Between Athens and Jerusalem

by Collins, John Joseph

• ISBN13: 9780802843722
• ISBN10: 0802843727
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-10-01
• Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co
• More Book Details
• Purchase Benefits

Summary

One of the most creative and consequential collisions in Western culture involved the encounter of Judaism with Hellenism. In this study of the Jews who lived in Hellenistic Egypt, "between Athens and Jerusalem," John J. Collins examines the literature of Hellenistic Jerusalem, treating not only the introductory questions of date, authorship, and provenance but also the larger question of Jewish identity in the Greco-Roman world. First published in 1984, this study is now revised and updated to take into account the best of recent scholarship.

Author Biography

John. J. Collins is professor of Hebrew at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xii
Preface to the Second Edition	p. xiii
Abbreviations	p. xiv
Introduction	p. 1
The Diaspora Setting	p. 3
Gentile Perceptions of Judaism	p. 6
Jewish Apologetics	p. 14
Hellenistic Judaism and Judea	p. 16
The Constraints of the Tradition	p. 19
Relations with the Gentile Environment	p. 24
Prospect	p. 25
National and Political Identity
The Uses of the Past	p. 29
The Faithful Chroniclers	p. 33
Demetrius	p. 33
The Followers of Demetrius	p. 35
History and Romance	p. 37
Artapanus	p. 37
Eupolemus	p. 46
Pseudo-Eupolemus?	p. 47
Thallus and Cleodemus	p. 51
Pseudo-Hecataeus	p. 52
The Epic Poets	p. 54
Philo	p. 54
Theodotus	p. 57
Jewish Historiography in the First Century C.E.	p. 60
Conclusion	p. 62
Religion and Politics: The Ptolemaic Era	p. 64
The History of the Jews in Ptolemaic Egypt	p. 64
Onias and Leontopolis	p. 69
The Background of Onias	p. 73
The Tale of the Tobiads	p. 74
2 Maccabees and the Oniads	p. 77
2 Maccabees and the Diaspora	p. 78
The Third Sibyl	p. 83
The Content of Sibylline Oracle 3	p. 87
The Seventh King	p. 88
The Analogy with the Persian Period	p. 91
The King from the Sun	p. 92
Jerusalem and the Gentile Kings	p. 95
A Ptolemaic Messiah	p. 95
The Provenance of Sibylline Oracle 3	p. 96
The Letter of Aristeas	p. 97
Joseph and Aseneth	p. 103
Greek Esther	p. 110
Religion and Politics: The Roman Period	p. 113
The Status of the Jews in Roman Egypt	p. 113
The Third Book of Maccabees	p. 122
Philo's Politics	p. 131
The Events of 66-73 C.E.	p. 138
The Background of the Great Revolt	p. 140
The Fifth Sibyl	p. 143
The Later Sibyllines	p. 150
Conclusion	p. 151
Identity Through Ethics and Piety
The Common Ethic	p. 155
Judaism according to Hecataeus	p. 155
The Basis for a Common Ethic	p. 157
The Sibylline Oracles	p. 160
The Third Sibyl	p. 160
Sibylline Oracle 5	p. 165
Sibylline Oracle 4	p. 166
The Sibylline Fragments	p. 167
Pseudo-Phocylides	p. 168
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs	p. 174
The Testaments and the Covenant Form	p. 177
The Content of the Exhortations	p. 179
Homiletic Material in the Testaments	p. 179
The Ethic of the Testaments	p. 183
The Role of the Synagogue	p. 184
Philosophical Judaism	p. 186
Aristobulus	p. 186
Poetic Forgeries	p. 190
Pseudo-Aristeas	p. 191
The Wisdom of Solomon	p. 195
Fourth Maccabees	p. 202
The Mysteries of God	p. 210
Mystic Judaism	p. 210
A Mystic Ritual?	p. 211
Mystic Philosophy	p. 214
Esotericism	p. 217
Heavenly Revelations	p. 219
The Pseudo-Orphic Fragments	p. 219
Ezekiel the Tragedian	p. 224
Joseph and Aseneth	p. 230
Ritual Elements in Joseph and Aseneth?	p. 232
Group Membership	p. 234
The Episode of the Honeycomb	p. 235
The Representative Roles of Joseph and Aseneth	p. 236
A Corpus Permixtum	p. 237
Lack of Sectarian Character	p. 238
The Prayer of Joseph	p. 239
The Testament of Job	p. 240
The Struggle with Satan	p. 242
The Confrontation with the Friends	p. 243
The Role of the Women	p. 244
The Religion of the Testament of Job	p. 245
The Books of Adam and Eve	p. 246
The Testament of Abraham	p. 248
The Perspective on Death	p. 250
The View of Judaism	p. 251
2 Enoch	p. 252
The Hortatory Message	p. 253
3 Baruch	p. 255
The Attitude toward Jerusalem	p. 257
A System of Individual Rewards	p. 258
Conclusion	p. 259
Jews and Gentiles	p. 261
A Jewish Mission?	p. 262
The "God-fearers"	p. 264
The Function of the Literature	p. 270
Conclusion	p. 273
Bibliography	p. 276
Indexes
Subjects	p. 303
Modern Authors	p. 307
Ancient Literature	p. 315
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