Phinehas, the Sons of Zadok, and Melchizedek: An Analysis of Some Understandings of Priestly Covenant in the Late Second Temple Period

Abstract

This thesis is an analysis of the use of combined concepts of covenant and priesthood in some late Second Temple period Jewish and Jewish-Christian texts. In this thesis I investigate 1 and 2 Maccabees, Dead Sea Scrolls, and Hebrews, to see the various ways in which these Second Temple compositions have articulated the combined concepts of covenant and priesthood on the basis of their treatment of various biblical and extra-biblical traditions. The elaborate articulations of the combined concepts of covenant and priesthood in these texts partly reflect the concern of the Second Temple Jewish authors: how significant the priestly institutions and priesthood were, not only in terms of cultic matters, but also in terms of political and identity concerns. By means of this study, I hope to demonstrate that the combined concept of covenant and priesthood is necessary for a better understanding of some Second Temple texts.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2014
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	George Brooke (Supervisor) & Peter Oakes (Supervisor)