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Biblical Views: Judaism—Back to Basics
 “You never get too good for the basics.” Some such caution will be familiar to anyone who has trained in a sport, musical instrument or language. We understand that we will have to get through the basics at the start. The hard part is realizing, months or years into training, that we can never leave behind those building blocks: working endlessly on balance and form; constantly practicing scales; struggling with the unsexy conjugation of verbs.
It is the same with academic work. Important insights have originated in the teaching of introductory courses. That is where we come to grips over and over again with the most basic tools and evidence of our disciplines. Each year, as our specialized research and writing progress, we return to the basics with new eyes. And the constant questioning of these foundations, by us and by our students, can expose weaknesses in the fundamentals. I suggest that one of our most rudimentary categories, ancient “Judaism,” could benefit from rethinking.1
In the study of ancient Judea, there is no more basic category than “Judaism.” It seems obvious: ancient Jews practiced Judaism. Since there was a Greek word, Ioudaismos, which looks like “Judaism,” some scholars have suggested that Jews were unique among the ancients in embracing an –ism (there was no Romanism, Athena-ism, Isis-ism, etc.). Our debates have been focused on whether we should speak of early, middle or (surely not) late Judaism, rabbinic, Palestinian, normative, common or sectarian Judaism. And should it be Judaism, or Judaisms, as some scholars have proposed?
But there is a problem. In a search of the more than 9,000 texts available in the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae,2 the noun Ioudaismos appears 342 times. Of these, all but five (i.e., 337) are in Christian texts, and 331 of those are from the third century or later. Of the five occurrences in Jewish texts, four are in a small work of only 15 chapters: 2 Maccabees (2:21, 8:1, 14:38); the other is in 4 Maccabees (4:26), which is derived from 2 Maccabees. The Latin form Iudaismus appears exclusively in Christian authors from the third century on, and there was no ancient Hebrew or Aramaic equivalent.
Let’s pause to take this in. In spite of the ubiquitous talk of ancient Judaism, the possibly corresponding ancient terms appear exclusively in Christian literature, aside from 2 and 4 Maccabees. We find no “Judaism,” then, in the many Greek and Latin texts by observers of Judea and Judeans. It does not appear in Josephus’s 30 volumes, which are devoted to explaining Judean law and culture, or in the roughly comparable library of Philo. The word is absent from Biblical and post-Biblical (apocryphal and pseudepigraphical) texts outside 2 and 4 Maccabees.
Without going further, we can already say confidently that Ioudaismos was a significant part of later Christian discourse, and nearly absent elsewhere. As for the few appearances in 2 and 4 Maccabees, we seem to have only three options: (a) The author of 2 Maccabees coined Ioudaismos for “Judaism” but his experiment did not catch on until the Christians revived it; (b) it was in wide use but by some fluke does not surface in other literature; or (c) the author of 2 Maccabees did not use Ioudaismos to mean “Judaism.” We may set aside (b) as highly unlikely, given the concentration of Ioudaismos in 2 and 4 Maccabees and its absence everywhere else, leaving us to decide between (a) and (c).
The specific purposes and context of 2 Maccabees require us to prefer (c). Greek nouns ending in –ismos are deceptive. They do not indicate “isms” in the English sense of ideologies or belief systems (Anglicanism, Buddhism, atheism, Stalinism), but rather actions. For example, the verbs ostrakizō, Attikizō, Lakōnizō, exorkizō and baptizō produce nouns ending in –ismos, which are best translated as gerunds. We see this in their English descendants: ostracism is the action of ostracizing as baptism is the action of dunking.
Further, the subgroup of these terms that pertain to cultures, such as Mēdismos, Attikismos and Lakōnismos, had decidedly negative connotations. They had become popular words in the political strife that racked the Greek cities during the fifth century B.C.E. They referred to the defection of cities or individuals to the Persian, Athenian or Spartan cause. Although such capitulation may have been unavoidable, it was inglorious. Greek Ioudaismos would most readily be understood, therefore, as a similar alignment with Judean interests. Although Greeks and Romans did adopt Judean culture often enough to attract outside comment, that comment was invariably hostile because faithfulness to one’s ancestral traditions—whatever that tradition—was considered a bedrock value in the ancient world.3 Invoking the politically loaded term Ioudaismos, if it did not bring a sneer, would raise an eyebrow.
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JudaismHellenic times are very late. The Jesuit Bouchet has already answered your question in his letters from India (1714) as did Robertus Nobillius (Asiatic Researches Vol. XIV, 1822; p. 59, note 1.) Philo with Calanus, as did Megasthenes with Kalami 4th cent. BC; Gudea, Governor of Sumer &c., &c. Such is the corrupted state of Judah-ism or Ayodhya-ism. Examine Semite if you want basics; then look at Ham; then Cush then Ethiop. Then you will see it. • • • • • • • JudaismDr. Mason argument is very cogent and adds a welcome addition to my weekly Bible study group discussions. We Christians all have our -isms too: e.g. literalism. That is bane of every Bible study leader, but we also use it as a derogatory term. • • • • • • • judaismwhat about the karaites? • • • • • • • Who invented Judaism?The article on the supposed invention by Christians of Judaism is very clever and makes a good point that the Greek term for "Judaism" was basically a Christian invention. However, just because the term has a Christian provenance doesn't mean that Judaism the religion is a Christian invention; to state it that baldly is to show how absurd this contention is. Actually, there has never been a monolithic Judaism, and that is true today. Hence I'll say this author goes a bit too far. • • • • • • • Judaism?A fine analysis of a word that we now commonly use in the church--and "literate" Christians understand--"Judaism." How the other "isms" arrived on the scene and are now in common use is nothing short of fascinating. Keep up the excellent scholarly articles. • • • • • • • Judaism or IoudaismosThis is a very interesting article! I wonder how this may also relate to the Jewish-Christian Christianized word "Sabbatismos" in the NT book of Hebrews (4:9)? Is the meaning here "Sabbatism," or is "a keeping of Sabbath" the referent action, as Heb. 10:23-25 also seems to indicate? • • • • • • • JudaismVery clear and helpful. However, the title had led me to hope to read a description of ancient Judaism. Just what was it that the term denoted? Clearly, not the later Rabbinic Judaism, nor the pre-oral-law Judaism, nor the pre-Alexandrian Judaism -- but what did "Judaism" mean to the original coiners of the term? I'm writing a history of the time between the Testaments, and any info or viewpoint would help me. • • • • • • • Other Ancient Isms?Dr. Mason makes a strong case. But I'm wondering about other non-ethnic religions in the Roman world: the worship of Mithra and Isis to name a couple. Would Dr. Mason consider these isms as well? What words are used to describe them in ancient literature? Did Christianity simply include them in the category of pagan? I'm wondering how far this making of isms extends • • • • • • • JudaismInteresting, but so what? Neologism are basic to every language. Does the usage of a word depend on how ancient it is or who coined it? Does Judaism, Christianity or paganism change or suffer in any way because of a suffix? • • • • • • • |
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