The Stability of the Universe in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Literature

Why doesn't the Earth fall? How does the firmament remain aloft? These were pivotal questions for Greek philosophers, central to the development of Greek science. Although only a few such philosophical deliberations have been preserved in ancient Jewish texts, it is inconceivable that Jewish thinkers did not ponder these inquiries. Indeed, poetic, wisdom, prophetic, and apocalyptic depictions of the universe indicate that ancient Israelites conceived of a comprehensible cosmological framework, albeit expressed through different genres than Greek philosophy. This presentation aims to explore the insights offered by the Hebrew Bible, including metaphorical portrayals of the universe as a structured edifice with foundations and columns, as well as divine intervention.  Such perspectives were common in the Ancient Near East. While these biblical concepts were transmitted to Second Temple literature, they later underwent further elaboration. For instance, there is explicit mention of the firmament's edges being supported by the edges of the Earth, along with detailed descriptions of the winds' role in upholding the heavens and the Earth. This portrayal not only continues the passive structural explanation but also introduces an element of persistent active force. This force is both physical and spiritual, continuing the belief in the need for divine intervention together with a more physical explanation, similar to Pre-Socratic references to the air as the supportive factor of the universe. Additionally, older concepts were augmented by new ideas, influenced by Greek thought, such as the notion of concentric spheres around the universe's center.  This cosmology draws from Platonic and Aristotelian models, relying on arguments such as the natural movement of elements and the equilibrium of the cosmos.

The speaker is a visitor to the UCL Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies. Prof. Eshbal Ratzon is a senior faculty member at the departments of History and Philosophy of Science and Jewish Philosophy and Talmud at Tel Aviv University. Her research is focused on ancient science and its social and theological context, especially in Second Temple Literature, with an emphasis on the Dead Sea Scrolls and 1 Enoch. She also combines digital and computational methods in her studies.

This event will be online on zoom.