THE BIBLE AND HELLENISM Copenhagen International Seminar General Editors: Thomas L. Thompson and Ingrid Hjelm, both at the University of Copenhagen Editors: Niels Peter Lemche and Mogens Müller, both at the University of Copenhagen Language Revision Editor: James West Published Argonauts of the Desert: Structural Analysis of the Hebrew Bible Philippe Wajdenbaum The Bible and Hellenism: Greek Infl uence on Jewish and Early Christian Literature Thomas L. Thompson and Philippe Wajdenbaum Biblical Narrative and Palestine’s History: Changing Perspectives 2 Thomas L. Thompson Biblical Studies and the Failure of History: Changing Perspectives 3 Niels Peter Lemche Changing Perspectives 1: Studies in the History, Literature and Religion of Biblical Israel John Van Seters The Expression ‘Son of Man’ and the Development of Christology: A History of Interpretation Mogens Müller Japheth Ben Ali’s Book of Jeremiah: A Critical Edition and Linguistic Analysis of the Judaeo-Arabic Translation Joshua A. Sabih Origin Myths and Holy Places in the Old Testament: A Study of Aetiological Narratives Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spanò The Bible and Hellenism Greek Infl uence on Jewish and Early Christian Literature Edited by Thomas L. Thompson and Philippe Wajdenbaum RO Routledge U TLEDG Taylor & Francis Group E LONDON AND NEW YORK First published in 2014 by Acumen Published 2014 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Editorial matter and selection © Thomas L. Thompson and Philippe Wajdenbaum, 2014. Individual essays © contributors. This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. No reproduction without permission. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notices Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility. To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein. ISBN: 978-1-84465-786-5 (hardcover) British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Contents Contributors vii Abbreviations ix Introduction: making room for Japheth 1 Thomas L. Thompson and Philippe Wajdenbaum PART I: A MEDITERRANEAN OR ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CONTEXT? 1. Ancient historiography, biblical stories and Hellenism 19 Emanuel Pfoh 2. Editing the Bible: Alexandria or Babylon? 36 Étienne Nodet, o.p. 3. Greek evidence for the Hebrew Bible 56 Russell E. Gmirkin 4. The Philistines as intermediaries between the Aegean and the Near East 89 Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spanò 5. Narrative reiteration and comparative literature: problems in defi ning dependency 102 Thomas L. Thompson PART II: GREEK-JEW OR JEW-GREEK? 6. Stranger and city girl: an isomorphism between Genesis 24 and Homer’s Odyssey 6–13 117 Yaakov S. Kupitz 7. Hesiod’s Heroic Age and the biblical Period of the Judges 146 Philippe Guillaume vi Contents 8. Sex, violence and state formation in Judges 19–21 165 Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme 9. Israel, the antithesis of Hellas: enslavement, exile and return in the Greek Solon tradition and the Hebrew Bible 175 Flemming A. J. Nielsen PART III: FLEETS FROM KITTIM (NUMBERS 24:24) – ROMAN-ERA TEXTS 10. The Books of the Maccabees and Polybius 189 Philippe Wajdenbaum 11. Text and commentary: the pesharim of Qumran in the context of Hellenistic scholarship 212 Reinhard G. Kratz 12. Josephus in the tents of Shem and Japheth: the status of ancient authors in Josephus’ treatise Against Apion 1.1–218 230 Ingrid Hjelm 13. Recognition scenes in the Odyssey and the gospels 247 John Taylor 14. Hesiod’s Theogony and the Book of Revelation 4, 12 and 19–20 258 Bruce Louden Index of sources 279 Index of authors 291 Contributors Russell E. Gmirkin, Portland Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme, University of Copenhagen Philippe Guillaume, University of Bern Ingrid Hjelm, University of Copenhagen Reinhard G. Kratz, Georg August Universität, Göttingen Yaakov S. Kupitz, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Bruce Louden, University of Texas at El Paso Flemming A. J. Nielsen, University of Greenland Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spanò, University of Warsaw Étienne Nodet, o.p., Ecole Biblique et Archéologique de Jérusalem Emanuel Pfoh, National University of La Plata John Taylor, Tonbridge School, Kent Thomas L. Thompson, Professor Emeritus, University of Copenhagen Philippe Wajdenbaum, Brussels This page intentionally left blank Abbreviations ADPV Abhandlungen des deutschen Palästina-Vereins AfO Archiv für Orientforschung AGAJU Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums und Urchristentums AION Annali dell’Università degli Studi di Napoli ‘L’Orientale’ AJA American Journal of Archaeology ANRW Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt ANYAS Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences AOAT Alter Orient und Altes Testament BA Biblical Archaeologist BAR Biblical Archaeological Review BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research BHS Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft CBQMS Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series CIJ J. B. Frey, Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaicarum, 2 vols (Rome, 1936–52) CIS Copenhagen International Seminar CRINT Compendium rerum iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum DBAT Dielheimer Blätter zum Alten Testament DBS Daily Bible Study DJD Discoveries in the Judaean Desert DSS Dead Sea Scrolls DTT Dansk Teologisk Tidsskrift EB Etudes bibliques FBE Forum for bibelsk eksegese FRLANT Forschungen zur Religion und Kultur des alten und neuen Testaments GLAJJ M. Stern, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism, 3 vols (Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1970) GRBS Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual IEJ Israel Exploration Journal IOSOT International Organization for the Study of Old Testament JANES Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Studies JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JCS Journal of Cuneiform Studies