Available From UC Press

Signs and Meanings explores the range of divinatory techniques that appear in Jewish texts of the Greco-Roman era, from lot oracles and death oracles to human physiognomy and use of the Scriptures. Pushing back against the view of divination as irrational and superstitious, Hanna Tervanotko looks beyond the Hebrew Bible to a broader range of ancient Jewish texts, including the Dead Sea Scrolls and the pseudepigrapha, and draws on anthropological frameworks that consider divination as a knowledge system in its own right. Considering Jewish divinatory practices in the broader context of ancient Eastern Mediterranean and Near Eastern cultures, this book demonstrates that ancient Jews did not live in isolation from neighboring cultures, but rather on a cultural continuum of the ancient Eastern Mediterranean world. This book's lived religion approach focuses on individuals instead of institutions: By highlighting marginalized ancient practices and people, including women, and lived traditions that show the efficacy of these practices even in today's world, Tervanotko provides a fuller and more equitable representation of divinatory practices in the ancient world.

Hanna Tervanotko is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at McMaster University and author of Denying Her Voice: The Figure of Miriam in Ancient Jewish Literature.

“Signs and Meanings offers a much-needed and novel study of how late ancient Jews approached their search for hidden knowledge from the divine realm after the cessation of prophecy. Moving beyond a naive acceptance of official theologies, Hanna Tervanotko produces a granular reconstruction of lived religion by brushing her texts against the grain.”—Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg, Associate Professor of Judaic Studies, University of Michigan

“Tervanotko masterfully weaves together the interpretive lenses of materiality, lived religion, and gender studies to understand the broad range of ancient Jewish divinatory practices, shining a bright light on how ancient Jews embodied these practices. An important contribution to the study of ancient Judaism.”—Benjamin Wright, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Lehigh University

“Signs and Meanings offers an insightful and nuanced deep dive into the lived reality of divinatory practices in Jewish antiquity. Tervanotko adeptly explores the material, embodied, and socioreligious aspects of her sources and describes divination as a diverse and deeply meaningful ritual practice in ancient Judaism.”—Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme, Professor of Hebrew Bible, University of Oslo