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since Wed, 26 Dec 2007 20:04:17.
When I was an undergraduate at Harvard, the reaction to Martillo's three hypotheses convinced me that I probably had no future in Jewish studies.
The hypotheses were:
1. Peripheral Romano-Frankish, Romano-Arabic, and Turko-Slavic populations constructed the Medieval world.
Romano-Franks created the Medieval Christian West.
Romano-Arabs created the Medieval Islamic East.
Turko-Slavs and the last Geonim created the Medieval Jewish trade networks, (a) which were the "territory" of Medieval Rabbinic Judaism and (b) without which the Medieval world did not function economically.
Here are related blog entries:
2. Nineteenth century Jews inherited a superior form of social networking from the international Jewish trade networks of the Middle Ages.
Even though pre-modern forms of Jewish business activity were in decline since the late 18th century, the associated Jewish networks of trust increased in size and cohesiveness with the development of international telecommunications technology and the growth of the associated international media industries in the 19th century.
At the same time, (1) because Jewish population was growing rapidly, (2) because many traditional Jewish economic niches had become obsolete, and (3) because more non-Jews had begun to enter traditionally Jewish types of business, Jewish social networks were becoming more aggressive and often tried to establish effectively exclusive claim to new economic sectors.
Increasing numbers of non-Jews began to view Jews as economic cheaters, and despite self-serving Jewish efforts to blame Christianity for rising hostility toward Jews (in an era of declining religious belief!), classic late 19th anti-Semitism was really a response to the growing effectiveness of Jewish social networking and can be primarily attributed to antisocial Jewish behavior associated with certain aspects of economic modernization and technological innovation that advantaged the Jewish meta-population.
[See The Importance of Nuremberg Tribunal Law and Wilders' Columbia Song and Dance.]
3. Hellenistic Judaism arises as a development of the Greek colonies planted in Palestine in the wake of Alexander's conquests, for the descendants of the Greek colonists began to practice Judaic religion and then began to emigrate to Alexandria and other parts of the Hellenistic world to create the Greek-speaking Judaic Diaspora communities, which then sent funds to the Jerusalem Temple for sacrifices.
Not only could Greek-speaking Judeans emigrating to the Diaspora find scriptural justification for taking pagan wives in the Book of Ruth, but the Book of Esther could also be read to rationalize proselytizing gentiles.
The later Hasmoneans and the Herodians seem to have developed some awareness that Judaizing pagans increased the wealth and power of Kingdom of Judea especially if the Kings of Judea came to be perceived by Romans and Greeks as the Judaic Kings.
According to the Latin texts, the title of the ruler of Judea develops from Rex Iudaeae (King of Judea) to Rex Iudaeus (Judean King) and finally to Rex Iudaicus (Judaic King).
In the Gospels, Jesus is called Jesus Nazarenus, Rex Judaeorum (Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων).
An expansion of the Greek-speaking Diaspora dovetailed with road and port building within Judea as well as
Here is a use of σωτηρία (salvation) from Obadiah.
If Judaic proselytization targeted gentiles as Romans and Greeks seemed to believe, the apostle Paul had good reason to reject requiring a pagan to practice Judaism before he became a follower of Jesus because a gentile convert to Judaism might join a Judaic community and never take the final step to Christianity. (The subtext of the Paul's disagreement with other early Judean Christians may have been economic. The Jerusalem church under the control of Jesus' family was running out of money.)
Thus Hasmonean and Herodian period Judaic proselytization
Here are some related blog entries:
The three hypotheses are intimately connected and provided a unified frame to look at political-economic development from the Greco-Roman antiquity through the modern period and form the basis for my fourth hypothesis, which I developed after working on EU funded infrastructure development projects in the Occupied Territories.
Martillo's Fourth Hypothesis
Political science and the historical discussion of the nature of the nation are too restrictive because they assume that the elemental nation-state must be consolidated on the basis of a territory and language.
From the early 19th century onward Jewish communities undergo a process of virtual national consolidation on a foundation with two key components.
The first component consisted of the remnants of pre-modern Jewish trade networks that had been constructed around a common faith requiring a commitment to Jewish sacred law. Jewish sacred law (or Halakhah) provided a uniform commercial code that regulated Jewish networks of trust in mercantile and financial industries.
The second component was a new national consciousness associated with the new idea of a Jewish Volk that must take possession and control of Palestine even if the vast majority of Jews never migrate there.
Evolving (and somewhat different) political and economic interests of Western, Central and Eastern European Jews worked together to create the Zionist Virtual Colonial Motherland
(1) that partnered with the UK and
(2) that managed the New Settlement and now the State of Israel as a colonial dependency.
Since the end of the British Mandatory, the Zionist colonial system has evolved into a vastly profitable mostly financial empire that has rendered the US government an intimidated and dependent client state within an extremely flexible imperial system.
Introduction: Jewish Historical Political Economics provides a starting point to understand the foregoing ideas.
The hypotheses were:
1. Peripheral Romano-Frankish, Romano-Arabic, and Turko-Slavic populations constructed the Medieval world.
Romano-Franks created the Medieval Christian West.
Romano-Arabs created the Medieval Islamic East.
Turko-Slavs and the last Geonim created the Medieval Jewish trade networks, (a) which were the "territory" of Medieval Rabbinic Judaism and (b) without which the Medieval world did not function economically.
Here are related blog entries:
Why Study Yiddish Culture?
[Patricia Crone] What do we actually know about Mohammed?
2. Nineteenth century Jews inherited a superior form of social networking from the international Jewish trade networks of the Middle Ages.
Even though pre-modern forms of Jewish business activity were in decline since the late 18th century, the associated Jewish networks of trust increased in size and cohesiveness with the development of international telecommunications technology and the growth of the associated international media industries in the 19th century.
At the same time, (1) because Jewish population was growing rapidly, (2) because many traditional Jewish economic niches had become obsolete, and (3) because more non-Jews had begun to enter traditionally Jewish types of business, Jewish social networks were becoming more aggressive and often tried to establish effectively exclusive claim to new economic sectors.
Increasing numbers of non-Jews began to view Jews as economic cheaters, and despite self-serving Jewish efforts to blame Christianity for rising hostility toward Jews (in an era of declining religious belief!), classic late 19th anti-Semitism was really a response to the growing effectiveness of Jewish social networking and can be primarily attributed to antisocial Jewish behavior associated with certain aspects of economic modernization and technological innovation that advantaged the Jewish meta-population.
[See The Importance of Nuremberg Tribunal Law and Wilders' Columbia Song and Dance.]
3. Hellenistic Judaism arises as a development of the Greek colonies planted in Palestine in the wake of Alexander's conquests, for the descendants of the Greek colonists began to practice Judaic religion and then began to emigrate to Alexandria and other parts of the Hellenistic world to create the Greek-speaking Judaic Diaspora communities, which then sent funds to the Jerusalem Temple for sacrifices.
Not only could Greek-speaking Judeans emigrating to the Diaspora find scriptural justification for taking pagan wives in the Book of Ruth, but the Book of Esther could also be read to rationalize proselytizing gentiles.
The later Hasmoneans and the Herodians seem to have developed some awareness that Judaizing pagans increased the wealth and power of Kingdom of Judea especially if the Kings of Judea came to be perceived by Romans and Greeks as the Judaic Kings.
According to the Latin texts, the title of the ruler of Judea develops from Rex Iudaeae (King of Judea) to Rex Iudaeus (Judean King) and finally to Rex Iudaicus (Judaic King).
In the Gospels, Jesus is called Jesus Nazarenus, Rex Judaeorum (Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων).
An expansion of the Greek-speaking Diaspora dovetailed with road and port building within Judea as well as
- with the expansion of the Temple complex,
- with the earliest beginnings of a Judaic trade network connecting the Greco-Roman Judaic communities to those of the Persian-Aramaic regions , and
- with the development of the intellectual culture of Ioudaismos that could either rival or complement Hellenismos.
ὑμεῖς προσκυνεῖτε ὁ οὐκ οἴδατε· ἡμεῖς προσκυνοῦμεν ὃ οἴδαμεν, ὅτιἡ σωτηρία ἐκ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐστίν.KJV
Ye worship ye know not what we know what we worship for salvation is of the JewsI think there is a material difference in Greek between
ὅτι ἡ σωτηρία ἐκ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐστίν (Septuagint)and
for salvation is from the Jews (KJV: of the Jews)
ὅτι ἡ σωτηρία τοις Ιουδαίοις ἐστίνThe later is more consistent with Septuagint conceptualization and phraseology.
for salvation is to/for/of the Jews
Here is a use of σωτηρία (salvation) from Obadiah.
1:17 ᾿Εν δὲ τῷ ὄρει Σιὼν ἔσται ἡ σωτηρία, καὶ ἔσται ἅγιον· καὶ κατακληρονομήσουσιν ὁ οἶκος ᾿Ιακὼβ τοὺς κατακληρονομήσαντας αὐτούς.Esther 4:14 provides a grammatical construction that should be compared with John 4:22.
But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance and there shall be holiness and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions
ὡς ὅτι ἐὰν παρακούσῃς ἐν τούτῳ τῷ καιρῷ ἄλλοθεν βοήθεια καὶ σκέπη ἔσται τοῖς ιουδαίοις σὺ δὲ καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ πατρός σου ἀπολεῖσθε καὶ τίς οἶδεν εἰ εἰς τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον ἐβασίλευσαςIn other words John 4:22 can be read to suggest that Judeans are bringing salvation to non-Judeans and are not merely the beneficiaries of salvation, which is the more usual Old Testament/Hebrew Bible conceptualization. (According to the normal Christian interpretation Jesus is referring to himself.)
For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise (will be) to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
If Judaic proselytization targeted gentiles as Romans and Greeks seemed to believe, the apostle Paul had good reason to reject requiring a pagan to practice Judaism before he became a follower of Jesus because a gentile convert to Judaism might join a Judaic community and never take the final step to Christianity. (The subtext of the Paul's disagreement with other early Judean Christians may have been economic. The Jerusalem church under the control of Jesus' family was running out of money.)
Thus Hasmonean and Herodian period Judaic proselytization
- may haved served as a model or competitor for early Christian missionaries and
- may also have made it possible to reconstruct Judaism in the Diaspora after Second Temple Judaism is shattered in Judea with the crushing of the Bar Kokhba Rebellion.
Here are some related blog entries:
Origins of Modern Jewry---------
Followup(II): Origins of Modern Jewry
Reading Abrahamic Scripture Together
[Khaleej Times] Israel Steals Palestinian Heritage, History
Jewish, Christian, and Palestinian Holidays (South Park videoclip for fun)
The three hypotheses are intimately connected and provided a unified frame to look at political-economic development from the Greco-Roman antiquity through the modern period and form the basis for my fourth hypothesis, which I developed after working on EU funded infrastructure development projects in the Occupied Territories.
Martillo's Fourth Hypothesis
Political science and the historical discussion of the nature of the nation are too restrictive because they assume that the elemental nation-state must be consolidated on the basis of a territory and language.
From the early 19th century onward Jewish communities undergo a process of virtual national consolidation on a foundation with two key components.
The first component consisted of the remnants of pre-modern Jewish trade networks that had been constructed around a common faith requiring a commitment to Jewish sacred law. Jewish sacred law (or Halakhah) provided a uniform commercial code that regulated Jewish networks of trust in mercantile and financial industries.
The second component was a new national consciousness associated with the new idea of a Jewish Volk that must take possession and control of Palestine even if the vast majority of Jews never migrate there.
Evolving (and somewhat different) political and economic interests of Western, Central and Eastern European Jews worked together to create the Zionist Virtual Colonial Motherland
(1) that partnered with the UK and
(2) that managed the New Settlement and now the State of Israel as a colonial dependency.
Since the end of the British Mandatory, the Zionist colonial system has evolved into a vastly profitable mostly financial empire that has rendered the US government an intimidated and dependent client state within an extremely flexible imperial system.
Introduction: Jewish Historical Political Economics provides a starting point to understand the foregoing ideas.
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