Alexander Samely
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199684328
- eISBN:
- 9780191764981
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199684328.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism, Religion in the Ancient World
This chapter explains the varieties of features one encounters in texts of thematic discourse or description, a key branch of ancient Jewish literature. In particular, both texts of proverbial ...
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This chapter explains the varieties of features one encounters in texts of thematic discourse or description, a key branch of ancient Jewish literature. In particular, both texts of proverbial wisdom, such as Wisdom and Sirach, and texts of law, such as 4QMMT and Mishnah, have conspicuously ‘loose’ thematic coherence. The contribution to this of stereotypical small forms and their ‘mere juxtaposition’ is explained. The chapter addresses the problematic role which modern coherence expectations, which often go unexamined in scholarship, play in diachronic criticism of apparently ‘incoherent’ ancient Jewish texts. The chapter also takes into view thematic discourse which is set in a narrative frame, such as 4 Ezra, 1 Baruch and some ‘Testaments’.Less
This chapter explains the varieties of features one encounters in texts of thematic discourse or description, a key branch of ancient Jewish literature. In particular, both texts of proverbial wisdom, such as Wisdom and Sirach, and texts of law, such as 4QMMT and Mishnah, have conspicuously ‘loose’ thematic coherence. The contribution to this of stereotypical small forms and their ‘mere juxtaposition’ is explained. The chapter addresses the problematic role which modern coherence expectations, which often go unexamined in scholarship, play in diachronic criticism of apparently ‘incoherent’ ancient Jewish texts. The chapter also takes into view thematic discourse which is set in a narrative frame, such as 4 Ezra, 1 Baruch and some ‘Testaments’.
