Sunday, November 28, 2021

Review of Honigman et al. (eds.), Times of transition: Judea in the early Hellenistic period

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Times of transition: Judea in the early Hellenistic period.
Sylvie Honigman, Christophe Nihan, Oded Lipschitz, Times of transition: Judea in the early Hellenistic period. Mosaics: studies on ancient Israel, 1. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns, 2021. Pp. 416. ISBN 9781646021147 $129.95.

Review by
Francesca Calabi, University of Pavia. calabi@unipv.it

Conclusion:
The book is very rich and complex. The breadth of its perspectives allows readers to have a look at many aspects of the topic. This is helpful, but at the same time the breadth of perspective and vastness of topics mean that the various articles are not always in dialogue with each other and a certain vagueness results. I found particularly interesting the theses on the functions and aims of the Greek Pentateuch by Martin Rösel, the chapter on retelling stories about Alexander by Konrad Schmid and Sylvie Honigman’s presentation of the emergence of apocalypses as a hermeneutical schift. But I believe all are useful for anyone who wishes to study these topics.

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