The canon of the Hebrew Bible was defined, if
not yet finally closed, by the end of the first century CE. The Pharisaic canon
became the canon of Rabbinic Judaism, because the majority of those who
re-founded the Jewish religion after the destruction of the Temple by the
Romans were Pharisees. The process that led to this canonization needs to be
explored. How should we think about the books that were eventually included in
the canon? Unlike the early church, ancient Jewish communities did not have a
central authority that defined the books of the canon. The formation of the
Jewish canon was not prescribed by the priests of the Temple of Jerusalem, it
emerged from the bottom-up with each community holding to its own collection of
authoritative texts. See pictures and read article at -- http://www.asor.org/anetoday/2018/04/The-Canonical-Process-Reconsidered
The witnesses, laying their coats at the feet of Saul, were the men that would cast the first stones at Stephen in Acts 7. Why did they all lay their coats at Saul’s feet? The Talmud contains a very interesting account of the act of stoning that may provide the answer. “When the trial was over, they take him [the condemned person] out to be stoned. The place of stoning was at a distance from the court, as it is said, ‘Take out the one who has cursed.’ [i] A man stands at the entrance of the court; in his hand is a signaling flag [Hebrew sudarin = sudar , ‘scarf, sweater’]. A horseman was stationed far away but within sight of him. If one [of the judges] says, ‘I have something [more] to say in his favor,’ he [the signaler] waves the sudarin , and the horseman runs and stops them [from stoning him]. Even if [the condemned person] himself says, ‘I have something to say in my favor,’ they bring him back, even four of five times, only provided that there is some substance to...
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