Sources

From the Maccabees to the Mishnah

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "From the Maccabees to the Mishnah." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/from-the-maccabees-to-the-mishnah.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). From the Maccabees to the Mishnah. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/from-the-maccabees-to-the-mishnah

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-from-the-maccabees-to-the-mishnah,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {From the Maccabees to the Mishnah},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/from-the-maccabees-to-the-mishnah},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Shaye Cohen is a specialist historian of Second Temple and early rabbinic Judaism, and this is now a second edition of his standard survey, a documented revision incorporating scholarship published since the first. Its real evidentiary contribution, used here, is treating the emergence of the rabbinic movement after 70 CE as a documented reconstruction of religious authority rather than as a simple, unbroken continuation of the earlier Temple priesthood, a specific historical argument grounded in the sources for both institutions. Use it for established historical facts about the Second Temple priesthood and the rise of rabbinic authority after the Temple's destruction; a claim about a specific later rabbinic ruling's content needs the rabbinic literature itself addressed directly.

Facts

Assessment

Reliability Tier

Shaye Cohen's scholarly history tracing the priesthood and Temple, and the emergence of the rabbinic movement after 70 CE as a reconstruction rather than a continuation of priestly authority, now in its second edition.

Notes

Second edition. Used here for the priesthood and the Temple, and for the emergence of the rabbinic movement after 70 CE as a reconstruction rather than a continuation of priestly authority.

Citation

Author

Shaye J. D. Cohen

Publisher

Westminster John Knox Press

Publication Year

2006

URL

https://openlibrary.org/works/OL1963437W/From_the_Maccabees_to_the_Mishnah

Source Type

Scholarly work

Claims Backed By This Source (110 claims)

This source backs 110 claims across the atlas. As facts: 69 well-attested, 7 scholarly debate. As cited relationships: 10 holds, 2 connected. Plus 22 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.

Disposition By Topic

Open Questions, 18 claims: 14 well-attested, 2 connected, 2 general references.
Articles, 15 claims: 14 well-attested, 1 general references.
Religious Roles & Titles, 14 claims: 10 well-attested, 2 holds, 2 general references.
Scriptures & Texts, 13 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 holds, 4 general references.
Cities, 8 claims: 3 well-attested, 4 holds, 1 general references.
Sources, 8 claims: 8 well-attested.
Rituals, 7 claims: 1 well-attested, 4 scholarly debate, 2 general references.
Spread Events, 7 claims: 3 well-attested, 3 holds, 1 general references.
Organizations, 5 claims: 3 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate, 1 general references.
Subcategories, 3 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 general references.
Historical Periods, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
Miracles, 2 claims: 1 scholarly debate, 1 general references.
Numbers, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
Religious Events, 2 claims: 1 scholarly debate, 1 general references.
Sacred Sites, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
Regions, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Scripture Portions, 1 claims: 1 general references.