This article focuses on the matter of Judean (“Jewish”) ethnic identity during the first century CE. New Testament scholarship lacks an overall interpretive framework by which Judean identity can be understood. Appreciation of what informed the entire process of Judean ethnic identity formation in the first century, or at any period for that matter, is lacking. This lack of interpretive framework is rather acute in scholarship on the historical Jesus, where the issue of Judeanness (“Jewishness”) is most strongly debated. A Socio-Cultural Model of Judean Ethnicity is developed, as being a synthesis of (1) Sanders’ notion of covenantal nomism, but reappropriated to serve as an ethnic descriptor, (2) Berger and Luckmann’s theories on the sociology of knowledge, (3) Dunn’s “four pillars of Second Temple ‘Judaism’” and his “new perspec-tive” on Paul, (4) cultural anthropology in the form of modern ethnicity theory, and lastly, (5) Duling’s Socio-Cultural Model of Ethnicity. The proposed model is termed covenantal nomism. It is a pictorial representation of the Judean “symbolic universe” which, as an ethnic identity, is proposed to be essentially primordialist

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By drawing parallels with the function of ancestors in African traditional religions, this article looks at the possibility that the Israelite ancestors mentioned in Hebrews played a far more dynamic role for the author and community he wrote for than most commentators appreciate. In addition to being examples of loyalty, it is argued that they also constitute an active presence, and similar to God, form part of the public court of reputation distributing honour to the Jesus followers. This also grounded and affirmed their Israelite identity.

This article investigates how Judeans responded to Hellenism in order to maintain the integrity of their ethnic identity. Judeanism and Hellenism are regarded as alternative "symbolic universes". It is shown that Judeans used various approaches to maintain their symbolic universe. This included Berger and Luckmann's notions of theology, nihilation and therapy, but also accommodation, adaptation, appropriation of Hellenistic elements, collective opposition (or ethnicism) and a reinforcement of primordial sentiments.