DOCSLIB.ORG

Mohr Siebeck Construction of Jewish Identity in Philo's Sabbath

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Mohr Siebeck Construction of Jewish Identity in Philo's Sabbath Volume 26 Dulcinea Boesenberg No. 2 Construction of Jewish Identity in Philo’s 2019 Sabbath Explanations Yonatan S. Miller Phinehas’ Priestly Zeal and the Violence of Contested Identities Jonathan Jacobs From France to Provence: The Influence of Ribash on Radak’s Commentary on the Pentateuch Gilad Sharvit History and Eternity: Rosenzweig and Kierkegaard on Repetition Mohr Siebeck Yonatan S. Miller University of Toledo, USA Phinehas’ Priestly Zeal and the Violence of Contested Identities* Abstract: Critics of biblical violence particularly scrutinize the case of Phinehas, the priestly zealot who publicly skewered an Israelite man and his Midianite con- sort in Numbers 25. Such studies are preoccupied with God’s approbation of this extra-judicial killing, and how later Jewish readers, from Philo through the rabbis, grappled with divine approval of vigilantism. I contend that these critiques devolve from a flattened and essentialized reading of Phinehas’ violence that disregards its biblical context and, by extension, its discursive function. Close examination reveals how Phinehas’ violence functions performatively to legitimate priestly identity in the face of contestation by rival groups. This essay recontextualizes Phinehas’ violence and traces how ancient and late antique Jewish writers detected the “world-making” functions of the biblical narrative, and shows how these later writers themselves deploy Phinehas’ violence, which they contemporize and even subvert, in the serv- ice of reinforcing their own group identities. Key words: Phinehas, biblical violence, priesthood, zealotry, world-making, group identity. Introduction: the violence-identity matrix The notion that violence is inextricably bound with the politics of identity has become almost axiomatic in recent writings, both scholarly and popu- lar.1 Thus, Amartya Sen has written, in a representative comment: * Portions of this article were presented at the “Violence and Representations of Vio- lence” section of the Society of Biblical Literature National Meeting in November 2014 and at the Yale Ancient Judaism Workshop in December 2014. I would like to address particular thanks to Ra‘anan Boustan and Christine Hayes for their invaluable com- ments in those venues. I would also like to thank Shaye J. D. Cohen, David Stern and Martha Himmelfarb for their guidance of my larger project on the motif of priestly violence in biblical and Jewish literature. 1 See, e. g., Amin Maalouf, In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong, trans. Barbara Bray (New York: Arcade, 2001); Hent de Vries and Samuel Weber, eds., Vio- lence, Identity, and Self-Determination (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997); Nils Zurawski, “Girard Among the Paramilitaries of Ulster: Identity, History, and Violence,” Anthropoetics 8 (Summer 2002) [n. p.]; and see, most recently, Kimberly B. Stratton, “Narrating Violence, Narrating Self: Exodus and Collective Identity in Early Rabbinic Literature,” History of Religions 57 (2017) 68–92. JSQ 26 (2019), 117–145 DOI 10.1628/jsq-2019-0010 ISSN 0944–5706 © 2019 Mohr Siebeck e-offprint of the author with publisher’s permission. 118 Yonatan S. Miller JSQ [V]iolence is promoted by the cultivation of a sense of inevitability about some allegedly unique – often belligerent – identity that we are supposed to have and which apparently makes extensive demands on us (sometimes of a most disagree- able kind).2 Recent anthropological studies of violence have likewise appreciated this performative aspect of conflict. Moving beyond definitions of violence that often focus on kinetic acts of physical harm “deemed legitimate by the per- former and illegitimate by (some) witnesses,”3 Ingo Schröder and Bettina Schmidt rightly highlight violence as “a resource in world making, to assert one group’s claim to truth and history against rival claims.”4 Similar moves are found in the study of religion and violence.5 When it comes to the Hebrew Bible, for example, the notion that “acts of identity formation are themselves acts of violence” is central to Regina Schwartz’s critique of Isra- elite monotheism.6 The same goes for the reception of the Hebrew Bible, as argued by Kimberly Stratton, who has illustrated how “memories of trauma and narratives of violence and suffering constitute integral components in the formulation of collective identities.”7 Given the pronounced general shift towards reading the biblical text as historiography rather than history,8 as well as specific doubts surrounding 2 Amartya Sen, Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny (New York: Norton, 2006) xii. 3 This is the widely discussed definition of David Riches, “The Phenomenon of Vio- lence,” in The Anthropology of Violence, ed. David Riches (Oxford: Blackwell, 1986) 8. I have borrowed the term “kinetic” violence from Joel Lemon, “Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Psalms,” in Oxford Handbook of the Psalms, ed. W. P. Brown (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014) 377–391. 4 Ingo W. Schröder and Bettina E. Schmidt, “Introduction: Violent Imaginaries and Violent Practices,” in Anthropology of Violence and Conflict, ed. Bettina E. Schmidt and Ingo W. Schröder (London: Routledge, 2001) 9; see also Glenn Bowman, “The Violence in Identity,” 25–46. 5 See, e. g., James K. Wellman and Kyoko Tokuno, “Is Religious Violence Inevitable?” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 43 (2004) 291–296; Aziz Esmail, “Religion, Identity, and Violence,” in Blackwell Companion to Religion and Violence, ed. Andrew R. Murphy (Malden: Blackwell, 2011) 50–65; Sudhir Kakar, The Colours of Violence: Cultural Identities, Religion and Conflict (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996). 6 Regina Schwartz, The Curse of Cain: The Violent Legacy of Monotheism (Chicago: Uni- versity of Chicago Press, 1997) 5. See also Wellman and Tokuno, “Religious Violence”; and Joel Kaminsky, “Did Election Imply the Mistreatment of Non-Israelites?” Harvard Theological Review 96 (2003) 397–425. 7 Stratton, “Narrating Violence,” 68. 8 The literature on this trend in biblical scholarship is vast; for an overview, see Megan Bishop Moore, Philosophy and Practice in Writing a History of Ancient Israel (New York: T& T Clark, 2006); Marc Z. Brettler, Creation of History in Ancient Israel (New York: Routledge, 1996) esp. 1–7. For a history of scholarship with an eye toward ideological e-offprint of the author with publisher’s permission. 26 (2019) Phinehas’ Priestly Zeal and the Violence of Contested Identities 119 the historicity of the centerpiece of biblical violence (viz., the conquest of Canaan9), these performative and world-making qualities of violence are all the more important to consider – or better yet, all that remain to con- sider. While scholars have recognized that “fictionalized history” is used to “to define motives, relations, and unfolding themes,”10 the discourse of violence adds a further dimension. Indeed, if physical violence is a touch- stone of particular significance for the expression of power, the discourse of violence serves a similar function: “Forms of rhetorical and cultural conflict function to vitalize and mobilize religious identity as well.”11 Narratives of violence offer a stylized and highly charged venue for creating new realities and power structures; they are “a kind of theater, where we collaborate in reinventing ourselves and authorizing notions, both individual and collec- tive, of who we are.”12 This essay explores the world-making functions of the violence of Phine- has, the zealous priestly vigilante, both in the Hebrew Bible (Numbers 25) and in the Jewish interpretive tradition. While there have been numerous studies of Phinehas, these have tended to focus on the implications of the bias, see Lowell K. Handy, “The Reconstruction of Biblical History and Jewish-Chris- tian Relations,” Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 5 (1991) 1–22. Cf. Zecharia Kallai, “Biblical Historiography and Literary History,” Vetus Testamentum 49 (1999) 338–350. 9 See, e. g., J. Maxwell Miller, “The Israelite Occupation of Canaan,” in Israelite and Judean History, ed. J. H. Hayes and J. M. Miller (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1977) 213–284; Lori Rowlett, Joshua and the Rhetoric of Violence: A New Historicist Analysis (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1996). On the relative value of war (albeit not the conquest of Canaan) in reconstructing Israelite history, see Megan Bishop Moore, “Fighting in Writing: Warfare in Histories of Ancient Israel,” in Writing and Reading War: Rhetoric, Gender, and Ethics in Biblical and Modern Contexts, ed. Brad Kelle and Frank Ames (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2008) 57–66. 10 Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative (New York: Basic Books, 2011) 36–7; also Herbert Schneidau, Sacred Discontent: The Bible and Western Tradition (Berkeley: Uni- versity of California Press, 1976) Ch. 5, “The Bible and Literature: Against Positivism.” 11 Wellman and Tokuno, “Religious Violence,” 292. See also Ari Z. Bryen, Violence in Roman Egypt: A Study in Legal Interpretation (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013); Bryen describes the rhetoric of violence as “a means through which people came to locate themselves within a social world” (205). 12 Michael Jackson, The Politics of Storytelling: Violence, Transgression, and Intersub- jectivity (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum, 2002) 16. See also A. C. G. M. Robben and Carolyn Nordstrom, “The Anthropology and Ethnography of Violence and Socio- political Conflict,” in Fieldwork Under Fire: Contemporary Studies of Violence
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Josephus As Political Philosopher: His Concept of Kingship
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2017 Josephus As Political Philosopher: His Concept Of Kingship Jacob Douglas Feeley University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, and the Jewish Studies Commons Recommended Citation Feeley, Jacob Douglas, "Josephus As Political Philosopher: His Concept Of Kingship" (2017). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2276. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2276 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2276 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Josephus As Political Philosopher: His Concept Of Kingship Abstract Scholars who have discussed Josephus’ political philosophy have largely focused on his concepts of aristokratia or theokratia. In general, they have ignored his concept of kingship. Those that have commented on it tend to dismiss Josephus as anti-monarchical and ascribe this to the biblical anti- monarchical tradition. To date, Josephus’ concept of kingship has not been treated as a significant component of his political philosophy. Through a close reading of Josephus’ longest text, the Jewish Antiquities, a historical work that provides extensive accounts of kings and kingship, I show that Josephus had a fully developed theory of monarchical government that drew on biblical and Greco- Roman models of kingship. Josephus held that ideal kingship was the responsible use of the personal power of one individual to advance the interests of the governed and maintain his and his subjects’ loyalty to Yahweh. The king relied primarily on a standard array of classical virtues to preserve social order in the kingdom, protect it from external threats, maintain his subjects’ quality of life, and provide them with a model for proper moral conduct.
    [Show full text]
  • Jeffrey Eli Pearson
    UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Contextualizing the Nabataeans: A Critical Reassessment of their History and Material Culture Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4dx9g1rj Author Pearson, Jeffrey Eli Publication Date 2011 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Contextualizing the Nabataeans: A Critical Reassessment of their History and Material Culture By Jeffrey Eli Pearson A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in Charge: Erich Gruen, Chair Chris Hallett Andrew Stewart Benjamin Porter Spring 2011 Abstract Contextualizing the Nabataeans: A Critical Reassessment of their History and Material Culture by Jeffrey Eli Pearson Doctor of Philosophy in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology University of California, Berkeley Erich Gruen, Chair The Nabataeans, best known today for the spectacular remains of their capital at Petra in southern Jordan, continue to defy easy characterization. Since they lack a surviving narrative history of their own, in approaching the Nabataeans one necessarily relies heavily upon the commentaries of outside observers, such as the Greeks, Romans, and Jews, as well as upon comparisons of Nabataean material culture with Classical and Near Eastern models. These approaches have elucidated much about this
    [Show full text]
  • Aaron and the Golden Calf in the Rhetoric of the Pentateuch
    Syracuse University SURFACE Religion College of Arts and Sciences Fall 2011 Aaron and the Golden Calf in the Rhetoric of the Pentateuch James W. Watts Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/rel Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, and the Rhetoric Commons Recommended Citation Watts, James W. "Aaron and the Golden Calf in the Rhetoric of the Pentateuch." Journal of Biblical Literature 130 (2011), 417-430. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Arts and Sciences at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Religion by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. JBL 130, no. 3 (2011): 417–430 Aaron and the Golden Calf in the Rhetoric of the Pentateuch james w. watts [email protected] Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244-1170 In the Pentateuch, the contrast between legal or instructional material, on the one hand, and stories, on the other, is nowhere more stark than in the relationship between the story of the golden calf (Exodus 32–34) and the instructions and nar- ratives (Exodus 25–31; 35–40) that surround it. The story tells of ritual failure with disastrous consequences, while the ritual instructions and narratives around it recount fulfilling those divine instructions to the letter. The contrast becomes most excruciating in each section’s characterization of the high priest: the golden calf story seems to vilify Aaron by placing him at the center of the idolatrous event, while the ritual texts celebrate Aaron and his sons as divinely consecrated priests.
    [Show full text]
  • Divided Kingdom
    Divided Kingdom Lesson 9 Review: Division to Jehu Divided Kingdom: Kings of Israel Jeroboam – 22y Jehoahaz – 17y Nadab - 2y Joash (Jehoash) – 16y Baasha – 24y Jeroboam II – 41y Elah – 2y Zechariah – 6m Zimri – 1w Shallum – 1m Omri – 12y Menahem – 10y Ahab – 22y Pekahiah – 2y Ahaziah – 2y Pekah – 20y Jehoram (Joram) – 12y Hoshea – 9y – 28y Divided Kingdom: Kings of Israel Jeroboam – 22y Jehoahaz – 17y Nadab - 2y Joash (Jehoash) – 16y Baasha – 24y Jeroboam II – 41y Elah – 2y Zechariah – 6m Zimri – 1w Shallum – 1m Omri – 12y Menahem – 10y Ahab – 22y Pekahiah – 2y Ahaziah – 2y Pekah – 20y Jehoram (Joram) – 12y Hoshea – 9y – 28y Divided Kingdom: Kings of Israel Jeroboam – 22y Jehoahaz – 17y Nadab - 2y Joash (Jehoash) – 16y Baasha – 24y Jeroboam II – 41y Elah – 2y Zechariah – 6m Zimri – 1w Shallum – 1m Omri – 12y Menahem – 10y Ahab – 22y Pekahiah – 2y Ahaziah – 2y Pekah – 20y Jehoram (Joram) – 12y Hoshea – 9y – 28y Divided Kingdom: Kings of Israel Jeroboam – 22y Jehoahaz – 17y Nadab - 2y Joash (Jehoash) – 16y Baasha – 24y Jeroboam II – 41y Elah – 2y Zechariah – 6m Zimri – 1w Shallum – 1m Omri – 12y Menahem – 10y Ahab – 22y Pekahiah – 2y Ahaziah – 2y Pekah – 20y Jehoram (Joram) – 12y Hoshea – 9y – 28y Divided Kingdom: Kings of Israel Jeroboam – 22y Jehoahaz – 17y Nadab - 2y Joash (Jehoash) – 16y Baasha – 24y Jeroboam II – 41y Elah – 2y Zechariah – 6m Zimri – 1w Shallum – 1m Omri – 12y Menahem – 10y Ahab – 22y Pekahiah – 2y Ahaziah – 2y Pekah – 20y Jehoram
    [Show full text]
  • The Authority of Scripture: the Puzzle of the Genealogies of Jesus Mako A
    The Authority of Scripture: The Puzzle of the Genealogies of Jesus Mako A. Nagasawa, June 2005 Four Main Differences in the Genealogies Provided by Matthew and Luke 1. Is Jesus descended through the line of Solomon (Mt) or the line of Nathan (Lk)? Or both? 2. Are there 27 people from David to Jesus (Mt) or 42 (Lk)? 3. Who was Joseph’s father? Jacob (Mt) or Heli (Lk)? 4. What is the lineage of Shealtiel and Zerubbabel? a. Are they the same father-son pair in Mt as in Lk? (Apparently popular father-son names were repeated across families – as with Jacob and Joseph in Matthew’s genealogy) If not, then no problem. I will, for purposes of this discussion, assume that they are not the same father-son pair. b. If so, then there is another problem: i. Who was Shealtiel’s father? Jeconiah (Mt) or Neri (Lk)? ii. Who was Zerubbabel’s son? Abihud (Mt) or Rhesa (Lk)? And where are these two in the list of 1 Chronicles 3:19-20 ( 19b the sons of Zerubbabel were Meshullam and Hananiah, and Shelomith was their sister; 20 and Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah and Jushab-hesed, five)? Cultural Factors 1. Simple remarriage. It is likely that in most marriages, men were older and women were younger (e.g. Joseph and Mary). So it is also likely that when husbands died, many women remarried. This was true in ancient times: Boaz married the widow Ruth, David married the widow Bathsheba after Uriah was killed. It also seems likely to have been true in classical, 1 st century times: Paul (in Rom.7:1-3) suggests that this is at least somewhat common in the Jewish community (‘I speak to those under the Law’ he says) in the 1 st century.
    [Show full text]
  • Athaliah, a Treacherous Queen: a Careful Analysis of Her Story in 2 Kings 11 and 2 Chronicles 22:10-23:21
    Athaliah, a treacherous queen: A careful analysis of her story in 2 Kings 11 and 2 Chronicles 22:10-23:21 Robin Gallaher Branch School of Biblical Sciences & Bible Languages Potchefstroom Campus North-West University POTCHEFSTROOM E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] Abstract Athaliah, a treacherous queen: A careful analysis of her story in 2 Kings 11 and 2 Chronicles 22:10-23:21 This article presents a critical look at the story of the reign of Athaliah, the only ruling queen of Israel or Judah in the biblical text. Double reference in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles shows her story’s importance and significance to the biblical writers. The largely parallel accounts read like a contemporary soap opera, for they contain murder, intrigue, harem politics, religious upheaval, and coup and counter-coup. Her story provides insights on the turbulent political climate of the ninth century BC. However, the purpose of the biblical writers is not to show Athaliah as the epitome of evil or that all women in power are evil. Opsomming Atalia, ’n verraderlike koningin: ’n noukeurige analise van haar verhaal in 2 Konings 11 en 2 Kronieke 22:10-23:21 In hierdie artikel word die verhaal van Atalia krities nagegaan. Atalia was naamlik die enigste koninging van Israel of Juda wie se regeringstyd in die Bybelteks verhaal word. Die dubbele verwysings na hierdie tyd in 2 Konings en 2 Kronieke dui op die belangrikheid en betekenis van haar verhaal vir die Bybel- skrywers. Die twee weergawes wat grotendeels parallelle weer- gawes is, lees byna soos ’n hedendaagse sepie, want hierdie verhale sluit elemente in soos moord, intrige, harempolitiek, godsdiensopstand, staatsgreep en kontrastaatsgreep.
    [Show full text]
  • Hanukkah Study Session
    Hanukkah Study Session December 9, 2020 What is Hanukkah? (Talmud Shabbat 21b) What is the reason for Hanukkah? For our rabbis taught: On the 25th of Kislev begins the days of Hanukkah which are eight and on which lamentation for the dead and fasting are forbidden. For when the Greeks entered the Temple, the defiled all of the oils therein, and when the Hasmonean dynasty prevailed against and defeated them, they made search and found only one cruse of oil which lay with the seal of the high priest, but which contained sufficient oil for one day’s lighting only; yet a miracle was wrought and they lit the lamp for eight days. The following year these days were appointed as a festival with the recital of Hallel and Thanksgiving. (Shabbat 21b) Look, at what time and what day the heathen had profaned the Temple, even in that was it dedicated with songs, and citherns, and harps, and cymbals. Then all the people fell upon their faces, worshipping and praising the God of heaven, who had given them good success. And so they kept the dedication of the altar eight days and offered burnt offerings with gladness, and sacrificed the sacrifice of deliverance and praise. They decked also the forefront of the temple with crowns of gold, and with shields; and the gates and the chambers they renewed, and hanged doors upon them. Thus was there very great gladness among the people, for that the reproach of the heathen was put away. Moreover Judas and his brethren with the whole congregation of Israel ordained, that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their season from year to year by the space of eight days, from the five and twentieth day of the month Casleu, with mirth and gladness.
    [Show full text]
  • Chart of the Kings of Israel and Judah
    The Kings of Israel & Judah Why Study the Kings? Chart of the Kings Questions for Discussion The Heritage of Jesus Host: Alan's Gleanings Alphabetical List of the Kings A Comment about Names God's Message of Salvation Kings of the United Kingdom (c 1025-925 BC) Relationship to God's King Previous King Judgment Saul none did evil Ishbosheth* son (unknown) David none did right Solomon did right in youth, son (AKA Jedidiah) evil in old age * The kingdom was divided during Ishbosheth's reign; David was king over the tribe of Judah. Kings of Judah (c 925-586 BC) Kings of Israel (c 925-721 BC) Relationship to God's Relationship to God's King King Previous King Judgment Previous King Judgment Rehoboam son did evil Abijam Jeroboam servant did evil son did evil (AKA Abijah) Nadab son did evil Baasha none did evil Asa son did right Elah son did evil Zimri captain did evil Omri captain did evil Ahab son did evil Jehoshaphat son did right Ahaziah son did evil Jehoram son did evil (AKA Joram) Jehoram son of Ahab did evil Ahaziah (AKA Joram) (AKA Azariah son did evil or Jehoahaz) Athaliah mother did evil Jehu captain mixed Joash did right in youth, son of Ahaziah Jehoahaz son did evil (AKA Jehoash) evil in old age Joash did right in youth, son did evil Amaziah son (AKA Jehoash) evil in old age Jeroboam II son did evil Zachariah son did evil did evil Uzziah Shallum none son did right (surmised) (AKA Azariah) Menahem none did evil Pekahiah son did evil Jotham son did right Pekah captain did evil Ahaz son did evil Hoshea none did evil Hezekiah son did right Manasseh son did evil Amon son did evil Josiah son did right Jehoahaz son did evil (AKA Shallum) Jehoiakim Assyrian captivity son of Josiah did evil (AKA Eliakim) Jehoiachin (AKA Coniah son did evil or Jeconiah) Zedekiah son of Josiah did evil (AKA Mattaniah) Babylonian captivity Color Code Legend: King did right King did evil Other.
    [Show full text]
  • Julia Wilker University of Pennsylvania
    ELECTRUM * Vol. 25 (2018): 127–145 doi: 10.4467/20800909EL.18.007.8927 www.ejournals.eu/electrum BETWEEN EMPIRES AND PEERS: HASMONEAN FOREIGN POLICY UNDER ALEXANDER JANNAEUS Julia Wilker University of Pennsylvania Abstract: During the reign of Alexander Jannaeus (103–76 BCE), Judea underwent a number of signifi cant changes. This article explores one of them: the fundamental shift in foreign policy strategy. This shift becomes most apparent in the king’s decision to not renew the alliance with Rome, which had been a hallmark of Hasmonean foreign policy since the days of Judas Mac- cabaeus. However, a close analysis of Alexander Jannaeus’ policy regarding other foreign powers demonstrates that the end of the Judean-Roman alliance did not happen in a vacuum. It is shown that under Alexander Jannaeus, the Hasmonean state adopted a different strategy towards imperial powers by focusing on deescalation and ignorance rather than alliances. In contrast, interactions with other rising states in the vicinity, such as the Nabateans and Itureans, increased. This new orientation in foreign policy refl ected changes in Hasmonean identity and self-defi nition; Judea did not need imperial support to maintain its independence anymore but strived to increase its status as a regional power. Key words: Hasmoneans, Alexander Jannaeus, Jewish-Roman relations, foreign relations. The reign of Alexander Jannaeus (103–76 BCE) constituted a seminal period in the his- tory of Hellenistic Judea; his rule signifi es both the acme and a turning point of the Has- monean state. The length of his tenure as king – second only to that of his father, John Hyrcanus (135–105/104 BCE) – stands in signifi cant contrast to that of his predecessor, Aristobulus I, who died after having ruled for less than a year.
    [Show full text]
  • Judea/Israel Under the Greek Empires." Israel and Empire: a Postcolonial History of Israel and Early Judaism
    "Judea/Israel under the Greek Empires." Israel and Empire: A Postcolonial History of Israel and Early Judaism. Perdue, Leo G., and Warren Carter.Baker, Coleman A., eds. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015. 129–216. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. 30 Sep. 2021. <http:// dx.doi.org/10.5040/9780567669797.ch-005>. Downloaded from Bloomsbury Collections, www.bloomsburycollections.com, 30 September 2021, 15:32 UTC. Copyright © Leo G. Perdue, Warren Carter and Coleman A. Baker 2015. You may share this work for non-commercial purposes only, provided you give attribution to the copyright holder and the publisher, and provide a link to the Creative Commons licence. 5 Judea/Israel under the Greek Empires* In 33130 BCE, by military victory, the Macedonian Alexander ended the Persian Empire. He defeated the Persian king Darius at Gaugamela, advanced to a welcoming Babylon, and progressed to Persepolis where he burned Xerxes palace supposedly in retaliation for Persias invasions of Greece some 150 years previously (Diodorus 17.72.1-6). Thus one empire gave way to another by a different name. So began the Greek empires that dominated Judea/Israel for the next two hundred or so years, the focus of this chapter. Is a postcolonial discussion of these empires possible and what might it highlight? Considerable dif�culties stand in the way. One is the weight of conventional analyses and disciplinary practices which have framed the discourse with emphases on the various roles of the great men, the ruling state, military battles, and Greek settlers, and have paid relatively little regard to the dynamics of imperial power from the perspectives of native inhabitants, the impact on peasants and land, and poverty among non-elites, let alone any reciprocal impact between colonizers and colon- ized.
    [Show full text]
  • Mattathias Antigonus Coins - the Last Kings of the Hasmonean [email protected]
    Mattathias Antigonus coins - the last kings of the Hasmonean [email protected] Zlotnik yehoshua 10.10.10 Abstract Mattathias Antigonus was the last king of the Hasmonean-Maccabean Dynasty (37-40 BC' all dates BC). Struggles and uprisings preceded his reign of the Hasmonean state, by his father Aristobulus II and his brother Alexander II for control of the Hasmonean kingdom. The three years of his reign were a turbulent time of constant war with his rival king Herod. This period applies to monetary upheaval. Mattathias' activities in the field of Numismatics has been significant and impressive. His minting Authority minted unique coins, while Herod also minted unique coins. Numismatic background before Mattathias Antigonus of the Hasmonean minting; The 3 Hasmonean kings prior to Mattathias Antigonus minted an abundance of unique coins. The first was John Hyrcanus I 135-104, who minted several series of coins, including a coin, possibly, together with Antiochus VII Sidetes minted in Jerusalem. On one side of the coin appears an inscription for Alexander Sidetes with the icon of the royal anchor. On the other side of the coin a model of the lily, the symbol of the Hasmonean priesthood. Another coin bearing the Greek letter alpha above a Paleo Hebrew legend "Yehohanan (John) the High priest and the Council of the Jews." The Alpha letter probably represents the first letter in the name of Antiochus VII Sidetes, and validates the Hebrew inscription underneath it. There are, however, researchers who believe otherwise. The other side of the coin bears the symbol of the cornucopia commonly shown on Hasmonean coins, including the pomegranate icon, which may symbolize the priesthood adopted by the Hasmonean dynasty.
    [Show full text]
  • Exegesis for Storytellers and Other Strangers Author(S): Phyllis Trible Reviewed Work(S): Source: Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol
    Exegesis for Storytellers and Other Strangers Author(s): Phyllis Trible Reviewed work(s): Source: Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 114, No. 1 (Spring, 1995), pp. 3-19 Published by: The Society of Biblical Literature Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3266587 . Accessed: 06/04/2012 10:42 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The Society of Biblical Literature is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Biblical Literature. http://www.jstor.org JBL 114/1 (1995) 3-19 EXEGESIS FOR STORYTELLERS AND OTHER STRANGERS* PHYLLISTRIBLE Union Theological Seminary,New York,NY 10027 If the Society of Biblical Literaturegave awardsfor excellence in polarized thinking, the Deuteronomistic theologians would capture first prize. With rhetorical purity and power they subsumed centuries of traditions, diverse genres, and points of view under the severe rubric of opposing concepts: life and death, blessing and curse, good and evil, obedience and disobedience. They locked even divinity into this scheme. Indeed, the God of Israel versus the gods of the Canaanitesapotheosized their way of thinking. Evidence to the contrarymerited denial, denunciation, or dismissal.l When these ancient theologians focused attention on ninth-centuryIsrael, they found a host of stories to feed their passion for polarity.By arrangingthem in particularways and adding glosses here and there, they shaped a narrativein which Elijah and Jezebel (among other characters)emerged as quintessential opposites: he the epitome of good; she of evil.
    [Show full text]