Japheth in the Tents of Shem
Studies on Jewish Hellenism in Antiquity
by P.W. van der Horst
In rabbinic parlance, Japheth in the tents of Shem (Genesis 9:27) has become a proverbial expression for the interaction between Greek and Jewish cultures. The present volume contains 15 studies exploring a wide variety of aspects of the meeting of these cultures in antiquity. In the past 30 years the manifold manifestations of ‘Jewish Hellenism’ have become the focus of intensive research. The author of this book has played an active part in this field and the essays presented here are the fruits of his most recent research. He investigates, among other things, the extent to which Greek had become the daily language of the Jews (and the Samaritans) in Hellenistic and Roman Palestine; the knowledge of Greek medical lore and science among the rabbis; the development of Greek forms of the synagogal Eighteen Benedictions; the Jewish participation in the Hellenistic-Roman debate about antediluvian knowledge (‘wisdom from before the flood’); the background of the surprising phenomenon of voluntary celibacy among ancient Jews; the role of the veneration of the tombs of biblical prophets in Jewish popular religion; the work of the Judaeo-Greek alchemist Maria, who happens to be the first female Jewish author we know of; the life and works of the most notorious anti-Semite from pagan antiquity, Apion, and Josephus’ response to him; the Samaritan diaspora in Rome; the attractiveness of Judaism for Christians; et multa cetera. Pieter W. van der Horst (1946) is professor of New Testament and of the Jewish and Hellenistic world of early Christianity at the Faculty of Theology of Utrecht University. He published some 250 articles and books in the fields of early Judaism, ancient Christianity, and Graeco-Roman culture, with a special emphasis on their interactions. He is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
- By (author) PW van der Horst
Other Titles in this Series
Anthropology in the New Testament and its Ancient Context
Papers from the EABS-Meeting in Piliscsaba / Budapest
Volume 54
“Have You Not Read this Scripture?”
Memory Variation and Context-Based Modification in the Old Testament Quotations in the Gospel of Mark
Volume 116
The Sources of Celsus’s Criticism of Jesus
Theological Developments in the Second Century AD
Volume 108
My Shepherd, though You Do not Know Me
The Persian Royal Propaganda Model in the Nehemiah Memoir
Volume 78
Happy the One who Meditates on Wisdom (Sir. 14,20)
Collected Essays on the Book of Ben Sira
Volume 43
The Old Greek of Isaiah: Issues and Perspectives
Papers read at the Conference on the Septuagint of Isaiah, held in Leiden 10-11 April 2008
Volume 55
Meaningful Meetings with Foreigners in the World of the Bible
Essays in Honour of Klaas Spronk on the Occasion of His Retirement
Volume 119
Jesus, the Eschatological Temple
An Exegetical Study of Jn 2,13-22 in the Light of the Pre 70 C.E. Eschatological Temple Hopes and the Synoptic Temple Action
Volume 58
A Divine Round Trip
The Literary and Christological Function of the Descent/Ascent Leitmotif in the Gospel of John
Volume 79
Qumran and the Bible
Studying the Jewish and Christian Scriptures in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls
Volume 57
From Worshipping, Sacrificing and Mourning to Praising and Praying
Key Concepts of the Greek Bible
Volume 120
Between Israelite Religion and Old Testament Theology
Essays on Archaeology, History, and Hermeneutics
Volume 80
Oh God of Battles! Steal My Soldier’s Hearts!
A Study of the Hebrew and Greek Text Forms of Jeremiah 10:1-18
Volume 83
Law, Prophets, and Wisdom
On the Provenance of Translators and their Books in the Septuagint Version
Volume 68
Insights into Editing in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East
What Does Documented Evidence Tell Us about the Transmission of Authoritative Texts?
Volume 84
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