Babel's Tower Translated: Genesis 11 and Ancient Jewish Interpretation

Babel’s Tower Translated: Genesis 11 and Ancient Jewish Interpretation......Page 4
Contents......Page 8
Acknowledgements......Page 10
Abbreviations......Page 12
Introduction: Interpretation as Translation or Exegesis and Historical Hermeneutics......Page 16
Part I. Unearthing the Tower......Page 24
Introduction to Part I......Page 26
1. Introduction......Page 32
2. Between the Bricks of Babel: Wolfgang Iser and Reception Aesthetics......Page 33
3. Before Babel: Background to Building......Page 37
4. The Plan of the Babelites......Page 41
5. Divine Response to Babelian Ambition......Page 49
6. Conclusion......Page 56
1. Introduction......Page 58
2.1. The Origin of Nations......Page 62
2.2. Making a Name......Page 65
2.3. The \'Sin\' of Babel......Page 67
3. The Larger Canonical Context......Page 70
3.1. Climbing Jacob\'s Ladder......Page 72
3.2. The Exodus and Babel......Page 73
3.3. Towers in the Hebrew Bible......Page 75
3.4. A Question of Character......Page 79
4.1. The Image of the City in the Hebrew Bible......Page 82
4.2. Language, Speech, and the Biblical Tradition......Page 84
4.3. A Fountain of Life......Page 91
5. Babylon in the Hebrew Bible......Page 93
6. Conclusions......Page 98
Part II. Rewritten Babel......Page 100
Introduction to Part II......Page 102
1. Introduction......Page 112
2. Translation as Re-contextualization......Page 118
3. Characterization and Motivation......Page 123
4. The Language of Revelation in/ Jubilees......Page 128
5. Conclusion......Page 134
1. Introduction......Page 136
2. Pseudo-Philo: Scripture Shaping Scripture......Page 137
3. Before Babel: The Problem of Babelian Unity in Pseudo-Philo......Page 142
4. Ambiguity and Idolatry......Page 146
5. But Abram Alone Was Silent......Page 155
6. The Futility of Resistance and the Persistence of Israel......Page 161
7. Conclusion......Page 166
1. Introduction......Page 168
2. Translated from the Hebrew Writings: The Hermeneutics of Josephus......Page 169
2.1. Jewish Backgrounds......Page 173
2.2. Greek and Roman Backgrounds......Page 175
3. Josephus Reads and Rewrites Babel......Page 179
4.1. After the Flood......Page 190
4.2. Nimrod the Tyrant......Page 193
4.3. \'How cities Were Founded Long Ago\'......Page 196
5. The Politics of Dispersion: Babel between the Lines of War......Page 201
6. Conclusion......Page 209
1. Introduction......Page 210
2. Third (Greek) Baruch and Hermeneutics in Apocalyptic Form......Page 211
3. Why Babel?......Page 216
4. The Animalistic Babelites......Page 219
5. War against God and Cultural Context......Page 224
6. Babel as a Symbol of Hope?......Page 227
7. Conclusion......Page 230
1. Introduction......Page 232
2. Philo as Biblical Interpreter......Page 234
2.1. Allegory as \'Radical Translation\'......Page 238
3. The Tower of Philo......Page 243
3.1. A Literal Prologue to the Allegorical Tower (Conf. 1-13)......Page 245
4. Human Unity as a Symphony of Sin......Page 250
4.1. A Tuneless Symphony (Gen 11:1 and Conf. 14-59)......Page 251
4.2. Dwelling in Shinar (Gen 11:2 and Conf. 60-82)......Page 259
4.3. The Soul in Inextricable Confusion (Gen 11:3 and Conf. 83-106)......Page 265
4.4. An Edifice of Unedifying Doctrines (Gen 11:4 and Conf 107-133)......Page 270
4.5. Justice and the God of Babel (Gen 11:5-6 and Conf. 134-168)......Page 279
4.6. Break Up the Company of Vice (Gen 11:7-9 and Conf. 168-200)......Page 284
5. Conclusion......Page 289
Part III. The Rabbinic Babel Midrash as Translation......Page 290
1. Introduction......Page 292
2. Definitions and Presuppositions of Midrash......Page 294
3. Between Exegesis and Ideology......Page 297
4. Conclusion......Page 302
1. Introduction......Page 304
2. The Sin of Babel as a Relative Affair: Moral Status and Divine Justice......Page 309
3. (Potentially) Positive Interpretations of the Tower Builders......Page 311
3.1. Pax Babel......Page 312
3.2. Koinonia at Babel?......Page 316
4.1. The Sky Is Falling......Page 318
4.2. Harsh Words......Page 323
4.3. The Blasphemous Babelites......Page 325
4.4. Out of Their Mind......Page 328
5. Two Years after the Flood: The Babelites as Icons of Incorrigibility......Page 329
5.1. Lest My People Forget......Page 330
5.2. Incorrigible Babelites......Page 333
5.3. Like Adam......Page 339
6. Teshuva at Babel? An Opening to Repentance......Page 340
7. Conclusion......Page 345
Conclusion......Page 348
Secondary Sources......Page 352
Index of Ancient Sources......Page 370
Index of Modern Authors......Page 376