|
Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
|
Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, Vol. 16, No. 1,
41-59 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0951820706069184
Royal Sympathizers in Jewish Narrative
Terence L. Donaldson
Wycliffe College, 5 Hoskin Avenue, Toronto, ON M5S 1H7, Canada
A common element in Jewish narrative material in the Second Temple period is the figure of a foreign king (or high-placed court official) who displays some kind of veneration towards Israel’s God. This study surveys the pertinent material, identifies the various forms in which such royal sympathy is cast, and considers the intended rhetorical function of this narrative convention. Four distinct patterns of transformation—i.e. four models of how foreign kings came to admire Judaism and venerate the God of Israel—are identified: subjugation of an adversary; ‘conversion’ to monotheism; recognition of Israel’s true character and excellence; deliverance from deception.
Key Words: Second Temple Judaism • narrative • Gentile sympathy • royal characters • court tales
References
- Barclay, John M. G. 1996 Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora: From Alexander to Trajan (323BCE—117CE) ( Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark ).
- Bartlett, John R. 1985 Jews in the Hellenistic World: Josephus, Aristeas, The Sybilline Oracles, Eupolemus (Cambridge Commentaries on Writings of the Jewish and Christian World, 200 BC to AD 200; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press ).
- Bickerman, Elias J. 1933 ‘Ein jüdischer Festbrief vom Jahre 124 v. Chr. (II Macc. 1.1-9)’, Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 32: 233-54. Bickerman, Elias J. 1944 ‘The Colophon of the Greek Book of Esther’ , JBL 63: 39-62 .
- Boccaccini, Gabriele 1991 Middle Judaism: Jewish Thought, 300 B.C.E. to 200 C.E ( Minneapolis: Fortress Press ).
- Bunge, Jochen Gabriel 1971 Untersuchungen zum zweiten Makkabäerbuch (Bonn: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität).
- Collins, John J. 1992 ‘"The King Has Become a Jew": The Perspective on the Gentile World in Bel and the Snake’, in J. A. Overman and R. S. MacLennan (eds.), Diaspora Jews and Judaism: Essays in Honor of, and in Dialogue with, A. Thomas Kraabel ( Atlanta: Scholars Press ): 335-345. Collins, John J. 2000 Between Athens and Jerusalem: Jewish Identity in the Hellenistic Diaspora ( Grand Rapids: Eerdmans , 2nd edn).
- Day, Linda 1995 Three Faces of a Queen: Characterization in the Books of Esther (JSOTSup, 186; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press ).A similar approach to the literature of the Jewish diaspora is taken by Barclay (1996: esp. p. 148) and Collins (2000: esp. pp. 271-72).
- Doran, Robert 1981 Temple Propaganda: The Purpose and Character of 2 Maccabees ( Washington, DC: Catholic Biblical Association of America ).
- Goldstein, Jonathan A. 1983 II Maccabees (AB, 41A; Garden City, NY: Doubleday ). Goldstein, Jonathan A. 1991 ‘The Message of Aristeas to Philokrates’, in Menahem Mor (ed.), Eretz Israel, Israel, and the Jewish Diaspora: Mutual Relations (Studies in Jewish Civilization, 1; Lanham, MD: University Press of America ): 1-23.
- Greimas, Algirdas Julien 1966 Sémantique Structurale: Recherche de Méthode (Paris: Larousse). Greimas, Algirdas Julien 1970 Du Sens: Essais Sémiotiques ( Paris: Editions du Seuil).
- Gruen, Erich S. 1998 Heritage and Hellenism: The Reinvention of Jewish Tradition ( Berkeley: University of California Press ). Gruen, Erich S. 2002 Diaspora Jews amidst Greeks and Romans ( Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press ).
- Hadas, Moses (ed. and trans.) 1951 Aristeas to Philocrates (Letter of Aristeas) ( New York: Harper ).
- Hengel, Martin 1974 Judaism and Hellenism: Studies in their Encounter in Palestine during the Early Hellenistic Period ( Philadelphia: Fortress Press ).
- Henten, J. W. van 1997 The Maccabean Martyrs as Saviours of the Jewish People: A Study of 2 and 4 Maccabees (JSJSup, 57; Leiden: E.J. Brill ).
- Jellicoe, Sidney 1974 Studies in the Septuagint Origins, Recensions, and Interpretations: Selected Essays, with a Prolegomenon ( New York: Ktav).
- Moore, Carey A. 1977 Daniel, Esther, and Jeremiah: The Additions (AB, 44; Garden City, NY: Doubleday ).
- Nickelsburg, George W. E. 1981 Jewish Literature between the Bible and the Mishnah: A Historical and Literary Introduction ( Philadelphia: Fortress Press).
- Patte, Daniel 1976 What is Structural Exegesis? (Guides to Biblical Scholarship; Philadelphia: Fortress Press ).
- Pelletier, André 1962 Lettre d’Aristée à Philocrate (Paris: Editions du Cerf).
- Schürer, Emil 1973-87 The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C.-A.D. 135) (ed. and rev. Géza Vermès, Fergus Millar, Matthew Black and Martin Goodman; 3 vols.; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark).
- Tcherikover, Victor 1956 ‘Jewish Apologetic Literature Reconsidered’ , Eos 48: 169-193 . Tcherikover, Victor 1974 ‘The Ideology of the Letter of Aristeas’, in Jellicoe (ed.) 1974: 181-207.
- Wills, Lawrence M. 1990 The Jew in the Court of the Foreign King: Ancient Jewish Court Legends (Harvard Dissertations in Religion, 26; Minneapolis: Fortress Press). 1995 The Jewish Novel in the Ancient World ( Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press ).
- Zuntz, G. 1974 ‘Aristeas Studies II: Aristeas on the Translation of the Torah’, in Jellicoe (ed.) 1974: 208-225.
 CiteULike  Connotea  Del.icio.us  Digg  Reddit  Technorati What's this?
|
