A Life of Psalms in Jewish Late Antiquity

A. J. Berkovitz

$129.75

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

University of Pennsylvania Press
20 June 2023

Ancient history: to c 500 CE; History of religion; Judaism: sacred texts

Series: Jewish Culture and Contexts

The Bible shaped nearly every aspect of Jewish life in the ancient world, from activities as obvious as attending synagogue to those which have lost their scriptural resonance in modernity, such as drinking water and uttering one's last words. And within a scriptural universe, no work exerted more force than the Psalter, the most cherished text among all the books of the Hebrew Bible.

A Life of Psalms in Jewish Late Antiquity clarifies the world of late ancient Judaism through the versatile and powerful lens of the Psalter. It asks a simple set of questions: Where did late ancient Jews encounter the Psalms? How did they engage with the work? And what meanings did they produce? A. J. Berkovitz answers these queries by reconstructing and contextualizing a diverse set of religious practices performed with and on the Psalter, such as handling a physical copy, reading from it, interpreting it exegetically, singing it as liturgy, invoking it as magic and reciting it as an act of piety. His book draws from and contributes to the fields of ancient Judaism, biblical reception, book history and the history of reading.

By: A. J. Berkovitz
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781512824186
ISBN 10: 1512824186
Series: Jewish Culture and Contexts
Pages: 274
Publication Date: 20 June 2023
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

A. J. Berkovitz is Assistant Professor of Ancient Judaism at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

Reviews for A Life of Psalms in Jewish Late Antiquity

"""An erudite and wide-ranging, but easy to read, exploration of the variety of uses of Psalms in Late Antiquity, highlighting their use in scrolls, art, inscriptions, and amulets—and more."" * Marc Z. Brettler, co-author of The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently * ""A model for how the post-biblical life of a Biblical book can be re-created."" * David Stern, author of The Jewish Bible: A Material History *"