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Sources of the Sages: Developing a systematic method for the identification of Jewish-Christian intertextuality in the Babylonian Talmud
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2026
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| _version_ | 1867613780248100864 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Brand, Christiaan Burger |
| author2 | Westwood, Ursula |
| author_browse | Brand, Christiaan Burger Westwood, Ursula |
| author_facet | Westwood, Ursula Brand, Christiaan Burger |
| author_sort | Brand, Christiaan Burger |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135636 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:41:35.119Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135636 Sources of the Sages: Developing a systematic method for the identification of Jewish-Christian intertextuality in the Babylonian Talmud Brand, Christiaan Burger Westwood, Ursula Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Ancient Studies. Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. Brand, C. B. 2026. Sources of the Sages: Developing a systematic method for the identification of Jewish-Christian intertextuality in the Babylonian Talmud. Unpublished masters thesis. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/1f5249ad-c7ac-4a08-afce-dff011b9be68 Recently, scholars have begun investigating potential instances of intertextuality – demonstrable reference to content – between the Babylonian Talmud (‘Bavli’) and antedating or contemporaneous Christian literature. Interesting proposals have been made about the possible use of Christian literature by the Stammaim (the anonymous author-redactors of the Bavli),1 but there has not been a research project dedicated to systematising a method that may be used as an analytical point of departure in this investigation. My study attempts to fill that gap. I analysed existing scholarly investigations into Bavli aggadot suspected of intertextuality with Christian literature, and used their methods to distill five criteria that may be used concurrently to identify potential Christian-to-Talmud literary dependence in other aggadot: 1) Combinational parallelism, 2) no rabbinic attestation, 3) topically related context, 4) phraseological rarity and co-occurrence, and 5) contextual disjunction. These criteria function on three distinct yet interrelated levels of comparative textual analysis: inter-rabbinic (second criterion), intra-Bavli (second, third, and fifth criteria), and Talmud-Christian (first and fourth criteria). These levels also represent the steps of the method. The first step entailed comparing a Bavli aggadah to its pre-Talmudic versions. This was done in an attempt to explain all phenomena unique to the Bavli’s version internally – i.e., without reference to possible extra-rabbinic influence. The unique-to-the-Bavli phenomena that could not be explained satisfactorily in this way represented the thematic subject matter to look for in identifying potential Christian intertexts. The second step entailed comparing the aggadah to its Talmudic sugya, to see if we could infer from the local context whether the narrative pertains to the topic of Christianity. The third step entailed comparatively analysing the textual contents of the aggadah with potential Christian intertexts. I tested the method by using it to analyse two Talmudic aggadot, viz., the narratives about the translation of R. Elazar b. R. Shimon’s remains, and the death of Titus at the hands of a gnat. These aggadot have been suspected of some connection with Christianity by researchers in the past. In the first step, the majority of unique-to-the-Bavli phenomena in both aggadot could be explained with reference to a combination of the influence of the Stammaim’s worldview, reuse of Talmudic material, and narratology. In the second step, neither of the narratives’ sugyot contained content related to Christianity. In the third step, the consequential limitation of the study became apparent – there was no straightforward method for identifying potential Christian intertexts. Nevertheless, I found some Christian texts that may illuminate extra-rabbinic influence that could explain some unique phenomena in these narratives. Ultimately, the method illustrated in this study represents not only a possible point of departure for analysing the relationship between Talmudic and Christian literary traditions, but also those between rabbinic counterpart aggadot. Moreover, this study establishes a process by which scholars can identify themes and motifs in Talmudic texts which merit the further step of comparison with Christian literature in the investigation of possible intertextuality, and it is perhaps in this that its greatest contribution to Talmudic scholarship lies. Masters 2026-04-07T06:27:03Z 2026-04-07T06:27:03Z 2026-03 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135636 en Stellenbosch University 127 pages application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Brand, Christiaan Burger Sources of the Sages: Developing a systematic method for the identification of Jewish-Christian intertextuality in the Babylonian Talmud |
| title | Sources of the Sages: Developing a systematic method for the identification of Jewish-Christian intertextuality in the Babylonian Talmud |
| title_full | Sources of the Sages: Developing a systematic method for the identification of Jewish-Christian intertextuality in the Babylonian Talmud |
| title_fullStr | Sources of the Sages: Developing a systematic method for the identification of Jewish-Christian intertextuality in the Babylonian Talmud |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sources of the Sages: Developing a systematic method for the identification of Jewish-Christian intertextuality in the Babylonian Talmud |
| title_short | Sources of the Sages: Developing a systematic method for the identification of Jewish-Christian intertextuality in the Babylonian Talmud |
| title_sort | sources of the sages developing a systematic method for the identification of jewish christian intertextuality in the babylonian talmud |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135636 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT brandchristiaanburger sourcesofthesagesdevelopingasystematicmethodfortheidentificationofjewishchristianintertextualityinthebabyloniantalmud |