Hellenistic Jews and Consolatory Rhetoric

2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, 1 Thessalonians, and Hebrews

by Christine R. Trotter

Book cover: Hellenistic Jews and Consolatory Rhetoric

Extent: 397 pages

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Subjects: Biblical Studies, Jewish Studies

Series: Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2.Reihe

Series volume number: 600

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(December 2023)

ISBN: 9783161624759

9.09 x 6.06 inches

Price: $124.00

In stock

Christine R. Trotter explores how ancient Jews and the earliest Christians attempted to comfort people who had endured or witnessed persecution and violence, illustrating the nature of intercultural encounter between Jews, Greeks, Romans, and Christians regarding how to alleviate grief and cultivate joy.


Christine R. Trotter elucidates how Hellenistic Jewish writers attempted to comfort those living in the midst of and in the wake of persecution and violence. While past scholarship has explored this question primarily in terms of the development of Jewish apocalypticism and afterlife beliefs, Christine R. Trotter takes a comprehensive approach by investigating how Hellenistic Jewish authors engaged with ancient consolatory rhetoric, that is, the means of persuasion intended to move a suffering person out of grief and into joy. Through studies on 2 Maccabees, the Wisdom of Solomon, 1 Thessalonians, and Hebrews, the author explicates how Hellenistic Jewish authors navigated the diverse traditions of consolation within their biblical heritage and Greco-Roman culture. Her work has important implications for the genre of 1 Thessalonians and the dates of composition of the Wisdom of Solomon and Hebrews.

  • By (author) Christine R Trotter