The Image of Bar Kokhba in Traditional Jewish Literature: False Messiah and National Hero

Richard  G. Marks

Published by Penn State University Press 1993

The Image of Bar Kokhba in Traditional Jewish Literature

False Messiah and National Hero

Richard G. Marks

In the series Hermeneutics: Studies in the History of Religions

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780271075495

Overview
Contents

About this book

Bar Kokhba led the Jewish rebellion against Rome in 132–135 A.D., which resulted in massive destruction and dislocation of the Jewish populace of Judea. In early rabbinic literature, Bar Kokhba was remembered in two ways: as an imposter claiming to be the Messiah and as a glorious military leader whose successes led Rabbi Akiba, one of the great rabbinic authorities of Jewish tradition, to acclaim him the Messiah. These two earliest images formed the core of most later perceptions of Bar Kokhba, so that he became the prototypical false messiah and the paradigmatic rebel of Jewish history.

The Image of Bar Kokhba in Traditional Jewish Literature is a history of the perceptions that later Jewish writers living in the fourth through seventeenth centuries formed of this legendary hero-villain whose actions, in their eyes, had caused enormous suffering and disappointed messianic hopes.

Richard Marks examines each writer's account individually and in the context of its period, exploring particularly political and religious implications. He builds a history of images and looks at larger patterns, such as the desacralizing of traditional imagery. His findings raise timely political questions about Bar Kokhba's image among Jews today.

Author / Editor information

Marks Richard G. :

Richard G. Marks is Associate Professor of Religion at Washington and Lee University.

Reviews

“Marks’ painstaking investigation into the figure of Bar Kokhba in traditional Jewish literature has indeed provided a corrective to those on both sides of the Zionist political spectrum and in doing so he has once again shown that historical investigations are often quite useful in elucidating and clarifying various modern debates.”
—Jewish Political Studies Review

“This is a very significant contribution to both Jewish literature and history. The materials which Marks works through are well-known, but at many points he offers original interpretations. He provides a comprehensive synthesis of all the historical interpretations of Bar Kokhba.”
—Richard D. Hecht, University of California, Santa Barbara

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
List of Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Hebrew Transliteration Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Introduction: Freedom Fighter, Reckless Thug, Hero-Saint Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 Bar Kokhba in Rabbinic Literature Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
2 Bar Kokhba in the Writings of Ibn Daud and Maimonides Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
3 Abravanel's Image of Bar Kokhba Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	99
4 Bar Kokhba in Sixteenth- Century Historical Writings Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
5 Bar Kokhba in the Later Kabbalah Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	201
Appendix: Roman and Christian Writings on the Jewish Rebellion of 116-1 17 and the War of Bar Kokhba Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223

Language: English
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 244
Keywords: Image of Bar Kokhba in Traditional Jewish Literature; The; Richard Marks; 0-271-02571-9; Hermeneutics; Ziolist; Rabbi Akiva; Jewish rebellion against rome

eBook

Published: May 26, 2021
ISBN: 9780271075495