Abstract This article explores the dynamics of authorship and author-function in classical and Jewish literature within a framework of post-structuralist theory. Drawing on Barthes and Foucault, it examines how ancient traditions negotiated the authority for figures such as Homer, Socrates, and ancient Jewish exemplars, and highlights the productive absence of notions of personal authorship in the modern sense in favour of functional, tradition-generating named attribution, which pointed beyond itself in the formation of tradition. Particular attention is paid to Hellenistic Jewish texts, especially Ecclesiastes, in which ambiguity, intercultural links, and the blurring of historical referentiality contribute to a timeless, transdiscursive quality. These strategies of ascription and abstraction are contextualised within broader changes in conceptions of time and tradition, developing a perspective of the history of ideas especially in the Hellenistic period which engages both Jewish and Greek thought. It is argued that the functional use of authorship in Second Temple Judaism complicates historical readings, and foregrounds instead questions of rhetoric, authority, and hermeneutics in the interpretation of ancient literature.
Abstract This article examines Augustine of Hippo’s complex portrayal of Jews within his broader theological framework. While patristic writings often display sharp anti-Judaic tendencies, Augustine stands out for articulating a paradox: Jews are simultaneously cast as degraded servants yet preserved by God as indispensable witnesses to Christian truth. Central to this is Augustine’s “witness theory,” in which Jews, like Cain, bear a sign that secures their survival while testifying to Scripture’s fulfilment in Christ. Exploring Augustine’s imagery of Jews as servi litterati , librarians, and guardians of books, the study situates his metaphors within the cultural context of Roman libraries and contemporary Jewish traditions of textual guardianship. By comparing Augustine’s views with rabbinic and pagan parallels, the article highlights both his dependence on inherited imagery and his innovative role in shaping Christian-Jewish relations in late antiquity.
Abstract This article explores what motivated the Adiabenian dynasty to foster connections with Jews and Judaism in the first-century Near East beyond the exclusively pious explanation offered by our surviving literary sources and in previous scholarship. It does so by building on three scholarly trends, concerning the social and political role of Jewish conversion in the late Second Temple period, the nature of late ancient royal self-fashioning, and developments in approaches to the relationship between frontier kingdoms and the two imperial powers of Rome and Parthia. The case of Adiabene demonstrates how Jewishness could function as a versatile political tool on the first-century frontier, a reflection of both the place and perception of Jewishness in this context and of the adaptive strategies frontier kings undertook to navigate precarious political conditions and the competing audiences that made their socio-political environment so fraught.
Abstract This article explores local conceptions of kingship in Judea during the late Hellenistic period through a poetic text found at Qumran that refers to “King Jonathan” (4Q448). While scholars generally identify this figure as a Hasmonean ruler, the text’s stance toward the dynasty and its royal office remains debated. To shed new light on this question, the article analyzes the text in relation to encomiastic poetry traditionally associated with courtly settings. Comparing it with poetic passages in 1 Maccabees, it argues that the King Jonathan text participated in the internal reinterpretation of kingship, shaping elite roles within Hasmonean Judea. This study thus offers a revised understanding of Judean perspectives on kings and kingship in Hellenistic times, enriching our view of the post-Seleukid sociopolitical landscape.
This study delves into the semantic nuances of πρεσβύτεροι in the Septuagint of the Pentateuch. Drawing on Hellenistic vocabulary and papyri from third and second centuries BCE Egypt, the paper examines instances where πρεσβύτεροι in the LXX -Pentateuch refers to a council of elders or a group of officials within administrative boards. In fact, documentary papyri contemporary with the LXX reveal πρεσβύτεροι as a semi-professional title, particularly within associations and local committees, suggesting a role in maintaining social order and representing communities to higher authorities. This pseudo-official designation is evident in various papyri, including those from Jewish communities in Egypt (P.Polit.Iud.). The paper will argue that the LXX employs the term πρεσβύτεροι to designate the council of elders, mirroring its Hellenistic usage within Jewish local authorities and structures in Egypt. This semantic alignment suggests a deliberate choice by the translator to convey the professional role of elders within the community.
This article critically examines the claim that Sibylline Oracles 4 is "anti-temple" by analyzing the text in light of ancient consolatory rhetoric. I argue that the Sibyl employs conventional consolatory arguments towards the aim of offering comfort concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 CE. These consolations suggest she is attempting to preserve the reality of the temple in its absence; this is an expression of attachment, not rejection. The Sibyl reimagines Jewish piety without the Jerusalem temple as a means of hope and resilience in circumstances that cannot be changed. Sibylline Oracles 4 is a witness to how Jews of the late first century processed the trauma of 70 CE and found a way to maintain their trust in the God of Israel despite what the Romans had taken from them.
First Maccabees 15:2-9 quotes a letter from Antiochus VII to Simon Maccabeus, wherein Antiochus concedes authority over coinage to Simon. The historicity of this letter and other documents included in the first book of Maccabees as well as their significance for the historical reconstruction of the events depicted has long been discussed by scholars. In examining content and historical background of the letter in 1Macc 15:2-9, this article contributes to the discussion around the authenticity of the letter and its function within the first book of Maccabees. Special focus is given to the concession of the right to mint coins to Simon, the only mention of which is Antiochus' letter. This privilege is therefore of particular historical interest.
This article explores what motivated the Adiabenian dynasty to foster connections with Jews and Judaism in the first-century Near East beyond the exclusively pious explanation offered by our surviving literary sources and in previous scholarship. It does so by building on three scholarly trends, concerning the social and political role of Jewish conversion in the late Second Temple period, the nature of late ancient royal self-fashioning, and developments in approaches to the relationship between frontier kingdoms and the two imperial powers of Rome and Parthia. The case of Adiabene demonstrates how Jewishness could function as a versatile political tool on the firstcentury frontier, a reflection of both the place and perception of Jewishness in this context and of the adaptive strategies frontier kings undertook to navigate precarious political conditions and the competing audiences that made their socio-political environment so fraught.
The paper primarily scrutinises the death penalty of Holofernes in terms of its reasons, legal justification, and the way of its realisation in the Judith story. The study further reveals the identity of other narrative characters who faced the threat of capital punishment and inquires into the grounds for their announced punishment by death. It is demonstrated that death punishments in the story be they realised or just planned relate to a specific capital offence according to the Torah. Holofernes' capital penalty is exceptional as justified by two reasons. The sanction to death of Achior is, in turn, unique as it allows for an interpretation based on the biblical as well as Greek parallels. For the ironic purposes the sentence to death for a capital offence as ordered by the Jewish legal system is issued in the story by the gentiles in respect to the others, the Israelites included.
This article investigates the Exagoge of Ezekiel the tragedian as a sophisticated reflection on the possibilities and the challenges of inferring divine presence. It thus situates the ambiguities of Moses's remarkable throne vision, which have been fuel for scholarly debate, within a wider account of divine presence across the play. The article also proposes an approach to reading the Exagoge's fragmented text that focuses on the linguistic and literary interconnections within and between the fragments. It explores the Exagoge's engagement with biblical traditions, not as alignment with or divergence from sources, but as contributing to the dialogue between scenes, enabling inference, irony, and anticipation. It also attends to the role of the Exagoge's editors, Polyhistor and Eusebius, in shaping the portrayal of divine presence in the preserved fragments, including in ways that reinforce connections between the fragments and their narrative arc.
This paper offers a new edition of D.Pg. 25, the only Hebrew parchment to emerge from Dura-Europos. Since its discovery, scholars highlighted its similarities to the rabbinic Grace after Meals. The new arrangement of the fragments, readings, and reconstructions proposed here allow for a better appreciation of this text's affinities with various Jewish literary corpora, from the Hebrew Bible, to Second Temple literature, to rabbinic writings, to the many manuscripts of the statutory and poetic Grace from the Cairo Genizah. At the same time, a closer look at the physical features of D.Pg. 25 suggests that it was a small text intended for a personal use. Not unlike ancient tefillin and amulets, it was folded into a tiny bundle.
This paper offers a new edition of D.Pg. 25, the only Hebrew parchment to emerge from Dura-Europos. Since its discovery, scholars highlighted its similarities to the rabbinic Grace after Meals. The new arrangement of the fragments, readings, and reconstructions proposed here allow for a better appreciation of this text’s affinities with various Jewish literary corpora, from the Hebrew Bible, to Second Temple literature, to rabbinic writings, to the many manuscripts of the statutory and poetic Grace from the Cairo Genizah. At the same time, a closer look at the physical features of D.Pg. 25 suggests that it was a small text intended for a personal use. Not unlike ancient tefillin and amulets, it was folded into a tiny bundle.
