Gustaf Dalman, Anti-Semitism, and the Language of Jesus Debate

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avondale-bepress-to-dspace.facultyTheology
avondale-bepress-to-dspace.peer_review_statusPeer reviewed before publication
avondale-bepress.abstract<p>The theory that Jesus of Nazareth spoke and taught exclusively in Aramaic rather than Hebrew achieved its present dominant position just over a century ago due largely to the labour of Gustaf Dalman. His primary motivation was not the recovery of the historical Jesus, however, but to support his deep commitment to the Protestant movement to convert Jews. This movement did not escape the impact of escalating anti-Semitism in society, intensified by rapid progress towards German national unification. One Christian response to anti-Semitism was to "extract" Jesus from Judaism by contrasting him with "Jewish" attitudes and values held by Jewish spiritual authorities. Dalman's contribution was to extract Jesus from the ethnically exclusive Hebrew language by insisting that he spoke only the more widely-used lingua franca of the region, Aramaic. By over-stating his case and going beyond the evidence, Dalman revealed his indebtedness to the anti-Semitic spirit of his age.</p>
avondale-bepress.articleid1094
avondale-bepress.authorsSteven Thompson
avondale-bepress.context-key6785437
avondale-bepress.coverpage-urlhttps://research.avondale.edu.au/theo_papers/87
avondale-bepress.document-typearticle
avondale-bepress.field.author_faculty_disciplineTheology
avondale-bepress.field.comments<p>Used by permission: Wiley</p> <p>The article available for downloaded is the author accepted version. The published version is available from the publisher <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9809.2009.00829.x/abstract">here.</a></p>
avondale-bepress.field.custom_citation<p>Thompson, S. (2010). Gustaf Dalman, anti-semitism, and the language of Jesus debate. <em>Journal of Religious History, 34</em>(1), 36-54. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9809.2009.00829.x</p>
avondale-bepress.field.doihttps://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9809.2009.00829.x
avondale-bepress.field.embargo_date2015-03-05T00:00:00Z
avondale-bepress.field.for220401 Christian Studies (incl. Biblical Studies and Church History)
avondale-bepress.field.issn0022-4227
avondale-bepress.field.issue_number1
avondale-bepress.field.journalJournal of Religious History
avondale-bepress.field.page_numbers36-54
avondale-bepress.field.peer_reviewBefore publication
avondale-bepress.field.publication_date2010-02-01T00:00:00Z
avondale-bepress.field.source_publication<p>This article was originally published as:</p> <p>Thompson, S. (2010). Gustaf Dalman, anti-semitism, and the language of Jesus debate. <em>Journal of Religious History, 34</em>(1), 36-54. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9809.2009.00829.x</p> <p>ISSN:1467-9809</p>
avondale-bepress.field.volume_number34
avondale-bepress.fulltext-urlhttps://research.avondale.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1094&amp;context=theo_papers&amp;unstamped=1
avondale-bepress.keywordsassimilation
avondale-bepress.keywordsAramaic
avondale-bepress.keywordsHebrew
avondale-bepress.keywordsJesus
avondale-bepress.keywordsJewish emancipation
avondale-bepress.label87
avondale-bepress.publication-date2010-02-01T00:00:00Z
avondale-bepress.publication-titleTheology Papers and Journal Articles
avondale-bepress.statepublished
avondale-bepress.submission-date2015-03-05T18:36:23Z
avondale-bepress.submission-paththeo_papers/87
avondale-bepress.titleGustaf Dalman, Anti-Semitism, and the Language of Jesus Debate
avondale-bepress.typearticle
dc.contributor.authorThompson, Steven
dc.date.accessioned2023-11-01T00:39:22Z
dc.date.available2023-11-01T00:39:22Z
dc.date.issued2010-02-01
dc.date.submitted2015-03-05T18:36:23Z
dc.description.abstract<p>The theory that Jesus of Nazareth spoke and taught exclusively in Aramaic rather than Hebrew achieved its present dominant position just over a century ago due largely to the labour of Gustaf Dalman. His primary motivation was not the recovery of the historical Jesus, however, but to support his deep commitment to the Protestant movement to convert Jews. This movement did not escape the impact of escalating anti-Semitism in society, intensified by rapid progress towards German national unification. One Christian response to anti-Semitism was to "extract" Jesus from Judaism by contrasting him with "Jewish" attitudes and values held by Jewish spiritual authorities. Dalman's contribution was to extract Jesus from the ethnically exclusive Hebrew language by insisting that he spoke only the more widely-used lingua franca of the region, Aramaic. By over-stating his case and going beyond the evidence, Dalman revealed his indebtedness to the anti-Semitic spirit of his age.</p>
dc.description.versionBefore publication
dc.identifier.citation<p>Thompson, S. (2010). Gustaf Dalman, anti-semitism, and the language of Jesus debate. <em>Journal of Religious History, 34</em>(1), 36-54. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9809.2009.00829.x</p>
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9809.2009.00829.x
dc.identifier.issn0022-4227
dc.identifier.urihttps://research.avondale.edu.au/handle/123456789/06785437
dc.language.isoen_us
dc.provenance<p>This article was originally published as:</p> <p>Thompson, S. (2010). Gustaf Dalman, anti-semitism, and the language of Jesus debate. <em>Journal of Religious History, 34</em>(1), 36-54. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9809.2009.00829.x</p> <p>ISSN:1467-9809</p>
dc.rights<p>Used by permission: Wiley</p> <p>The article available for downloaded is the author accepted version. The published version is available from the publisher <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9809.2009.00829.x/abstract">here.</a></p>
dc.subjectassimilation
dc.subjectAramaic
dc.subjectHebrew
dc.subjectJesus
dc.subjectJewish emancipation
dc.titleGustaf Dalman, Anti-Semitism, and the Language of Jesus Debate
dc.typeJournal Article
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