John C. Reeves
John C. Reeves
Blumenthal Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of Religious Studies, Department of Religious Studies

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  • Course Materials
    • LBST 2212 Literature and Culture
      • Course Syllabus
    • RELS 1120: Bible and its Interpreters
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    • RELS 1502 Comparative Mythology
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    • RELS 2000: Topics Courses in Religious Studies
      • Alternative Messiahs
        • Course syllabus for Alternative Messiahs
      • Bible and Qur’an
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      • Building Bible
        • Course Syllabus for Building Bible
      • Course Syllabus: Elementary Biblical Hebrew I (Fall 2019)
      • Course Syllabus: Elementary Biblical Hebrew II (Spring 2019)
      • Out of This World
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      • Rewriting the Book of Genesis
        • 2000 Syllabus
      • The Biblical Dark Arts
        • Biblical Dark Arts Course Syllabus
    • RELS 2104: Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament
      • General Principles For Interpretation Of The Tanakh
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      • Sennacherib’s Third Campaign: The Siege of Jerusalem
      • Translation Of 1Q Genesis Apocryphon II-XXII
      • Bereshit Rabbati on Shemhazai & Azael
      • Eutychius (Sa’id b. al-Bitriq) on Genesis 6:1-4
      • Moabite Stone (KAI 181)
    • RELS 2600 Orientation to the Study of Religion
      • Course syllabus for RELS 2600
    • RELS 3000: Special Topics Courses
      • Angels and Demons in Biblical Folklore
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        • Some Adam/Satan/Iblīs materials
      • Bible and Its Monsters
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      • Bible to Qur’ān
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      • Pentateuch/Torah
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      • Rewriting the Book of Genesis
        • Course Syllabus: Rewriting the Book of Genesis
      • The Biblical Black Arts
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      • Wrestling with Angels & Demons
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    • RELS 3090: Readings in Primary Texts
      • After One Year of Classical Hebrew …
      • Course Syllabi: Advanced Biblical Hebrew I
        • Syllabus Fall 2006
        • Syllabus Fall 2008
        • Syllabus Fall 2010
      • Course Syllabi: Advanced Biblical Hebrew II
        • Syllabus Spring 2007
        • Syllabus Spring 2009
        • Syllabus Spring 2011
      • Course Syllabus: Elementary Biblical Hebrew I
      • Course Syllabus: Elementary Biblical Hebrew II
    • RELS 3104: Prophecy and Prophetic Literature in Ancient Israel
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    • RELS 3107: Psalms and Wisdom Literature of Israel
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    • RELS 3122 Esoteric Traditions: Gnosis and Gnosticism
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    • RELS 3122 Esoteric Traditions: Jewish Secret Traditions
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    • RELS 3122 Esoteric Traditions: Thinking About Angels and Demons
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    • RELS 4000/5000 Advanced Biblical Hebrew
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    • RELS 4000/5000 Contextualizing the Qur’an
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    • RELS 4000/5000 Early Mythologies of Evil
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    • RELS 4000/5000 Jewish Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
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    • RELS 4000/5000 Jewish Mystical Literature
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    • RELS 4010/5010: James G. Frazer and William Robertson Smith
    • RELS 4107: Early Judaism
      • A Brief Introduction to Rabbinic Exegesis of the Bible
      • Bavli Menahot 109b
      • Midrash Tanhuma, Noah §3
      • RELS 4107: Course Syllabus
      • The Essene Hypothesis
      • Types of Midrashic Texts
      • Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?
    • RELS 4108: Medieval Judaism
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    • RELS 6000: Pluriform Multilingual Zechariah
      • Various Zechariah Legends
        • Bordeaux Pilgrim (333 CE) on the Temple Mount
        • Cave of Treasures 47.12-17
        • Mas’udi, Muruj al-dhahab
        • Protevangelium Jacobi (Syriac) 22-24
    • RELS 6000: Readings in Jewish Aramaic
      • Course syllabus for Jewish Aramaic
    • RELS 6000: Readings in Rabbinic Hebrew
      • Course Syllabus (2006-07)
      • Course Syllabus (2009-10)
    • RELS 6000: Readings in Syriac
    • RELS 6000: Readings in Ugaritic
    • RELS 6602: Seminar in the Religion of Ancient Israel
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    • RELS 6603 Seminar in Early Judaism
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    • RELS 6611: Qumran and its Literature
    • RELS 6615: Seminar in the Religions of Late Antiquity
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      • Course syllabus (Spring 2015)
    • RELS 6631: Seminar in Islamic Studies
    • RELS 6651: Seminar in the History of Religions
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      • Assorted Near Eastern Apocalypses
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      • Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?
      • Ya`qūbī, Ta’rīkh
  • Research Projects
    • Cave of Treasures: A New Translation and Commentary
    • Enoch from Antiquity to the Middle Ages
    • Illuminating the Afterlife of Ancient Apocryphal Jewish Literature
    • Medieval Jewish Pseudepigrapha
      • Jellinek’s Sefer Noah
      • Son of Samael
      • The Chronicles of Moses Our Teacher
    • Sefer ‘Uzza wa-‘Aza(z)el: Exploring Early Jewish Mythologies of Evil
    • Shades of Light and Darkness: Chaldean Dualism, Gnosis, and the Islamicate Milieu
    • Shahrastani’s Kitab al-Milal wa’l-Nihal On the Dualists
    • Trajectories in Near Eastern Apocalyptic
      • ’Otot ha-Mašiah (Signs of the Messiah)
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      • Nistarot (Secrets of) R. Shimon b. Yohai
      • Pirqe de-R. Eliezer §30 (end)
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      • Prophecy of Zardusht
      • Pseudo-Ephrem (Syriac)
      • Responsum of Hai Gaon on Redemption
      • Sefer Elijah
      • Sefer Zerubbabel
      • Tefillat (Prayer of) R. Shimon b. Yohai
      • Ten Further Things About the Messianic Days
      • Ten Signs
      • Testament of Adam
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Course Materials » RELS 4107: Early Judaism » Bavli Menahot 109b

Bavli Menahot 109b

Translated from the Vilna edition.

A baraita. The year wherein Shim‘on the Righteous died, he had told them he would die that year. They asked: ‘How do you know?’ He replied to them: ‘Every Yom Kippur an elder meets me wearing white and wrapped in white. He goes in (the Holy of Holies) with me and comes out with me. This year, an elder wearing black and wrapped in black met me. He went in with me, but he did not come back out with me.’ A short time later he fell ill for seven days and then died, and his brethren priests were unable to use the Lord’s Name in blessings. At the time of his (Shim’on’s) departure, he said to them: ‘My son Khonyo (i.e., Onias) will serve (as high priest) after me.’ His brother Shim‘i was jealous of him because he was two and a half years older than him (Khonyo). He said to him: ‘Come and I will teach you the sacrificial service.’ He dressed him in a slip and tied a brassiere around him and stood him next to the altar. Then he (Shim‘i) said to his fellow priests: ‘Look at how he is fulfilling the vow which he made to his lover: (namely) “Today when I serve as high priest, I shall wear your slip and brassiere!”’ His fellow priests tried to kill him, but he ran away from them with them hot on his heels. He escaped to Alexandria in Egypt, built an altar there, and offered on it idolatrous sacrifices.

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