5 - the jews and hellenism

5. The Jews and Hellenism 1

The Jews and HellenismJ

Native Resistance to Hellenism

As Alexander and the Diadochoi (his successors) spread Greek cities throughout the eastern Mediterranean and Near East, there was both assimilation and resistancewas both assimilation and resistance

Local elites, at least near Hellenistic foundations, tended to assimilate, adopting Greek language, culture, and names as well as syncretizing their religion with Greek religion Depending upon the city, this gave them access to citizenship,

through registration in demes (local units) and/or membership in the gymnasium

Some groupsespecially priestly castes in Persia, Babylon, Syrian temple states, and Judearesisted Hellenization

1/19/2011 5. The Jews and Hellenism 2

y p , Enochic Book of Watchers tried to maintain, and extend,

traditions of the Bible in the face of the political and cultural ferment around it (Heyler, 8586)

Merchant classes accommodated sufficiently to prosper, peasant classes were generally left unaffected


Hellenism and Judea Alexander probably passed

Jerusalem by or at least left it autonomous and relatively untouched Judea (Greek for the Aramaic

Yehud), a relatively conservative bastion in the region initially escaped such settlement, but there was creeping Hellenism among the upper classes

What about the rest of Eretz Israel? The dicey issue of what to call the

Holy Land . . . No Syria Palestinauntil A.D. 135 when Hadrian renames the province to erase the


pname Judea . . . Holy Land can be seen as parochial . . . Israel is politically loaded

Canaan > Israel > Israel and Judah > Samaria and Yehud > Coele-Syria and Judea

Hellenism Elsewhere in Eretz Israel Jerusalems rival Samaria, however, received a

Macedonian colony in 332 B.C. after a revolt by the Samaritans The garrison troops mixed over time with the

Hellenized descendants of the Assyrian (and later Babylonian) settlers in what they had

ll d S icalled Samerina Samaria (the city) thus became a major

Hellenistic bulwark in the region These Samarians should be carefully

distinguished from the YWHW-ist Samaritans of the countryside and smaller towns

Siege of Gaza (332 B.C.) Resettled by neighboring bedouins, but like

many coastal cities it was increasingly Hellenized


Alexanders successors in the regionfirst the Ptolemies and then the Seleucidsestablished Hellenistic foundations through Eretz Israelwhich dominated (and exploited) the native (Samaritan, Ammonite, Philistine, Canaanite, Israelite) hinterland

Site of Samaria (upper right) and Hellenistic tower (lower left)


The Exception Among the Jews of Alexandria Alexandria founded by Alexander

in 331 B.C. with a commercial focus

Greek and Macedonian citizens But technically all non-Egyptians But technically all non Egyptians

were Hellenes, including Near Easterners such as the Jews

Jews found themselves in Ptolemaic service throughout Egypt as soldiers and specialty farmers

Egyptian and Jewish residents While early Jews and their

descendants may have gained citizenship most succeeding


citizenship, most succeeding immigrants were not citizens

Such Jews formed their own political corporation, the politeuma, although some subsequent immigrants were excluded from this too (the plthos)



Pharos


Lighthouse of Pharos




Isis holding sail with lighthouse of Pharos in background (2nd cent. AD)

Alexandria as a Cultural and Intellectual Center Why Ptolemaic patronage of literature and arts? The precedents of Platos Academy and especially Aristotles The precedents of Plato s Academy and especially Aristotle s

Lyceum Museionfirst a foremost a religious institution, later a place of

producing literature and art Librarycollecting, preserving, editing, and commenting on

texts; place of preserving and studying literature Alexandrian scholarship: preserved existing knowledge and

t d


created new

big poem, bad book!


The Greek Torah: the Development of the Septuagint

The question of translating Jewish scriptures had not arisen beforeliteracy was so limited to a small caste of scribes that they could always work with it in Hebrew

A growing literate classbut literate in Greekgrew in Hellenistic cities, especially Alexandriacities, especially Alexandria

Aristobulus, a Jewish philosopher between 175170, first attests the claim that a translation of the Torah (5 books of Moses) was made under the reign of Ptolemy II Philadephus (285246 BC.) Parallels: the Babylonian Berossus and the Egyptian Manetho

Letter of Aristeas Claims that the impetus came from Ptolemy II Philadephus and the court librarian,

Demetrius of Phaleron Pseudepigraphic, the letter was probably written as an apologetic in the second

century B.C. in the context of the persecution of Antiochus IV EpiphanesThe legend of 72 translators prod cing the perfect translation in 72 da s as


The legend of 72 translators producing the perfect translation in 72 days was meant to validate (and impose) a particular Greek translation

Philo adds a miraculous element: the translators were kept in separate chambers but they all produced the same translation! (Philo, Mos. 2.2840)

Characteristics of the Septuagint (LXX): PentateuchExamples from Bickerman, 101116

At times at variance with the Hebrew Bible Translated from a different exemplar than Masoretic version currently extant?

Sometimes the LXX agrees with the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Dead Sea Scrolls, or Jubilees against the Masoretic

Resulted from faulty knowledge of Hebrew, Greek, or both? Resulted from faulty knowledge of Hebrew, Greek, or both? Unknown: whether the Greek translation faithfully followed its source or

modified the manuscript that the translators had at hand Did not seem to amplify or condense Generally translated literally, importing Hebrew word order and

constructions Still indulged in Alexandrian taste for variation, exploiting Greeks vocabulary

for synonyms Purposeful interpretations (or reinterpretations)

Avoided offending their Ptolemaic hosts (dasypous hair-fotted rather than


Avoided offending their Ptolemaic hosts (dasypous hair fotted rather than lagos hare; archn ruler rather than basileus king)

Avoided circumcise the foreskin of the heart in preference for prune the obstinacy of heart (Deut. 10:16)

Increasingly avoided anthropomorphisms Avoided religious terms used by heathen religions


Greek Meanings in the Septuagint (LXX)Examples from NETS, xivxx (n.b. xviixviii), 15)

NETS model of the LXX as an interlinear translation The Hebrew was not unknown, problems were passed on to readers who knew both, issue or

translation as reception as much as production

LXX Greek terms mean what they did in the period LXX Greek terms mean what they did in the period Stereotypes: correct renderings of Hebrew that nevertheless fit poorly into

the context Calques: new meanings derived from the Hebrew which become part of the

language (here, Jewish-Greek): example diathk = brt Semantic leveling: one Greek term for several Hebrew Semantic differentiation: several Greek words for one Hebrew word

(usually for verbs)( y ) Neologisms Hebraisms: usually literal translation of idioms

Protypical translator (e.g., Ecclesiast) to Protoypical author (e.g. Iob) Literary translation free rendering


Characteristics of the Balance of the Septuagint The remaining books of the Hebrew Bible (since Ezra) were

translated at different times and places over the next two centuries

Whereas the Pentateuch was reasonably well-translated, the balance ranges from literal to interpretativebalance ranges from literal to interpretative

Ecclesiast: prototypical translator (very literal) Iob: least prototypical (very free)

Additions: hagiographia, additional sacred writings that have become our Apocrypha Nonetheless, other texts, such as Jubilee and the Enochic literature were

left out! For Further Reading and Study:

Karen H Jobes and Moiss Silva Invitation to the Septuagint (Baker


Karen H. Jobes and Moiss Silva, Invitation to the Septuagint (Baker, 2000)

The Septuagint with Apocrypha, translated by Lancelot Brenton(1851, repr. Hendrickson, 2003)

A New English Transation of the Septuagint (NETS), edited by Albert Peitersma and Benjamin G. Wright (Oxford, 2007)


Philosophies

Platonic thought in the Academy and Aristotles school in the Lyceum (also known as the Peripatetic School) continued but did not always meet individual needs

New schools arose to treat the individual condition Cynicism (Dog-like!)autarky through not wanting

anything, live like dogs! Diogenes and Alexander


Skepticismsenses unreliable, nothing can be known for certain, question everything

Epicureanism Epicurus founded a materialistic school, called the Garden, that focused

on a quiet life Largely reliant upon later writers for Epicurus beliefs; only surviving original

document is his Letter to Menoeceus Preconditions of happiness

Understand that the gods exist but are uninvolved in mens lives Death is nothing but the deprivation of senses, should not be feared Twin goals of happy living: a healthy body and a sound mind

Greatest good is pleasure, defined as absence of pain When I say that pleasure is the goal of living I do not mean the pleasures of

the libertines . . . I mean, on the contrary, the pleasure that consists in freedom from bodily pain and mental agitation.

Ataraxia (avoiding disturbance, impassiveness) through moderate enjoyment of simple pleasuresAvoid seeking wealth on power; focus on friendship


Avoid seeking wealth on power; focus on friendship Epicurus on Fate

fate moderated by choices (deterministic universe organized by atomswhich nonetheless swerve) the soul dissolves into its constituent atoms at death

Certain events are determined, others are chance, others are the results of our own actions


Stoicism Zeno and his porch God = nature = logos or reason

nature operates in accordance with divine laws nature operates in accordance with divine laws Sought autarkeia (self-sufficiency) through a virtuous life Sought ataraxia (impassiveness, not being disturbed) by

subliminating emotions Largely deterministic, God is in charge of everything, accept ones

lot fatalistic tendency moderated by duties or tasks required of each

individual


individual Divine sparkkinship with divinity and hence worldwide

brotherhood of man

Greek Intellectual History SummarizedNatural Philosophers

Materialists IdealistsThales Pythagoras

ARCHAIC

Thales Pythagoras

Fifth Century reconciliation

Empedocles, Democritus

SophistsProtagoras

Moral PhilosophySocratic Revolution

Socrates

PlatoIsocrates

CLASSICAL

FOURTH CENTURY


Aristotle

HELLENISTIC Epicureanism StoicismPHILO!

Aristobulus


Aristobolus and Greek Philosophy Eusebius and Clement note that Aristobulus work was

dedicated to a Ptolemy, apparently Ptolemy VI Philometer(181145 B.C.)( )

From the five surviving fragments, it is apparent that Aristobulus was an Alexandrian Jew trying to reconcile Jewish tradition with Hellenistic philosophy Frg. 1: On the dating of Passover (related Jewish feasts to Greek

astronomy) Frg. 2: Nature of God (tried to explain anthropomorphic

descriptions of God in the Law)


Frg. 3: Plato and Pythagoras knew the Law Frg. 4: Nature of God again (Greek philosophers, too, described

God anthropomorphicallyit was only allegorical) Frg. 5: Sabbath explained in terms of cosmic order

Romans and Hellenism


Romans first came into contact with Greek culture via Greek colonies in Italy during the Early Republic Roman aristocratic families were divided on the

question of Hellenism

Romes expansion into the Eastern Mediterranean introduced a second dose of Hellenism during the Middle Republic Most senators had to deal with the Hellenistic

diplomatic world, some were attracted By and large, the aristocracy became bi-

lingual culturally, a parallel to what happened with the Jewish aristocracy

5 - the jews and hellenism

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