Priestly Mathematical Thought in Biblical and Second Temple Jewish Literatures – Liane M. Feldman
Contrary to what we might think at first, biblical and Second Temple Jewish literatures are filled with mathematical thought. The densest concentration of mathematical thought in these texts is found in writings concerned with priestly and priestly-adjacent matters such as temples and sacrifice. Embedded within larger narrative contexts, these instances of counting, calculation, and measurement offer a unique glimpse into the socio-historical contexts of these texts and their relationship to broader knowledge networks in the ancient world. Mathematics in the ancient world, as in modernity, is highly contextual and culturally conditioned. How one counts or approaches even a simple arithmetical problem can and did vary widely. This talk will explore the diversity of maths in texts such as the pentateuchal priestly source, Ezekiel, and the Aramaic Levi Document and consider why counting and calculation might play substantial role in priestly literary writings.
Liane Feldman is an assistant professor in the Department of Religion and Program in Judaic Studies at Princeton University. She is the author of the award-winning The Story of Sacrifice: Ritual and Narrative in the Priestly Source (Mohr Siebeck, 2020) and The Consuming Fire: The Complete Priestly Source from Creation to the Promised Land (University of California, 2023 and 2024). She is currently writing a monograph on numerate education and mathematical thought in the Bible under contract to be published in the Anchor Yale Reference Library.
Wednesday, January 20, 2027 • 306 Royce Hall • 4 PM
Priestly Mathematical Thought in Biblical and Second Temple Jewish Literatures
Liane M. Feldman (Princeton University)
The Bible and its Interpreters Seminar Series