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Exodus As New Creation, Israel As Foundling: Stories in the History of an Idea Christopher Evangelos John Brenna Marquette University

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Exodus As New Creation, Israel As Foundling: Stories in the History of an Idea Christopher Evangelos John Brenna Marquette University Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Dissertations (2009 -) Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Projects Exodus as New Creation, Israel as Foundling: Stories in the History of an Idea Christopher Evangelos John Brenna Marquette University Recommended Citation Brenna, Christopher Evangelos John, "Exodus as New Creation, Israel as Foundling: Stories in the History of an Idea" (2017). Dissertations (2009 -). 750. http://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/750 EXODUS AS NEW CREATION, ISRAEL AS FOUNDLING: STORIES IN THE HISTORY OF AN IDEA by Christopher E. J. Brenna, B.A., M.Div., M.Th. A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Milwaukee, Wisconsin December 2017 ABSTRACT EXODUS AS NEW CREATON, ISRAEL AS FOUNDLING: STORIES IN THE HISTORY OF AN IDEA Christopher E. J. Brenna, B.A., M.Div., M.Th. Marquette University, 2017 This study surveys the development of two literary phenomena in early Jewish and Christian tradition. The first is the birth story of a portentous child, exemplified by the birth stories of Moses, Noah, Melchizedek, and Jesus in biblical and Second Temple period literature. The second is the mythical expansion of the exodus tradition, which interprets the crossing of the Red Sea as a recreation of the people of Israel. I examine the appropriation of these two phenomena in the late antique Hellenistic story, Joseph and Aseneth. I contend that (1) the early Jewish birth story paradigm is influenced by the ancient Near Eastern and Hellenistic tale type of the exposed hero, and that (2) Joseph and Aseneth appropriates the birth story paradigm and is influenced by the tale type in order to subvert expectations about Aseneth’s familial status. I also maintain that Aseneth’s transformative experience in the narrative is likened in an extended metaphor to the exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt. These two metaphors contribute to the theology of divine providence that forms the main theme of the narrative. Aseneth is both a model for the transformation of the Foreign Woman into an acceptable worshiper of the Most High God and a representative of wandering Israel restored. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................... i ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................................... iii INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 Scope of the Study .................................................................................................. 6 What is “Joseph and Aseneth”? .............................................................................. 7 What is Joseph and Aseneth about? ...................................................................... 11 History of Scholarly Approaches .......................................................................... 16 Methodology ......................................................................................................... 20 The Nature of Allusive Discourse............................................................. 20 Motifs and their Relationship to Allusions ............................................... 24 Identifying Subtexts .................................................................................. 27 Joseph and Aseneth: Jewish and Christian ........................................................... 31 Dealing with an Eclectic Text ............................................................................... 35 Summary ............................................................................................................... 36 CHAPTER ONE: THE EXPOSED HERO/FOUNDLING TALE TYPE AND JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN BIRTH STORIES .................................................... 38 1.1. The Tale of the Exposed Hero ....................................................................... 39 1.2. The Birth Story Paradigm in Early Jewish and Christian Tradition .............. 43 1.3. Moses as the Exposed Exemplar.................................................................... 44 1.3.1. Exodus 1–2...................................................................................... 44 1.3.2. Moses’s Birth in Early Jewish Sources ........................................... 57 1.3.2.1. Jubilees ............................................................................. 57 1.3.2.2. Exagoge of Ezekiel the Tragedian ................................... 60 1.3.2.3. Liber Antiquitatem Biblicarum ........................................ 62 1.3.2.4. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews .................................... 64 1.4. Birth of Noah ................................................................................................. 66 1.5. Birth of Melchizedek ..................................................................................... 74 1.6. Birth of Jesus.................................................................................................. 81 CHAPTER TWO: “DAUGHTER OF THE MOST HIGH”: ASENETH’S BIRTH STORY .......................................................................................... 87 2.1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 87 2.2. Birth Story as Spiritual Metaphor .................................................................. 90 2.2.1. “Like a daughter of the Hebrews” (Jos. Asen. 1:5) ........................ 92 2.2.2. Aseneth and Joseph as Abandoned Children (Jos. Asen. 4:10; 6:3-4; 13:13) ................................................................ 102 2.2.3. A False Sister (Jos. Asen. 7:5–8:7) ............................................... 106 2.2.4. Oracular Inclusio: The Foretelling of Aseneth’s New Birth (Jos. Asen. 8:9; 15:4) .............................................................................. 113 2.2.5. Orphanage and Recognition in Aseneth’s Prayers (Jos. Asen. 11–13)................................................................................... 118 2.2.6. The Birth Token Robe and Aseneth’s Recognition Scene (Jos. Asen. 14:12–17; 18) ....................................................................... 121 CHAPTER THREE: “OUT OF DARKNESS INTO LIGHT”: EXODUS IMAGERY IN THE ROMANCE, PART 1............................................................................................. 133 3.1. Introduction .................................................................................................. 133 3.1.1. The Archetypal Meaning of “Egypt” ............................................ 135 3.1.2. Joseph and Aseneth as Ideal Figures in the Exodus ..................... 140 3.1.2.1. Conforming Identities and Exodus Imagery .................. 140 3.1.2.2. Aseneth and Joseph as Figures of Wisdom.................... 143 3.1.2.3. Joseph as Prefiguration of Israel in the Exodus ............. 147 3.1.3. The Creation and Re-Creation at the Red Sea in Early Jewish Tradition ........................................................................ 149 3.1.4. What Exodus Imagery Contributes to the Theme of Divine Providence ........................................................ 153 3.2. Son of God Meets the Foreign Woman (Jos. Asen. 3:5–8:9) ...................... 155 3.2.1. Field of Inheritance (Jos. Asen. 3:5) ............................................. 155 3.2.2. Joseph Prays for Aseneth (Jos. Asen. 8:9) .................................... 157 3.3. Aseneth at Prayer (Jos. Asen. 10–13) .......................................................... 162 3.3.1. The Reversal of Idolatry (Jos. Asen. 10–11) ................................ 162 3.3.2. The Psalms and the Structure of Joseph and Aseneth 12.............. 165 3.3.2.1. “Lord, God of the Ages”: Creational Language in Jos. Asen. 12:1–2 ................................................................... 168 3.3.2.2. Pursuit and Flight (Jos. Asen. 12:7–10) ......................... 169 3.3.2.3. Elements of Annihilation (Jos. Asen. 12:11) ................. 170 3.3.2.4. Inheritance Reconfigured (Jos. Asen. 12:15) ................. 174 3.4. Conclusion ................................................................................................... 175 CHAPTER FOUR: “FOOD OF ANGELS”: EXODUS IMAGERY IN THE ROMANCE, PART 2 ....................................................................................... 176 4.1. Introduction .................................................................................................. 176 4.2. The Identity of the Angel (Jos. Asen. 14:1–11) ........................................... 177 4.2.1. Heavenly Counterpart of Joseph ................................................... 178 4.2.2. Angel of the Name ........................................................................ 182 4.3. City of Refuge/Repentance: Forming the New Israel (Jos. Asen. 15:5–8) ............................................................................................. 189 4.4. “Who brought me out of darkness” (Jos. Asen. 15:12) ............................... 191 4.5. The Honeycomb ........................................................................................... 196 4.5.1. Inheritance and the Storeroom (Jos. Asen. 16:9) .......................... 196 4.5.2. Honeycomb as Manna: Wisdom, Life, Food of Angels ............... 200 4.5.3. The Honeycomb, Manna, and the
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