Pub Date : 2019-12-01DOI: 10.1177/0951820719880926
T. de Bruin
The interplay between spiritual evil and physical monstrosity plays a large role in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. The Testaments are structured around the understanding of a human spirit, the mind, which stands between good and evil spirits, and in general it is the mind that forms the focus of the text’s exhortation. The evil spirits influence the mind, causing a person to think unrighteous thoughts and ultimately commit unrighteous acts. The role of the mind, however, is so large that it even plays a dominant role in the physical appearance of a person. In this article, I examine three distinct cases where someone’s ethical and spiritual evil results in physical monstrosity. First, we see that when someone’s mind follows the temptations of an evil spirit, they become disabled. Second, we see that an evil spirit has the power to poison someone’s own neutral spirit, which ultimately leads the poisoned person to manifest themselves in a monstrous way. Finally, women bear monstrous giants as a direct result of their mental lust for the angelic Watchers. These three cases show the close relationship between external appearance and internal demeanor in the Testaments. Thus, humankind functions as a means through which the invisible monstrous manifests itself in the visible world. This realization helps clarify some early Christian understandings of humankind’s natural and monstrous states, as well as their ideas about ethics and social conduct, the nature of evil, and how the manifestation of evil in the physical world is influenced.
{"title":"Manifesting evil: Demons and physical monstrosity in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs","authors":"T. de Bruin","doi":"10.1177/0951820719880926","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0951820719880926","url":null,"abstract":"The interplay between spiritual evil and physical monstrosity plays a large role in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. The Testaments are structured around the understanding of a human spirit, the mind, which stands between good and evil spirits, and in general it is the mind that forms the focus of the text’s exhortation. The evil spirits influence the mind, causing a person to think unrighteous thoughts and ultimately commit unrighteous acts. The role of the mind, however, is so large that it even plays a dominant role in the physical appearance of a person. In this article, I examine three distinct cases where someone’s ethical and spiritual evil results in physical monstrosity. First, we see that when someone’s mind follows the temptations of an evil spirit, they become disabled. Second, we see that an evil spirit has the power to poison someone’s own neutral spirit, which ultimately leads the poisoned person to manifest themselves in a monstrous way. Finally, women bear monstrous giants as a direct result of their mental lust for the angelic Watchers. These three cases show the close relationship between external appearance and internal demeanor in the Testaments. Thus, humankind functions as a means through which the invisible monstrous manifests itself in the visible world. This realization helps clarify some early Christian understandings of humankind’s natural and monstrous states, as well as their ideas about ethics and social conduct, the nature of evil, and how the manifestation of evil in the physical world is influenced.","PeriodicalId":14859,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha","volume":"29 1","pages":"132 - 145"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0951820719880926","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42197112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-09-01DOI: 10.1177/0951820719875719
A. Macdonald
The Letter of Aristeas recounts the translation of the Jewish Law into Greek by seventy-two Jewish elders. That number of elders (seventy-two) has been the subject of considerable discussion, and several competing explanations for the origin of the number have been proposed. Some scholars claim the number is derived from Hellenistic (specifically grammatical or arithmological) traditions, whereas others see precedent for the number seventy-two in the details of Exod 24 or Num 11. This paper evaluates several such hypotheses (most of them relatively recent), showing most to be speculative and lacking explanatory power. Rejecting such hypotheses, this paper argues that the number seventy-two emerges from a compromise between two of Pseudo-Aristeas’s interests—a hypothesis rendered all the more plausible by its appearance in Epiphanius. All this justifies an appeal for scholars to exercise both diligence and restraint regarding Jewish and Christian engagement with exodus traditions.
{"title":"The seventy-two elders of Aristeas: An evaluation of speculation","authors":"A. Macdonald","doi":"10.1177/0951820719875719","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0951820719875719","url":null,"abstract":"The Letter of Aristeas recounts the translation of the Jewish Law into Greek by seventy-two Jewish elders. That number of elders (seventy-two) has been the subject of considerable discussion, and several competing explanations for the origin of the number have been proposed. Some scholars claim the number is derived from Hellenistic (specifically grammatical or arithmological) traditions, whereas others see precedent for the number seventy-two in the details of Exod 24 or Num 11. This paper evaluates several such hypotheses (most of them relatively recent), showing most to be speculative and lacking explanatory power. Rejecting such hypotheses, this paper argues that the number seventy-two emerges from a compromise between two of Pseudo-Aristeas’s interests—a hypothesis rendered all the more plausible by its appearance in Epiphanius. All this justifies an appeal for scholars to exercise both diligence and restraint regarding Jewish and Christian engagement with exodus traditions.","PeriodicalId":14859,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha","volume":"29 1","pages":"36 - 53"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0951820719875719","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41517632","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-09-01DOI: 10.1177/0951820719875726
Fiodar Litvinau
Greek and Ethiopic versions of 1 Enoch 5:8 preserve a different text at the end of the passage. This note aims to demonstrate the superiority of the Ethiopic text of 1 En. 5:8 over the version preserved in Codex Panapolitanus by arguing that the Greek reading must be treated as a scribal addition influenced by Gnostic terminology.
{"title":"A note on the Greek and Ethiopic text of 1 Enoch 5:8","authors":"Fiodar Litvinau","doi":"10.1177/0951820719875726","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0951820719875726","url":null,"abstract":"Greek and Ethiopic versions of 1 Enoch 5:8 preserve a different text at the end of the passage. This note aims to demonstrate the superiority of the Ethiopic text of 1 En. 5:8 over the version preserved in Codex Panapolitanus by arguing that the Greek reading must be treated as a scribal addition influenced by Gnostic terminology.","PeriodicalId":14859,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha","volume":"29 1","pages":"28 - 35"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0951820719875726","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46444870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-09-01DOI: 10.1177/0951820719854026
M. Stone
The pseudepigraphic literature of the ‘Old Testament’ in the Armenian language is an extraordinarily rich corpus. For example, the texts relating to Joseph are eight in number, four otherwise unknown and two translated from Greek. This rich literature comprises a number of genres, including parabiblical narrative, homilies and sermons, erotapokritic texts, scholastic lists, allegory and more. By examining the forms of literature, some preliminary conclusions are drawn as to matrices of origins of different types of works.
{"title":"The Armenian Embroidered Bible","authors":"M. Stone","doi":"10.1177/0951820719854026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0951820719854026","url":null,"abstract":"The pseudepigraphic literature of the ‘Old Testament’ in the Armenian language is an extraordinarily rich corpus. For example, the texts relating to Joseph are eight in number, four otherwise unknown and two translated from Greek. This rich literature comprises a number of genres, including parabiblical narrative, homilies and sermons, erotapokritic texts, scholastic lists, allegory and more. By examining the forms of literature, some preliminary conclusions are drawn as to matrices of origins of different types of works.","PeriodicalId":14859,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha","volume":"29 1","pages":"11 - 3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0951820719854026","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47890390","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-09-01DOI: 10.1177/0951820719875716
D. Skelton
This study examines the euhemeristic interpretation of Genesis 6:1–4 as it appears in Ephrem of Nisibis’ Commentary on Genesis and its influence on Syriac and Ethiopic commentary traditions. I suggest that Ephrem’s attempt to mitigate the angelic interpretation of Genesis 6 ironically mirrors his own angelology. The distinctive components he adds to the Watchers myth (different geography, diet, and bodies) are central virtues in Ephrem’s attempt to make virginity and monasticism ideals for all Christians. For Ephrem, the angels are paradigms of these ideals, and those who achieve them become equal to the angels. Surprisingly, these distinctive components reappear in the Ethiopian commentary tradition on Genesis (andemta), but unlike Ephrem, the andemta makes the equation of Sethites with angels and monks quite explicit. Overall, this analysis between Ephrem and the andemta reveals the influence of Syriac interpretation on the Ethiopian commentary tradition as well as the centrality of angelology in the Sethite reading of Genesis 6:1–4.
{"title":"Angels among us? The Watchers myth and angelology in Ephrem’s Commentary on Genesis and the Ethiopic tradition","authors":"D. Skelton","doi":"10.1177/0951820719875716","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0951820719875716","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines the euhemeristic interpretation of Genesis 6:1–4 as it appears in Ephrem of Nisibis’ Commentary on Genesis and its influence on Syriac and Ethiopic commentary traditions. I suggest that Ephrem’s attempt to mitigate the angelic interpretation of Genesis 6 ironically mirrors his own angelology. The distinctive components he adds to the Watchers myth (different geography, diet, and bodies) are central virtues in Ephrem’s attempt to make virginity and monasticism ideals for all Christians. For Ephrem, the angels are paradigms of these ideals, and those who achieve them become equal to the angels. Surprisingly, these distinctive components reappear in the Ethiopian commentary tradition on Genesis (andemta), but unlike Ephrem, the andemta makes the equation of Sethites with angels and monks quite explicit. Overall, this analysis between Ephrem and the andemta reveals the influence of Syriac interpretation on the Ethiopian commentary tradition as well as the centrality of angelology in the Sethite reading of Genesis 6:1–4.","PeriodicalId":14859,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha","volume":"29 1","pages":"12 - 27"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0951820719875716","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44676663","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-09-01DOI: 10.1177/0951820719860655
T. A. Bergren
5 Ezra (2 Esdras 1–2) is an apocryphal Christian supersessionist tractate dating from the 3rd century. It is structured in three main sections, each of which comprises two contrasting parts. 5 Ezra 2:10–14 is a seemingly anomalous pericope, falling exactly between the two parts of the second main section, but belonging to neither. This article argues that 2:10–14 is actually central to the book’s message. Placed precisely at the middle point of the book’s narrative, it narrates in literary terms the process of transition from Judaism to Christianity that is central to the book’s supersessionist theology. After identifying structural parallels to 2:10–14 in the Gospel of Mark and 4 Ezra, the article continues with a detailed exegesis of 2:10–14. The article concludes by considering the place of 5 Ezra within the larger scheme of Christian supersessionist theology.
{"title":"5 Ezra 2:10–14: Its place in the book’s structure and in Christian supersessionism","authors":"T. A. Bergren","doi":"10.1177/0951820719860655","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0951820719860655","url":null,"abstract":"5 Ezra (2 Esdras 1–2) is an apocryphal Christian supersessionist tractate dating from the 3rd century. It is structured in three main sections, each of which comprises two contrasting parts. 5 Ezra 2:10–14 is a seemingly anomalous pericope, falling exactly between the two parts of the second main section, but belonging to neither. This article argues that 2:10–14 is actually central to the book’s message. Placed precisely at the middle point of the book’s narrative, it narrates in literary terms the process of transition from Judaism to Christianity that is central to the book’s supersessionist theology. After identifying structural parallels to 2:10–14 in the Gospel of Mark and 4 Ezra, the article continues with a detailed exegesis of 2:10–14. The article concludes by considering the place of 5 Ezra within the larger scheme of Christian supersessionist theology.","PeriodicalId":14859,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha","volume":"29 1","pages":"54 - 76"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0951820719860655","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43249894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-08-21DOI: 10.1177/0951820719860649
A. R. Wells
Jubilees 3:27–31 explains the command to cover one’s nakedness, and the connections with animal speech help to elucidate the reasons for this law. Jubilees implies a sort of equality/solidarity between humans and animals due to their sin/impurity. Even though God does not directly address the serpent with speech, Jubilees portrays animals as more rational than in Genesis, as they originally talked and conversed with each other and apparently also with humans. This shared rationality and identity between all animals results in all losing their speech. Animals are portrayed in Jubilees with more rationality, culpability, and even solidarity with humans than in Genesis. The one exception is that animals are not allowed to cover their nakedness, and yet they still end up in a more positive light than the nations, who are willfully uncovered and in shame.
{"title":"“One language and one tongue”: Animal speech in Jubilees 3:27–31","authors":"A. R. Wells","doi":"10.1177/0951820719860649","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0951820719860649","url":null,"abstract":"Jubilees 3:27–31 explains the command to cover one’s nakedness, and the connections with animal speech help to elucidate the reasons for this law. Jubilees implies a sort of equality/solidarity between humans and animals due to their sin/impurity. Even though God does not directly address the serpent with speech, Jubilees portrays animals as more rational than in Genesis, as they originally talked and conversed with each other and apparently also with humans. This shared rationality and identity between all animals results in all losing their speech. Animals are portrayed in Jubilees with more rationality, culpability, and even solidarity with humans than in Genesis. The one exception is that animals are not allowed to cover their nakedness, and yet they still end up in a more positive light than the nations, who are willfully uncovered and in shame.","PeriodicalId":14859,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha","volume":"28 1","pages":"319 - 337"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0951820719860649","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48771279","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-08-21DOI: 10.1177/0951820719860628
Simon Bellmann, Anathea E. Portier-Young
In recent decades, a lively debate on the Hebrew and Greek versions of Esther story has developed, focusing on their text-historical and theological relationship. The discussion is enriched further by taking into account the Old Latin Esther, fully edited some 10 years ago by Jean-Claude Haelewyck as part of the Beuron Vetus Latina series. The extant Latin text likely dates back to 330–50 CE and represents an older, now-lost Greek Vorlage. Its numerous peculiarities substantially widen our understanding of ancient Esther traditions. The English translation presented here aims to elicit a broader interest in the Old Latin Esther and to facilitate a fresh discussion of its significance.
{"title":"The Old Latin book of Esther: An English translation","authors":"Simon Bellmann, Anathea E. Portier-Young","doi":"10.1177/0951820719860628","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0951820719860628","url":null,"abstract":"In recent decades, a lively debate on the Hebrew and Greek versions of Esther story has developed, focusing on their text-historical and theological relationship. The discussion is enriched further by taking into account the Old Latin Esther, fully edited some 10 years ago by Jean-Claude Haelewyck as part of the Beuron Vetus Latina series. The extant Latin text likely dates back to 330–50 CE and represents an older, now-lost Greek Vorlage. Its numerous peculiarities substantially widen our understanding of ancient Esther traditions. The English translation presented here aims to elicit a broader interest in the Old Latin Esther and to facilitate a fresh discussion of its significance.","PeriodicalId":14859,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha","volume":"28 1","pages":"267 - 289"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0951820719860628","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43073775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-08-21DOI: 10.1177/0951820719861900
A. Kulik
This article proposes an integrative analysis of the ouranology of 3 Baruch. This apocalyptic work, properly read, manifests complex ouranological conceptions well integrated not only into early Jewish literature and Hellenistic thought, but also into later mystical traditions. The unique worldview of the book has heretofore given rise to a complex set of interpretive problems; the detailed comparative approach of the present article not only provides a reasonable solution, but also sheds light on the cosmological conceptions of other early Jewish documents and the traditions lying behind them.
{"title":"The enigma of the five heavens and early Jewish cosmology1","authors":"A. Kulik","doi":"10.1177/0951820719861900","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0951820719861900","url":null,"abstract":"This article proposes an integrative analysis of the ouranology of 3 Baruch. This apocalyptic work, properly read, manifests complex ouranological conceptions well integrated not only into early Jewish literature and Hellenistic thought, but also into later mystical traditions. The unique worldview of the book has heretofore given rise to a complex set of interpretive problems; the detailed comparative approach of the present article not only provides a reasonable solution, but also sheds light on the cosmological conceptions of other early Jewish documents and the traditions lying behind them.","PeriodicalId":14859,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha","volume":"28 1","pages":"239 - 266"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0951820719861900","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45385317","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-08-21DOI: 10.1177/0951820719860627
Adam Winn
While many interpreters of the Enochic Parables have recognized a connection between the Enochic Son of Man and personified wisdom, this article argues that the Enochic Son of Man should be primarily identified as God’s wisdom as well as God’s word. To this end, the article argues that (a) the Son of Man is best understood as a divine being rather than an idealized human being, (b) a prominent word and wisdom theology existed in the late Second Temple period, and (c) both similarities between the Enochic Son of Man and word/wisdom as well as the narrative of the Parables support the conclusion that the Enochic Son of Man is an apocalyptic embodiment of God’s word and wisdom.
{"title":"Identifying the Enochic Son of Man as God’s word and wisdom","authors":"Adam Winn","doi":"10.1177/0951820719860627","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0951820719860627","url":null,"abstract":"While many interpreters of the Enochic Parables have recognized a connection between the Enochic Son of Man and personified wisdom, this article argues that the Enochic Son of Man should be primarily identified as God’s wisdom as well as God’s word. To this end, the article argues that (a) the Son of Man is best understood as a divine being rather than an idealized human being, (b) a prominent word and wisdom theology existed in the late Second Temple period, and (c) both similarities between the Enochic Son of Man and word/wisdom as well as the narrative of the Parables support the conclusion that the Enochic Son of Man is an apocalyptic embodiment of God’s word and wisdom.","PeriodicalId":14859,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha","volume":"28 1","pages":"290 - 318"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0951820719860627","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48923699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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