Lawrence M. Wills
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9780300248791
- eISBN:
- 9780300258769
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300248791.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Chapter three addresses the texts of the Apocrypha related to Jewish wisdom. In ancient Israel wisdom was associated with Proverbs and the education of elite males, especially scribes. But there were ...
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Chapter three addresses the texts of the Apocrypha related to Jewish wisdom. In ancient Israel wisdom was associated with Proverbs and the education of elite males, especially scribes. But there were important developments in wisdom, each phase expanding on the previous one without rendering it obsolete. The wisdom texts of the Apocrypha are analyzed both in terms of how they fit within the earlier history of wisdom genres, and how they reflect the changes of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Theological themes such as revelation are expanded within these texts, and social issues such as gender, class, and Jewish identity come into sharper focus. Wisdom is more present as a female figure and is at times a cosmic savior figure or involved in creation (similar to Isis). Wisdom is also identified with law (Ben Sira and Baruch), and is seen as a force in Israelite history (Ben Sira and Wisdom of Solomon). In these texts Wisdom is also personified as Woman Wisdom. Texts treated here are Ben Sira (or Sirach), Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch, Letter (or Epistle) of Jeremiah, Fourth Maccabees, and Fourth Baruch (or Paralipomena of Jeremiah).Less
Chapter three addresses the texts of the Apocrypha related to Jewish wisdom. In ancient Israel wisdom was associated with Proverbs and the education of elite males, especially scribes. But there were important developments in wisdom, each phase expanding on the previous one without rendering it obsolete. The wisdom texts of the Apocrypha are analyzed both in terms of how they fit within the earlier history of wisdom genres, and how they reflect the changes of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Theological themes such as revelation are expanded within these texts, and social issues such as gender, class, and Jewish identity come into sharper focus. Wisdom is more present as a female figure and is at times a cosmic savior figure or involved in creation (similar to Isis). Wisdom is also identified with law (Ben Sira and Baruch), and is seen as a force in Israelite history (Ben Sira and Wisdom of Solomon). In these texts Wisdom is also personified as Woman Wisdom. Texts treated here are Ben Sira (or Sirach), Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch, Letter (or Epistle) of Jeremiah, Fourth Maccabees, and Fourth Baruch (or Paralipomena of Jeremiah).
Geoffrey Mark Hahneman
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263418
- eISBN:
- 9780191682537
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263418.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Early Christian Studies
There is clearly a strong case for proposing that the Fragment is an Eastern list of New Testament works originating from the fourth century. This provenance is supported by many details. Eusebius ...
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There is clearly a strong case for proposing that the Fragment is an Eastern list of New Testament works originating from the fourth century. This provenance is supported by many details. Eusebius appears to be the individual within the history of the Canon who developed and prompted New Testament catalogues, and thus the Fragment most probably derives from some time after Eusebius. Several remarkable parallels with Epiphanius would seem to confirm a Syrian/Palestinian provenance around 375 for the Fragment, specifically the inclusion of the Wisdom of Solomon in a New Testament catalogue, the mention of a Marcionite Laodiceans and the presence of Revelation without comment. These, combined with the public reading of the Revelation of Peter noted in the Fragment and Sozomen, and various similarities with Jerome (392), seem to confirm that the Muratorian Fragment is not a Western late second-century document, but is instead a late fourth-century Eastern catalogue.Less
There is clearly a strong case for proposing that the Fragment is an Eastern list of New Testament works originating from the fourth century. This provenance is supported by many details. Eusebius appears to be the individual within the history of the Canon who developed and prompted New Testament catalogues, and thus the Fragment most probably derives from some time after Eusebius. Several remarkable parallels with Epiphanius would seem to confirm a Syrian/Palestinian provenance around 375 for the Fragment, specifically the inclusion of the Wisdom of Solomon in a New Testament catalogue, the mention of a Marcionite Laodiceans and the presence of Revelation without comment. These, combined with the public reading of the Revelation of Peter noted in the Fragment and Sozomen, and various similarities with Jerome (392), seem to confirm that the Muratorian Fragment is not a Western late second-century document, but is instead a late fourth-century Eastern catalogue.
Michael C. Legaspi
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190885120
- eISBN:
- 9780190885151
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190885120.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Early Christian Studies
Aristobulus and the author of Wisdom of Solomon conceived of wisdom in much the same way that earlier Greek, non-Jewish thinkers did: as knowledge of the whole—of things human, cosmic, and ...
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Aristobulus and the author of Wisdom of Solomon conceived of wisdom in much the same way that earlier Greek, non-Jewish thinkers did: as knowledge of the whole—of things human, cosmic, and divine—which underlies, requires, and informs the life of virtue. Moreover, they readily identified sophia with wisdom as found in the Jewish scriptures, especially in the figure of Solomon and in the Pentateuchal narratives. Their engagement with the scriptures yields a wisdom program centered on rational monotheism, virtue, and the hope of immortality. This program, however, was also characterized by a strong emphasis on the national form of wisdom. In its capacity as ruling knowledge, wisdom must also belong to human leaders. Understanding wisdom in these terms, as that which brings the metaphysical, cosmic, social, and personal into harmony, Hellenistic Jews commended their way of life to the nations.Less
Aristobulus and the author of Wisdom of Solomon conceived of wisdom in much the same way that earlier Greek, non-Jewish thinkers did: as knowledge of the whole—of things human, cosmic, and divine—which underlies, requires, and informs the life of virtue. Moreover, they readily identified sophia with wisdom as found in the Jewish scriptures, especially in the figure of Solomon and in the Pentateuchal narratives. Their engagement with the scriptures yields a wisdom program centered on rational monotheism, virtue, and the hope of immortality. This program, however, was also characterized by a strong emphasis on the national form of wisdom. In its capacity as ruling knowledge, wisdom must also belong to human leaders. Understanding wisdom in these terms, as that which brings the metaphysical, cosmic, social, and personal into harmony, Hellenistic Jews commended their way of life to the nations.
