Download or read book Historical Fictions and Hellenistic Jewish Identity written by Sara Raup Johnson and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2005-02-09 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this thoughtful and penetrating study, Sara Raup Johnson investigates the creation of historical fictions in a wide range of Hellenistic Jewish texts. Surveying so-called Jewish novels, including the Letter of Aristeas, 2 Maccabees, Esther, Daniel, Judith, Tobit, Josephus's account of Alexander's visit to Jerusalem and of the Tobiads, Artapanus, and Joseph and Aseneth, she demonstrates that the use of historical fiction in these texts does not constitute a uniform genre. Instead it cuts across all boundaries of language, provenance, genre, and even purpose. Johnson argues that each author uses historical fiction to construct a particular model of Hellenistic Jewish identity through the reinvention of the past. The models of identity differ, but all seek to explore relations between Jews and the wider non-Jewish world. The author goes on to present a focal in-depth analysis of one text, Third Maccabees. Maintaining that this is a late Hellenistic, not a Roman, work Johnson traces important themes in Third Maccabees within a broader literary context. She evaluates the evidence for the authorship, audience, and purpose of the work and analyzes the historicity of the persecution described in the narrative. Illustrating how the author reinvents history in order to construct his own model for life in the diaspora, Johnson weighs the attitudes and stances, from defiance to assimilation, of this crucial period.
Download or read book Jewish Perspectives on Hellenistic Rulers written by Tessa Rajak and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The lively, serious, and informed discussions in this book provide impressive examples of the insights achieved when the Jewish evidence of the late Second Temple period is shown both to illuminate and to reflect the wider history of the Hellenistic world."—Martin Goodman, author of Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations "What sets this book apart is that it bears the fruits of a truly interdisciplinary investigation into the topic. The result sheds light not just on Hellenistic kings and how they were viewed by their Jewish subjects, but also on the early Greek Bible and, more generally, the meeting of, and cross-fertilization between, Jewish and Graeco-Roman culture that occurred in the centuries following Alexander's conquest."—Guido Schepens, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven "This wonderful collection of essays illuminates many facets of kingship in the Hellenistic world. The essays range over Hellenistic philosophy, Jewish fiction, the nuances of translation in the Greek Bible and archaeological evidence. Richly informative, and enjoyable reading besides!"—John J. Collins, author of Jewish Cult and Hellenistic Culture "This wide-ranging collection of essays brings together the too often separate perspectives of classical scholarship and Jewish studies. Jewish Perspectives on Hellenistic Rulers will be an indispensable reference work for anyone working on virtually any aspect of Hellenistic Jewish studies."—Sara Raup Johnson, author of Historical Fictions and Hellenistic Jewish Identity: Third Maccabees in its Cultural Context "This thought-provoking book presents a series of superb studies on Jewish-Greek views of hellenistic monarchy that together are suggestive of the rich interplay between Hellenistic Jewish intellectual traditions and their deep connections to the greater world of the Hellenistic monarchies. The volume will surely stimulate much more work on the subject, and will be required reading for all those whose interests touch on the subject of Hellenistic Judaism and Hellenistic history and culture more broadly."—J.G. Manning, author of Land and Power in Hellenistic Egypt: The Structure of Land Tenure
Download or read book The Construct of Identity in Hellenistic Judaism written by Erich S. Gruen and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2016-09-12 with total page 588 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book collects twenty two previously published essays and one new one by Erich S. Gruen who has written extensively on the literature and history of early Judaism and the experience of the Jews in the Greco-Roman world. His many articles on this subject have, however, appeared mostly in conference volumes and Festschriften, and have therefore not had wide circulation. By putting them together in a single work, this will bring the essays to the attention of a much broader scholarly readership and make them more readily available to students in the fields of ancient history and early Judaism. The pieces are quite varied, but develop a number of connected and related themes: Jewish identity in the pagan world, the literary representations by Jews and pagans of one another, the interconnections of Hellenism and Judaism, and the Jewish experience under Hellenistic monarchies and the Roman empire.
Download or read book Ancient Fiction written by Jo-Ann A. Brant and published by Society of Biblical Lit. This book was released on 2005 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The essays in this volume examine the relationship between ancient fiction in the Greco-Roman world and early Jewish and Christian narratives. They consider how those narratives imitated or exploited conventions of fiction to produce forms of literature that expressed new ideas or shaped community identity within the shifting social and political climates of their own societies. Major authors and texts surveyed include Chariton, Shakespeare, Homer, Vergil, Plato, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Daniel, 3 Maccabees, the Testament of Abraham, rabbinic midrash, the Apocryphal Acts, Ezekiel the Tragedian, and the Sophist Aelian. This diverse collection reveals and examines prevalent issues and syntheses in the making: the pervasive use and subversive power of imitation, the distinction between fiction and history, and the use of history in the expression of identity.
Download or read book Jewish Fictional Letters from Hellenistic Egypt written by L. Michael White and published by SBL Press. This book was released on 2018-11-02 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first Greek text of the Epistle of Aristeas published in more than a century The Greek text Epistle of Aristeas is a Jewish work of the late Hellenistic period that recounts the origins of the Septuagint. Long recognized as a literary fiction, the Epistle of Aristeas has been variously dated from the third century BCE to the first century CE. As a result, its epistolary features, and especially those in which the putative author, Aristeas, addresses his brother and correspondent, Philocrates, have largely been ignored. In light of more recent scholarship on epistolary literature in the Greco-Roman world, however, this volume presents for the first time a complete Greek text and English Translation with introduction, notes, and commentary of the Epistle of Aristeas with key testimonia from Philo, Josephus, and Eusebius, as well as other related examples of Jewish fictional letters from the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. Features Relevant excerpts from Eupolemus, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, and the Greek Additions to Esther with translations and introductions A critical introduction to ancient Greek letter-writing An outline of epistolary features in the text
Download or read book Jewish Identity in the Greco Roman World written by Jörg Frey and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2007 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book addresses critical issues of the formation and development of Jewish identity in the late Second Temple period. How could Jewish identity be defined? What about the status of women and the image of 'others'? And what about its ongoing influence in early Christianity?
Download or read book Between Athens and Jerusalem written by John J. Collins and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2000 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1984, this study is now revised and updated to take into account the best of recent scholarship."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book Jews and Anti Judaism in Esther and the Church written by Tricia Miller and published by James Clarke & Company. This book was released on 2015-05-28 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The biblical book of Esther records an account of Jewish resistance to attempted genocide in the setting of the Persian Empire. According to the text, Jews were targeted for annihilation simply because of their Jewish identity. However, the story also reports that they were allowed to defend themselves against anyone who sought to kill them. In the context of attempted genocide, the message of Esther addresses a timeless and universal issue of justice - that humans have the right and responsibility to defend themselves against those who intend to murder. 'Jews and Anti-Judaism in Esther and the Church' shows how the anti-Judaism that is a central feature of Esther relates to the contemporary issue of the contested legitimacy of the State of Israel as part of the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict. In her outstanding book, Dr. Tricia Miller uses an academic approach to demonstrate the relationship of historic theology to current events concerning Israel for the purpose of encouraging Christians to support Israel's right to exist and defend itself against those who seek its destruction.
Download or read book A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period Volume 3 written by Lester L. Grabbe and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-02-20 with total page 640 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the third volume of the projected four-volume history of the Second Temple period, collecting all that is known about the Jews from the period of the Maccabaean revolt to Hasmonean rule and Herod the Great. Based directly on primary sources, the study addresses aspects such as Jewish literary sources, economy, Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Diaspora, causes of the Maccabaen revolt, and the beginning and end of the Hasmonean kingdom and the reign of Herod the Great. Discussed in the context of the wider Hellenistic world and its history, and with an extensive up-to-date secondary bibliography, this volume is an invaluable addition to Lester Grabbe's in-depth study of the history of Judaism.
Download or read book Judith written by Lawrence M. Wills and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2019-11-05 with total page 526 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Judith tells the story of a beautiful Jewish woman who enters the tent of an invading general, gets him drunk, and then slices off his head, thus saving her village and Jerusalem. This short novella was somewhat surprisingly included in the early Christian versions of the Old Testament and has played an important role in the Western tradition ever since. This commentary provides a detailed analysis of the text's composition and its meaning in its original historical context, and thoroughly surveys the history of Judith scholarship. Lawrence M. Wills not only considers Judith's relation to earlier biblical texts--how the author played upon previous biblical motifs and interpreted important biblical passages--but also addresses the rise of Judith and other Jewish novellas in the context of ancient Near Eastern and Greek literature, as well as their relation to cross-cultural folk motifs. Because of the popularity of Judith in art and culture, this volume also addresses the book's history of interpretation in paintings, sculpture, music, drama, and literature. A number of images of artistic depictions of Judith are included and discussed in detail.
Download or read book Israel in Egypt The Land of Egypt as Concept and Reality for Jews in Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-10-26 with total page 723 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Israel in Egypt is an investigation into the Jewish experience of the land and people of Egypt from antiquity to the middle ages. Using contemporary sources to explore the varied experience of Egypt’s Jews, the volume brings together a rich collection of studies from top scholars in the field.
Download or read book The Letter of Aristeas written by Benjamin G. Wright and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2015-09-25 with total page 513 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Letter of Aristeas has been an object modern scholarly interest since the seventeenth century. It is best known for containing the earliest version of the translation of the Hebrew Law into Greek, and this story accounts for much of the scholarly attention paid to the work. Yet, this legend only takes up a small percentage of the work. Looking at Aristeas as a whole, the work reveals an author who has acquired a Greek education and employs both Jewish and Greek sources in his work, and he has produced a Greek book. Even though Aristeas has garnered scholarly attention, no fully fledged commentary has been written on it. The works of R. Tramontano, M. Hadas and others, often referred to as commentaries, only contain text and annotated notes. This volume fills the gap in the scholarship on Aristeas by providing a full, paragraph-by-paragraph commentary, containing a new translation, text-critical notes, general commentary, and notes on specific words, phrases and ideas.
Download or read book The Roman Empire in Luke s Narrative written by Kazuhiko Yamazaki-Ransom and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2010-05-27 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work illuminates Luke’s portrayals of Roman officials in light of Jewish portrayals of Gentile rulers in the Old Testament and in Second Temple Literature.
Download or read book Uncovering Jewish Creativity in Book III of the Sibylline Oracles written by Ashley Bacchi and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-04-28 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Uncovering Jewish Creativity in Book III of the Sibylline Oracles, Ashley L. Bacchi reclaims the importance of the Sibyl as a female voice of prophecy, revealing intertextual references and political commentary on second-century events in Ptolemaic Egypt.
Download or read book Scriptural Authority in Early Judaism and Ancient Christianity written by Géza G. Xeravits and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2013-06-26 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The impact of earlier works to the literature of early Judaism is an intensively researched topic in contemporary scholarship. This volume is based on an international conference held at the Sapientia College of Theology in Budapest,May 18–21, 2010. The contributors explore scriptural authority in early Jewish literature and the writings of nascent Christianity. They study the impact of earlier literature in the formulation of theological concepts and books of the Second Temple Period.
Download or read book Arguing with Aseneth written by Jill Hicks-Keeton and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-26 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Arguing with Aseneth shows how the ancient Jewish romance known as Joseph and Aseneth moves a minor character in Genesis from obscurity to renown, weaving a new story whose main purpose was to intervene in ancient Jewish debates surrounding gentile access to Israel's God. Written in Greco-Roman Egypt around the turn of the era, Joseph and Aseneth combines the genre of the ancient Greek novel with scriptural characters from the story of Joseph as it retells Israel's mythic past to negotiate communal boundaries in its own present. With attention to the ways in which Aseneth's tale "remixes" Genesis, wrestles with Deuteronomic theology, and adopts prophetic visions of the future, Arguing with Aseneth demonstrates that this ancient novel inscribes into Israel's sacred narrative a precedent for gentile inclusion in the people belonging to Israel's God. Aseneth is transformed from material mother of the sons of Joseph to a mediator of God's mercy and life to future penitents, Jew and gentile alike. Yet not all Jewish thinkers in antiquity drew boundary lines the same way or in the same place. Arguing with Aseneth traces, then, not only the way in which Joseph and Aseneth affirms the possibility of gentile incorporation but also ways in which other ancient Jewish thinkers, including the apostle Paul, would have argued back, contesting Joseph and Aseneth's very conclusions or offering alternative, competing strategies of inclusion. With its use of a female protagonist, Joseph and Aseneth offers a distinctive model of gentile incorporation--one that eschews lines of patrilineal descent and undermines ethnicity and genealogy as necessary markers of belonging. Such a reading of this narrative shows us that we need to rethink our accounts of how ancient Jewish thinkers, including our earliest example from the Jesus Movement, negotiated who was in and who was out when it came to the people of Israel's God.
Download or read book Goy written by Adi Ophir and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-06-21 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Goy: Israel's Others and the Birth of the Gentile traces the development of the term and category of the goy from the Bible to rabbinic literature. Adi Ophir and Ishay Rosen-Zvi show that the category of the goy was born much later than scholars assume; in fact not before the first century CE. They explain that the abstract concept of the gentile first appeared in Paul's Letters. However, it was only in rabbinic literature that this category became the center of a stable and long standing structure that involved God, the Halakha, history, and salvation. The authors narrate this development through chronological analyses of the various biblical and post biblical texts (including the Dead Sea scrolls, the New Testament and early patristics, the Mishnah, and rabbinic Midrash) and synchronic analyses of several discursive structures. Looking at some of the goy's instantiations in contemporary Jewish culture in Israel and the United States, the study concludes with an examination of the extraordinary resilience of the Jew/goy division and asks how would Judaism look like without the gentile as its binary contrast.
