Filled With The SpiritPart TwoJewish Literature

Having previously examined Levison's explanation of the concept of holy spirit inIsraelite Literature, we here turn to the second part of his volume which concerns itself withthe concept of holy spirit in Jewish literature (by which he essentially means the literatureproduced by Jews after the exile and up till the time of Christianity).'On the simplest of planes, Part II of our study debunks the false conception [of the'quenched spirit'] during the Greco-Roman era' (p. 116). Hence, 'it will no longer be possibleto dismiss Second Temple Judaism as a spiritually impoverished religion that functions as anegative foil for the birth of early Christianity' (p.116).To achieve this end Levison describes Jewish literature (particularly Ben Sira) whichmakes use of such terminology as 'a wise and holy spirit within' (chapter one of part 2) andobserves '… the spirit, what characterizes human beings from birth, is identified as a

holy spirit

' (p. 144). This, it seems to me, is very central to his overall thesis. Levison's use of Sirach is simply fantastic.In chapter 2 of the second part, Levison does a masterful, masterful job of examining'Spirit and the Allure of Ecstasy'. Here the Greco-Roman world and its intersection withJewish thought comes to the fore. Delphi and the Sybil and other such phenomena infusethe Jewish understanding of spirit with a wholly new vigor.If there is a corner of ancient literature where we might expect to discoverresistance to Greco-Roman culture, its legacy would be apparent in aPalestinian rewriting of the Hebrew scriptures, which itself was probablyoriginally composed in Hebrew. Yet even over this literary text, theshadow of Delphi, and the discussions of inspiration more generally thatwhirled around it, was cast unmistakeably (p. 161).Of special interest, however, to me at least, is Levison's observation that in Greco-Romanspirituality, there was '… an association of ecstasy and intoxication – accompanied as well bythe image of fire …' (p. 170). I expect he will flesh this passing observation out a bit morewhen he comes to Christian Literature in part three.The third chapter of part two is titled 'Spirit and Inspired Knowledge'. Here, again forthe most part, though Levison calls other witnesses to the stand, Philo is the chief of them.The fourth chapter sees a return to 'Ezekiel's Vision and the Dawn of Purity'. Perhaps themost intriguing segment of part two, here Levison focuses his acumen and attention on theQumran literature.He interprets 1QH II 19-24 in an, I must confess, odd way however. Here, for Levison,'the simple act of inbreathing, which is hopeful and invigorating in the tale of Eden, hasbecome now ugly, transformed into 'the depraved spirit.' There is no quarter in this arena fora good spirit within, for a spirit of understanding, for a spirit and [did he mean of?] justice,power and might. The hymn writer, fashioned out of dust, is in his totality a depraved spirit'(p. 203). Levison calls this a 'pessimistic grasp of Gen 2:7' (Ibid.). I don't read the hymnthat way at all. It seems to me, rather, that the hymnist is thanking God for deliverance fromthe depraved spirit with which he lived and which he inherited from his former life (pre-sect,