thus m a manner followmg the rule prescribed for sacrifices vi that the slaughtering of the sacrificial victim must follow immediately the' cer:~ many of the laying on of hands. 274

The ritual includes gestures and a benediction expressing substitution.21s S~me ele~e~ts are repeated three or seven times, a feature often associated With magzc ntuals. The entrails are commonly thrown onto the street or the roof, ':here the birds feed on them, and the meat is given to the poor.276 Bo~h nte~ are common methods of obtaining release from some kind of sin or IID_Punty. Rav Sheshna does not give the exact time of performance for this ntu_al, but traditionally it•is during the night or the morning preceding Yo~ _Kzpp~. Not only roosters were used. 277 Rav Sheshna mentions rich famzhes ~smg rams (o'?'N). "The essential thing - according to these people - IS that the animal should be of the kind that has horns like the ram that was offered instead of our father Isaac. " 278 He himseif prefers roosters because they are cheaper and, symbolically, the Hebrew 1Jl can mean rooster as well as man. 279 . Jacob Laut_erbach suggested that a background to the kapparot, espeCially that With horned animals, is provided by identification of two mythological sacrifices with the scapegoat: the ram that Abraham sacri-

67

ficed instead of Isaac280 and the male goat with whose blood Joseph's brothers colored his coat and tried to fool their father.2 81 He refers to a passage from Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Leviticus for a combination of these ideas together with the golden calf.182 The kapparot with a ram combines the functions of an apotropaic sacrifice to Satan/'Az'azel and areminder to God of the forefathers' merits. That sacrifice of a ram can also be seen as sacrifice to the evil powers alone can be learned from the Midrash, preserved in the late collection Yalqut Shim 'oni. 283 To what extent is the kapparot a substitution for the scapegoat rite? 284 Shesbna's description and his sacrificial terminology demonstrate amply that the kapparot is a ritual killing of an animal for an expiatory purpose. Rav Sheshna uses sacrificial terminology such as ;JJ"'?.lO and regulations for sacrifices (the slaughtering follows immediately after the laying on of one hand). Unlike the scapegoat ritual, however, no confession is spoken and only one hand is laid on the animal. Still, the performance does look like a sacrifice intended for Satan, a revival of the scapegoat, especially if homed animals are used. 285 It was precisely this misleading closeness to sacrifices that was one of the reasons for medieval halakhic authorities objecting to the rite 286 Yet, despite the fact that the kapparot were strongly opposed by numerous great authorities like Nachmanides, Rashba and Rabbi Y osef Qaro, it remained popular throughout the ages. This is probably due to the deep psychological impression the ritual makes on the performer and the spectators and the need to perform some act ensuring atonement. Ritual blood spilling and detachment of the entrails embodying the sins fulfilled these psychological needs better and more visibly than a mere verbal recounting of the temple ritual.

273

,. I omitI a .long quotation ofPs 107:10-21·, Job 33·24 . _ Trans atton by l.Z. Lauterbach, Studies in Jewish Law, Custom and Folklore (Edtted by Bernard J. Bamberger; New York, 1970), pp. 356-357. The words in parentheses ( )_ are _additions by Lauterbach, those in square brackets [ ] are additions from the text given m a note on the previous page. 275 • Usually the pater fami/ias buys a hen for each female and a cock for each male family member. See the letter ofRav Sheshna from Sura, quoted in Lauterbach Rabbinic Essays, p. 356. Today, white is the preferable color. ' ~; Lauterbach, Stud~es in Jewish Law, Custom and Folklore, p. 369. Much later Rasht speaks of the poor using sacks of beans (on bSabb 81 b): see L;,~terbach, Studies in Jewish Law, Custom and Folklore, pp. 370-373. Rav Sheshna from Sura, quoted in Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays, p. 356. 279 See Lauterbach, Rabbinic &says, p. 356.

280

Gen 22:13. Gen 37:31-33. 282 Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Leviticus 9:3. 283 See the discussion of this passage on pp. 12&-129, below. 284 In modem prayer books one often Imds the argument to use a rooster, because it is an animal that could not be sacrificed in the Jerusalem temple and does not raise the suspicion that the kapparot could be mistaken for a prohibited sacrificial rite outside the sanctuary. This argument is much more recent than Sheshna. Furthermore, this argumentation is true only for the theologian, not for the anthropologist or the performer of the rite. m Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays, p. 365. 286 Lauterbach, Studies in Jewish Law, Custom and Folklore, pp. 357-358, note 77. 281

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3.4 Pagan and Christian Descriptions of Contemporary Yom Kippur Rites

Eusebius Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria and Jacob of Sarug. For of the three autumn festivals is amply demoustrated by "ders' this unity OtU S l , an explicit statement of the ninth-century Syriac ~xegete Ihdd"lnh s o a : . ~ e eventh lunar month, first Tishri, there is a fest1val from the begmmng s fl the twenty-first day."290 This misapprehension illustrates that for the :~-Jewish observer the festivals, being so close chronologically, might appear to be one long festival. Moreover, tw~ details ~f Plutarch's description match not only Sukkot but also Yom Kippur: the Joyful context of the dances in the vineyards and the fesllve meal as breaking of the fast after sunset?91 It is therefore quite plausible to see Plutarch's description as a firsthand outside observation that is slightly confused. The satirist Juvenal (ca. 60--130 CE) wrote the most delightful lines on Yom Kippur:

68

3.4.1 Pagan Texts Jewish festivals, with the exception of the Sabbath, are not very prominent in pagan texts. Menahem Stem in the index to his magnificent Greek and Roman Authors on Jews and Judaism lists only two passages for Yom Kippur, 287 and he rejects them in his commentary - unjustifiably, as we shall see. In an attempt to portray Judaism as a variant cnlt of Dionysus, Plutarch (ca. 40--120 CE) turns to some of the Jewish festivals, among them Yom Kippur and Sukkot: The time and character of the greatest, most sacred holiday of the Jews clearly befit Dionysus. When they celebrate their so-called Fast (ti)v yU.p AEYO!l&vt]v Vl]atriav). at the height of the vintage, they set out tables of all sorts of fruit under tents and huts plaited for the most part of vines and ivy. They call the first of the

days of the feast Tabernacles

(oiCTIV1)v) ... 288

According to Stern, Plutarch's use of Yom Kippur is a mistake and he is really referring only to Sukkot. Yet Plutarch may well reflect the impression of an outside observer of the festivals of Yom Kippur and Sukkot. Philo, too, emphasizes the time of the fast in the middle of the harvest period. Authors more acquainted with Judaism than Plutarch who certainly were firsthand observers confused Sukkot and Yom Kippur, among them

287 Stem, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism. In addition to the two passages discussed here, one should mention the passage of Hecateus of Abdera referred to below (seep. 109, note 149), whose description of the Jewish high priest may have been influenced by the temple ritual of Yom Kippur with its entrance to the holy of holies and the prostration of the people. A fourth passage, a letter of Augustus to Tiberius, probably confuses Sabbath and Yom Kippur: "Not even a Jew, my dear Tiberius, fasts so scrupulously on his Sabbaths (di/igenter sabbatis ieiunium servat) as I have to-day; for it was not until after the first hour of the night that I ate two mouthfuls of bread in the bath before I began to be anointed." (Suetonius, Divus Augustus 76:2, translation by J.C. Rolfe in LCL). Stern, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism, vol. 2, p. 110, comments that other classical authors express the same notion of a fast on the Sabbath. Heinrich Lewy observed that it may have been one of the names of Yom Kippur, Sabbath of Sabbaths that caused this confusion: see H. Lewy, "Philologisches aus dem Talmud," Philologus 84 (I929) 377-398, here pp. 390--391. For the possibility that in Rome, Yom Kippur was kept on a Sabbath, see D. Stlikl Ben Ezra, "Whose Fast Is It? The Ember Day and Yom Kippur," in: A.H. Becker and A. Reed (eds.), The Ways That Never Parted: Jews and Christians in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 95; Tnbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003; pp. 259-282). 288 Plutarch, Quaestiones Convivales 4:6:2, 6710, translation by H.B. Hoffleit in LCL; cf. Stern, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism, vol. I, p. 557.

289

[This diamond] was given as a present long ago by the barbarian Agripp~ to his incestuous sister, in that country where kings celebrate festal Sabbaths With bare 292 feet, and where a long-established clemency suffers pigs to attain old age.

Again, Stern rejects that this passage reflects Yom Kipp~ and, following a suggestion by Friedlander, refers to the general obhgatwn to remove the shoes on entering the Temple Mount. Heinrich Lewy, however, suggests

m Eusebius, Demonstratio Evangelica I :3:2 (Yom Kippur as one of the three pilgrimages); Chrysostom, Against the Jews I: 1 (wrong order); even more so on page t23a of the newly found manuscript of Against the Jews 2, where he speaks of a fast on Sukkot; see also Cb.rysostom, Christmas Homily 5 (PG 49:357BC); Cyril of Alexandri~ Commentary on Isaiah 1:14 (PG 70:36C); Jacob of Sarug, Homily on the Scapegoat, m P. Bedjan, Homiliae Se/ectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis (Leipzig and Paris, 1907), vol. 3,

pp.259,263,267,275. 290 Did Ishodad know neither Shemini 'Azeret on Tishri 22 nor Simhat Torah? The text continues: "At the beginning of the month is the festival of thanksgiving, that of the harvest; and on the tenth is the day of expiation [~]. on which they fast and are idle; and from the fifteenth to the twenty-first is [the festival] of booths. On the day of expiation, the priest expiates and sanctifies the holy of holies and the altar in order that they be no longer rendered impure because of the fault of those who were not proper to serve as priests. Regarding this God issued the reproach: 'They have defiled my name and my altar'." My translation ofishodad, Commentary on Leviticus 23:23-26, following C. van den Eynde (ed.), Commentaire d'lso'dad de Merv sur /'Ancien Testament. 11. Exode-Deuttironome (CSCO 176, Scriptores Syri 80; Louvain, 1958), p. 84 (cf. his French translation in CSCO 81, p. 112). On Ishodad, see C. Leonhard,lshodad ofMerw's Exegesis ofthe Psalms I 19 and 139-147. A Study ofHis Interpretation in the Light of the Syriac Translation of Theodore ofMopsuestia's Commentary (CSCO 585; Subsidia 107; Leuven, 2001). 291 Cf. mTa'an 4:8 and mYoma 7:4. 292 Juvenal, Saturae 6:157-160, translation by G.G. Ramsay in LCL; cf. Stem, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism, voJ. 2, p. 100.



the custom of walking barefoot on Yom Kippur. 293 Four arguments support Lewy's suggestion over Stem's and Friedlander's. First, the rite of walking publicly with bare feet on Yom Kippur attracted the attention of other observers, too. 294 Second, the mention of the Sabbath is more reasonably associated with a special day such as Yom Kippur than is the prohibition against entering the temple with shoes, which is valid every day. Moreover, the Sabbath is confused with Yom Kippur also in other passages for example, in Augustus' letter. 295 Third, Juvenal was more likely to have heard about the king walking barefoot on a Yom Kippur in Rome than about the king's barefoot entry to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Fourth, the moment of absurdity (in Roman eyes) lies in the concept that a king would celebrate a festival barefooted - i.e. with a mourning custom rather than in the common practice of removing the shoes before entering a sacred precinct. The latter would not be considered amusing. In suro, none of the pagan references to Yom Kippur is a straightforward description; all are problematic, especially the frrst. We can consider this result as a cup half full or half empty. The cup is half empty because pagans seem to have taken little notice of Yom Kippur. On the other hand it is half full because in the pagan texts Yom Kippur is the "most famous" festival after the Sabbath296

who mention the practice of fasting and mourning might be using exegetical deduction from the juxtaposition of "hurobling" and "fasting" in psalms 34:13 or Isaiah 58:4--5 with Leviticus 16 and Jonah. While for many, "the fast" is the name for the Day of Atonement instead of the biblical Yom Kippur, this notion may be derived from the descriptions of Phiio.299 Praying, the central rite, is mentioned only by Tertullian and Ephrem. was prayer perhaps too private to be noticed in closed synagogues? The earliest Christian description of Yom Kippur outside the temple - that by Tertullian, On Fasting 16, suggests the opposite location, open space:

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3.4.2 Christian Texts Christian knowledge of Jewish Yom Kippur rites was fairly general (though much more specific than the pagan texts), mentioning the date and the rites of praying, fasting, walking barefoot, dancing and assembling in open places as well as various mourning practices. Most descriptions appear, however, in a polemical context susceptible to fabrication. 297 It is therefore crucial to distinguish between imaginary descriptions and references to actual Jewish ritual. Only those Christians who refer to nonbiblical rites other than fasting and mourning can be considered eyewitnesses.298 References to sackcloth and ashes in the mourning rites may reflect polemical topoi based on Isaiah 58, Jonah and Matthew 6:17 rather than personal observation of Jewish celebrations. Those Christian authors 293

Lewy, "Philologisches aus dem Talmud," pp. 390-391. See the discussion on nudipedalia in the Christian texts, below, pp. 74-75. 295 See above, p. 68, note 287. 296 According to the index in Stem, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism, Passover and Shavuot do not seem to have been mentioned at ali, and Sukkot is referred to only in the passage quoted above. 297 For further analysis of passages by the Church Fathers on Yom Kippur, see pp. 262-289, below. 298 For a discussion of this question, see pp. 277-283, below. 294

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A Jewish fast (Iudaicum ieiunium), at all events, is celebrated everywhere; while, neglecting the temples (temp/is), throughout all the shore, in every open place, at length they send prayer[s] up to heaven. And, albeit by the dress and ornamentation they disgrace the duty of mourning, still they pretend loyalty to abstinence and sigh for the authority of the lingering star [to sanction their eating]. 300

To my knowledge Samuel Krauss was the first to use this passage for reconstructing the Jewish customs of Yom Kippur. 301 Krauss was followed notably by Claude Aziza302 Against both, Hillel Newman has argued that Tertullian describes the fast of a pagan group that fasts as if they were Jews, as suggested by the adjective Iudaicum. 303 Newman's main argument is that it is difficult to explain the term temp/is in the plural in a Jewish context. 304 Yet Steven Fine's recent study shows that the ''templization" of 299

Cf. note 7 on p. 16, above. Slightly changed translation of On Fasting 16:6 by S. Thelwall in Ante-Nicene Fathers 4: 113; text in A. Gerlo (ed.), Quinti Septimi Florentis Tertulliani Opera. Pars II. Opera Montanistica (CCSL 2; Tumhout, 1956), p. 1275. 301 SeeS. Krauss, Synagogale Altertii.mer (Berlin, Vienna, 1922), p. 272. 302 C. Aziza, Tertullien et le judafsme (Publications de Ia Faculte des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de Nice 16; Nice, 1977). 3°3 See H. Newman, "Jerome and the Jews" [in Hebrew with English summary] (Ph.D. dissertation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1997), here p. 167. Newman compares the ludaicum of this passage with the Niniviticum in the immediately preceding paragraph, which clearly refers to pagans (sacrificial altar fire, idols). Yet it is by no means clear that the two paragraphs are about the same group and ritual. In fact, in the first paragraph, the people wear sackcloth and ashes while in the second paragraph they are dressed ornately, which in Tertullian's eyes disturbs the mourning ambience. This significant point has been turned upside down by S. Thelwall's translation. 304. The expression l:ll10 rnpo is very rarely used for synagogues and teaching halls, and then only quite late (only in bMeg 29a). On the term, see Krauss, Synagogale Altertiimer, pp. 17-18 and 28, note 6; and Stern, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism, p. 43. Two early non-Jewish authors use «temples" to refer to "synagogues": Tacitus, Historia 5:5:4 (igitur nulla simulacra urbibus suis, nedum temp/is s[istjunt), see C.H. Moore in LCL Tacitus 2; Stern, number 281, vol. 2, pp. 17-63; Agatharchides ofCnidus 300



the synagogue began to occur already in the Tannaitic period 305 That Tertullian refers to pagans who followed Jewish practices (including fasting) elsewhere, and that the custom of fasting until the end of the day is attested in pagan texts, too, makes a pagan provenance as possible as a Jewish one, but not more likely. 306 In either case, I still consider it the earliest detailed non-Jewish description of Yom Kippur outside the temple, notwithstanding that the depiction might concern a Yom Kippur observed by pagans - for even in this case, the comparison with the Jewish fast reveals how Tertullian imagined a Jewish Yom Kippur and what he knew about it. Tertullian chooses to characterize this "Jewish fast" by depicting the people as engaged in prayer and abstinence, dressing in solemn clothing and congregated in open places until the setting of the sun and the appearance of stars. All these non-biblical details and also the notable length of the prayers can be verified by other evidence. 307 The ornate dressing is particularly significant, since it matches the rabbinic descriptions of joy and dancing only on Yom Kippur and not on any other Jewish fast. 308 Considering that the Old Testan3ent (Isaiah 58 and Jonah) and the New (Matthew 6) describe the opposite custom, Tertullian probably observed with his own eyes not only the pagan fast but also the Jewish Yom Kippur. While Tertullian, when engaged in directly anti-Jewish polentics, contrasts the fast with the Eucharist and considers participation in the fast harmful,309 in On Fasting he only disregards the joyful aspect without a demonization of the Jewish fast (as e.g. Chrysostom will do), and he even prefers it to psychic -i.e. Catholic Christian- fasts.

Three of the details observed by Tertnllian appear also in other nonJewish sources: prayer, assembling outdoors and the joyful aspect. Regarding the Jewish preoccupation with prayer on Yom Kippur, I found only one other Christian author, Ephrem, in his Homily on Fasting:

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apud Josephus, Contra Apionem 1:209: O:;U,.' i;v -cou; ispott 'tilN) offer pure and perfect heavenly sacrifices. These scenes are built on the same imagery as the apocalyptic ascent visions. Esther Chazon has worked out the various levels of correspondence between the heavenly and the earthly liturgy, up to human participation in the heavenly prayer, i.e. ritualized mysticism in communal prayer. 33 This ritualization will be important when we come to the Valentinian ritual of the bridal chamber. As we shall see in part 2, the Yom Kippur temple ritual does not become a fixed part of the depiction but continues to serve as a "living" source of inspiration in the Christian Jewish texts. The Christian Jewish texts not only use motifs derived from the apocalyptic tradition of the vision but also add elements from their imaginaire of Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur, then, remained a powerful influence.

26

2Enoch describes Enoch's metamorphosis into an angel on the ascent to the highest heaven in terms of a priestly investiture. The archangel Michael brings Enoch to the tenth heaven, where Enoch stands before the indescribable face of the Lord, who is seated on his throne surrounded by singing cherubs and seraphs. Enoch prostrates himself and is bidden by God to stand up. God orders Michael to anoint Enoch and change his clothes, and Enoch is ordained by Michael, a member of the order of angelic priests (ch. 22). See Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, pp. 37-44, especially 40-41. The change of clothes has no atoning connotation. The structure of ten heavens clearly presumes a hierarchical sacred geography. The ordination takes place in the holiest space. See Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, p. 42. Cherubs and throne are reminiscent of the holy of holies of the First Temple. The prostration may point to the priestly cult. 27 See below, pp. 228-237. 28 See below, pp. 110-112. 29 The first view is expressed by Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses; the second by, among others, M. Stone, "Apocalyptic- Vision or Hallucination?" Milia wa-Mil/a 14 (1974) 47-56. Many intermediate positions are discussed in Himmelfarb's fifth chapter. 3
And the D[ay of Atone]ment6 1 i[s] the e[nd of] the tenth [ju]bilee in which atonement will be made for all the sons of [light and for] the men [of] the lot of Mel[chi]zedek. (IIQMelchizedek ii 7-8).

It is evident from the extant text that the author of II QMelchizedek considered to be Melchizedek a high priest, since he is described as an individual performing a collective atonement on Yom Kippur. 61 This might have been stated explicitly in a line of the text no longer extant. Meichizedek is the incumbent of the high priesthood in Targumic sources, 63 and his role is very close to that of Michael, the heavenly high priest in Second Temple and rabbinic sources. 64 Furthermore, it is quite probable that 4QVisions of Amram' 2:3 identifies the two as heavenly opponents of Belial. 65 With regard to the imaginaire of Yom Kippur in the Book of the Watchers, the most important development is that IIQMelchizedek has embellished the details of the proximity of the eschatological purification to the high-priestly ritual on Yom Kippur. Meichizedek explicitly atones, and the day of judgment is explicitly called Yom Kippur. Does I I QMelchizedek also reinforce the elements depicting the evil opponent in terms Grabbe, "The Scapegoat Tradition," p. 166. This universally recognized reconstruction is based on the context of the Jubilee, which according to Lev 25:9-10 begins on Yom Kippur, and by the mention of1!1J?. See Garcia-Martinez, Tigchelaar and van der Woude, "11QMelchizedek." p. 231. 62 This was first asserted by Emile Puech, "Notes sur le manuscrit de XIQMelkisedeq," p. 512: "En llQMelkisedeq, ce personnage est clairement considere comme le grand pretre de Ia liturgie celeste au YOm KippUr puisque executant les jugements divins, it fait !'Expiation defmitive ... signifiant le pardon divin des transgressions passees pour ceux de son lot. ... Dans le contexte de J'epoque, Ia fonction sacerdotale d'expiation etait le propre du grand pretre au jour de Kippur." 63 M. McNamara, "Melchizedek: Gen 14,17-20 in the Targums, in Rabbinic and Early Christian Literature," Biblica 81 (2000) 1-31, here pp. 22-26. 64 On the relations between Michael and Melchizedek, see e.g. J. Davila, "Melchizedek, Michael, and War in Heaven," in: Society of Biblical Literature 1996 Seminar Papers (35; Atlanta [Ga.], 1996; pp. 259-272); P.J. Kobelski, Melchizedek and MelchireSa (Catholic Biblical Qu~erly, Monograph Series 10; Washington, 1981). On Michael, see the classic by W. Lueken, Michael. Eine Darstellung und Vergleichung der jiidischen und der morgenltindisch-christlichen Tradition vom Erzengel Michael (GOttingen, 1898). Carol Newsom has suggested that Melchizedek be reconstructed as the name of a heavenly angel in the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (4Q401 11 3; 22 3): Newsom, Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, pp. 134 and 143-144. 65 The ingenious reconstruction was suggested by Milik and is accepted by most scholars, see Kobelski, Melchizedek and Me/chireSa, pp. 24-36. 60 61

92


of the scapegoat? Belial is devoured by fire aod not thrown into a pit in the desert. 66 IIQMelchizedek is closer to the Shemihaza layer of I Enoch (influenced by Yom Kippur in a general fashion) thao to the Asael layer (influenced by the scapegoat ritual). However, the extaot text is far too short aod too fragmentary to resolve this question!' 1.2.3 The Apocalypse ofAbraham: Zechariah 3 Meets the Demonology of 'Az'azel The narrative of the Apocalypse of Abraham includes a heavenly journey by Abraham, set in the scene of the sacrifice of Genesis 15. 68 A bird lands on the halved animals aod tries talking to Abraham: 13:6 And it came to pass when I saw the bird speaking I said this to the angel: "What is this, my lord?" And he said, "This is disgrace, 69 this is Azazel!" 1 And be said to him, "Shame on you, Azazel! 7 For Abraham's portion 71 is in heaven, and

°

66

11 QMe/chizedek iii 7; on the burning, I Enoch 10:13-14. E.g. Belial may have been hurled down in the desert later in the text, in a line that did not survive the troubles of t.itiJF. 68 The text is extant only in a Slavonic translation, its original language was Semitic, either Hebrew or Aramaic. I used the translation and commentary by A. Kulik, "Apocalypse of Abraham. Towards the Lost Original,.. (Ph.D. dissertation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2000); and the two translations by R. Rubinkiewicz: "The Apocalypse of Abraham," in: J.H. Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 1 (New York, 1983; pp. 681-705), and £'Apocalypse d'Abraham en vieux slave. Introduction, texte critique, traduction et commentaire (Zr6dla i monografie 129; Lublin, 1987); and compared them to the translations by B. Philonenko-Sayar and P. Marc (eds.), "L'Apocalypse d' Abraham. Introduction, texte slave, traduction et notes," Semitica 31 (1981) 7117; and B. Philonenko-Sayar and M. Philonenko, Die Apocalypse Abrahams (Jiidische Schriften aus hellenistischer und rOmischer Zeit 5:5; Giitersloh, 1982). The ApocalyPse of Abraham has been dated to around I 00 CE ± 20 years, which makes it contemporaneous with the later writings of the New Testament. See Rubinkiewicz, "The Apocalypse of Abraham," p. 683. His evidence in L 'Apocalypse d'Abraham en vieux slave for an even more exact dating (between 79 and 81 CE) is not convincing. 69 Rubinkiewicz's Greek reconstruction is O.oe~eia. In his French translation Rubinkiewicz reads iniquiti. He postulates ;-ro,7.) or l11ln as the original Hebrew reading (L 'Apocalypse d'Abraham en vieux slave, 143-147). Philonenko-Sayar's French translation reads impieti and her German version reads Gottlosigkeit. Kulik, "Apocalypse of Abraham," pp. 89-90, translates "iniquity" and suggests as additional possibilities "disgrace," (O.n~ia lll7j? 1;-rn•'?J), "impiety" (Qoe~eia) I "wickedness" (l71ll,) l"transgress[ion]" (l1tu!l) I "iniquity'' (llll1). 70 Rubinkiewicz suggests 1:1 ,37l' as the original reading, the same reading as Zech 3:2. Kulik, "Apocalypse of Abraham," p. 90, does not discuss this possibility. He translates '"reproach is on you" and suggests Ove100v n:poyeyov6-rrov iLJJ.UP'fl]J11i•rov Sv til tivoxil tOii Ssoii.

4. Christ as Atonement (L\.acr!lo~): lJohn The first Epistle of John from around 95 CE295 twice uses the term ll.ao~6 hardly at all about creation316 Moreover, the two festivals should regarded as a unit since they are separated by I 0 days. ~~~:w:::t~~ very few data are available on the festival of Rosh in the time of the Second Temple. 317 Philo emphasizes the

l

n1!llW ,nun:n ,nPJ77.l ("kingdoms," "commemorations," "trumpets"). On the early of these additions to the Amidah, see the literature given above, p. 49, note 179. S. Lyonnet, "L'hymne christologique de l'epitre aux Colossiens et Ia Fete juive du nouvel an," Recherches de Science Religieuse 48 (1960) 93-100. 312 Philo, De specia/ibus legibus 2:188-192; the other passage is Prov 10:10; cf. also Matt 5:9; the substantive appears also in Xenophon, He/lenica 6:3:4. See Lyonnet, "'L'hymne cbristologique de l'epitre aux Colossiens," pp. 96--97. 313 Exceptions are Leonhardt, Jewish Worship in Philo of Alexandria, p. 42; Aletti, Colossiens 1, I 5-20, p. 91. Schweizer, Der Brief an die Kolosser, p. 55. 315 See Stettler, Der Ko/osserhymnus, pp. 6--10 on Lohmeyer, pp. 266-299 on ;~~~!:~~~ und Frieden," and pp. 32Q-323 on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as ~:. He concludes: "Die Textbasis ist ... zu schmal, so dass wir kaum davon ktinnen, dass der SchOpfer des Hymnus besagten Festzyklus [from Rosh ''Jiasltam!h to Yom Kippur] bewusst im Auge gehabt hiitte, oder auch nur, dass die in Christuspsalm verarbeiteten Traditionen von Schtipfung, Slihne und Neti:~~::::: schon in jenem jiidischen Festzyklus in einem inneren Zusammenhang Mtten." (pp. 322-323). Stettler, Der Kolosserhymnus, refers to Sir 50:22 as the only text linking Yom creation. lQS Rule of the Community x:6; llQTemple Scroll xxv:l-10. Some of the fragments may belong to Rosh Hashanah. Philo mentions the festival in sprdiing to Tidwell, the hapaxlegomenon and /ectio difjicilior Kata = & KUpiou in the Hierosolymitanus of Didache 14:1 is a pleonastic 'Semitism imitating ]1mtv n~tv, one of the nan1es of Yom Kippur. 343 The use without the article corresponds to the Septuagint's translations of +~'P"'""' superlative found in the Hebrew Bible using the Tetragr=aton: the Lord's Day of the LoRD," meaning "the most solemn day of the days." The Syrian Christian term KUptaiCI\ distinguishes the ;~!rri•sti'm holiday from the Jewish Sabbath.344 Didache 14:1 is therefore understood as equivalent to "Sabbath of Sabbaths," i.e. Yom Kippur. major topic of Didache 14, confession and reconciliation, matches the : ~ate;l!leJlt in Mishnah Yom a 8:9 that "Yom Kippur atones for transgresbetween a man and his fellow man only after he has placated the felmao." Furthermore, the marvelous nan1e of the LORD plays an imporrole in Didache 14 as well as during the Yom Kippur temple ritual. ritual meal alluded to would have taken place on the eve of Yom

''"''-·n'•n•

Tidwall' s suggestion does not convince me. While the confession, the

;:~~:~~~~::~~and the significance assigned to God's nao1e evoke the as-

~-::;

of Yom Kippur, the sacrificial common meal seems to take place

''"""~''" Lord's Day of the LoRD" itself and therefore comes closer to an

O'Brien, Colossians, Philemon, p. 139. N. Tidwell, "Didache XIV:l (KATA KYPIAKHN 6.E KYPIOY) revisited," Vigiliae '(;h••isti<mae 53 (1999) 197-207. ·. -.- Didache 14:1-3, trans!. Holmes adapted to Tidwell's article. See above, pp. 16-17. This term appears also in cf. Rev 1:10; Ignatius, To the Magnesians 9:1; Gospel of 9:35; 12:50; Apostolic Constitutions 7:30:1 - for the text and a French translation Metzger, Les Constitutions apostoliques (3 _vols; SC 320, 329, 336; Paris 1985~ 1987), here SC 336, pp. 6()..{;1.

218 The Impact of Yom Kippur on Christianity in the First and Second Centuries

anti-ritual against Yom Kippur similar to the pork barbeque that some secular Jews hold on the Day of Atonement in our times. 345 Furthermore, though "the Lord's Day of the LoRD" could be a pun on 11nJtu nJtu, the sentence does not give any date. It could as well be Easter. If we understand KatO. lC'UptaKT)v ot K'Upiau in a pleonastic sense, as do the majority of . commentators, the meal takes place on a Sunday.346 Moreover, the add"xtlon to the quotation of Malachi "in every place and time"347 supports such an interpretation much better than does an understanding of the day as being Yom Kippur. Therefore, if there is any connection to Yom Kippur in Didache 14, it seems to me more likely that it presents Sunday as a substitution for Yom Kippur- an interpretation that matches other Halakhot in the Didache on fasting and the Sabbath as distingnishing the community from (other) Jews. 348 !fLuke's commnnity, parts of the Roman community and the opponents of Colossians observed Yom Kippur, 349 what about the various Jewish Christian groups of the second and subsequent centuries? Even here, we are entirely dependent on hypotheses, since the sources are not explicit about any festival observed by Jewish Christians. James, the brother of Jesus, one of the leaders of the Aramaic-speaking Christian Jewish community in Jerusalem nntil his lynching in 62 CE, is closely associated with the temple. As will become clear below, Hegesippus' depiction of James as a permanently interceding high priest in the holy of holies might be understood as polemicizing against the Jewish Christian observation of the fast of Yom Kippur as a single day ofintercession. 350 It appears that some Jewish Christians still observed the Day of Atonement while others, even some close to Jewish Christianity, considered the day obsolete for Christians.

345

Was the confession public as portrayed in Didache 4:14? See, e.g. K. Niederwimmer, Die Didache (Kommentar zu den Apostolischen Viitern 1; Gattingen, 1993), pp. 234-240, esp. p. 235; W. Rordorfand A. Tuilier, La doctrine des douze apOtres (Didach€). Introduction, Texte, Traduction, Notes, Appendice et Index (SC 248; Paris, 1978), p. 65. 347 See R.P. Gordon, "Targumic Parallels to Acts XIII 18 and Didache XIV 3," Novum Testamentum 16 (1974) 285-289, here p. 287 referring to Targum Jonathan Mall:ll. 343 The Didache quotes only Mal I: 11 and I: 14, omitting 1: 12-13, verses that are often used in anti-Jewish polemics: see Niederwimmer, Die Didache, p. 240. However, verses 12 and 13 would not match the present Eucharistic context. 349 Unfortunately, it remains unclear to which "appointed times and hours" (00plq~€vou; ~eatpaV; ~eai ci>patc;) I Clement 40: 1-5 is referring, at which the Christian offerings are to be perfonned. 350 See below, pp. 246-250. 346

Yom Kippur Imagery in the Early Christian lmaginaire

219

6.2 The Abolition of Yom Kippur by First- and Second-Century Christians

At some point after Jesus' death, in different communities at different times, some followers of Jesus ceased to observe Yom Kippur. Again, our data are circumstantial and consist mainly of explicit polemics against Yom Kippur. Here we have to distinguish, however, between the negati:e attitudes toward the Yom Kippur temple ritual and attitudes toward the ntual of the people. Disregarding the temple ritual does not mean neglecting the popular abstentions such as the fast. In other words, even if a text considers Christ's death as abolishing or replacing the temple ritual, this says nothing about the attitude of its author and its readers toward the fast of Yom Kippur. Hengel made his above-cited statement in a discussion about the attitude of Luke to the temple and the sacrificial cult of Yom Kippur and deduced from this Luke's attitude toward the festival as such. 351 However, even though the author of Luke-Acts polemicized against the sacrificial cult he continued to respect the fast and prayer of the people on Yom Kippur. Moreover, theory and practice do not always converge. Even if Luke regarded Christ's death as atoning- and this assumption is controversial - he may have continued to observe the communal fast and prayer of Yom Kippur- just as other Jews and God-fearers fasted and participated in the prayer services of the Second Temple period when the high priest was actually effecting atonement on behalf of them in the temple. Of the first-century texts, ouly Barnabas explicitly argnes against the popular participation in the fast, substituting for it the Eucharist: Despite the fact that a commandment was written that "whosoever does not keep the fast shall die the death," 352 the Lord commanded this [i.e. to eat], b~cause he himself was going to offer the vessel of the spirit as a sacrifice for our sms ... you alone shall eat, while the people fast and mourn in sackcloth and ashes. 353

This substitution may have been part of the proto-typology, i.e. it may have occurred very early. Beyond this passage, it is possible that the author of Colossians is propagating the abolition of all festivals. 354 Nevertheless~ we cannot extrapolate from these texts an anti-Yom Kippur attitude in other communities - as shown in Luke and Romans. Only in the second century are more voices raised explicitly against the fast of Yom Kippur. 355 The anonymous Epistle to Diognet (second or third century CE) holds forth: 351

See above, p. 213. Cf. Lev 23:29. 353 Barnabas 1:3.5. 3S4 See also above, p. 216, note 337, on Gal4:10. m See my earlier analysis of the ambiguous phrase of Tertullian (above, p. 157, note 40). Justin, notably, does not polemicize against the "obsolete" fast of Yom Kippur. 352

220 The Impact of Yom Kippur on Christianity in the First and Second Centuries And next I suppose that you are especially anxious to hear why Christians do worship in the same way as the Jews. The Jews indeed, insofar as they abstain -:·· from the kind of [pagan] worship described above, rightly claim to worship tli'e one God of the universe and to think of him as Master. ... But with regard to their qualms (lJHxpOO££
Yom Kippur and the Christian Autumn Festivals

313

Month is purification and protection of the community, propitiation of God and forgiveness of sins. 104 The placatory function of fasting is expressed e.g. in Sermon 88:1: "The arousal of divine justice ... could not be placated except by fasting," and Sermon 94:4: "By the devotion of our fast we may please the merciful God." 105 The discipline of the body is strengthened by the abstention from food, the soul by the abstention from sin. 106 Here and there Leo adds sacrificial connotations, mostly speaking of alms as the "sacrifice of mercy." 107 In one passage Leo explicitly juxtaposes fast and sacrifice with a placatory function: "The God of mercies, pleased by the sacrifice of the fast, will hear us, through Christ our Lord." 108 Almsgiving is obligatory for all, regardless of fasting, and a fast without almsgiving is considered a mere expression of avarice. 109 From the time of Gelasius I (492-496), 110 the fasts gain yet another dimension by being occasions for the ordination of priests and deacons. This practice might even have been the custom as early as the days of LeoY 1 The communal character of the 104 This comes out strongly also in the Veronense, e.g. 873: "Adesto, domine,fidelibus tuis, et quos caelestibus institues sacramentis, a terrenis conserua periculis." (ed. EizenMfer, Siffrin and Mohlberg, p. 110); and 876: "Omnipotens sempiterne deus, misericordiam tuam supp/ices exoramus, ut hoc tuum, domine, sacramentum non sit nobis reatus ad poenam, sed fiat intercessio salutaris ad ueniam: sit abolltio peccatorum, sit fortitudo jragilium, sit contra mundi pericula jirmamentum.., (ed. EizenhOfer, Siffrin and Moh1berg, pp. 11 o-111 ). 105 Cf. also Sermon 93:3 "When our three devotions come together into one design, that is 'prayer, alms, and fasting,' the grace of God furnishes us with a restraint in desires, the granting of our prayers, and forgiveness of sins." On the propitiation by prayer and almsgiving, see also Sennon 12:4; 15: I; 20:3 "a certain power of baptism is set in almsgiving." 106 E.g. Sermon 86:1-2; 87:1; 88:1-2; 89:3; 92:2; 93:3; :94:1-2. !07 E.g. Sermon 13:2; 20:2; 88:5. 108 Deus misericordiarum ieiunii sacriflcio placatus exaudiat per Christum Dominum nostrum (Sermon 89:6). Cf. Veronense N° 895, Accepta tibi sin/, domine, quaesumus, nostri dona ieiunii; quae et expiando nos tua gratia dignos efficient, et ad sempiterna promissa perducant (ed. EizenhOfer, Siffrin and Mohlberg, p. 112). 109 E.g. Sermon 15:2; 87:3. The traditional triad- fast, prayer and almsgiving- reflects the central chapter of the Sennon on the Mount (Matt 6). On Leo and almsgiving, see R. Bolle, "Un docteur de 1'awn6ne, S. Leon le Grand," Vie Spirituelle (1957) 266--287. 110 Gelasius, Letter 14 (PL 59:138A): Ordinationes vero presbyterOrum seu diaconorum non nisi quarti, septimi, et decimi mensium jejuniis; sed et ingressu quadragesima/i atque media, vespere sabbati noverit celebrandas. In the Veronense, the prayers for ordination and for the memorial of ordinations of bishops follow the prayers for the Fast of the Seventh Month. 111 In fact, Leo I celebrated his ordination day on the Fast of the Seventh Month in the year 443: see Chavasse, "Le sermon III de saint Leon et la date de Ia celebration des Quatre-Temps de septembre." It is possible that his ordination day, Sunday, 29 September 440 CE, coincided with the end of the vigil of the September Fast. However, this may

314 The Impact of Yom Kippur on Christianity in the Third to the Fifth Centuries

fast is of central importance. For Leo, the communal fast and almsgiving constitutes an apotropaic protection rite for the whole commWlity, since they purify the Church as a whole and unify it against the attacks of the devil.II 2 Although the watchful fury of the cruel enemy rages and spreads out hidden snares everywhere, he can take no one, he can wound no one, if he finds everyone armed, everyone active, everyone sharing in the works ofmercy. 113

This concept recalls the importance of the communal fast on Yom Kippur and reflects a relatively recent shift in Ecclesiology- Augustine's view of the Church as a "school of sinners." 114 The fast of the individual does not need appointed days and belongs to the "voluntary observances . . . dependent on private initiative" (Sermon 88:2); the combination of communal fast and prayer is a more efficacious means of purification and remission of all sins than is the individual fast:


tion of God through fasting, alms, supplicatory prayers and abstention from work, the unifying communal character, the sacrificial connotation and the association with ordination. Taken singly, none is sufficiently distinctive, as cumulative evidence, however, they are noteworthy for pointing to a relation between Yom Kippur and the Fast of the Seventh Month. But as noted earlier, Leo is careful to emphasize the distinctions from the parallel Jewish fast. While Christians should abstain from "worldly occupations," they may perform "necessary" works; and food consumption is reduced, not completely forbidden, and whoever does not feel strong enough, may eat. 117 The close and ambivalent relationship between the Christian Fast of the Seventh Month and the Jewish Day of Atonement is most clearly expressed in Leo's 89th Sermon: When, therefore, dearly beloved, we encourage you on to certain matters set out even in the Old Testament, we are not subjecting you to the yoke of Jewish observance, nor are we suggesting to you the custom of a worldly (carnalis) people. Christian self-denial surpasses their fasts, and, if there is anything in common between us and them in chronological circumstances (temporibus), the customs (moribus) are different. 118 Let them have their barefoot processions (nudipedalia), and let their pointless fasts (ieiunia) show in the sadness of their faces (in tristitia uultuum). We, however, show no change in the respectability of our clothes. We do not refrain from any right and necessary work. Instead, we control our freedom in eating by simple frugality, limiting the quantity of our food, but not condemning what God has created. 119

We are all cleansed by the daily gift of God from various contaminations. In unwary souls, however, many gross spots adhere that ought to be washed out with greater care and cleansed with more effort. The fullest remission of sin is obtained when there is one prayer and on~ confession of the whole Church. 115

The Sermons on the fasts of the fourth and tenth months show that these characteristics are common to all three fastsn• Propitiating and purifying are the general aims of most fasts. Among the characteristics of the Fast of the Seventh Month that recall Yom Kippur are: the date, the general ideas of purification and of propitiahave been a coincidence. A similar juxtaposition of atonement with ordination can be found in the rabbinical understanding of the high-priestly preparation week before Yom Kippur: see Knohl and Naeh, "Milu'im veKippurim." 112 See e.g. Sermon 18:2; 88:2-4; 89:2. 113 Sermon 88:2. 114 Perhaps, the emergence of another collective repentance ritual in the fifth century, the rogations in Gaul, may reflect this shift in Ecclesiology. The rogations, however, probably developed out of local pagan rituals: see G. Nathan, "The Rogation Ceremonies of Late Antique Gaul. Creation, Transmission and the Role of the Bishop," Classica et Mediaevalia. Revue danoise de philology et d'histoire 49 (1998) 275-304; and W. Klingshirn, Caesarius of Aries. The Making of a Christian Community in Late Antique Gaul (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought, Fourth Series 22; Cambrigde 1994), pp. 177 and 240. I would like to thank Peter Brown for kindly drawing my attention to these connections. 115 Sermon 88:3. 116 Cf. Sermon 12:4; 78:4 on purification; 12:4; 15:1; 20:3; 78:4; 81:4 on propitiation and forgiveness; 19:2; 78:2 on protection; 13:2; 20:2 on the sacrificial character; 18:2 on the communal character.

315

Unlike Christians, Jews have barefoot processions nudipedalia (I), their fast is expressed by sadness (2) and less respectable clothes (3), and they abstain completely from work (4) and food (5). As noted earlier, Leo's mention of the barefoot processions makes it almost certain that he is describing contemporary Yom Kippur rites as an eyewitness and not from a "bookish" familiarity with the Jewish fast. His statements are not imaginary polemics against the biblical Day of Atonement but reflect a real conflict between three parties: his contemporary )ewish neighbors who observe their fast, those Christians who observe the Fast of the Seventh Month and those Christians who apparently attack the Christian fast as a Jewish observance. Leo admits to similarities, but strongly emphasizes the distinction so as to defend the fast against accusations of Judaizirig practice. Unlike Chrysostom, Leo does not complain abont Christians actually 117

Sermon 88:3; and see the sources given above in note 103, p. 312. The translation of Freeland and Conway ("if there is anything in common between us and them in circumstances, there are great differences in our character") misses some aspects of the comparison. Dolle's French translation goes in the same direction as my suggestion. Mores is the headline for the five customs that follow. li9 Sermon 89:1 (CCSL l38A: 551). Cf. the discussion on pp. 74-76 above. 118

316 The Impact of Yom Kippur on Christianity in the Third to the Fifth Centuries-

participating in the Jewish festivals and the fast, but he defends himself against accusations of Judaizing by explaining the similarities as belonging to the apostolic Jewish heritage. Like the Ten Commandments, the Solemn Fasts are the valuable part of the Old Testament precepts, which have been adopted into the new covenant. Judaizing is orthodox- if it is apostolic: The Apostles distinguished the Old Testament decrees, dearly beloved, in such a way that they might extract some of them, just as they had been composed, to benefit the teaching of the Gospel. What had for a long time been Jewish custom could become Christian observance (obseruantiae}, for the Apostles understood that the Lord Jesus Christ had come into the world, 'not to destroy the law but to fulfill it., 121)

The Christianized fasts, then, are converted Old Testament precepts. When, from the teaching of ancient doctrine, dearly beloved, we undertake the fast of September to purify our souls and bodies, we are not subjecting ourselves tolegal burdens. We are embracing the good use of self-restraint that serves the Gospel of Christ. In this too, Christian virtue can 'exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees,' not by making void the law, but by rejecting worldly wisdom. Our fasts ought not to be such as were those about which Isaiah the prophet, with the Holy Spirit speaking in him, said.l21

What makes the Jewish practice' into a Christian one are mainly its performers. Confidently encouraging you with fatherly counsels, dearly beloved, we preach the fast dedicated in September to the exercises of common devotion, sure that what was frrst the Jewish fast will become Christian by your observance. 122

In sum, Leo's descriptions of the Christian Fast of the Seventh Month display a great similarity to the rites and concepts connected to Yom Kippur. Feeling under attack by Christians who are annoyed at the similarity between the Christian and Jewish fasts, Leo emphasizes the distinctions and defends the Christian practice as apostolic legacy. His references to the contemporaneous Yom Kippur make clear that the tension between the Christian and Jewish fasts is not based on an imaginary biblical model but reflects a historic proximity. Leo's promotion of the Fast of the Seventh Month and his emphasis on its Christian character have to be understood as a reaction - on the one hand against the attacks by fellow Christians and on the other against the competing presence of the simultaneous Jewish 120 Sermon 92:1 (CCSL 138A 568:1-6}; transl. by Conway and Freeland, St. Leo the Great: Sermons, p. 385. 121 Sermon 92:2 (CCSL 138A 569:31-39); transl. by Conway and Freeland, St. Leo the Great: Sermons, p. 386. 122 Sermon 90:1 (CCSL I38A 556:1-4}; transl. by Conway and Freeland, St. Leo the Great: Sermons, p. 379.


317

fast. Regarding the remarkable correspondence between the Fast of the Seventh Month and Yom Kippur, it is likely that some rites were indeed directly adopted- e.g. via converts or Judaizantes- though it is difficult to point to specific instances. This impression is reinforced by analyzing the parallels between the readings of the Fast of the Seventh Month and Yom Kippur.

2.3 The Readings of the Fast of the Seventh Month and Yom Kippur Our earliest sources for the biblical readings of the Roman order, the Comes of Wurzburg and the Comes of Alcuin, mention highly interesting readings for Wednesdays, Fridays and the Saturday vigils. 123 The sheer number of Lectiones (six) demonstrates the solemnity of the vigil. In the Roman lectionary, only the Easter and Pentecost vigils have six lessons. In a sense, the vigils of the Solemn Fasts are therefore seasonal repetitions of the paschal fast and vigil 124 The choice of these readings clearly reveals a close relation to the Jewish festivals of autumn, especially to Yom Kippur and the themes related to it (see accompanying table). There are two possible explanations for the correspondence between the two reading cycles: (a) through adoption from the Jewish lectionary direct "positive" influence; or (b) through the content of the biblical texts themselves and the liturgical context they suggest - "bookish" influence. The former was suggested by Ludwig Venetianer and again by Eric Werner.125 Antoine Chavasse argues for the latter, speaking of "Ia perspective d'un Romain du IVe sii!:cle qui relirait I' Ancien Testament pour s'en inspirer dans la reglementation d'Wle celebration desti~ee a prendre place au cours du 'septii!:me mois' ." 126

123 On the readings, see Chavasse, Les /ectionnaires romains de Ia Messe au VIle et VIlle steeles, vol. 2, p. 19 and p. 42; and the helpful table in Chavasse, Le Sacramentaire gilasien (Vaticanus Reginensis 316), sacramentaire presbytira/ en usage dans /es titres romains au VIle steele, pp. 110-111; or see G. Godu, "Evangiles," Dictionnaire de l'archio/ogie chritienne et liturgie 5/1 (1922} 852-923, especially columns 896-923, and Godu, "Epitres." 124 Talley, "The Origin of the Ember Days," p. 470. 125 L. Venetianer, "Ursprung und Bedeutung der Propheten-Lektionen," Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenltindischen Gesellschaft 63 (1909) 103-170, here pp. 140-141; E. Werner, The Sacred Bridge. Liturgical Parallels in Synagogue and Early Church (New York, 1959), p. 80. · 126 Chavasse, "Le sermon III de saint Leon et Ia date de la celebration des QuatreTemps de septembre," p. 81. The fourth century is probably too early a dating for the readings. Of all the Lectiones and Gospel readings, Leo quotes only Mark 9:29 (Sermon 87:2}. But the general idea is valid also for the installation and promotion of the festival in Leo's time and even before him.

318 The Impact of Yom Kippur on Christianity in the Third to the Fifth Centuries Dav of Readin"' Wednesday (Wdl) (Wd2 (WdG Gosnel Friday CFrn' (FrG) Gospel

Lectiones Amos 9:13 15 Nehemia 8:1 10 Mark 9:17 29 Hosea 14:2 10 Luke 5:17 26

Saturday vigil (Sal) (Sal a) 127 (Sa2) (Sa3)

Leviticus 23:27 32 Jeremiah 30:8 II Leviticus 23:34--43 Micah 7:14--20

(Sa4)

Zechariah 8:14 19

(Sa5) (Sa6)

Exodus 32:11 14 Hebrews 9:2 12

(SaG) Gospel

Luke 13:10-1'7

Contents Restoration of Israel; agricultural motifs; end of the Book of Amos Readin.g of the law on New Year Exorcism Call for Israel to repent; agricultural motifs; end of the Book of Hosea Debate over forgiveness of sins and healin2 of the lame Yom Kippur Eschatoio2ical nromise of salvation Sukkot Prayer for protection and forgiveness, end of the Book of Micah Eschatological conditions and fourfold fast God is nronitiated bv Moses The tabernacle and Christ the high oriest oerfonnin2 atonement Releasing (on the Sabbath) the woman bound bv Satan 128

Four texts refer directly to the three Jewish festivals of autumn. Most clearly, (Wd2) Nehemia 8:1-10 relates to New Year, (Sal) Leviticus 23:27-32 to Yom Kippur, (Sa2) Leviticus 23:34-43 to Sukkot and (Sa4) Zechariah 8:19 could be understood as referring also to the fast of Gedaliah. The order of texts follows the chronological order of the festivals. The only New Testament Epistle reading among the Lectiones, (Sa6) Hebrews 9:2-12, describes the new Day of Atonement of Jesus Christ. The language of two of the lectures, (Wdl) Amos 9:13-15 and (Frl) Hosea 14:2-10, is replete with agricultural allusions, fitting the atmosphere ofSukkot. The main theological line of the readings encompasses sin, repentance, propitiation, forgiveness and restoration. (Wdl) Amos 9:13-15 and (Frl) Hosea 14:2-10 speak about the restoration of Israel or about its beiog called to repentance, topics reminiscent of Yom Kippur, (Sa4) Zechanah 8:14-19 and (Sa5) Exodus 32:11-14 address God, forgiver of sins, bemg placated by fast and iotercession. (Sal b) Jeremiah 30:8-1 I and (Sa3)

12

~ This text appears only in the Comes of WUrzburg (N° 146), not in the Comes ofAJ-

cum. 128 This exorcism evokes a discussion on the meaning of the Sabbath and is read on Saturday.


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Micah 7:14-20 129 speak of salvation and forgiveness and protection of Israel agaiost its enemies. The three Gospel readings talk about healiog exorcisms connected to the forgiveness of sins. At first glance, the choice of pericopes seems to confim1 Chavasse's theory that the rites of the Fast of the Seventh Month were shaped by a Cbristian who combed the Old and the New Testament for texts pertaining to September. There are, however, several problems with this approach. The "bookish" explanation does not account for the unusually large number of lections for this Christian fast. Nor does it explain the preeminence of Old Testament pericopes among the readings. Indeed, a Christian mining the Christian Bible for passages about repentance, propitiation, forgiveness and restoration could find more than enough in the New Testament. Moreover, Chavasse addressed only the content of the passages, without considering their Jewish liturgical use. Investigation of the latter shows that a number of lections of the Christian fast betray connections with Yom Kippur, thus making it probable that some Christians were acquainted with Jewish liturgical habits-' 30 Five of the Old Testament passages of the Fast of the Seventh Month are read in some synagogues at about the same time - three on Yom Kippur itself; the other two very close to Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur itself: (Sal) Leviticus 23:27-32 and part of (Sa3), Micah 7:18-20, and, in some Palestinian communities, (Sa5) Exodus 32: I I -1 4.m On Sabbath Shuva between New Year and Yom Kippur: (Frl) Hosea 14:2-10 (as well as Micah 7:18-20). 132 On Sukkot: (Sa2) Leviticus 23:34-43. Particularly the choice of two readings, (Frl) Hosea 14:2-10 and (Sa3) Micah 7:14-20, is not easily explained without reference to the Jewish reading cycle. Readings from the minor prophets are extremely rare in the Roman lectionary; Micah is read only here, while Hosea is read on only

129 Three of the lectures are actually the very end of the books of Amos, Hosea and Micah (Wdl, Frl, Sa3). 130 When comparing the readings of the Fast of the Seventh Month and Yom Kippur, we have to be aware that nothing is known about the readings in Rome's synagogues in the fifth to sixth centuries. All of the following remarks are valid only if at least part of the readings agreed with the mishnaic, talmudic and post-talmudic readings: see above, pp. 54-59. We have to be aware too that of all Epistle and Gospel readings, Leo refers only to Mark 9:29 (Sermon 87 :2). 131 See above, p. 55. This observation escaped my attention in StOkl Ben Ezra, "Whose Fast Is It?" In some rabbinic traditions, Exod 32-34 is linked to Yom Kippur: see yYoma 7:3, 44b; Leviticus Rabbah 21:10 (ed. Margulies, pp. 489-490). See alsoyYoma 8:9, 45c, discussing the episode of the golden calf as one of the prooftexts on which to base the confessions. 132 Hos 14 is also the scriptural focus of bYoma 86a-b: seep. 56, above.

,320 The Impact of Yom Kippur on Christianity in the Third to the Fifth Centuries one other occasion. Second, these specific pericopes - Micah 7 and Hosea 14- do not seem to have been well known among Latin authors. 133 In short, if a Christian reader were to have connected these texts to the fast, he would have been making an extremely atypical choice. A more plausible explanation is that the choice of Micah 7 and Hosea 14 as readings in the Christian services was connected to their use in some Synagogues in September. Furthermore, the final epistolary reading of the Saturday vigil, (Sa6) Hebrews 9:2-12, depicts Jesus Christ performing the high priest's ritual from the Day of Atonement, but includes no reference to September. Therefore, whoever chose this reading was likely aware of its typological and polemical connection to Leviticus 16, the main lesson of the Jewish festival (or the Seder Avodah). By virtue ofits position after the Old Testament readings, Hebrews 9:2-12 is presented as the apex of the whole reading circle, communicating to the hearer that Christ himself undertakes the atoning work of the true Yom Kippur. In light of the competitive situation attested by Leo, it is quite plausible that Hebrews 9:2-12 was chosen as a polemical, supercessionist substitute for Leviticus 16. 134 Direct contact, however, cannot explain all of the readings. Some readings of the Fast of the Seventh Month are not connected to the Jewish liturgy for the month ofTishri (e.g. Amos 9:13-15; Nehemia 8:1-10; Zechariah 8:14-19). Moreover; a number of texts central to Yom Kippur are not read on the Fast of the Seventh Month: Leviticus 16 and 18; Numbers 29:7-11; Jonah and Isaiah 57:15ff.U 5 Leviticus 18 and Jonah might not have been read in the majority of synagogues. 136 While Hebrews 9:2-12 can explain the disregard of Leviticus 16 and Numbers 29:7-11, it is difficult to give 133 See Biblia patristica; the index to the translated (and therefore incomplete) works of Augustine by J.W. Sites, A Scripture Index to the Works of St. Augustine in English Translation (Lanham, New York and London, 1995) gives an equally meager use of the minor prophets by Augustine. A single verse, Hos 14:10, is used widely without any connection to repentance. The crucial verses about repentance, Hos 14:2-3 almost never appear in early Christian Latin literature. Again the exception proving the rule is the pseudo-cyprianic Exhortation to Penitence probably from Spain from about the same time as Leo, cf. C. Wunderer, Bruchstii.cke einer afrikanischen Bibelii.bersetzung in der pseudocyprianischen Schrift Exhortatio de paenitentia (Programm der kgI. Bayer. Studienanstalt zu Erlangen; Erlangen, 1889), here p. 34 for the dating. 134 Venetianer, "Ursprung und Bedeutung der Propheten-Lektionen," pp. 140-141, argues that the mishnaic reading Lev 23:27-32 was abandoned as a reaction against its adoption in the Christian fast. This is overextending the Roman evidence to the rest of the Jewish world. 135 Neither does Leo quote them or allude to them. For the readings in the early synagogue service, see above, pp. 54-59. 6 13 See above, pp. 56-57, especially note 219.

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reasons for the neglect of Isaiah 57:15ff (especially Isaiah 58:5ff). But neither can the "bookish" model explain the absence of Isaiah 57: 15ff and Jonah, since both texts would have matched the themes of the Christian vigil of the Fast of the Seventh Month perfectly. Christians combing the Old Testament for suitable texts surely encountered these passages, which are very commonly used in Christian literature, especially as prooftexts for Gentile groups who claim to fast more piously than Jews do. 137 Different reasons, then, may have influenced the choice of readings. Some may have been adopted directly via Jewish Christians or Judaizantes,138 some may have been chosen by attentive readers qf.the Old Testament,139 some may have been selected as polemical responses against the contemporary Jewish fast, 140 and some may have been read without direct relation to the Jewish fast. 141 Thus we can speak of three kinds of influence: influence through the adoption of Jewish ritual customs, influence through polemical reaction to Jewish ritual customs and "bookish" (biblical) influence. 142 Conclusion The Fast of the Seventh Month and Yom Kippur are closely related, though the origin of the Christian fast remains obscure. The biblical Yom Kippur served as the model for the Christian fast, as did the concepts and lections connected to it. This is shown by the reading of Leviticus 23:2732 and by Leo's explicit reference to the Christian fast as a Christianized Day of Atonement adopted by the Apostles. Beyond that, the contemporary Jewish fast also played a role in the promotion of the Christian fast and influenced some of the rites and concepts connected to it. Christian awareness of the contemporary Yom Kippur becomes clear through Leo's de131 Parts of Isa 57:15-58:14 are read during Lent according to the lectionaries in most churches. Parts of Jonah are usually read during the Easter vigil, again according to most lectionaries. To be sure, reading the whole Book of Jonah or Lev 16 would have made for an exceptionally long reading; but this does not exclude the possibility of selecting some verses, pars pro toto. 138 Notably, those passages that appear in the Jewish reading cyc1e but show no intrinsic connection to a fast in autumn, e.g. (Frl) Hos 14:2-10 and (Sa3) Mic 7:14-20. Of course, other texts from the Jewish reading cycle may have been adopted, too, such as (Sal) Lev 23:27-32 and (Sa5) Exod 32:11-14. "' E.g. (Wd2) Neh 8:1-10; (Sa2) Lev 23:34-43; (Sa4) Zech 8:14-19 and perhaps also (Sal) Lev 23:27-32. 140 E.g. (Sa6) Heb 9:2-12 and perhaps also (Sal) Lev 23:27~32 and (Sa5) Exod 32:1114. 141 E.g. (Wdl) Amos 9:13-15 and the special reading in the Comes of Wii.rzburg, Jer 30:8-11 and the Gospel readings. 142 Even "apostolic" influence cannot be ruled out.

322 The Impact of Yom Kippur on Christianity in the Third to the Fifth Centuries scriptions of contemporary Jewish practice (nudipedalia), previously misunderstood as references to a pagan practice. Some lections (e.g. Frl, Hosea 14:2-10 and Sa3, Micah 7:14-20) were probably direct adoptions from Jewish readings of Tishri. Others (e.g. Sa6, Hebrews 9:2-12) were chosen as a polemical reaction against the contemporaneous Day of Atonement in order to make manifest the supersession by the Christian fast -just as Leo tried to express the superiority of the Christian fast compared to its Jewish prototype. While he may have perceived the fast of his Jewish contemporaries as threatening the Christian identity, his main thrust is to propagate the Christian Fast of the Seventh Month and justify it against possible accusations of Judaization by fellow Christians. Unlike Chrysostom, Leo does not complain about Christians taking part in Jewish festivals. Plausibly, the Roman fast prevented Christians from participating in Jewish Yom Kippur services. It would be interesting to know whether the institution of the Fast of the Seventh Month was a reaction to a situation similar to that in Antioch of a mass movement of Judaizing Christians. Unfortunately, our limited knowledge of the Jewish and Jewish Christian communities in Rome in the third to fifth centuries precludes being more precise. Notwithstanding the dangers inherent in making statements about psycho-religious constellations 1,500 years ago, it does seem that the Fast of the Seventh Month answered the same collective psycho-religious needs as did the Day of Atonement. It is a day of communal purification, propitiation and expulsion of evil spirits at the time of the harvest, marking the end of the agricultural cycle of sowing, tending and harvesting. It is a fast in the midst of an abundance of food, a moment of communal contemplation of the self in relation to God, in the days of reckoning the human labor of a year dependent on factors beyond human contra l.

3. Eastern Commemoration of Gabriel's Annunciation to Zechariah Early Christian tradition elevated Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, to high priesthood, 143 and according to legend, Zechariah received the annunciation of the conception of his son in the holy of holies on Yom Kippur. Two factors gave impetus to the development of this tradition. First, the mystery surrounding the place of the annunciation, the ritual performed by Zechariah and his hierarchical position in Luke 1 all provided fertile 143

See above, pp. 250-255.


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ground for creative speculation. The more famous the hero of a tra_dition, the more interesting his story. Second, some people attempted to g1ve the birth of Christ - an important event of redemption history- a place in the liturgical calendar and looked for hints on which to base their calculations. The scant chronological references in Luke 1 about the visit of Mary to Elizabeth were the only data they could use. And these references could give only relative dates. Christ was born half a year later than John, and in each case the annunciation and conception had happened nine months earlier. But when exactly? Explaining the ritual performed by Zechariah as being part of the Yom Kippur temple service provided a fixed point for the calculations. Jn the Greek and Syriac East this chronological fixation of the legendary event found liturgical expression in the establishment of a commemoration day for the annunciation to the high priest Zechariah of the birth of his son, John the Baptist. Establishing a liturgical event such as the commemoration day might well be connected to the finding of Zechariah's relics, together with those of Simeon and James the Just, 144 in Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives on 1 December 351. 145 In other words, the location of Zechariah in sacred geography might well have been the impetus for adding Zechariah's annunciation into the liturgical calendar, which probably spread from Jerusalem to other places. The tradition of the discovery of the tomb of the three Christian (high) priests- Zechariah, James and Simeonoriginally points to a Jewish-Christian provenance, as the Protevangelium of James mentions Zechariah and Simeon and claims to have been written by James the Just. Yet in the fourth century, the Protevangelium was already widely known and independent of Jewish-Christian circles. Three main traditions mandate for dates for the commemoration day in the respective liturgical calendar. First, in the Greek Synaxarion, the annunciation is commemorated on 23 September. The same is true for two West Syriac calendars, 146 which are relatively late and, according to Baumstark

144 On the connection between the three figures, see above, pp. 255-257. Some Synaxaria commemorate the three figures together, on 23 October. 145 The source for this event is a tenth-century Latin text, which is a translation of a lost, most probably Greek, text first translated by Abel, "La sepulture de saint Jacques le Mineur." The legend is confirmed by some lectionaries, which record this event as being on 1 December, and by Theodosius, who knew of the existence of such a tomb in 530, see CSEL 39:140-142 (ed. P. Geyer). I 46 Ms Paris 146 (seventeenth century), Vatican 69 (sixteenth century) and British Museum Add. 17232 (1210), all published by F. Nau in Martyrologes et Menologes orientaux (PO 10; Paris, Freiburg i.Br., 1915).

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and Engberding, are influenced by the Byzantine calendar. 147 The Coptic Synaxarion, too, commemorates the annunciation on 26 Thoth, which is 23 September in the Julian calendar. 148 Second, the Old Georgian Lectionary, witness for the Jerusalem tradition, commemorates the visio Zachariae et mutitatis (eius) on 27 September; 149 and a similar date, 26 September, is confirmed by an early Syriac calendar. 150 Baumstark suggests Palestine as the point of origin for the commemoration days of some biblical figures and events in the Old Georgian Lectionary, among them the annunciation to Zechariah. 151 Following Baumstark's suggestion, I will speak of the Jerusalem date (26 I 27 September) as distinct from the Byzantine date (23 September). The Arab polymath AI Birnni gives yet a third date. In a treatise on calendars ca. !000 CE he writes that on the tenth day of Tishri A (I 0 October)152 the Me!kites celebrate the "commemoration of the prophet Zacha147 A. Baumstark, Festbrevier und Kirchenjahr der syrischen Jakobiten. Eine /iturgiegeschichtliche Vorarbeit auf Grund Handschriftlicher Studien in Jerusalem und Damaskus, der Syrischen Handschriftenkataloge von Berlin, Cambridge, London, Oxford, Paris und Rom und des unierten Mossuler f"estbrevierdruckes (Paderbom, 1910), p. 274; H. Engberding, "Kann Petrus der Iberer lnit Dionysius Areopagita identifiziert werden?" Oriens Christianus 38 (1954) 68-95, here pp. 75-76. 148 F. Nau (ed.), Martyrologes et Menologes orientaux. Les M€nologes des evang€/iaires coptes-arabes (PO 10/2; Paris, Freiburg i.Br., 1915; pp. 165-244), p. 189. The manuscripts consulted were written in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. 149 Garitte, Le calendrier palestino-g€orgien du Sinaiticus 34, p. 341; cf. "Visio Zachariae aphonia" in Paris Codex Georg. 3 and the Lathal manuscript of the Old Georgian Lectionary: seeM. Tarchnischvili, Legrand /ectionnaire de l'riglise de Jerusalem, N° 1257. Garitte also refers to Bolotov, who claims to have seen a text by Maximus Confessor mentioning 27 September as the day of the annunciation to Zechariah. Garitte, Le calendrier palestino-griorgien du Sinaiticus 34, p. 341. A search for Za:x.a in TLG 8.0 did not yield a text speaking of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, in the digitalized texts of Maximus. 150 British Museum Add. 14519 (eleventh to twelfth centuries), published by F. Nau in Martyrologes et M€nologes orientaux (PO 10; Paris, Freiburg i.Br., 1915). 151 "lhre Heimat in Palastina suchen mOchte man sich femer auch bei einigen G~cht nistagen biblischer Gestalten versucht fuhlen [sic!], die dem huarizmischen Heiligenkalender [the source of AI Biruni] gegenfiber dem gemeinbyzantinischen Brauche wie gegentiber der georgischen Ueberlieferung eigentO.m!ich sind" cf. A. Baumstark, "Ausstrahlungen des vorbyzantinischen Heiligenkalenders von Jerusalem," Orientalia Christiana Periodica 2 (1936) 129-144, here p. 137. Baumstark refers to Zechariah (10.10); Joseph of Arimathiah (29.12); Elijah (7.8.); Elisha (8.8.); Jeremiah, Zechariah and Ezekiel (16.8.); and all prophets (30.8.). 152 The Arabic reads "Tishrln." In Syriac Tishri A is used for October and Tishri B for November (Payne Smith, s.v.). That "Tishrin" is in any case the same as October can be learned from the beginning of the preparation fast before Chrisbnas, which begins on the sixteenth day ofTishrin II (16 November), 40 days before 25 December.

rias." 153 "On this day the angels announced to him the birth of his son John, as it is mentioned in the Koran, and in greater detail in the Gospel."154 The explicit notation of the date 10 Tishri demonstrates the direct link to Yom Kippur. This date is adopted also by Ephrem (d. 373) who, however, does not refer to a festival. 155 Christian liturgical sources describing 10 October as the date for the commemoration of Zechariah are nnknown to me. 156 For the Byzantine and Jerusalem dates, too, there exist explanations based on 10 Tishri and connecting Zechariah's revelation to Yom Kippur. The earliest text known to me (third or fourth centnry?) giving a raison d'etre for the Byzantine date is the Latin tractate de solstitiis et aequinoctiis conceptionis et nativitatis Domini nostri Iesu Christi et Johannis Baptistae. 157 This text is also the earliest to give a Julian date for the annunciation to Zechariah, albeit without mentioning a liturgical commemoration. It is the main theological idea of de solstitiis to prove the coincidence of biblical revelation and divinely ordered nature. John and Jesus were conceived on the equinox and born on the solstice, the most important astronomical dates of the year 158 The "eleventh [day of the] waxing 153 Islamic tradition apparently also identifies the prophet Zechariah as the father of John the Baptist. 154 AI Biruni, The Chronology of Ancient Nations (Sachau, p. 286 [291]). The part of AI Biruni's book relevant for Christian 1fturgy was also published by R. Griveau (ed.), Martyrologes et Mrinologes orientaux XVI-XVIII. Les fltes des Melchites, par AI-Birouni (PO 10:4; Paris and Freiburg i.Br., 1915; pp. 289-312). Highly interesting is Al-Biruni's explanation of the Muslim 'Ashura (Sachau, pp. 326-327 [329-330]). Among the different ideas related to 'Ashura in Muslim tradition are the following: "People say that on this day God took compassion on Adam, that the ark of Noah stood still on the mountain Aljfidi, that Jesus was born, that Moses was saved (from Pharao), and Abraham (from the fire ofNebukadnezar), that the fire around him (which was to bum him) became cold. Further, on this day Jacob regained his eyesight, Joseph was drawn out of the ditch, Solomon was invested with the royal power, the punishment was taken away from the people of Jona, Hiob was freed from his plague, the prayer of Zechariah was granted and John was given to him." (Sachau, p. 326 [329]). On the 'Ashura, cf. above p. 34, note 100. 155 Ephrem, Commentary on Exodus 12:2-3; (CSCO 152:141); Commentary on the Diatessaron I :29 (SC 121 :61-62); Homily on the Nativity 27:18; see Coakley, "Typology and the Birthday of Christ on 6 January"; and de Halleux, "Le comput ephremien du cycle de Ia nativite." 156 Of course, 23, 26 and 27 September sometimes coincide with 10 Tishri in the Jewish calendar. AI Biruni, however, was referring to a Christian Syriac calendar. 157 De solstitiis et aequinoctiis (ed. Batte, pp. 96-98). For the text, see above, pp. 253254. JjS The fust to connect the equinox to the festivals of Tishri (not Yom Kippur) was Philo, De specialibus legibus 1:186.

326 The Impact of Yom Kippur on Christianity in the Third to the Fifth Centuries

moon" (i.e. II Tishri) in de solstitiis should probably be understood as the day after Zechariah concluded the Yom Kippur service, returned home and had intercourse with Elisabeth- and John was conceived. Accordingly, the conception took place at the equinox, 24 September, one day after the annunciation on Yom Kippur, which happened to be 23 September. De solstitiis does not speak of a commemoration day, but the chronology matches the Byzantine Synaxarion. Among other early authors explicitly connecting Yom Kippur to the annunciaton to Zechariah on 23 September are commentaries on Luke by Pseudo-Epiphanius and an anonymous Jerusalemite (400-450). 159 The earliest explanation for the Jerusalem date known to me is the commentary to the liturgy that is anonymous but recorded under the name of George, bishop of the Arabs, edited by R.H. Connolly, usually dated to the tenth century. 160 In the chronographical introduction to his explanation of the liturgy, the author includes the following passage: And John was annunciated on the tenth [day] of the seventh lunar month, i.e. Tishri (first Tishrin), which was on the 26th day of the seventh solar month, September (Elul), on a Thursday. 161 Because in that year the fast of the tenth day fell on a Friday and the Jews do not pbserve [a fast on] a Friday because of the fear that in the event that one would- die, he would stay unburied and decay, they changed it to the Thursday. Afterwards Zechariah stayed until the 26th day of the lunar [month], 162 and then the days of his ministry were full. John was conceived at the beginning of the lunar month Marheshvan (later Tishrin), or on the 17th day of the solar month October (first Tishrin), on a Friday. And he stayed in the womb during the lunar months of Marheshvan (later Tishrin), Kislev (Kenon), Tevet (Kenon), and Shvat and Adar. In the sixth month, however, the beginning of the lunar month of April (Nisan), on the 29th day of the solar month March (Adar), Christ our Lord was conceived. And John was bam on

159 For Pseudo-Epiphanius, see F.C. Conybeare "The Gospel Commentary of Epiphanius" Zeitschrift for die neutestamentliche Wissenschafi und die Kunde der dlteren Kirche 7 (1906) 318-332; 8 (1907) 22!-225, he" (1906) p. 325 (folio 73-74). For the anonymous Jerusalemite commentary on Luke see, fragment 10 in Reuss, Lukas-Kommentare aus der griechischen Kirche, pp. 23-24. Cf. also the spurious correspondence between Cyril of Jerusalem and Julius of Rome in PG 96:1436--1449. 160 R.H. Connolly (ed.), Anonymi Auctoris Expositio Officiorum Ecc/esiae Georgio Arbelensi Vulgo Adscripta. Tomus I-IV (4 vols; CSCO 64; 72; 76; 71 [Scriptores Syri 25; 29; 32; 28]; Paris I Leipzig, 1911-1954). 161 This very specific constellation of a Day of Atonement ( 10 Tishri) being a Thursday that falls on 26 September is very rare. 162 26 Tishri here equals 12 October. Sukkot (with Simhat Torah) ends on 22 Tishri or, outside the land of Israel, on 23 Tishri.

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the I81h day of the solar month July (Tammuz), which is the fifth of the lunar month Av, on a Wednesday. 163

While the proposed chronology is impossible, 164 the theological idea behind it is interesting, since the author apparently tries to establish a mathematical foundation for the date 26 September as Yom Kippur in the year of the conception of John the Baptist. Coincidence with the equinox plays no role. The definitive inspiration for the Syriac author is the Jewish date of Yom Kippur. Here, the period between annunciation (26 September) and conception (17 October) is much longer than in the Byzantine calendar. However, the author does not use the explicit term "Yom Kippur," nor does he describe Zechariah as a high priest; yet he clearly knows these details from the tradition. Both texts link the annunciation to Zechariah with the Jewish fast. But whereas for the Byzantine text the coincidence with the astronomical constellation of the equinox is clearly central, the Syriac text concentrates much more on Yom Kippur and seems to be fairly well acquainted with Jewish calendar regulations. It is commonly assumed that the Old Georgian Lectionary reflects the liturgy in Jerusalem in the fifth to seventh centuries 165 The Lathal manuscript (L) and the Paris manuscript (P) of the Old Georgian Lectionary give the following readings for the visio Zachariae: Psalm 141 (140):1.3; Proverbs 12:25-13:3; Zechariah 2:13-3:4; Hebrews 8:7-9:10; 166 Psalm 119 (118):131; Luke I :1-20 167 This is an impressive assembly of many of the texts connected to the Jewish and/or Christian imaginaire of Yom Kippur. The most siguificant readings are those of Luke 1:1-20 (the story of the annunciation to Zechariah), Hebrews 8:7-9:10 (Christ's fulfillment of I 63 My translation of the Syriac in ed. Connolly, (CSCO 64:40, lines 14-29). I refer to the lunar months by their Jewish names and have put the literal translation of the Syriac month name in italicized parentheses. Connolly's Latin translation (CSCO 71:34-35) makes it difficult to distinguish between the Jewish lunar months and the Roman solar months. 164 If the preceding 10 Tishri fell on 26 September, 29 March cannot fall on 1 Nisan. Also, if 26 September was a Thursday, 18 July of the following year cannot coincide with 5 Av and has to be either a Friday or, in the event the following year is a leapyear, a Thursday. 165 Compare Verhelst, "La liturgie de Jerusalem a l'epoque byzantine," pp. 12-16; and the introduction in Garitte, Le calendrier palestino-giorgien du Sinaiticus 34. 166 The manuscripts refer to 8 September, the birth of Mary, see Tarchnischvili, Le grand lectionnaire de l'iglise de Jerusalem, N° 1225. Cf. also the reading of the same passage of Hebrews for the dedication of the (new) Kathisma church (p. 27, No 1145). On this festival, see Verhelst, "Le 15 Aofit, le 9 Av et le Kathisme." 167 See Tarchnischvili, Legrand lectionnaire de l'iglise de Jerusalem, No 1257.

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Yom Kippur) and Zechariah 2:13-3:4 (the encounter of the high priest Jesus, son of Jehozadak, with the angel, God and Satan), which were apparently understood as typologically related to Zechariah's encounter with Gabriel. The other readings are related to Zechariah's revelation: Psalm 141 (140):1.3 refers to prayer and the request to send a gnardian to watch the mouth, i.e. to prayer and to silence; Proverbs 12:25-13:3 speaks of the just and wise son and the virtue of silence; and even Psalm 119 (118): 131 may be understood against this background. "With open mouth I pant, because I long for your commandments." The readings chosen for this day are clearly a dramatization of the annunciation story set against the background of Yom Kippur. In swn, if we speak of a Jewish influence on the ritual commemorating the annunciation to Zechariah, it is mainly of a bookish influence we speak. The Jewish calendar offered a welcome solution to a technical question of importance for Christian calculators of the Messiah's birth. The festival, then, is a side result of this solution - in itself of rather minor importance. Nevertheless, it is a striking case of the re-ritualization of a Christian legend that is based on an epis~e from the New Testament, placed in the setting of the Jewish festival cycle. It is not the re-ritualization of Yom Kippur itself; but it commemorates an event that, according to Christian mythology, took place on Yom Kippur. Unlike the Roman Fast of the Seventh Month, this festival adopts the temple imagery, not the fast. The inclusion of Hebrews 8:7-9:10 and Zechariah 2:13-3:4 in the readings of the Old Georgian Lectionary reflects the Clrristian imaginaire of Yom Kippur's temple ritual beyond the story of Zechariah in Luke 1:1-20. The calculations by Ephrem, de solstitiis and Pseudo-George reveal that some Christian theologians were well aware of the contemporary Yom Kippur and might have chosen the readings accordingly. Consequently, the annunciation to Zechariah, too, provides evidence for Yom Kippur being a continuous inspiration for Christianity. 168

168 The Byzantine Synaxarion and the calendar of John Zosimus (ed. Garitte, p. 336) commemorate the prophet Jonah on 21 September. The proximity of its date to Yom Kippur and its significant liturgical place in Yom Kippur services from very early on are conspicuous. However, since neither the Old Armenian Lectionary nor the Old Georgian Lectionary mention Jonah at this time, it would appear to be a rather late adoption.

General Conclusions I wonld like briefly to summarize the main resnlts of my investigations before launching into some of their implications as well as suggestions for further research. First, the temple ritual was widely interpreted and connected to several myths in the Jewish imaginaires of Yom Kippur, to the reservoirs of motifs, myths, concepts and sensual impressions regarding Yom Kippur in the various Jewish groups. Three main interpretations emerge. The entry of the high priest into the holy of holies was perceived as an encounter between a human being and God, and it was seen to mirror the heavenly journey of the apocalyptic (I Enoch 14), and the ascent of the mystic's soul to God in Philo and in Hekhalot mysticism. In eschatologically oriented groups, a high-priestly redeemer was expected to conquer the lord of Evil and to liberate his good prisoners on the eschatological Day of Atonement (IIQMe/chizedek, !Enoch 10). Accordingly, the scapegoat was usually conceived of as the symbol or embodiment of evil - evil thoughts of men in Philo, even demonized as the leader of the evil forces in 1Enoch 10, in 4Q 180 and 4Q 181, in the Apocalypse of Abraham, and in some rabbinic statements. Second, the Jewish imaginaires of the Yom Kippur temple ritual extensively influenced the formulation of the Christian Jewish myths and conceptions about the atoning effect of Jesus' death and his ascent to God. I believe this impact to be greater than proposed in the earlier studies by Young, Scullion and Kraus using a canonical approach. Third, these Christo logical mythologizations of the temple ritual did not always entail an abolition of the fast. There is evidence that some Christian Jews continued to observe the fast of the Day of Atonement at least until the end of the first century, while others ceased to fast perhaps as early as the first half of the first century. Fourth, after the destruction of the temple, Yom Kippur continued to influence Christianity in various ways. Beginoing with Origen, some theologians expressed their concern that the continuous participation of Christians in the Jewish fast stood in contradiction to the Christian typological myth. Other Christian theologians reacted polentically against the Jewish fast, through increased propagation of Christian sacrificial atonement theology, through intense Christianization of the Old Testament texts on the Day of Atonement, and through the propagation of competing autumn festivals in Rome and Jerusalem.

General Conclusions

General Conclusions

Fifth, the imagery of the high priest's entry into the holy of holies employed in Jewish apocalyptic and mystic texts influenced Valentinian Christian soteriology and eschatology and the ritual of the bridal chamber, a form of induced mysticism. And the Valentinian concepts in turn, influenced the early Christian mysticism of Clement of Alexandria.

I assume such a conclusion to be only partially valid (definitely so in Barnabas and Hebrews; perhaps also in Matthew and !John). Moreover, Christian Jews who rejected the temple service might still keep the fast. We can only be sure a group did not keep the fast if they explicitly polemicized against it (Barnabas, Diognet, Aristides). It is unlikely that Paul's statements in Romans 3:25-26 and Galatians 3-4, which do not differ

The great importance of Yom Kippur for the early Christian Jews left its

greatly from Philo's spiritualization, imply a cessation of observance of Yom Kippur, since Paul praises the temple service and accepts that parts of the Roman community continue their observation of (Jewish) festivals.

330

traces in Christian Jewish texts throughout first century, in the traditions

that were later used by Barnabas, Hebrews and Romans (30-65 CE), in Paul's letters (50-60 CE) and Hebrews (ca. 50-60 CE?), in Matthew (7080 CE), and in !John and Barnabas (ca. 95 CE?). Hebrews combined the apocalyptic conception of a high-priestly redeemer appearing on an eschatological Yom Kippur with the idea of the atoning self-sacrifice. The two were present but distinct in other Second Temple texts such as II QMelchizedek and 2Maccabees. The depiction of Jesus as high priest was most likely already current before Hebrews, and the high priesthood of the non-Levite Jesus could be justified through the biblical precedent of a high priest named Jesus in Zechariah 3. This passage was already connected to Yom Kippur in Jewish apocalyptic thought (Apocalypse ofAbraham). Concerning the scapegoat, the Christian Jewish imaginaire of Yom Kippur differed to some extent from the "mainstream" Jewish imaginaire

and developed rather marginal conceptions. The majority of Jewish texts associated the scapegoat with demonic powers and evil - e.g. Philo linked

it to evil thoughts and evil people- or even saw it as a sort of leader of the evil angels as in /Enoch, 4Q!80 and the Apocalypse of Abraham. This mainstream conception seems to stand behind Matthew's redaction of

Mark's Barabbas episode. For the Christian Jewish conception of the scapegoat as a positive type (Barnabas, Galatians, !Peter?, John?), there are only a few parallels- among them Josephus' narrative of Ananus and the rabbinic statement on Ravya bar Qisi. An influence of Jewish Yom Kippur prayers on Christian Jewish texts

(Colossians, Philippians, Barnabas as Seder Avodah) is possible, yet the sources are too meager to make a defmite determination possible. In a later

331

Even more, Luke and his community can be shown to have observed the fast, as did the opponents of the writer of the Epistle to the Colossians and parts of the Roman community. Several factors led to the Christian abandomnent of Yom Kippur and the temple ritual as well as the fast. Historically and liturgically, the destruction of the temple, which ended the temple ritual, weakened the compulsion for a communal fast with prayers on a single special day. Hegesippus portrays James as permanently observing Yom Kippur, which may imply transition from 10 Tishri to any day. Theologically, typological interpretations of Yom Kippur played some role in the abolition of Yom Kippur by causing some Christians to perceive the Christian myth and the Jewish ritual as alternatives. Sociologically, Yom Kippur was for Gentile Christians not so much a custom to be continued as a festival to be newly adopted - a process possible only where the new custom could be sup-

ported by a Christian rationale. Since Christ died in Nisan and not in Tishri, the main meaningful events of earliest Christianity were connected to a different month. It speaks strongly in favor of the importance of Yom

Kippur in Christian Jewish life that a festival not cormected chronologically to the events around Christ's death- events that forged the collective Christian identity - conceptually had so deep an impact on their most profound myth. Yom Kippur continued to influence early Christianity even after the

destruction of the temple. The imagery of Yom Kippur's temple ritual be-

period, a Jewish sermon that may have been part of the Yom Kippur ser-

came increasingly attractive. Jesus' high priesthood and his identification with the kapporet became topoi in Christian atonement theology and in ra-

vice, Pseudo-Philo On Jonah, found its way into Christian collections.' I assume that most Christian Jews continued to observe the fast of Yom Kippur. Only gradually did they cease to do what they were accustomed to

tionales for the Eucharist. The Christological scapegoat typology, too, was widely used to illustrate Christ's atonement. While "bookish" influence of the biblical Yom Kippur may partially explain tltis increase - Romans 3

observing. Unlike previous investigators, who often deduced from the use

of temple typology in a Christian author his rejection of the temple service,

• become the "canon within the canon," and many exeand Hebrews had getes wrote interpretations of Leviticus - I consider the Jewish fast of that period to be also an important factor. Christianity and Judaism competed

1

See the appendix for the possibility that some Jewish Yom Kippur prayers found their way into the Christian liturgy.

for the "true" way of atonement - the Christian myth versus the Jewish

ritual, in much simplified terms. Origen, Chrysostom and the Canons of

General Conclusions

General Conclusions

the Apostles provide evidence for the participation of a considerable number of Christians in the Jewish fast in Syria-Palestine until at least the late fourth century. These Christian theologians perceived this attraction as threatening the distinction of the Christian identity from "fleshly" Judaism by challenging the Christian conception of Christ's atoning death and its rituals. Christian intellectual leaders reacted manifoldly to this challenge. Origen's Homilies on Leviticus are the clearest proof of direct interdependence between the polemics against Christian participation in the Jewish fast and the development of a Christian alternative. The Homilies expand the Christianization of Leviticus 16, starting with the New Testament passages on Yom Kippur but adding further passages. In this, Origen is the first to strongly promulgate Hebrews' sacrificial

herents to their concept of atonement. The Encaenia/Exaltation of the Cross probably emerged as part of the growing impact of Old Testament imagery following the Christian assumption of political and religious authority in the land of the Bible- an effect I have called the "Ortsgeist of the Holy Land." Concerning the Roman Fast of the Seventh Month, direct extraordinary parallels between the Christian readings and the reading attested for Yom Kippur. Leo the Great and other readings reveal a "negative" reactive impact of the contemporary Jewish fast. Finally, the annunciation to Zechariah is a re-ritualization of a Jewish-Christian legend using texts pertaining to Yom Kippur in its Christian imaginaire (such as Hebrews 9 and Zechariah 3). Its explicit connection to 10 Tishri in Chris-

atonement theology. Several other Christian writers polemicize against the fast: Barnabas,

tian and Muslim calendrical computations demonstrates once again the awareness of non-Jews of this date in the Jewish calendar.

332

Justin, Tertullian, Theodore! ofCyrns, Leo of Rome, Ephrem, Chrysostom and perhaps also Eusebius and Basil. Most of these authors seem to be acquainted with the Yom Kippur of their period, a fact that suggests Christian sages in other regions felt similarly threatened by the contemporary Jewish fast and not simply by the. image of the biblical Day of Atonement. The competition between Judaism and Christianity regarding the "true"

~'positive"

333

influence, perhaps by converted Jews, plausibly explains the

The results of this investigation support the assumption that early Christianity and early Judaism stood in a competition with each other that caused a mutual influence. In the center of this competition stood the "dangerous ones in between," Christians who continued to observe Yom Kippur and

responded to the challenge posed by Christian atonement theology by in-

Jews who felt a special affmity to Jesus. They aroused the scorn of theologians attempting to define the boundaries of the mainstream identity of each side. Histories of Christian liturgy have yet to incorporate these "dan-

means of atonement, is apparent in Jewish texts, too. Jewish theologians serting polemics against the Christian priesthood and the cross into Yom

gerous ones in between" into their approach to the Christian festal calendar

Kippur liturgical poems. Still, these factors cannot explain the increase in the use of the scapegoat imagery to explain the rationale behind Christ's

of the first, second, third and even fourth centuries. Ritual and social reality seem to differ considerably from the theological ideals drawn up by the

death. It is not a development of canonic traditions, since references in the New Testament are strictly implicit and seldom used as prooftexts. Barna-

Church Fathers and the rabbis, whose aim was to develop distinct identities. The two religions competed for centuries for the allegiance of these ·'dangerous ones in between," proposing mutually exclusive interpretations and re-ritualizations of Yom Kippur's temple ritual, which in reality was

bas proto-typology ceases to be used after Tertullian and Hippolytus probably because of its support for halakhic traditions. And it is not part of the general Christianization of the Old Testament, since it also appears apart from exegeses of Leviticus (e.g. in Origen, Ambrose, Jerome). In my opinion, the proximity of the rationale of the scapegoat to the rationale of the widely known pharmakos rituals endowed an increased use of the scapegoat imagery with practical value in a pagan environment perhaps less familiar with Old Testament stories. Beyond the impact on the theology, at least three Christian festivals celebrated closely to I 0 Tishri, emerged in response to the impact of Yom Kippur on early Christianity: the important Encaenia/Exaltation of the Cross in Jerusalem, the equally important Fast of the Seventh Month in

Rome and the marginal commemoration day of the annunciation to Zechariah in the East. The emergence of the first two festivals can be explained in part against the background of Christians and Jews competing for ad-

no longer performed. Yet the two religions shared not only the common (if different) canon of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, they also shared the emphasis on sin and atonement and on the psychological need to regularly expiate one's sins and/or propitiate God; and both formulated the ritual and theological answer to this need in terms of Yom Kippur.

In this study, I have tried to scrutinize the Christian sources of the first century as Jewish documents and to read them with "Jewish glasses." Taking up Marcel Simon's thesis regarding Cbrysostom's reaction to Christian

participation in Yom Kippur, I have attempted to draw a broader picture of the influence of Yom Kippur on early Christianity after the destruction of the temple. I have also tried to apply Israel Yuval's approach in understanding Christianity and Judaism as two religions emerging under a mutual competitive influence. Much remains to be done, and many of the

"'T 334

General Conclusions

conclusions have to be seen as tentative given the wide net cast by this study. . I have tried to draw the main lines of the impact of Yom Ktppur on early Christianity as a whole; a more differentiating investigation of the patristic sources might perhaps reveal regional differences (among, for example, Syria-Palestine, Egypt, North Africa and the rest of the Latin West) and especially some sort of correlation between the competthon posed' by and the important influence of the local Jewish comm~ity. At the start of my investigations, the Syriac sources were the corpus m which I expected to find the most interesting texts and the strongest signs of competition between Christians and Jews and of Christian participation in the fast. Yet lacking for the most part a comprehensive index for biblical citations and allusions or the assistance of a digitalized thesaurus, I am not sure if the texts I found or others pointed out to me are representative. The corpus of Syriac texts undoubtedly warrants further investigation. A desideratum is an in-depth analysis of the post-biblical history of Yom Kippur, ideally up to the present. A more meaningful comparison of the patristic exegesis of Leviticus 16 and 23 with the rabbinic can. be achieved only after a critical investigation of all relevant rabbnucal sources, which I was unable to pursue comprehensively given the limited scope of this project. The Christian impact on the Yom Kippur liturgy revealed in this study is very limited. I assume that there are many more statements, omissions (such as the ignoring of Melchizedek in the early Sidrei Avodah) and ritual developments that can be marshaled as reactwns to Christian atonement theology and ritual. Furthermore, it would be fascinating to examine the interpretations of the Mass by Amalar, Hildebert and lvo, who explain the Eucharist wholly in terms of Yom Kippur, including the scapegoat. It would be interesting to kno~ if their intensification of the biblical terminology was in some way hnked to Jewish traditions, or if it was purely an intra-Christian development. Finally, an investigation of non-Jewish descriptions of Jewish festivals might be another promising project, to reveal not only the level of knowledge but also the anthropological perceptions of the other and, via the other, also of the self.

I i

Appendix: Yom Kippur and Eastern Anaphoras I. In a series of studies, Louis Ligier argues that Sidrei Avodah influenced the so-called Clementine liturgy in the Apostolic Constitutions, 1 and that the confession prayers 'Attah Yodea' Razei '0/am and 'AI Het affected Eastern Christian anaphoras.2 Before Ligier, Erwin Goodenough and Wilhelm Bousset also argued for a Jewish origin of the praefatio of the Clementine liturgy 3 They, however, saw the root in the Jewish Yotzer prayer - an unlikely thesis, as David Fiensy has demonstrated' Ligier has the distinction of being the first Christian liturgist to have seriously studied Sidrei Avodah, such as 'Azkir Gevurot 'E/oah and 'Attah Konanta '0/am beRov Hesed. Ligier's main arguments for the influence of the Sidrei Avodah on the praefatio of the Clementine liturgy are their parallel liturgical locations

1 Apostolic Constitutions 8:12:1-15:11 (SC 336:176-217) are called the Clementine liturgy. 2 L. Ligier, "Autour du sacrifice eucbaristique. Anaphores orientales et anamnese juive de Kippur," Nouvelle Revue Thiologique 82 (1960) 40-55; idem, "Anaphores orientales et prieres juives," Proche Orient Chritien 13 (1963) 3-20; idem, "Celebration divine et anamnese dans la premiere partie de l'Anaphore ou Canon de Ia Messe Orientale," Gregorianum 48 (1967) 225-252; idem, Piche d'Adam etpiche du monde, val. 2, pp. 289-307. 3 The praefatio covers 8:12:6-26 (SC 336:180-191). E. Goodenough, By Light Light (New Haven, 1935), pp. 320-326; W. Bousset, "Eine jOdische Gebetssammlung im siebenten Buch der Apostolischen Konstitutionen," Nachrichten von der Gesel/schaft der Wissenschaften zu Gdttingen, Philosophisch-historische Klasse 1915, pp. 435-489 (here, pp. 449-464) = Religionswissenschaftliche Studien. Aufsiitze zur Religionsgeschichte des Hel/enistischen Zeitalters (ed. by A.F. Verheule; Supplements to Novum Testamentum 50; Leiden, 1979; pp. 231-285), here, pp. 244-259. Bousset argues for a Jewish background only of Apostolic Constitutions 8:12:9-20. See also K. Kohler, "The Origin and Composition of the Eighteen Benedictions with a Translation of the Corresponding Essene Prayers in the Aposto1ic Constitutions," Hebrew Union College Annual I (1924) 387-425, who, unlike Bousset and Goodenough, regards the prayers in book 8 as thoroughly Christianized, "so that their former relation to the Benedictions of the Synagogue was entirely lost sight of' (p. 418), and discusses only prayers in book 7 of the Apostolic Constitutions. 4 D. Fiensy, Prayers Alleged to Be Jewish. An Examination of the Constitutiones Apostolorum (Brown Judaic Studies 65; Chico [Calif.], 1985), pp. 137-141 and 172-176.

Appendix

Appendix

and similarity of content-' Like the Jewish piyyut, the praefatio introduces the ritual anamnesis of the sacrifice (the A vodah of the high priest I the Eucharist). And like the Jewish piyyut, the praefatio recounts the creation of the world and man, and continues with the history of sinful humanity and a saving and punishing God - from Adam's sin, curse and restitution to Joshua, via instances in which God sides with the just (Abel, Seth, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Lot, Abraham, Melchizedek, Job, Isaac, Jacob, Josef, the exodus, Moses, Aaron) but chastises sinners (Adam, Cain, the deluge, Sodom and the Red Sea). The long and detailed account distingnishes this anaphora from all others. 6 Fiensy's arguments against Bousset and Goodenough are compelling with regard to Ligier as well. He points out that many theological ideas in the praefatio - providence, creation, man as a rational and cosmopolitan being, knowledge of God - match ideas of special importance to the compiler of the Apostolic Constitutions and are therefore unlikely to derive from his Jewish source. 7 The special emphasis on creation and some of the expressions of the praefatio correspond to phrases in Justin Martyr, Theophilus of Antioch and Cyril of Jerusalem concenting Christian worship, as well as to later anaphoras. 8 Moreover, Ligier himself however remarks on a number of dissonances. A number of Old Testament figures - Seth, Enosh, Enoch, Melchizedek, Job, Josef and Joshua - do not appear in the Sidrei Avodah. 9 Since various lists of Old Testament figures appear in other redactional passages of the Apostolic Constitutions and in early Christian literature the distant parallel is easier explained ~s incidenta1. 10 Finally, the position of the prayers in the Jewish and Christian liturgies in fact differs -the Seder Avodah follows the Qedushah (Sanctus), whereas the praefatio precedes the Sanctus.U In sum: the parallel to the Sidrei Avodah is imprecise, and the single motifs appear elsewhere in Christian liturgical context. New arguments are needed to shore up this thesis.

2. According to Ligier's second thesis, some Eastern Christian anaphoras were influenced by the confession prayers 'Attah Yodea' Razei '0/am and 'AI Het, in that they show the following parallels. 12 First, the specific enumeration of sins according to their gravity (voluntary or involuntary sins; sins committed consciously or out of ignorance, in secret or in public, deliberately or unintentionally; sins in thought, word or deed; known or unknown sins); second, the invocation of God as knowing hidden and secret matters and thoughts (based on Deuteronomy 29:28); third, a correspondence in the formula of three verbs for atonement/forgiveness (in Greek: clvc

.

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