Dr. Rivka Nir

Personal

Tel (home): 972-4-6399873

Fax (office): 972-9-7781393

E-mail: rivkani@openu.ac.il

Education

• The History of the Jewish People during the Second Temple Period
• Early Christianity
• The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha
• Apocalyptic Literature

Academic Positions

Scholarships and Awards

Membership on Editorial Boards

Membership in Research Institutes

List of Publications

Professional Books and Monographs

1. The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Idea of Redemption in the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch, Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, GA, 2003. Reviewed in:
   • M. Henze, RBL, 06/2004
   • L.L. Grabbe, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 28, 5 (2004), 214
   • G. A. Anderson, The Journal of Religion, 85, 155-157
   • L.Ingeborg Lied, Journal of Semitic Sudies, 50 (2005), 403-405
   • S. Ruzer, Cristianesimo nella storia, 27 (2005), 553-557
   • C. Gianotto, Apocrypha, 17 (2006), 281-283
   • J.R. Davila, The Provenance of the Pseudepigrapha: Jewish, Christian, or Other? (Leiden/Boston, Brill, 2005), pp. 130-131
   • L. Ingeborg Lied, "Recent Scholarship on 2 Baruch 2000-2009", Currents in Biblical Research 9 (2011), pp. 238-276 (261-263).
2. Early Christianity: The First Three Centuries, Raanana: The Open University, 2009.
3. Joseph and Aseneth. A Christian Book. Sheffield: Phoenix Press, 2012. (Hebrew Bible Monographs, 40).

Chapters in Books

1. “The Sacraments in the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch,” in Y. Hoffman (ed.), Teuda XVI-XVII, Studies in Judaica, Tel Aviv 2001, pp. 421-473 (Hebrew).
2. “The Hiding of the Vessels of the Temple in the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch - A Jewish or a Christian Tradition?,” in Ohev Shalom, Jerusalem 2005, pp. 111-141 (Hebrew).
3. “Paraleipomena of Jeremiah-A Jewish or a Christian Composition,” in M. Mor, J. Pastor, I. Ronen and Y. Ashkenazi (eds.), For Uriel, Studies in the History of Israel in Antiquity Presented to Professor Uriel Rappaport, Jerusalem 2005 (Hebrew).
4. “Aseneth as the ‘Prototype of the Church of the Gentiles’,” in C. A. Evans & D. Zacharias (eds.), Early Christian Literature and Intertextuality, Volume 1: Thematic Studies, Edinburgh: Continuum, 2009, pp.109-137.
5. “Josepus’s Account of John the Baptist - A Re-examination,” in J. Geiger, H. M. Cotton G.D. Stieble (eds.), Israel's Land, papers presented to Israel Shatzman on his Jubilee, Raanana 2009, pp. 157-186 (Hebrew).
6. “Did Adam and Eve have sex in the Garden of Eden? The theological background of the Pseudepigraphic-Apocalyptic tradition,” in P. Piovanelli (ed.), Bringing the Underground to the Foreground: New Perspectives on Jewish and Christian Apocryphal Texts and Traditions, Turnhout: Brepols, forthcoming.
7. “Aseneth - Jewish Proselyte or Christian Convert?,” forthcoming (A memorial book to A. Kasher. Hebrew).
8. “John the Baptist's Geographic Arena - History and Theology,” Ut Videant et Contingant Essays on Pilgrimage and Sacred Space in Honour of Ora Limor, Y. Hen And I. Shagrir (eds), Raanana 2011, pp, 101-124 (Hebrew).

Articles in Refereed Journals

1. “This is not the city which I have carved on the palms of my hands: The heavenly Jerusalem in II Baruch,” Zion 65 (2000), pp. 5-44 (Hebrew).
2. “The aromatic fragrances of Paradise in the Greek life of Adam and Eve and the Christian origin of the composition,” Novum Testamentum XLVI 1 (2004), pp. 20-45.
3. “The Struggle Between the ‘Image of God’ and Satan in the Greek Life of Adam and Eve,” Scottish Journal of Theology 3 (2008), pp. 327-339.
4. “The Flusser School in Early Christianity Research,” Cathedra 125 (2008), pp. 154-157 (Hebrew).
5. “Qumran and its influences on the research of the Jewish people in antiquity,” Cathedra, 132 (2008), pp. 176-180 (Hebrew).
6. “John the Baptist in the Image of Elijah – Aspects of a Christian Tradition” Cathedra, 139 (2011), pp. 55-78.
7. “Josephus’s Account of John the Baptist - A Christian Interpolation?,” JSHJ (Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus), 10 (2012), 32-62.
8. The Appearance of Elijah and Enoch ‘before the judgment was held’ (1 Enoch, 90: 31) - A Christian tradition?,” Hen 33 (2011), pp. 108-112.
9. "The Christian Massage of John the Baptist" (Forthcoming. Will be published in "Zmanim". This specific copy of Zmanim will be dedicated to Early Christianity and I was invited to be one of the two guest editors.
10. "It is not right for a man who worships God to repay his neighbor evil for evil" Christian Ethics in Joseph and Aseneth (chapters 22-29)." Ready for publication.
11. 'And behold, lambs were born of those white sheep' (1 Enoch 90:6) – The Color White and Eschatological Expectation in the Animal Apocalypse.' Forthcoming in Henoch.
12. 'Good Tidings' of Baruch to the Christian Faithful (The Epistle of 2 Baruch 78-87). Ready to be sent to publication.

Book Reviews

1. Review of Warren Mcwilliams, Where Is the God of Justice?: Biblical Perspectives on Suffering (Hendrickson, 2005), Review of Biblical Literature [http://www.bookreviews.org/].
2. Review of Maria Leppäkari, Apocalyptic Representations of Jerusalem (Leiden/Boston, Brill, 2006), Enoch (2007), Henoch, 30 (2), (2008), pp. 168-173.
3. Review of J.R. Davila, The Provenance of the Pseudepigrapha: Jewish, Christian, or Other? (Leiden/Boston, Brill, 2005), Henoch, 30 (1), (2008), pp. 144-151.
4. “The Flusser School in Early Christianity Research,” Cathedra 125 (2008), pp. 154-157 (Hebrew).
5. “Qumran and its influences on the research of the Jewish people in antiquity,” Cathedra, 132 (2008), pp. 176-180 (Hebrew).

Open University Publications (in Hebrew)

From Exile to Independence
First edition, 1978: Development team member
Units 1-7: Academic consultant

Jewish History during the Second Temple: Judea and Rome
First edition, 1981: Development team member
Unit 4: Sections dealing with John the Baptist, Jesus and the early Christian community in Jerusalem (Author)
Unit 11 (second edition, 1999): "From Yehuda to the Galil" (Author)

Jerusalem Throughout the Ages
Development team member
Unit 1 (1984): "From Jebusit town to the capital of the Jewish people" (Author)

The Bar Kokhba Revolt
Units 1-5 (first edition, 1988): Author and Developer
Units 1-5 (second edition, 2009): Author and Developer

From Cyrus to Alexander: The History of Israel during the Persian Empire
Development team member

The Jews in the Roman Empire 70-220: From Rabban Johanan Ben Zakkai to Rabbi Judah the Patriarch
Author and Developer

The Beginnings of Europe: Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages
Unit 1: Academic consultant

Early Christianity
Early Christianity: The First Three Centuries: Author and Developer
Collection of essays (2008): Editor

Reviews: Joshua Schwartz, RBL 05/2010, Rivka Nir, ed.Early Christianity: The First Three Centuries [Hebrew], Raanana, Israel: The Open University of Israel, 2008.

The Bar Kokhba Revolt
Unit 1-5 (2009) New edition: Author and Developer
Collection of essays (2009): Editor

Revision of Units 2-3 of Jerusalem through the Ages.

Other Publications

“A Jewish World without Apocalypse,” Erez Aheret, 46 (2008), pp. 102-106 (Hebrew).

A Review of Joshua Efron, The Origins of Christianity and Apocalypticism, Tel-Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2004, Haaretz 20.5.2005.

Selected Papers at Scientific Conferences

1. “The Sacraments in the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch,” The World Congress of Jewish Studies, 1997.
2. “Did Adam and Eve Have Sex in Paradise? The Theological Background of the Pseudepigraphic-Apocalyptic Tradition,” International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, 2004.
3. “The Struggle Between ‘The Image of God’ and Satan in the Greek Life of Adam and Eve,” International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, 2005.
4. “The Conversion of Aseneth in a Christian Context,” International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, 2006.
5. “Aseneth is the ‘Type of the Church of the Gentiles’,” The Thirty Sixth Conference of the Israel Society for the Promotion of Classical Studies, 2007.
6. “Aseneth as the ‘Prototype of the Church of the Gentiles’,” Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, San Diego, 2007.
7. “Josephus on John the Baptist-A Christian Interpolation?,” Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Boston, 2008.
8. The Image of John the Baptist between Judaism and Christianity" Israelite and Jewish Identity during the Biblical and Second Temple Period: Tribalism, Nationhood and Religion, Bar-Ilan University, 26 June 2008.
9. “The Appearance of Elijah and Enoch ‘before the judgment was held’ (1 Enoch, 90: 31) - A Christian tradition?,” Fifth Enoch Seminar: Enoch, Adam, Melchizedek: Mediatorial Figures in 2 Enoch and Second Temple Judaism, Naples, 14-18 June 2009.
10. “What do we really know on the Historical Image of John the Baptist?,” The Fifteenth World Congress of Jewish Studies, 2009.
11. “John the Baptist's Geographic Arena - History and Theology,” Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, New Orleans 2009.
12. "It is not right for a man who worships God to repay his neighbor evil for evil" - Christian Ethics in Joseph and Aseneth (chapters 22-29). Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, 2010.
13. "What did the Christians find in the Letter of Baruch that attracted them?" Sixth Enoch Seminar: 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra. Milan, 26-30 June 2011.
14. 'And behold, lambs were born of those white sheep' (Enoch 90:6) – The Color White and Eschatological Expectation in the Animal Apocalypse of 1 Enoch',  SBL, International Meeting in London 4-7 July 2011.