I meant to post this early this morning before I left for Edinburgh, but for the first time ever my home Internet connection went dead (perfect timing), so I couldn't do it. Sorry for the delay.
I was finally able to set up an Internet account with the University of Edinburgh this evening, but it takes 24 hours to come online, so effectively I won't have it until Wednesday morning.
Here are the details of the Monday sessions:
3-1
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
7/03/2006
8:45 AM to 12:30 PM
Room: Seminar 10 - William Robertson
Theme: Second Temple Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
James Davila, University of St. Andrews-Scotland, Presiding
Michael Tait, Pontificio Istituto Biblico
Glorious and Resplendent? The Resurrection and the Resurrection Body in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (30 min)
AbstractDavid A. Fiensy, Kentucky Christian University
This paper starts from a consideration of the apparent contradictions in Christian eschatology, particularly the tension between belief in the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body, and between eternal punishment and annihilation. It suggests that the “problem” is partly the result of literary factors such as differences in genre between the relevant texts, imprecision of language, and confusion of metaphor and “reality”. However, a significant part of the “problem” lies in the largely Jewish inheritance, for the notions of the after-life in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha display similar “inconsistencies”. The range of beliefs contained in the literature is reviewed in a synchronic and thematic manner, and not by each author as in other recent surveys of the material. At the same time, attention is given to attempts to reconcile perceived conflicts. It is conceded that, in view of the uncertainties of dating and provenance surrounding most of our texts, we cannot propose a typology of beliefs, chronological or geographical. We can, however, see what beliefs were dominant, and examine the likely reasons for this in the contemporary context. If foreign influence, Persian and/or Greek is to be excluded, we ought, perhaps, to examine more native sources for interest in the after-life. Two such are suggested: the development of angelology and the popularity of the story of Noah, both key areas of interest in our texts. Where, relevant, implications for the development of these ideas in the New Testament are acknowledged.
Sacred Space in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (30 min)
AbstractIda Frohlich, Pázmány Péter Catholic University
I propose to examine what the apocrypha and pseudepigrapha say about the temple in Jerusalem in comparison with what the social sciences, especially the works of Mircea Eliade, can teach us about the concept of sacred space in traditional cultures. I will examine the concept of the celestial temple, the idealized temple, the eschatological temple, and the temple as profaned. Finally, I will say a word about the improbability that Jesus of Nazareth considered the temple unnecessary or redundant.
The Temple as a Theme in the Book of Tobit (30 min)
AbstractBreak (45 min)
The Book of Tobit may have been a popular work in the Qumran community, read and copied in both Hebrew and Aramaic. Copies are from Cave 4, the so-called ‘sectarian library’ where copies of works belonging to the proper spiritual tradition of the community were found. The Aramaic text contains no or only few radically new or divergent elements from the story we know in the longer Greek recension (GII) taken in scholarly consensus as the ‘original’ form of the book in which it was composed. Chapters 13 and 14 known only from the longer recension were also preserved in Qumran Aramaic Tobit. These chapters contain a hymn over the heavenly Jerusalem and a Temple built for the 12 tribes for everlasting times. Isaianic themes as the glory of the righteous and disappearance of the wicked at the time of an eschatological judgment are also present in the hymn. Tobit’s idea of an ideal temple to be built in the future is common with the basic idea of Qumran Temple Scroll (11QTS). The so-called Heavenly Jerusalem-texts from Qumran (1Q32, 2Q24, 4Q554-555, 11Q18) deal with an analogous theme. The paper aims to investigate the reason and to outline the background of the presence of Qumran themes in the Book of Tobit.
Pierre Johan Jordaan, North-West University
Text, Ideology and Body in the Additions to Esther (30 min)
AbstractJacques van Ruiten, University of Groningen
In certain protestant circles the apocrypha like the Additions to Esther have traditionally been studied in terms of a master and comparative text. This master text was the canonical text, in this case the Book Esther. The study of the apocryphal (comparative) book usually consisted of stating where the apocryphal text deviated and where it supported master or canonical text. Commentaries would then predictably go further in naming the different text variants and attempt to give the possible author, date and “theology” of the specific apocryphal book. Apocryphal texts were generally viewed with suspicion and according to the Belgic confession might not be used for preaching. However, in the last few decades things have changed radically. Firstly, with the emergence of the study of the Second Temple period, emphasis was placed on the Persian and Hellenistic periods. The OT apocrypha became recognized as inadmissible witnesses to the study of these times. Secondly, exegetic approaches towards texts changed fundamentally, accentuating previously discarded aspects in texts. Texts were now read not just in terms of grammar and semantics, different varianhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.quote.gifts etc but also in terms of gender, power struggles and challenging narratives. It is argued that the Additions to Esther provide a par excellence witness to see how certain leitmotivs from the Deuteronomistic history were carried into the Hellenistic phase of the second temple. Further connecting with the second point (changing exegetic approaches), how the bodies of males and females were used. It shows a power struggle and the lengths people would go to in destroying the enemy. In line with this is the so called “reversed martyrdom” of the female body in certain OT apocrypha. It is not necessarily dying for the sake of the cause like males did, but opportunistically using the body for the benefit of the nation.
Chronological and Spatial Symmetry in the Book of Jubilees (30 min)
AbstractJamal-Dominique Hopkins, Azusa Pacific University
In his book On Earth as in Heaven (JSJSS, 91, Leiden, 2005) James Scott deals with the chronological and spatial conceptions underlying the Book of Jubilees, and tries to show how in these respects Jubilees forms a bridge between the earlier Enochic tradition and the later Qumran writings. This paper discusses the rigorous temporal and spatial symmetry, which is, according to Scott, characteristic for the Book of Jubilees.
The Description of Sacrificial Worship in the Book of Jubilees: Its Interpretation by and Authoritative Status for the Dead Sea Scrolls Movement (30 min)
Abstract
Throughout its development, the DSS (Dead Sea Scrolls) movement held some definitive views with regard to sacrificial worship. These views were held due to certain factors involving Jerusalem’s temple authority and cult. But from where did these views emerge? What was their origin? One probable source was the book of Jubilees. The number of extant manuscript copies preserved suggests that this pre and non-sectarian Pseudepigraphal work and its content (which harmonizes with the ideology in the non-biblical sectarian texts) held some significance for the DSS movement, influencing and later enforcing its ideology. On the basis of this, this paper will investigate the status of Jubilees for the entire movement (which includes the Qumran-related community) through examining the movement’s views of sacrifice using this work as its authoritative source. Examined in particular is Jubilees’ description of sacrifice, the temple, and priestly and purity related matters. These matters will be examined with the intent of probing how they were re-interpreted, adapted and used by the movement and later Qumran-related community throughout their development. On the basis of this examination, and the fact that there was no fixed Hebrew Bible during the Second Temple period, as Jonathan Campbell suggests, Jubilees can be seen as authoritative Pseudepigraphy, viewed as scripture. As will be discussed, the entire movement probably viewed the majority of this work as expressing a similar polemic concerning its opponent. Jubilees may have been viewed in a three-fold polemicized way. First, in light of Jubilees’ sacrificial descriptions, the entire movement likely offered non-calendar binding sacrifices. Second, at the same time, the movement read the majority of sacrificial regulations as polemic in an idealised and eschatological way. Lastly, only during the latter stages of the Qumran-related community were these same regulations read in a more predominantly spiritualized way.
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
7/03/2006
2:00 PM to 5:15 PM
Room: Seminar 10 - William Robertson
Theme: More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha
Pierluigi Piovanelli, University of Ottawa, Presiding
Archie T. Wright, Regent University
Philo and the Book of Watchers (30 min)
AbstractMarkus H. McDowell, Westmont College
This paper will discuss Philo's interpretation of Genesis 6:1-4 in relation to the interpretation found in the Book of Watchers. It appears Philo may have been very aware of the Book of Watchers understanding that Genesis 6:1-4 told of the origin of evil spirits and he appears to have attempting to refute that understanding in his work De Gigantibus.
Jael in Pseudo-Philo’s Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum: A Comparative and Intertextual Approach (30 min)
AbstractJ.R.C. Cousland, University of British Columbia
The story of Jael in Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum 31.3-9 is one of the many retellings of biblical stories about women in Pseudo-Philo’s work. While a number of scholars have noted the similarities and differences in the story of Jael in LAB and the story of Judith in the book of Judith, there appears to be much more to Pseudo-Philo’s editing and redaction of this story than is commonly noted. Most assume that Pseudo-Philo borrowed from the book of Judith in his depiction of Jael. Does a careful analysis of these two texts support this view? Did the author have access to other traditions about Jael? What do other texts in LAB demonstrate about how Pseudo-Philo viewed female characters such as Jael in terms of roles, narrative function, and prayers? How do other texts about the story of Jael compare to Pseudo-Philo's telling? The first approach to answering these questions involves comparing the narratives of Jael and Judith in terms of language (e.g., “hand of a woman,” “strength/strong hand”), plot and characterization (e.g., beauty, seduction, violence, reliance on God), and especially the prayers of these characters (LAB 31.5, 7; Jdt 13.3, 4-5. 7) as they dispose of their respective enemies. The second approach employed in the study of the Jael narrative is an intertextual analysis of biblical and post-biblical references and materials relating to the Jael and Judith narratives (e.g., MT Jdg 4.17-24; 5.24; LXX Jdg 4.17-24; 5.24; LAB 32.12; Josephus, J.A. 5.5.4; Midrash ha-Gadol 1, 336; b. Meg. 15a; Yeb. 103a; Naz. 23b; Nid. 55b). The aim of this paper is to shed light on these questions and to further our understanding of female characters in the Pseudepigrapha literature and in LAB in particular.
When, Where, and Why: Space and Time in the “Books of Adam and Eve” (30 min)
AbstractBreak (45 min)
One of the perplexing features of the “Books of Adam and Eve” is their provision of detailed spatial and temporal indicators. In these otherwise rudimentary narratives, why are these details furnished with such frequency, and how are they utilized to illumine the world(s) of the protoplasts? This paper will argue that the provision of spatial and temporal details is, in part, calculated to emphasize the defining place of sin within human experience. In the “Books,” spatial and temporal determinants mark a falling away from the timeless divine centre, as epitomized by the protoplasts' former life in Eden, and quantify the extent to which humans have lapsed.
James R. Davila, University of St. Andrews-Scotland
More Jewish Pseudepigrapha (30 min)
AbstractKristian Heal, Brigham Young University
The More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha project at the University of St. Andrews (http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/academic/divinity/MOTP/index-motp.html) has assembled an international team of scholars to translate a new collection of Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. The corpus of texts, which generally can be dated to c. 600 C.E. or earlier, includes more than sixty complete or nearly complete works and numerous fragments. These documents are not covered in the Charlesworth volumes, apart from a few for which we have important new manuscript evidence. The corpus includes pagan works, Jewish pseudepigrapha transmitted by Jews, Jewish pseudepigrapha transmitted by Christians, and pseudepigrapha composed by Christians. This paper surveys and comments on the twenty or so texts that can be assigned to Jewish authorship with virtual certainty. Most of them survive in Hebrew or Aramaic and were transmitted in Jewish circles, but a collection of sermons is preserved only in Armenian. They include apocalypses of Elijah and Zerubbabel; a visionary text ascribed to Ezekiel; a prophecy attributed to Gad the Seer; magical treatises; a sapiential work; ancient Jewish sermons on biblical figures; a Hebrew prayer paralleled in the Slavonic Ladder of Jacob; a poetic text about David and Goliath; narratives about the giants, Noah, the patriarchs, the Maccabean revolt, and related midrashic material; and a text that claims to tell how and where the treasures of Solomon's Temple were hidden at the time of its destruction. Specialists will be familiar with some of these texts, but few will have studied all of them. By collecting translations of these documents with introductions, we aim to raise their profile among both scholars and nonspecialists.
Ps. Basil's History of Joseph: A Key to the Early Syriac Tradition (30 min)
AbstractRegrettably, Kristian Heal was unable to attend.
At least from the Hellenistic period on, the Joseph narrative (Gen 37, 39-50) captured the imagination of its readers and was retold and expanded upon extensively in the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions. Though the Greek and Latin fathers devoted a number of homilies and poems to the theme, it was the authors from the early Syriac tradition who explored the figure of Joseph most extensively. Joseph appears prominently among biblical characters used in Aphrahat’s Demonstrations, and of course Ephrem retells the narrative, with expansions, in his Genesis commentary. The story is further developed in a series of dramatic dialogue poem, all apparently from the 5th century or earlier. This body of Syriac Joseph material is interesting inasmuch as it indicates no influence from the Joseph and Asenath traditions, which only enter Syriac in the late 6th century (H 109). Instead, the formative text, as I will argue, is Ps. Basil’s History of Joseph (CPG II. No. 2987). This paper will demonstrate the influence of this early text in the Syriac tradition and discuss its possible provenance. In the course of the paper, I will also show that the Ps. Basil History of Joseph is the Vorlage of the Ethiopic History of Joseph (H 113).
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