Seers, Sybils, and Sages in Hellenistic-Roman Judaism (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism)

SEERS, SIBYLS AND SAGES IN HELLENISTIC-ROMAN JUDAISM......Page 4
Contents......Page 6
Foreword......Page 8
Acknowledgements......Page 10
Introduction......Page 14
1. Before the Canon. Scriptures in Second Temple Judaism......Page 16
The Council of Jamnia......Page 17
A fixed number of books......Page 18
The antiquity of the canon......Page 20
Diverse Scriptures......Page 24
The evidence of the Scrolls......Page 26
Jamnia revisited......Page 32
I. Apocalypticism......Page 36
2. Genre, Ideology and Social Movements in Jewish Apocalypticism......Page 38
THE DISCUSSION OF THE GENRE......Page 40
1. Form and Content......Page 41
2. The Historical Development......Page 44
b. Diachronic Development......Page 45
c. The Genetic Dimension......Page 47
APOCALYPTIC MOVEMENTS......Page 50
CONCLUSION......Page 51
3. The Place of Apocalypticism in the Religion of Israel......Page 52
The Enoch Movement......Page 55
A Mesopotamian Context......Page 57
The Symbolic Universe of Enoch......Page 60
Relation to Biblical Tradition......Page 65
Daniel and Enoch......Page 68
Conclusion......Page 70
4. Jewish Apocalypticism against its Hellenistic Near Eastern Environment......Page 72
The political setting......Page 73
The revival of ancient myths......Page 78
Prophecy by interpretation......Page 82
Conclusions......Page 85
5. Apocalyptic Eschatology as the Transcendence of Death......Page 88
a. The Idea of a Definitive End......Page 91
b. The Distinction of Two Penods......Page 95
c. Apocalypticism as Mythology......Page 96
Apocalyptic Eschatology as the Transcendence of Death......Page 97
a. Similarity to Greek Thought......Page 105
b. The Logic of Apocalyptic Eschatology......Page 107
Conclusion......Page 110
Daniel......Page 112
The Sibylline Tradition......Page 115
Other Diaspora Usage......Page 118
The Apocalyptic Kingdom......Page 119
The Testament of Moses......Page 120
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs......Page 122
Messianic Movements in the First Century......Page 123
Messianism in the Apocalypses......Page 124
The Targums to the Prophets......Page 125
Conclusion......Page 126
7. The Christian Adaptation of the Apocalyptic Genre......Page 128
The apocalyptic tradition......Page 129
Distinctive features of Revelation......Page 131
The Son of Man and the Lamb that was Slain......Page 134
The war with the Dragon......Page 135
The sword of his mouth......Page 137
Conclusion......Page 140
II. Daniel......Page 142
Defened Eschatology in the Jewish Diaspora......Page 144
The four kingdoms......Page 146
The adaptation of traditions in Daniel 2......Page 148
The Religio-Historical Background of Daniel 7......Page 152
The Canaanite background......Page 156
Kvanvig's proposal......Page 159
The transmission of the Canaanite material......Page 163
Conclusions......Page 167
10. The Meaning of the End in the Book of Daniel......Page 170
The end and the kingdom......Page 171
The end and the temple......Page 172
The end and resurrection......Page 174
Interpreting the variety......Page 176
The Perspective on the Gentile World in Bel and the Snake......Page 180
The Court Tale tradition......Page 181
Idolatry and conversion......Page 183
The Destruction of the Idols......Page 187
The Provenance of Bel and the Snake......Page 189
III. Sibyls......Page 192
12. The Jewish Adaptation of Sibylline Oracles......Page 194
The pagan sibylline oracles......Page 195
The oldest Jewish oracles......Page 197
Continuity and innovation......Page 201
The sibyl and universal history......Page 203
The Fourth Eclogue......Page 205
Conclusion......Page 210
13. The Sibyl and the Potter: Political Propaganda in
Ptolemaic Egypt......Page 212
The first Jewish Sibyl......Page 213
The Potter's Oracle......Page 216
Horus and Seth......Page 218
The Sibyl and the Maccabees......Page 221
Epilogue......Page 222
14. A Symbol of Otherness. Circumcision and Salvation in the First Century......Page 224
I. The Jewish propaganda literature......Page 225
II. Conversion andproselytism......Page 231
III. The "God-fearers"......Page 241
IV. The Christian debate on circumcision......Page 246
IV. Dead Sea Scrolls......Page 250
1. The Causes of Dissension......Page 252
2. The Time of the Emergence of the Sect......Page 261
3. The Man of the Lie......Page 266
The Evidence of the Teacher Hymns......Page 271
Conclusion......Page 272
16. Was the Dead Sea Sect an Apocalyptic Movement?......Page 274
The Dead Sea Sect......Page 285
Conclusion......Page 297
17. The Origin of Evil in Apocalyptic Literature and the Dead Sea Scrolls......Page 300
The myth of the Watchers......Page 302
The Qumran Sect......Page 304
Other myths of the origin of evil......Page 309
18. Prophecy and Fulfillment in the Qumran Scrolls......Page 314
I. The Character of the Pesharim......Page 315
II. The Interpretation of Prophecy in Daniel......Page 317
III. Interpretation in the Pesharim......Page 320
IV. The Function of the Pesharim......Page 324
V. The Pesharim as Historical Evidence......Page 325
VI. The Pesharim and the New Testament......Page 326
V. Wisdom and apocalypticism......Page 328
19. Cosmos and Salvation: Jewish Wisdom and Apocalypticism in the Hellenistic Age......Page 330
The Wisdom of Solomon......Page 332
The Cosmos and Religion in Near Eastern and Hellenistic Thought......Page 337
The Affinities and Differences between Wisdom and Apocalypticism......Page 343
Conclusion......Page 350
The Figure of Enoch......Page 352
The Figure of Daniel......Page 356
The Mantic Sage and Interpretation of Scripture......Page 360
Ezra and Baruch as Visionary Sages......Page 361
Conclusion: A Superior Wisdom......Page 362
21. The Root of Immortality. Death in the Context of Jewish Wisdom......Page 364
I. Life and Death in Sirach......Page 366
1. The qualitative sense of "life"......Page 367
2. Death as limit......Page 368
3. Transcendence in Sirach......Page 370
4. The problem of death......Page 372
II. Life and Death in the Wisdom of Solomon......Page 373
1. Traditions presupposed by the Wisdom of Solomon......Page 375
2. Immortality and wisdom......Page 376
Conclusion......Page 380
22. Wisdom, Apocalypticism and the Dead Sea Scrolls......Page 382
Genesis 1-3 in Ben Sira......Page 384
Genesis 1-3 in the Scrolls......Page 389
Wisdom and Apocalypticism reconsidered......Page 394
23. Wisdom, Apocalypticism and Generic Compatibility......Page 398
The Old Testament debate......Page 399
Sapiential sayings and apocalypticism......Page 406
Apocalyptic influence in wisdom texts......Page 412
The New Testament Debate......Page 414
Indices......Page 418
Index of authors......Page 420
Index of passages......Page 428
Index of subjects......Page 446