Timothy Lim

University of Edinburgh, Divinity, Faculty Member

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Professor Emeritus of Hebrew Bible & Second Temple Judaism
Address: New College, University of Edinburgh, Mound Place, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

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$Research paper thumbnail of Reflection and Refraction$

Reflection and Refraction

by Brian Aucker and Timothy Lim

Reflection and Refraction, 2006

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Scribal Practices and the Social Construction of Knowledge in Antiquity, Late Antiquity and Medieval Islam

for the use of the school-life texts to deduce the contemporary perception of mathematics and met... more for the use of the school-life texts to deduce the contemporary perception of mathematics and metrology by students. 25 KUB 4.39; KUB 57.126 (Civil 1987). The heyday of the prism as a medium for writing cuneiform was in the early second millennium BC (Old Babylonian period). However, eight such pieces have been found at Hattusa, all with Mesopotamian compositions.

format_quoteCuneiform writing in Anatolia lacked personal economic documents, contrasting with Mesopotamian practices and reflecting social differences.format_quote

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The Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls

The Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls seeks to probe the main disputed issues in the study ... more The Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls seeks to probe the main disputed issues in the study of the Scrolls. In 1947 the first of the Dead Sea Scroll discoveries was made near the site of Qumran, at the northern end of the Dead Sea. Despite the much-publicized delays in the publication and editing of the Scrolls, practically all of them had been made public by the time of the fiftieth anniversary of the first discovery. That occasion was marked by a spate of major publications which attempted to sum up the state of scholarship at the end of the twentieth century, including The Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls. These publications produced an authoritative synthesis to which the majority of scholars in the field subscribed, despite some disagreements in the detail. Lively debate continues over the archaeology and history of the site, the nature and identity of the sect, and its relation to the broader world of Second Temple Judaism and to later Jewish and Christian tradition. ...

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Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls

When Bedouin shepherds discovered the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, one of the most fasc... more When Bedouin shepherds discovered the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, one of the most fascinating mysteries of ancient history was exposed. Embedded in the 850 manuscripts eventually uncovered were questions about everything from the Qumran community that produced the scrolls to their impact on our understanding of biblical studies. Why were the scrolls preserved in caves? What do they reveal about such contemporary events as the life and death of Jesus, the rise of Talmudic Judaism, and the flourishing of the Essenes, Pharisees, and other Second Temple groups? These questions are identified and explored in Lawrence Schiffman and James VanderKam’s groundbreaking Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Featuring 450 articles by an international community of 100 distinguished scholars, the Encyclopedia is the definitive account of what we know about the scrolls—their history, relevance, meaning, and the controversies that surround them. The works are viewed in historical, linguistic, and religious contexts, with archaeological evidence providing a clear basis for dating and preservation of the manuscripts.https://place.asburyseminary.edu/limiteddigitalresources/1071/thumbnail.jp

$Research paper thumbnail of Reflection and Refraction$

Reflection and Refraction

Reflection and Refraction, 2006

In this module we deal with light traveling in two dimensions and encounterinq the boundaries bet... more In this module we deal with light traveling in two dimensions and encounterinq the boundaries between media under those conditions in which the wave1enqth is small compared with the size of the obstacles or apertures. Under such conditions, since diffraction and interference effects are negligible, the principal phenomena occurring at the interfaces, reflection and refraction, can be understood and the progress of a wave charted by a simple geometrical procedure: ray tracing. Before you begin this module, you should be able to: *Write the relations among wavelength, frequency, and velocity for a wave (needed . for Objectives 1 and 3 of this module) LEARNING OBJECTIVES After you have mastered the content of this module, you will be able to: 1. Definitions -Defjne light ray, angle of incidence, refraction, angle of refraction, index of refraction, angle of reflection, total internal reflection, critical angle, reciprocity, and Huygens' principle. 2. Law of reflection -Use the law of reflection to solve problems invo1vinq the angles of incidence and reflection, ray paths, and/or the images formed by plane mirrors. 3. Law of refraction -(a) Use the law of refraction (Snell's law) to solve problems involving the relationships among index of refraction, wavelength, velocity of light, 191eS of incidence and refraction, and ray path for planar slabs of materials. (b) Use the law of refraction to find the location of the image of an ill inated object embedded in a slab of transparent material. 4. Total internal reflection -Use the concept of total internal reflection in conjunction with the laws of reflection and refraction to find the oath of a ray that is inte.rnally reflected, or find the index of refraction if the ray path is given.

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Pesher, Pesharim

‘Pesher, Pesharim’ , 2025

In this EBR entry, I summarize what we know about the sectarian genre of prophetic interpretation... more In this EBR entry, I summarize what we know about the sectarian genre of prophetic interpretation. The term pesher (pl. pesharim) refers to sectarian hermeneutics, an exegetical method, and a literary genre of biblical interpretation found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Timothy H. Lim, ‘Pesher, Pesharim’ in Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception. vol. 25:1-5. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2025.

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Implicit Criticism of Scriptures and Josephus' Rewritten Bible

Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel ed. Timothy Lim (Tuebingen: Mohr Siebeck), 2022

This article discusses scriptural authority among ancient Jews. Josephus’ methodological statemen... more This article discusses scriptural authority among ancient Jews. Josephus’ methodological statement about rearranging the order of the biblical laws (Ant. 4.197) is examined within the context of scholarly discussions about the “rewritten Bible.” It is shown that Josephus intended that the laws and narratives of scripture to be reordered to accommodate a better sense of the content of the laws and the flow of the events. He perceived that the writings (scriptures) were left in a scattered condition, so he innovated to rearrange the order of the topics of the laws and narratives. Josephus held that the twenty-two books of the Jewish canon was authoritative and accurate for historiographical purposes, but he also believed that scripture could
be changed and added to, especially for the period extending from the reign of Artaxerxes to his own day at the end of the first century ce.

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The Tetragrammaton in the Habakkuk Pesher

Strength to Strength, Nov 16, 2018

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Covenantal Nomism and the Hebrew Bible

Sibyls, Scriptures, and Scrolls, 2017

In 1977 E. P. Sanders published his Paul and Palestinian Judaism in which he proposed that all th... more In 1977 E. P. Sanders published his Paul and Palestinian Judaism in which he proposed that all the main bodies of Palestinian Jewish literature (except 4 Ezra) assume a common understanding of how a religion functions. 1 He called this * It is a great pleasure to honour an esteemed colleague and good friend on the occasion of his seventieth birthday. In this essay, I will highlight two themes that are prevalent in John J. Collins' theological reflections, natural theology and the concern for "the other". A version of this paper was delivered as a plenary address at the International Congress of Ethnic Chinese Biblical Scholars in Hong Kong in August 2014. I thank Professor Choon-Leong Seow for the invitation and the comments of the audience. Thanks also to Joel Baden for comments on earlier drafts of the article. 1 (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press) 2 Sanders' work initiated a re-evaluation of Paul dubbed as 'the new perspective', see James D. G.

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Rabbinic Concept of Holy Scriptures as Sacred Objects

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Qumran Scholarship and the Study of the Old Testament in the New Testament

Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 2015

This article argues that Qumran scholarship provides contextual and contingent perspectives in th... more This article argues that Qumran scholarship provides contextual and contingent perspectives in the study of the use of scripture by the New Testament authors. First, post-Qumran textual criticism has highlighted textual diversity in the period of the New Testament, raising questions about alleged exegetial variants as well as the characterizations of the Pauline citations as 'septuagintal'. Second, while the canon of the Hebrew Bible remained open in the middle of the first century Paul's implied bible was consistent with the Pharisaic canon that eventually became the Rabbinic Bible. Finally, the theory of the sectarian matrix both accounts for the use of the same biblical passages and the divergent interpretations of them among various sects in the Second Temple period. Keywords Post-Qumran textual criticism, canon, sectarian matrix It is commonplace to see references to the Dead Sea Scrolls in studies that investigate the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament. The importance of the scrolls for the New Testament has been widely recognized ever since their discovery in 1947. Despite the many years of study, however, one rarely finds a discussion of how Qumran scholarship impacts on research into the way that the early Christian authors use the traditional, authoritative scriptures of Judaism in their own writings (see, e.g., Beale and Carson 2007). What does Qumran scholarship offer the New Testament scholar who investigates the OT in the NT? I will suggest that it provides indirect, but essential, historical perspectives.

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How was the Canon Formed

Expository Times, 2022

The Hebrew Bible or Old Testament did not drop down from heaven, as is sometimes believed. It is ... more The Hebrew Bible or Old Testament did not drop down from heaven, as is sometimes believed. It is widely agreed that the canon is the construct of faith communities. But what was the process that led to the formation of the canon? This article discusses what we know about the formation of the canon, addressing assumptions that different readers might have about what constitutes 'the Bible'. It will show that the Jewish Tanak and Protestant Old Testament have the same collection of books and it is the canon of Pharisaic-Rabbinic Judaism. It was not, and is not, the canon of other faith communities that considered different lists of books as authoritative.

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Why did Paul cite Habakkuk 2:4b

Expository Times, 2022

One of the most perplexing uses of the Old Testament in the New is Paul's quotation of 'the one w... more One of the most perplexing uses of the Old Testament in the New is Paul's quotation of 'the one who is righteous will live by faith' to support his view that: divine righteousness is revealed through faith (Rom 1:17); no one is justified before God by the law (Gal 3:11); and no one is justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ (Gal 2:16). Why did Paul quote Hab 2:4b, since this half-verse is not ostensibly about judgment and salvation? In this article, I show that Paul's selection is explicable when it is realized that there was a Jewish tradition, as reflected in Pesher Habakkuk (1QpHab), which interpreted righteousness and living by faith as salvation for the righteous and judgment for the wicked.

format_quotePaul's citation of Hab 2:4b counters contemporary Jewish interpretations, suggesting faith as salvation in a judgment context.format_quote

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Idealization of Ptolemaic Kingship in the Legend of the Origins of the Septuagint

Times of Transition. Judea in the Early Hellenistic Period, 2021

This paper, delivered at a Tel Aviv University conference, advances a new understanding of the or... more This paper, delivered at a Tel Aviv University conference, advances a new understanding of the origins of the Greek translation of the Hebrew rolls in the Letter of Aristeas. I suggest that the Philonic account of the story should be taken seriously as the most likely origin story of the translation.

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The Literature of Early Judaism

Early Judaism and Its Modern Interpreters, 2021

In this chapter, I suggest that the literature of Early Judaism was understood by Pharisaic Judai... more In this chapter, I suggest that the literature of Early Judaism was understood by Pharisaic Judaism as constituting two categories, 'scripture' and 'non-scripture'. Josephus made this point in his writings, and it is consistent with the Rabbinic division of books into 'holy scriptures' and 'outside books'. Not all Jews agreed with this definition. The Qumran sectarians, for instance, had a dual authority of scripture and authoritative interpretation for the Torah, and a graded authority for the rest of the books, including their own sectarian compositions.

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The Tetragrammaton in the Habakkuk Pesher

Strength to Strength , 2018

The common scholarly view that the writing of the Tetragrammaton in paleo-Hebrew script in the Ha... more The common scholarly view that the writing of the Tetragrammaton in
paleo-Hebrew script in the Habakkuk Pesher was used to protect the
divine name from abuse is examined. I eschewed explanations that were drawn from external sources, and I sought a largely descriptive discussion of the use of the divine names, including the writing of the Tetragrammaton in paleo-Hebrew script. Iconclude that no single reason can explain all the features of the writing of the divine names.

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The Emergence of the Samaritan Pentateuch

In the history of canon research, the study of the formation of the sacred scriptures of the Sama... more In the history of canon research, the study of the formation of the sacred scriptures of the Samaritans has not received the attention that it deserves. The subject of the Samaritan canon is usually discussed in relation to the development of the Pentateuch and the Hebrew Bible. The Samaritan canon serves as a foil to the development of the Jewish Bible and Christian Old Testament. The study of some of the Dead Sea Scrolls has reinvigorated research into this topic. The “pre-Samaritan” text-type has been seen as the base text on which the Samaritans compiled their Pentateuch in the second century BCE. This study contextualizes this research by examining what it is that can be known about the emergence of the Samaritan Pentateuch. It examines the early notices about the canon of the Samaritans and draws on the latest scholarship on the origins of the Samaritans and the excavations on Mt. Gerizim to suggest that the Samaritan Pentateuch may have emerged at the same time as the Jewish Torah.

format_quoteBy the third century CE, the distinct Samaritan Pentateuch canon was recognized, suggesting earlier origins of their scriptural texts.format_quote

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WHEN TEXTS ARE CANONIZED

One cannot explain why one book is chosen over another book by a set of standards or norms. One m... more One cannot explain why one book is chosen over another book by a set of standards or norms. One must avoid the terminology of “criteria” and its connotation of an external standard. The canonical process was multifaceted and complex, both in the way that each community formulated its own understanding of authoritative scriptures and the rationale implied in the selection. We need to apply a different kind of logic to understand how the process worked in defining the canon by drawing on the conceptual resources of analytical philosophy on blurred definitions. The result of this process, the definition of the canon, is explained by indicative logic.

format_quoteDivine inspiration is commonly cited in canon formation but remains inadequately defined and often assumed as self-evident by scholars.format_quote

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THE BOOK OF RUTH AND ITS LITERARY VOICE

This essay argues that the author of the book of Ruth was male, but that the voice of the narrati... more This essay argues that the author of the book of Ruth was male, but that the voice of the narrative is female. In ancient Israel and early Judaism there were women who were able to write (e.g. Jezebel writing a letter), but there is no evidence of female scribal circles. The author of Ruth, therefore, was most likely a male rather than a female. As a consummate author, he was nonetheless able to write from the perspective of the female.

Reference: Timothy H. Lim, “The Book of Ruth and its Literary Voice” in Studies in Historiographical Tradition eds. Timothy H. Lim et al (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2006), pp. 261-282.

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Covenantal Nomism and the Hebrew Bible

In this paper, I examine the concept of covenantal nomism to see how well it describes the theolo... more In this paper, I examine the concept of covenantal nomism to see how well it describes the theology of the Hebrew Bible. I first describe the views of E. P. Sanders and his recent claim that covenantal nomism explains the theology of the Bible. I show that while the concept explains the covenant from Abraham to Moses, it is too narrow and does not admit the range of views reflected in the canonical corpus. The reference of this paper is: ‘Covenantal Nomism and the Hebrew Bible’ in Sibyls, Scriptures, and Scrolls: John Collins at Seventy ed. Joel Baden, Hindy Najman, and Eibert Tigchelaar (Leiden: Brill, 2016), pp. 845-56.

format_quoteSanders critiques the Protestant view of Judaism as mere 'legalism,' promoting the idea of covenant as God's election over Israel.format_quote

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