This paper concerns the use of scripture in 4QBeatitudes (4Q525). The analysis of quotations and allusions shows that the status of Proverbs 1–9 as a source is primary, providing the model and salient motifs for the work. The use of Proverbs can, moreover, be associated with rewriting processes. Two features are distinctive: The author followed the order of the source to some extent in a manner reminiscent of rewriting. The motifs of female folly and her house were also used as a springboard in the creation of a poem (frg. 15). These observations suggest that 4Q525 reflects exegetical and interpretative methods attested in non-sapiential contexts. 4Q525 cannot be understood without recognizing its textual links to Proverbs, but other sources are similarly significant. The role of Psalms in particular can be described as ancillary and further directs the audience towards a Torah-centred approach to wisdom as well as implying a connection to the worship traditions of the Temple.
This article explores literary representations of female mobility in the Hebrew Bible. While it is often assumed that women barely moved in the ancient world, the study shows that the Hebrew Bible gives witness to a vast spectrum of travelling agents. The texts do not offer direct access to socio-historical realities, but as documents of cultural history, they are argued to hint at and echo the variety of the phenomenon in ancient Israel. It is not meaningful to speak of the travelling women as a collective, however, as the motives for their movement are tied to various socioeconomic contexts, ranging from slavery to economic migration to foreign policy. While class is fundamental to ancient female mobility, the sources also reveal the significance of other intersecting differences such as age, sexuality, kinship, ethnicity, or religion displayed by the (in)voluntary travelling agents.
Portrayals of figures of the Israelite narrative are used in 4 Maccabees 1:1-3:18 to discuss the philosophical nature of Judaism. To illustrate the intellectual cultural milieu of the composition, we analyse the notion of (a) ancient philosophy as a way of life and (b) commentary as an intellectual exercise which are part of the author’s lifestyle. He introduces skills of life management into the lives of past figures to promote his notion of virtue. The author (re)casts familiar stories as descriptions of situations in which characters are challenged both rationally and emotionally; thus, he provides the audience with an opportunity for spiritual exercise by means of identification with these characters. This mélange of philosophical and scriptural practice shows that the principles of 4 Maccabees cannot be reduced to either Greek philosophy or Jewish law. Rather, they constitute a philosophical lifestyle which is aligned with both divine law and lived experience.
AbstractThis article explores the emergence of the sage as an exemplar in Greek and Jewish antiquity. Greek philosophical writings and Jewish literary accounts are analysed, the latter including texts written in both Hebrew and Greek. The Greek and Jewish sources are compared in order to highlight (dis)similarities between them. It will be argued that the conception of the sage as an idealized figure and object of emulation originates from the classical Greek world, but it becomes integrated into the Jewish discourse on wisdom and good life in the later Hellenistic period. In spite of this shared element, the portrayals of the sage vary regarding the amount of concreteness and the discursive strategies in which his exemplarity is constructed.
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