Alex P. Jassen
Assistant Professor
tel.: 612-625-9545
email: jassen@umn.edu
personal website
Education
B.A. University of Washington 2001
Ph.D. New York University 2006
Statement of Interests
My research concentrates on the literary heritage of Second Temple period Judaism (6th century B.C.E. – 1st century C.E.) and the important role that this literature plays in reconstructing the history and development of classical Judaism. I am also interested in literary and theological traditions among early Christian communities and their relationship to scriptural antecedents and contemporary Jewish models. The primary research prism in which I approach these questions is the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Qumran community. I teach courses related to the history and literature of Second Temple and rabbinic Judaism as well as the larger framework of Jewish history and thought.
I am particularly interested in the ways that Jews in the Second Temple period continued to seek access to the divine word and will through means such as prophecy, divination, magic, mysticism, and biblical interpretation. My research also focuses on the development of post-biblical Jewish law, in particular how the formation of Jewish law is tied to prophetic and revelatory claims. My book Mediating the Divine: Prophecy and Revelation in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Second Temple Judaism (E.J. Brill, 2007), examines how the Qumran community conceptualized the meaning of prophecy and divine revelation in dialogue and in contrast with received biblical models and the evidence for ongoing prophetic activity at Qumran and in Second Temple Judaism. I am currently working on a book length project on prophecy and revelation in Judaism, which will explore further traces of prophetic activity in rabbinic and medieval Judaism, as well as into the modern era.
Selected Publications
Mediating the Divine: Prophecy and Revelation in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Second Temple Judaism (Studies in the Texts of the Desert of Judah 68; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2007)
“Intertextual Readings of the Psalms in the Dead Sea Scrolls: 4Q160 (Samuel Apocryphon) and Psalm 40.” Revue de Qumran 22:3 (2006): 403-30.
“Religion in the Dead Sea Scrolls.” Religion Compass 1:1 (2007): 1-25.
“Magic and the Bible Reconsidered.” Review Article of Klutz, Todd E. Magic in the Biblical World: From the Rod of Aaron to the Ring of Solomon. JSNTSup 245; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2004. In Judaism 54:3-4 (2005): 272-75.
“The Presentation of the Ancient Prophets as Lawgivers at Qumran.” Journal of Biblical Literature (forthcoming).
“Literary and History Studies in the Samuel Apocryphon (4Q160).” Journal of Jewish Studies (forthcoming).
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