T&T Clark Encyclopedia of

Second Temple Judaism

Volume 2

EDITED BY
Daniel Gurtner and Loren T. Stuckenbruck

T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism Volume 2.indb 3 28-06-2019 18:26:32
 Contents

Melchizedek Kasper Dalgaard 470

Meleager of Gadara Menahem Luz 471
Menorah Richard A. Freund 472
Merkabah Mysticism and Hekhalot Texts Rachel Elior 474
Mesopotamia, Media, and Babylonia Jon L. Berquist 478
Messiah Matthew V. Novenson 480
Messianism David Hamidoviü 481
Metatron Felicia Waldman 483
Michael, the Archangel Darrell D. Hannah 485
Midrash Joshua Ezra Burns 486
Military, Jews in the Dov Gera 488
Miqva’ot (Ritual Baths) Stuart S. Miller 490
Miracles and Miracle Workers Erkki Koskenniemi 494
Mishmarot Helen R. Jacobus 496
Mnaseas of Patara Russell E. Gmirkin 498
Moiragenes of Athens Robert M. Berchman 499
Monotheism Kevin P. Sullivan 500
Moriah, Mount Isaac Kalimi 502
Mosaics Mark A. Chancey 502
Moses Michael Tuval 503
Moses Texts from Qumran Liora Goldman 506
Multilingualism Michael Owen Wise 508
Murabba‫ޏ‬at, Wadi Michael Tuval 511
Music John Arthur Smith 513
Mystery Jean-Sébastien Rey 514
Mystery Religion, Judaism as Peter J. Haas 516
Mysticism (– see Merkabah Mysticism &
Hekhalot Texts) 517
Nabatea John F. Healey 518
Naতal ণever (Cave of Horrors and
Cave of Letters) Richard A. Freund 520
Nag Hammadi Codices Antti Marjanen 522
Names and Naming Tal Ilan 524
Nazareth Richard A. Freund and
Daniel M. Gurtner 525
Nebuchadnezzar Reinhard G. Kratz 527

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superior to the traditional Levitical priesthood, by way of being the first priest in the Hebrew
Bible. Melchizedek is presented as an eternal priest who is made like the SON OF GOD (7:3), thus
appearing as an exalted being (Dalgaard 2013: 110–25).
The idea of Melchizedek as an exalted being would become the basis of traditions wherein
Melchizedek appears as an angel, the HOLY SPIRIT, the true Son of God, or even as a god (e.g.
Melchizedek Tractate, 2 Book of Jeu, Pistis Sophia, Cave of Treasures; cf. Pearson 1998: 180–
202; Dalgaard 2013: 171–94). Yet, by contrast, both Philo and Josephus primarily regarded
Melchizedek as a historical figure. Philo uses Melchizedek in order to emphasize the importance
of such things as the tithe (Congr. 89–99; Leg. 3.79–82; Abr. 235; QG 14:18), although he also
refers to Melchizedek as being the Logos (Leg. 82). Josephus refers to Melchizedek as a historical
figure twice (J.W. 6.438; Ant. 1.180–181), following the Genesis story closely, but does add that
it was none other than Melchizedek who built the First Temple in Jerusalem (Dalgaard 2013:
79–134).

Bibliography
K. Dalgaard, Melchizedek: A Priest for All Generations: An Investigation into the Use of the Melchizedek
Figure from Genesis to the Cave of Treasures, Publikationer fra Det Teologiske Fakultet 48
(Copenhagen: Det Teologiske Fakultet, 2013).
J. A. Fitzmyer, “Melchizedek in the MT, LXX and the NT,” Bib 81 (2000): 63–69.
F. L. Horton, The Melchizedek Tradition: A Critical Examination of the Sources to the Fifth Century A.D.
and in the Epistle to the Hebrews, SNTSMS 30 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976).
M. McNamara, “Melchizedek: Gen 14,17–20 in the Targums, in Rabbinic and Early Christian Literature,”
Bib 81 (2000): 1–31.
A. A. Orlov, “Melchizedek Legend of 2 (Slavonic) Enoch,” JSJ 31 (2000): 23–38.
B. A. Pearson, “Melchizedek in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Gnosticism,” Biblical Figures Outside the
Bible (1998), 176–202.
A. Wuttke, Melchisedech der Priesterkönig von Salem: Eine Studie zur Geschichte der Exegese, BZNW 5
(Giessen: Verlag von Alfred Töpelmann, 1927).
KASPER DALGAARD

RELATED ENTRIES: Enoch, Slavonic Apocalypse of (2 Enoch); Garden of Eden—Paradise; Genesis, Book
of; Hebrews; Kingship in Ancient Israel; Mediator Figures; Melchizedek Scroll (11Q13); Levites; Psalms,
Book of; Sacrifices and Offerings; Tithing.

Meleager of Gadara

Meleager of Gadara (flor. ca. 90 BCE) was a Greek poet, satirist, and Cynic philosopher. In
youth, he moved to Tyre (AP 7.417–419, 428), possibly, a consequence of ALEXANDER JANNAEUS’
campaigns near Gadara (c. 102/1 BCE). His Cynic reputation (DL vi. 99) rested on his lost serio-
comic satires (Ath. XI. 107), written in the style of Menippus of Gadara (AP vii. 418). There he
jocularly treated Homer as a fellow Syrian (Ath. IV. 45). In his surviving epigrams, Meleager
describes the multiethnic (ʌ੺ȝijȣȜȠȢ, pamphulos) society of Greek SYRIA (AP xii. 157) and the
Cynic concept of the cosmos as “a single fatherland (vii. 417). Similarly, he greets readers of
his imaginary epitaph not only in GREEK (ȤĮ૙ȡİ, chaire) but also in ARAMAIC (ıĮȜȐȝ, salam)
and Phoenician (ȞĮ઀įȚȠȢ, naidios > ȞĮ઀ȝȚȠȢ†/Į੝įȠȞȓȢ†), imitating multilingual inscriptions of
the region (vii. 419). He probably encountered Jews in Gadara, but first noted their customs

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during his stay in Tyre, where he satirized Demo, a local friend or courtesan, who would not
join him because she was detained by “a desire to observe the SABBATH” (ıĮȕȕĮIJȚțઁȢ ... ʌȩșȠȢ,
sabbatikos … pothos), or less likely, “a desire of a Sabbath observer.” Meleager responds that
even “on cold Sabbaths there is hot love” (v. 160). He is thus the earliest classical author aware
of the Sabbath prohibition against kindling fire (Exod 35:3)—and perhaps of the injunction to
observe conjugal relations on its eve (m. Ketub. 5:9). Although some Jewish sects of his time had
forbidden intercourse throughout the Sabbath (Jub. 50:8), Meleager’s joke makes sense in the
light of Talmudic injunctions, supposedly based on the Bible (b. B. Qam. 82a).

Bibliography
K. R. Höschele, “‘If I am from Syria—So What?’ Meleager’s Cosmopoetics,” in Belonging and Isolation
in the Hellenistic World, ed. S. L. Ager and R. A. Faber (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013),
19–32.
MENAHEM LUZ

RELATED ENTRIES: Greek Authors on Jews and Judaism; Gentile Attitudes toward Jews and Judaism.

Menorah
The menorah (Heb. pl. ʺʥʸʥʰʮ, mnôrôt) is a seven-branched golden candelabrum referred to
in the BOOK OF EXODUS among the descriptions of the tabernacle (Exod 25:31–40, 37:17–24).
It was a unique lamp used for ritual purposes that figures in various literary traditions of the
Hebrew Bible, including the PENTATEUCH (cf. also Exod 26:35; 30:27; 31:8; 35:14; 39:37; 40:4,
24; Lev 24:4; Num 3:31; 4:9; 8:2–4), the prophets (Zech 4:2, 11), and the writings (1 Chr 28:15;
2 Chr 13:11; Hachlili 2001: 7–40). Candelabra of this sort are similar to ancient sacred furniture
and accessories found in other religious institutions in the ancient Near East in the Iron Age.
Lampstands were symbolic of divine power, energy, and life in the Hebrew Bible. According to
1 Kings 7:49 (cf. 2 Chr 4:7), there were ten in SOLOMON’s Temple, with five on each side of the
building; in addition, there was perhaps one in the Holy of Holies that represented the tabernacle
menorah (cf. 1 Kgs 8:4), making a total of eleven. The destruction of the JERUSALEM TEMPLE in
586 BCE may have resulted in the loss of these multiple golden lampstands.
With respect to the Second Temple, it is difficult to know how many menorot were used.
During Antiochus Epiphanes’ infamous campaign in Jerusalem ca. 167 BCE, a menorah was
damaged (1 Macc 1: 21) but then restored by Judas Maccabeus (1 Macc 4:48–50). Referring
to this restoration, Josephus states, “And when he had carefully purified it, he brought in new
vessels, such as a menorah, table, and altar, which were made of gold …. They kindled the
lights on the menorah and burned incense on the altar” (Ant. 12.318–319). However, in an
earlier episode, Josephus (Ant. 12.250) mentions that Antiochus carried off “the vessels of God,
the golden lampstands (plural), and the golden altar and table,” implying that there may have
been different lampstands in use in the Second Temple (Sperber 1965: 136). When Pompey
visited the Temple (apparently the Holy of Holies) in 63 BCE, Josephus (Ant. 14.72) suggests
that there is one menorah (mentioned in the singular). Again, in recounting the destruction
of Herod’s Temple in Jerusalem, Josephus refers to only one candelabrum (J.W. 5.216; 7.148;
cf. also Heb 9:2).

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