judeo-greek texts i
TRANSCRIPT
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HISTORY
EUPOLEMUS
(prior to First Century B.C.)
A NEW TRANSLATION AND INTRODUCTION
BY F. FALLON
illpolemus was a Jewish historian who composed a work, probably entitled On the Kings
of which only
five
fragments survive. In the first fragment, Eupolemus identifies
the first sage. who invented the alphabet and wrote laws. In a second, lengthy
Eupolemus traces Israelite history from Moses to Solomon and discusses in detail
of the Temple
in
Jerusalem. The third fragment completes the account of
in the fourth fragment, Eupolemus treats King Jonachim (see n. 39a),
whose reign Jeremiah prophesied and Jerusalem
was
captured by the Babylonians.
the final fragment, Eupolemus tabulates the number of years from Adam and the Exodus
the fifth year of the reign of Demetrius, the Seleucid king (15817 B.C.).
The preservation of these fragments is due mainly to the work of Alexander Polyhistor,
Greek historian who flourished in the mid first century B.C.
It
seems clear that Alexander
faithful to the sources he used and in the main merely transposed them into indirect
.discourse. 2
Although Alexander Polyhistor's On the Jews is no iungel r::dant in its entirety, excerpts
have
fortunately survived
in
Clement
of
Alexandria (c. A.D. 150-216) and Eusebius of
taesarea (c. A.D. 260-340). In his Stromata. Clement has preserved some of the material;
he has summarized the contents, rather than provided
an
exact quotation. On the
OOntrary,
Eusebius in his Praeparatio Evangelica (PrEv)
9.25-39
has cited his source
literally and thus provides the text for our translation
of
the first four fragments.
J
The final fragment is preserved only in Clement, Although previous scholars had argued
that this fragment, too, was transmitted through Alexander Polyhistor to Clement,' recent
by N. Walter and B. Z. Wacholder have suggested that this fragment may have
transmitted through another source to Clement.' Walter analyzes the larger context in
Clement. i.e. Stromata 1.141.1-4. This passage contains a summary of.the computations
by Demetrius the chronographer (third century B.C.) of the number of years from the falls
of the northern and southern kingdoms 10 his uwn iime. The passage also contains a
The title is given as such
in
Clement of Alexandria. Slrom 1.153.4. where Clement
is
also quoting Eupolemus W.
I rrom Alexander PolyhiSior. Eusebius. quoting F. 2 in
PrEv
9.30.1. however, gives the title as
On the Prophecy
of Ella. which must be erroneous since
it
does
nO{
accord with the ,-ontenlS. See Freudenthal. Alexander Polyhi.flor.
p. lOS.
n. 9.
l
Freudenlhal, Alexander PolyhlslOr.
pp
17-34.
'Freudendull,
AI
wnd.
Polyhisror.
pp. 3-14. The Fs. are conveniently collected in Jacoby.
FGH.
vol. 3C, I'p.
671-78. The texi from jacoby is used.
but
the F. on jeremiah
is
here numbered as F. 4 (Jacoby
F.
5) and the
chronological F. as F. S (Jacoby F. 4).
Freudenthal.
Alexa.nder Polyhistor. pp.
14-16; cf. E. SchOrer. Hi.rloT\ . div. 2. vol.
3.
PI'. 203-(,.
'N.
Walter,
Zur
Uberlieferung einiger Reste frtiher jiidisch-hellenistischer Literarur bei Josephu,. Clemens lind
Eusebiu
.
S.udla Palr;sf/ca 7
(TV 92;
Berlin. 1966). pp 314-20. and Eupol emus. JSHRZ 12 (1976) 94.11. Z.
WadlOlder, Eupolemu.f, 4
ita.d.-
qr,' dtu:o-(;reeA [.-j,:rQture :;:-m{'irmatL
O ~ ~ n _
1974J [!P
40--52. i
11- 14
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reference to a certain Philo, who is said to disagree with Demetrius in the matter of
kings of
the
Judeans. Lastly, the passage contains the fragment
of
Eupolemus, which in
addition to its mention
of
Demetrius the Seleucid king
(l58n
B.C.) also has an updated.
reference to the Roman consuls Gnaius Dometianus and G. Asinius (40 B,C.). In his
Walter argues that this passage could not have come from Alexander Polyhistor,
Alexander'S floruit was in the sixties B.C. and since the final form
of
the fragment
Eupolemus must come from 40 B.C.
He
further analyzes the passage in Josephus
(Apioll
1.23. 218) in which Demetrius, Philo, and Eupolemus are also mentioned
as
Greek authors
in
this same order.
He
then argues that Josephus did not derive this notice from Alexander
Polyhistor, since otherwise Josephus would not have mistaken them for Greek authors.
Thus, according to Walter, Josephus also must have taken this reference from another
source. Walter further argues that Clement has not here drawn upon Josephus, since the
fonner is more extensive than the latter. He suggests that they inherited a common source:.:
possibly this source was compiled by a hellenistic Jew who put in his book the lists of
Jewish kings according to Demetrius, Philo, and Eupolemus and compared them with
biblical account.'
Wacholder agrees basically with Walter that the passage in Clement
of
Alexandria
from a source other than the composition
of
Alexander Polyhistor and suggests Ptolemy
Mendes (first century B.C.)
as
the author
of
this source. In his discussion, however.
Wacholder revises the dates for Alexander Polyhistor and extends the Ifritid
of
his
from about 80 to 35
B.C.
lf Wacholder is correct
in
his revised dating for Alexander Polyhistor, then the
support for Walter's hypothesis disappears and thereby casts doubt upou the hypothesis
a whole. The simpler theory still remains that Josephus and Clement independently
upon Alexander Polyhistor's
On rhe Jews-perhaps
on his chronological summary-fo\,
their reference and that the updated reference to the Roman consuls comes from him;
Provenance
It
is
probable that all
five
fragments
of
Eupolemus derive from the single work On
Kings in Judea. In the fragments and perhaps in the work itself, Eupolemus passes
quickly over
the
early period of Jewish history from Moses through
the
period
of
the
The kings from David
to
the exile are then treated more extensively. Because
of
it seems likely that the work concluded with the
fall Qf
the Judean monarchy.
in
which
the tinal fragment must be considered as simply a chronological appendage. However.
possible. if
the
chronographical note
be
considered
an
integral part
of
the work,
Eupolemus continued his treatise into his own, Seleucidera.'
For his material. Eupolemus has drawn especially upon the biblical accounts
of
construction
of
the Temple
in
I Kings
5-8
and 2 Chronicles
2-5.
In his work, he has
more closely upon Chronicles than Kings. This preference
is
indicated
by
the agreement
wording between the blessing in
Praeparatio
Evangelica 9.34 and the Septuagint .of
Chronicles
2:
II and
by
Eupolemus' use
of
incidents only recounted
in
Chronicles, e.g.
the place for the altar was pointed out
by
an angel I Chr
21: 18)
and that David could
build the Temple because of his involvement in warfare (lChr 28:3).
It is also clear that Eupolemus used the Septuagint for his work and thus that his book.
w a ~
originally composed in Greek. This conclusion is show o be correct by the agreement
in wording with the Septuagint of 2 Chronicles 2: II. mentioned above, by the use of proper
names in their Septuagint fonn (e.g. Jesous, Naue. Samouel)
,
and by the use of technical
terms that are found in the Septuagint for the Temple vessels (e.g. skene tou martyriou,
louter elul/kous).
In
addition, Eupolemus has also used the Hebrew text.
as
his rendering
of the name Hiram indicates. That name appears
a . ~
Souron, which differs from
the
Septuagint
Chiram and derives
from the
Hebrew text's
~ u r i 1 m
Eupolemus' use
of
the Hebrew text
is
'Further.
Waller notes the
poem of
Philo
Ille
Elder
in
AI nder Polyhistor. is heUeniSlic epic poem in which
one would nonnally
nOl
expect
liSis and daleS of
kings. However. in the passage in tbe Slrom. Clement contrasts the
prose chronographic ""count< of
Demeuius
willl the disagreements in
Philo
and Eupolemus. Eupolemus then clearly
has a
chronographic accoun!. Thus. he concludes
tha'
Illis Philo is
IlOI
the same
as
the
epic
poe. of lost
prose
historical work
I
Wacholder. F.UpOJf m.ll.{,
p.
6
further indicated by his tranSlation
of
tenns that the Septuagint has merely tranSliterated
(e.g. LXX 2Chr 3:16 serserolh: Eupolemus IullusidOtoi).'
In the final fragment. the time from Adam and Moses is tabulated up to the fifth year
of
the reign
of
Demetrius. Intended is the Seleucid king Demetrius I Soter (162-150 B.C.).
whose
fifth regnal year is thus
15817 B.C.
The fragment then correlates the fifth regnal year
of Demetrius with the twelfth year
of
the reign
of
Ptolemy. Intended here is Ptolemy
VU
Euergetes U Physeon. who began his rule in 170
B.C.
9
If the work was composed
in 15817
B.C., this reference to Ptolemy must be a later addition for the following reasons,
10
Ptolemy
VII began hls rule as coregent with his brother but was sent shortly thereafter
to
Cyrene to
rule over that area. In 145 B.C. he returned
to
rule over all
of
Egypt. Only after his return
10
power were his regnal years. including the interVening
years.
computed from
170 B.C.
His twelfth year would thus be 15918 B.C., which does not coincide precisely with the fifth
year
of
Demetrius. It had previously been suggested by scholars that Demetrius U Nicator
(145-139 B.C.) was the intended ruler. That suggestion. however, is impossible since there
s
no Ptolemy whose twelfth year of reign will match the fifth year
of
Demetrius
U.
Presumably, therefore, the date
of
composition is 15817 B,C. Since the author has dated
his work by reference to the Seleucids rather than the PtoleOOes and since the author has
the Hebrew as well as the Septuagint texts, the place
of
composition was probably
..... ~ t i n e rather than Egypt. Further, a Palestinian provenance makes more likely the
1lypoIhesis that the author, Eupolemus. is to be identified with the ambassador of Judas
Maccabeus to Rome. who is mentioned in I Maccabees 8: 17f. and 2 Maccabees 4: II. The
place are appropriate, and a member
of
a priestly family who functioned as an
ambassador would be acquainted with Greek."
If
he
identification between the author and the ambassador be accepted. then the fragments
Eupolemus come from one who was close to the Maccabees and who was yet conversant
ill Greek. Possibly he
is
directly
or
indireCtly behind I Maccabees 8. In any case,
he
is
ilIterested in portraying the glory of the Jewish people. In contraSt with the biblical account,
presents Hiram. the king not only
of
Tyre but also
of
Sidon
and.
Phoenicia, as subject
David, and the king
of
Israel as on a level of parity with the Pharaoh of Egypt. In
Mdition. Eupolemus has magnified the splendor of the Temple in terms of its adornment
cost. Because of the
jjOOted naMe of
the fragments, only a few theological features
of
ork are clearly visible, i.e. the Temple and its cult
and
also the significance of the
t1 Eupolemus survives. then. as the oldest hellenistic Jewish historian. whose writing
to present the Greek reading public with a short history of the Jewish people. The
Work
probably served inner Jewish needs
in
the period after Antiochus
IV
as much as. if
not more than. any distinctive missionary or apologetic purpose.
n
'l'Ieudenthai. Al
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SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Charlesworth,
PMR.
pp. 107f.
Delling,
Bibliographie.
pp. 53-55.
Denis,
Introduction,
pp. 252-55.
Clemens Alexandrinus.
Werke.
eds. Stiihlin,
O.
and Fruechtel,
L.
GCS 52(15); Berlin,
1960.' (The critical edition for Clement.)
Dalbert. P.
Die Theologle der helienistisch-jtidischen Missionsliteratur unJer Ausschluss
Philo und Josephus.
Hamburg-Volksdorf. 1954. (Adds to
the
study
of FreudentJ-uil
specific focus on the theology present in the fragments.)
Denis, A.-M. Fragmema pseudepigraphorum quae supersunt graeca. PVTG 3;
1970; pp. 179-86. (A convenient collection of the fragments.)
Eusebius.
Werke;
Band
8: Die Praeparatio Evangelica.
ed. K.
Mras.
GCS 43.1-2;
1954-56. (The critical edition for Eusebius.)
Freudenthal, J.
Hellenistische Studien J-Z: Alexonder Polyhistor.
Breslau.
classic study
of
Eupolemus. which demonstrates that EupoJemus
wtlS a
ewish-helleni.t
historian. )
Giblet, J. E u p o l ~ m e
et
L'Historiographie du JUdaisme Hellenistique,"
539-54.
(A study that summarizes the discussion up to that point.)
Gutmann. J.
The Beginnings
of
Jewish-Hellenistic Literature.
Jerusalem, 1958.
(Incorporates the more recent studies.)
Gutschmid,
A.
von.
Kleine Schriften.
Leipzig. 1890. (Important study of the chronologicaf
references
in the final fragment.)
Jacoby, F.
Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker.
Leiden. 1958; vol. 3C, part 2.
723, pp. 671-78. (Convenient, critical collection of the fragments of Eupolemus.)
Schtirer. E.
Hislory.2
Div. 2, vol. 3, pp. 203-6. (Draws upon Freudenthal but also
references to the further discussion at the end
of
the nineteenth century.)
Wacholder, B. Z.
Eupolemus:
A
Study
of
Judaeo-Greek Literature.
Cincinnati, Ohio.
(This is the first monograph devoted to Eupolemus since the time of Freudenthal
the only detailed commentary. It represents a significant contribution to the stud
Eupolemus.)
Walter, N. "Eupolemus,"
JSHRZ
1.2 (1976) 93-108. (An introduction and
translation, which incorporates recent discussion and the author's own
research on EupoJemus.)
TRANSLATION
Fragment 1 Alexander Polyhistor. On the Jews, in Eusebius, Praepara tio
Evangelica 9.26.1.
6 And concerning Moses the same author (Alexander Polyhistor) further adds
many things.' Of these
it
is worthwhile to hear
the
following:
"And
EupoJemus
b
says that Moses< was the first wise man,d that he first taught the alphabet< to the
Jews, and the Phoenicians received it from the Jews, and the Greeks received it
from tbe Phoenicians, and that Moses first wrote laws
f
for the Jews
...
Fragment 2
Alexander Polyhistor,
On
the
Jews,
in Eusebius. Praepara tio
Evangelica
9.30.J-34.J8:
130
And Eupolemus' says
in
a certain
"On
the Prophecy of Elijab"b that Moses
1
16 .
The testimonia
10 Eupolemusare as follows.
IMac 8:17f.: "H aving chosen Eupolemus S
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prophesied for forty ycars.
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will als,) a S ~ S us until the ~ U i n p l e i o n of
liod
s requirement. just
as
I have been
commanded.
I have also written to GaMee, Samaria,' Moab, Ammon." and Gilead
to
furnish
them with the necessary food supplies from the land. each month' ten thousand
cors of grain (the cor is six artabae) and ten thousand cors of wine (the cor of
wine is ten measures).d Their oil and their other necessities will be furnished for
them from Judea, and cattle to be slaughtered for their meat supply from Arabia.
Souron's Letter to Solomon
4
Souron to Solomon the Great King. greetings!
Praised be the God. who created heaven and earth and who chose a noble
person. the son of a noble man.
As
soon as I read the leiter from
YOIl,
I rejok.ed
and praised God for your reception of the kingdom.
Now, concerning what
YOIl
write to me. concerning the matter of our people,
I am sending to you eighty thousand Tyrians and Phoenicians, alld I
am
sending
to you an architect. a man from Tyre born of a mother from Judea, from the tribe
of Dan.' Anything under heaven that you ask him about concerning architecture,
he
will show you and do. Concerning the necessary food supplies of the servants
sent to you. you will do well if you write the local governors to furniY' the
necessary food supplies.
1 When Solomon with his father's friends' came to Mount Lebanon with the
Sidonians and Tyrians, he brought back
by .sea
to Joppa the trees previously cut
by his father and from there
by
land to Jerusalem.
He
began to build the Temple
of God in his thirteenth year.' The previously mentioned peoples were working.
and the twelve tribes
of
the JewsL-Qne tribe each month--provided all the
Solomon's Leiter 10 Souron
33 a. The names Galilee and Samaria. by which
these tenitories were laler known. are anachro
nistically given 10
lhe
tenitories at lhe time of
Solomon.
b. Moab and Ammon are here treated merely as
parts
of
the Solomonie empire.
In
hislo!),. both
Moab and Ammon were separate kingdoms with
!heir own kings. They were vassels of Israel rather
than simply parts
of
the empire (2Sam 8:2; 12:26
31).
c. In IKgs 5; II the supplies are provided an
nuaUy
but in Eupolemus monthly. Since in IKgs
5:25 the number of cors of wheat is twenty mousand
per year but in Eupolemus ten Ihousand per month.
there
is
a .i.fold discrepancy. The increase
is
probably due to Ihe desire of Eupolemus 10 ponray
the
munificence
of
Solomon.
d, The cor is a Hebrew measure. whereas the
anab. is
a measure introduced by the Persians and
subsequently used in Ptolemaic Egypt and
also
in
Palesline (see Josephus.
Am
11.1.3.
I(;:
12.3.3.
l4O; the cor is appro.imately 3.8 to 6.5 bushels;
the
Persian artaba equals approximately I 3 bushels
and the helleni.tic anab. a linle less). The measure
is a hellenislic unil equivalent to approdmately
8
I() gallons; see
IDB
vol.
4.
pp. 834f
.
and Wac
holder. upole ,UJ. pp. 166-67.
Souro.5
Lener 10
Solomon
34
a.
See IKg. 7: 13f.. where the woman is from
the
tribe of Naphtali. and 2Cbr 2:13-14. where
she
is
from the tribe of Dan. The leM has been
emended from David to Dan in accord wilh 2Chr
2: I 3f. and the suggestion of Fneudenlhal. The er ror
arose from confu.ion of lhe name Dan dan) wilh
the abbrevialion for David dad). Clement of AI-
e ndria.
Slrom
1.130.3 records the same error.
which may derive from AIe.ander Polyhislor
(see
n. 30a for the translation of lhe passage).
In
addition. through a misunderstanding or
cOITlIption
of the following phrase. Clemenl gives his name
as Hyperon.
b. The MSS read "and
!he
servants" rather Iban
"of !he
servants." Preudenthal has suggested the
emendation.
c.
The
phrase "his
father's friends" probably
means his father's COUrt;
the
wording here
is
still
unclear and may intend
10
speal< about "the servants
sen! by his father's frieuds", see Walter.
JSHRZ
1.2 (1976) 103.
d. In 30.6-8 Eupolemus discusses David's cut
ting oflhetreeS. See IKgs 5:17-32. where Solomon
arranges !he cutting of
Ibe
trees. and IChr 22:1
5. where David prepares Ibe malerials for
!he
Temple. Fneudenlbal.
Aiuondtr Poiyhislor. p.
114. suggests that Eupolemus
has
reconciled the
two passages; bUI see Wacholder. upoie ,us. pp.
171f., who interprelS
!he
change as part
of
Ibe
tendency of later tl'adilion
10
exalt David.
e. IKgs 6: I and 2Chr 3;2 indicate that Solomon
began to build
the
Temple in the fourth year of his
reign. i.e, when he was sixteen. The alteration may
be due to the desire to show Solomon as beginning
as soon as he reached the age of majorilY. or
it
may
be
due to the contlption
of
!he texl from
iz
10
i8
f. In order to reach a smoolher reading. the text
is
emended
10
omit the "and"
kai)
before pro-
vide" (porechein). Thus the lext agrees with 2Chr
2: 17-18 that the Israelites merely provided Ibe
supplies and against I Kgs 5:27-28 Ibat they also
worked.
necessary food supplies to the one hundred ami sixty thousand men.
He
laid the
foundations of the sanctuary of God (sixty cubits in length. sixty cubits in width;'
ttt 6-7
and the width of the structure" and its foundations ten cubits). for thus Nathan
the
2C 3-5
1
prophet of God commanded him. -He built alternately a course of stone
and
a
bonding
of
cypress' and fastened the two courses with bronze clamps. a talent
in
weight. After building
it
thus, he covered the inside with cedar and cypress wood 6o".t8
so that the stone building was not visible. He then overlaid the sanctuary with loS
gold on the inside by piling upj golden sheets
five
cubits
in
size. and he affixed
them
by
nailing them with silver nails. each a talent
in
weight and
in
the fonn of
a breast and four in number"
4
Thus
he
overlaid it with gold from the floor to the ceiling;' and he made the
ceiling from golden coffered work, and the roof he made
of
bronze from bronze
tiles after having
rnelte.d
bronze and poured this (into molds).
m
He also made two
bronze pillars and overlaid them with pure gold. a linger in thickness." -The pillars
were as tall as the sanctuary. and each pillar was ten cubits in circumference. He
stood them one on the right
of
the House (i.e. the Temple) and one on the left.
He
also made ten golden lampstands, each weighing ten talents;"
he
took as a
model the lampstand placed by Moses in the tent of witnessing.
p
He stood them
600 each side
of the
sacred enclosure. some on
the
right. some on the left. -He
also made seventy golden lamps so that seven mighl bum upon each lampstand.
He also built the gates of the Temple and adorned them with gold and silver and 6;31-35
7
covered them with coffered work of cedar and cypress. He also made a portico
4:22
on the northern side of the Temple. and supported it with forty-eight bronze
pillars.
q
He also fashioned a bronze laver, twenty cubits
in
length. twenty cubits
in
width. and five cubits in height.
He
also made a brim upon it. which extended
outward one cubit over the base for the priests 10 stand upon and bathe their feet
and wash their hands. He also made the twelve legs of the laver of cast metal'
and of the height of a man; and he stood Ihem at the back end under the laver. at
8 the right of the altar of sacri lice He also made a bronze platform two cubits in
g. The biblical account rerords thaI
the
sancwary
was sixty cubilS in length
and
twenty cubits in
width; see lKg" 6:2 and 2Cbr 3:3. Eua 6:3 refen
10 width of sixly cubits for
the
Second Temple;
however.
!he
passage is probably corrupt. In his
descriplion Eupolemus may re lee:: some aspects of
!he Second Temple as well as !he Solomonie
Temple. For
elUUDple. his
omission of
!he
porch
and the Holy
of
Holies may be due to
!he
lesser
significance Ibal he anaches to
!he
porch and
10
!he
faCl
thaI in !he Second Temple
!he
Holy of
Holies was separated simply by a veiL See
Mm.
GCS 43, I. p. 542. n. I. and Wachokler. upo -
....... pp. 174-77.
h. The lerm oikodomt here refers to
!he
width
of the walls
(see
Mras. GCS 43.1. p. 542. n. 3.
and
Wacholder,
Eupolemus.
pp. 175f.) rather han
10 !he
porch (Th. A. Businit,
Der
Tempel von
J.rusalem [Leiden. 1970) voL I.
p.
27. n. 1 9).
i.
Neither Kg. nor Chr refers 10 layers in
!he
wall of the Temple: 1Kgs 6:36 and 7:
12
refer
10
!he
inner court. Eupolemus may
here
re!lect 2Ezra
6:25. when: Ibe wall is composed of three courses
of stone
and
one course of timber. especially since
Eupolemus and 2Eua both use for "course" lhe
same term. tiomDs rather
han
srye/toS of IKgs
7:12.
j. Freudenthal emends
clWnnuma
("piling
up")
10
chOn UOIIIO
("casting").
k.
See I Kgs
6:
19f. and 2Cbr 3:8f . where only
!he
Holy of Holies is gilded. It
is
not clear whether
Eupolemus intends
!he
entire
sanctUary
or just
!he
Holy of Holies. The reference
10
nails of silver
may
derive from lhe tabernacle
in
Ex 26:32.
l. IKgs 6: IS mentions only
!he
wood paneling
of
!he
Temple walls. whereas 2Cbr
3:S-7
refers to
!he
gold overlay 0/1 the wood paneling.
m. The roof is nol described in
!he
biblical
accounts.
The
descriplion may derive from
!he
Second Temple.
n.
See lKgs 7: 1S-22 and 2Chr 3:IS -17 Only
in Eupolemus
an:
the
pillars overlaid with gold.
which addition comes from his tendency to magnify
!he
splendor of Solomon's Temple.
o.
The
Iexl
is
emended in accord with Mm.
GCS43.1. p. 542. from "!lIIent" 10 "lentalenlS."
Akemately. one could emend !he lexl from "tal
enlS"
to
"talenl" and tend: ten golden iampstands.
each weighing a talent.
p. This tent
is
the 'I!/tfl
mBtd
of Ex 27:21. elC.
On the lampstand see Ex 2S:31-4O; IKgs 7:49;
2Cbr 4:7. Eupolemus alone ref xplicitlr to !he
Mosaic authorilY
q. There is
no
portico in IKgs or 2Chr. However.
the
LXX of
I
Kgs 7:31 refers
10
fonyeighl piliars.
and
a variant of
LXX
I
Kgs
7:40 refen to a portico.
Cf.
!he
eastern portieo of
!he
later. Herodian Temple
in Josephus. Wo, 5 5.1, 185. and Ani 20 97
220-2\.
r. Freudenthal. AlexaNkr Polyhislo,. p. 211.
emends loreN/as ciWnellias ("cast metal")
10
lau
rOlLf
chOneUlolIS
i.e. "cast oxen." in accord with
2Cbr 4:3 LXX. However. Mras retains !he reading
of !he
MSS. Cf. IKgs 7:23-39; 2Cbr 4:2-{): and
also Ex 30:17-21.
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heIght near the laver for the king to stand upon whenever he prays so that he
might be visible to the Jewish people. He also built the altar of sacrifice twenty
2Chr
6:13
9cubits' by twenty cubits and twelve cubits in height. oHe also made two bronze
rings wrought like chains' and stood them upon stands, which were twenty cubits
in height above the sanctuary, and they cast a shadow over the entire Temple. He
hung upon each network four hundred bronze bells, a talent in weight, and he
made all the networks in order to ring the bells and scare away the birds that they
might not settle upon the Temple or build a nest upon the coffered works
of
the
gates and porticoes and defile the Temple with their excrement.
o He also encircled Jerusalem as a city with walls and towers and trenches, and
, he built a palace for himself. The shrine was first called the "Temple of Solomon"
l
ct
3
,!jt'-t2
hieron SolomOnos). Later, corruptly the city was named from the Temple
"Jemsalem"
(.':icrusaltm); and by thc Greeks it is correspondingly called
"Hierosolyma.
"
l
Mter
having completed the Temple and enclosed the city with walls, he went
to Shiloh"' and offered a sacrifice to God, a thousand oxen as a holocaust. He also
took the tent and the altar of sacrifice and the vessels, which Moses had made,
and brought them into Jerusalem and placed them in the House (Le. the Temple).
J He also placed there the ark' and the golden altar and the lampstand and the table
and the other vessels, as the prophet commanded him. He also brought to
f x I ~ a n
innumerable sacrifice, (including) two thousand sheep, (and) three thousand five
IICpS:'
hundred oxen.
20It 1:6
4 The entire amount of gold, which was used for the two pillars and the sanctwuy,
was four million, six hundred thousand talents;Y of silver for the nails and the
other ornament a thousand, two hundred and thirty-two talen18; of bronze for the
columns and the laver and the portico eighteen thousand, five hundred talents.
s Solomon also sent back both the Egyptians and the Phoenicians, each to their own
6
country, and gave to each man ten golden shekels (the talent is a shekel).' oTo
Vaphres the king
of
Egypt he sent ten thousand measures
of
oil, a thousand artabae
of
dates,
one hundred barrels
of
honey and spices; and for Souron he sent to Tyre
the golden column, which is set up in Tyre in the temple of ZeUS.ol
s Emended from twenty-live cubit' in accord
x. Eupolemus seems
10
indicate a second
move
with
2Chr
4:
I.
It
is
also possible
thai the
dimensions
in
this sentence, probably since in Scripture David
of
the
altar come
from
multiplying by
four
the
size
had already moved the art from the shrine; see
of the altar in
E.
27: 1-2.
2Sam 6:2; 1Kgs S:3f.; 2Chr 1:3f.
Ie The wording in the Gk_ is noc clear at this
y - UI_,
Eupolemus
says
four
hundn:od and
point It seems to indicate two circular pieces of
sixty "m yriads" of talents (8 myriad is equivalenl
nOlWoriL The object here described
is
no
reported
10 ten thousand)_
See
Ex 38:24-31; IChr 22:14;
in
Scripture (but see
the
pillars and their capitals
29:4,
7_
Walter,
JSHRZ
1_2 (I976) 103, suggests
in
I
Kgs 7: 17 and 2Chr
4: 12L).
However. Josephus,
dw ..myriads" should be omitted from the texl 10
in
War 5.5.6, 224, describes
the
presence of
achieve 8 more reasonable amount Howe""r, as
spikes on the roof of the Herodian Temple
10
scare
Wacholder proposes
Eupo/emus.
pp. 214f.), the
away birds; see also M_ Middo/4:6. If D_ Sperber
innatril number is in accOrd with the tendency of
is in
his analysis of a coin from
the
period
Eupolemus 10 maximize
the
splendor
of
Solomoll'.
of
Antigonus
Mattathias (40-37 BC). lhe
Second
Temple,
Temple also had this row ofspikes; see Sperber.
z.
'!be equation of a talenl
and
a
shekel
is
..
A
Note
on a
Coin
of
Antigonus
Mattathias,"
errooeoos; there were three thousand six hundred
lQR
54 (1%4) 2SI-S7.
shekels 10 lhe talent.
u.
Compare the ,.lWnlJ, (LXX m.cIt6n ,h) of
81_ In IKgs S:2Sf. Solomon provides wheal and
IKgs
7:27, which are the bronze stands for the
oil for Hiram, the
king
of Tyre. ralher
than
for the
lavers,
king of Egypt, as Supolemus stares. The rather
v _
See the
similar etymological discussions in
n:mrubble sentence concerning lhe golden column
Josephus,
War
6, 10.3,
438:AIII
7.3.2,
67;Apioll
serves 10 undencore further the wealth
of
Solomon.
1.22,
IR
On the golden pllar, see Herodotus 2.44; Josephus.
w. Contrary
10
IKgs 3:4L and 2Chr 1:3L,
Apjqn 1.18, 118; and !he quotation from Theopb
Eupolemus maintains thaI Shiloh and not Gibeon
iIus in
!he following
n.
was the site of the tent
Fragment 3 AleXilnder Polyhistor, On the Jews, in Euse/Jius. Praepamiru
Evangelica 9.34.20:
34 20
Eupolemus" says that Solomon also made a thousand golden shields, each
one of which was in the weight of
five
hundred gold shekels. He lived fiftytwo
years, forty years of which he was king in peace.'
Fragment 4
Alexander Polyhislor.
On
the
Jews, in
Eusebius. Praeparatio
Evangeuca 9.39.2-5:
239 Then Jonachim (became king).' During his reign Jeremiah the prophet
prophesied. Sent by God, he caught the Jews sacrificing to a golden idol, whose
l
name was Baal He disclosed to them the coming misfortune. Jonachim attempted
to bum him alive, but he said that, with this wood, as captives they would prepare
4 food for the Babylonians, and dig the canals of the Tigris and Euphrates. b When
Nebuchadnezzar the king of the Babylonians heard the predictions of Jeremiah,
'he exhorted Astibares< the king of the Medes to join him in an expedition. 'He
associated with himself Babylonians and Medes and gathered together a force
of
one hundred and eighty thousand foot soldiers, one hundred and twenty thousand
cavalry, and ten thousand chariots for foot soldiers. First, he subdued Samaria
and Galilee and SCYlhopolis and the Jews living in Gilead.
d
Then he seized
Jerusalem and captured Jonachim the king of the Jews. He took as tribute the
gold
and
silver and bronze in the Temple and sent them to Babylon, except for
the ark and the tablets in it. This Jeremiah preserved.'
Frqment
S Clement
of
ll.iexandria, Stromata
114/.4:
141 4
Further,' Eupolemus also says in a similar treatise that alllhe years from
Adam to the fifth year of the reign of Demetrius
b
(while Ptolemy< was in his
f'rqrMftt
3
Walter.
lSHRZ
1.2 (1976)
107.
and Wacholder.
34.20 a_ This fragmenl probably followed imme
Eupo/emus. pp. 230-34.
diately upon F_
2_
Alexander PolyhislOf has imer
d.
The
details of
Ihe
campaign are fictional:
ruplA>d the
sequeroce
10 introduce a brief qUOlBtJon
contrast 2Kgs 24: 2Chr 36_ ScylhopoUs
is
!he later.
from TbeopIIilus which reads as follows: ..
And
helleni5lic
name of BelhShan (Josh 17:
II.
16)
Theophilus says thaI Solomon
1SCnI
the remaining
e_ This legend
is
also reported in 2Mac 2:1-10
gold
10
the king
of
he Tyrians and that he fashioned
and in T_
Schermann,
ed.. I'ropherarum
Vi,,,.
an
image
of his dallghter, a fullbodied figure. and
(\.;lipzig, 19(7) pp_ lor. See also IMac 4:46;
thaI
he placed the golden pillar around
as
a covering
Josephus. Ani 18,4,1.
8'-87;
2Bar 6_
for the Slatlle."
b.
The wei,hl
is
presumably
in
shekels;
the le.1
FragmentS
has merely
"gold ones." ContraSt IKgs 10: 16f.;
141.4 a_
The contexl of Clemenl of Alexandria,
2Chr 9:ISf.;
d.
Song 4:4.
S,rom
1.14L 1-3 is
as follows:
"Demetrius says
c_ IKg. 11:42 and 2Ou: 9:30 report Solomon's
in 'On the
Kings
in Judea
that
the lwelve tribes
reign as lasting forty Y ' ; his life-span i. derived
of Juda.
Benjamin
and \.;lv; were no captUred by
from this plus his Iwelve years al
his
accession
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And
Islae!",
~ o n
'simeun,
at
21
ye,;u,
and 4
mOll!hs,
and Levi, at 20 years and 6
months
of
age," rushed out and slew both Hamor and his son Shechem, and all
14
And
they were at a loss' WI
[0
why Joseph gave Benjamin III breakfast 11 portion C ~ ' I
their males, because of the defilement of Dinah; and Jacob was 107' years old at
Jub 19:5
Gen
41
Gen
5 times
b
as much as theirs, since he was not able to consume
so
much
meat.< He
the time,
had done this because his father had had [six]' sons
by
Leah, and two by his
10 To resume,
When
he had come to
Lux
[which isla Bethel. God said that he was
mother, Rachel; therefore,
he
set five portions before Benjamin, and he himself
no longer to
be
called Jacob, but IsraeJ.b From that place he came to Chaphratha,'
took one;" accordingly they had (six]d portions, as many as the sons of Leah
and aftcr that to Ephrath, which
is
Bethlehem, and there
he
fathered Benjamin;
received.
and Rachel died after giving birth
to
Benjamin,d and Jacob lived with her for 23'
I
Similarly, while he gave two garments
to
each,
to
Benjamin he gave five. and
years,
three hundred pieces of gold;' and
he
sent [himl to his father likewise,' so that
II From there, Jacob carne
to
Marnre, [which is]' Hebron, to his father, Isaac,'
his
mother's house might
be
equal to the other.
Joseph was then 17 years old,' and he was sold into Egypt. and remained in prison
16
And they lived in the land of Canaan from the time when Abraham was chosen
13 years, so that he was then 3{ d years old, And Jacob was 120' years
of
age,
from
among the gentiles and migrated
to
Canaan: Abraham for 25' years; Isaac,
one year before Isaac's death at 180' years of age.
6()b
years; Jacob, 130' years.
All
the years
in
the land of Canaan were [thus] 215.'
E,12:40iLXXI
i:< And J o ~ e p h , having interpreted the lting's dreams, governed Egypt for 7 years,
Ii
And
in the third year
of
the famine
in
Egypt. Jacob came into Egypt when he was
in
which time he married Asenath, daughter
of
Pentephres' the priest
of
Heliopolis,
130" years old; Reuben, (44 years and 10 months];b Simeon, 44 years; Levi, 43
and begot Manasseh and Ephraim;" and 2 years
of
famine followed.'
years
(and
2 months];< Judah, 42 years and
[4Jd
months; [Dan, 42 years and 4
13
But though Joseph had prospered for 9 years, he did not send for his father.
months];" Naphtali,
41
years and 16J( months; Gad, 41 years and [6J' months;
because he was a shepherd. as were Joseph's brothers; and to the Egyptians it is Asher, 40 years and 8 months; [lssachar, 40 years and 8 months];h Zebulun, (39
disgraceful
to
be a shepherd. That this was the reason why he did not send for
years and 10 monthsJ;; Dinah, 39 years; and Benjamin, [ P years old.
k
him, he himself had made clear. For when his relatives carne, he told tf that
,
18
But Joseph (he' says) was already there in Egypt, (at ageJ
b
39; and from Adam
etll
if they should be summoned
by
the king and asked what their occupation was,
until Joseph's brothers came into Egypt there were 3624< years; and from the
they should say that they were breeders of cattle,'
Joseph's sale into Egypl at age 17 (Oen 37:2).
Since he has both Joseph and Dinah as the same
age (cf. PrEv 9.21.5. 8), he art>itrarlly adds 10
years
10
allow
{or
the events prior to the
sale.
According to Jub 30:2, Dinah
is 12
year. old al
the time o{ the rape.
b.
The
ages
o{
Dinah. Simeon, and Levi
are
reached
by
adding
10
yean; to their last-mentiOned
ages
in PrEv
9.21,8.
c,
Jacob's age
is
also consistent with Demetrius'
chronological schema:
77
years old when he
fled
10
Haran. plus 7 years there, plus 7 years
of
child.
begetting. plus the additional (; years requested by
Laban, plus
10
years beside Hamor 107,
10
. The MSS read
Luz
of
Bethel,
as
if
Luz
is in the region or district of Bethel. LXX Oen
35:6 supports the emendation, as does LXX Josh
18:13
and Jub 27:19,26 (but
cf
MT Josh 16:lf.)
See
also
n, Ila,
b.
FOllowing OT traditions. Demetrius also has
second version of Jacob', change of name, in
which
God is
the actor/speaker (Oen
35; 10); cf
PrEy
9,21. 7 and Oen 32:24-28.
c. T he word chaphrath. kbrt)
is
here and
in
LXX Oen 35:
16
only transliterated (LXX: and
when he
drew near chabralha
to
come to the land
o{
Ephrath"; MT: "and when they were still some
distance frum Ephrath ). 'The tenn
is
mistakenly
understood as a place name
by
Dememus (and
possibly also the LXX). instead of an indication of
distance as
in
the Heb.; cf. Jub 32:32, This
circUmstance speaks against Dememus' being fa.
miliar with Heb. or the Heb, OT,
d, Oen 35:16-1 9; Jub 32:32-34, 13
a, Demetrius' interest here
is
to explain th.
c. Jacob's age when
he
enters Egypt (Oen 47:9;
e. That is, Jacob lived with Rachel for 7 years.
tradition and answer queslions that may arise from
cf.
PrEy
9.21,17).
during the births of the 12 children (PrEv
9.21.3),
it
(in this case,
why
Joseph did nol send for his
d. LXX E. 12:40 gives 430 years for the lime
plus 6 years at Laban' s request
(PrEv
9,21.6), plus
family earlier and announce his
rise
to power
in
spent
in both
Egypt
and
Can".,,,
MT
Ex 12:40 (ef.
10 years with Hamor (PrEv 9.21.9) 23 years
Egypt); cf, Freudenthal.
Alexallder PolylUstor.
p.
45,
Oen 15:13) has 430 years in Egyp! only. Hence
Demetrius
is
dependent on the LXX. Although 215
years
is
allested
by
Josephus,
Ani
2,318. he ellhibil,
divcl nt chronu ogies l s w h i ~
cr.
l tnt t 154;
L2.56f.; and
2,
187L, yielding 230 years. See also
n,
IIle.
17 a.
Cf. Oen 47:9,
In
Demetrius' schema, 130
could
be
confirmed by adding Jacob's last-men
tioned age, 120 (cf. PrEv 9.2Lll), 7 years of
plenly. and 3 year;; of famine, 'The "U.ird year"
seems
10
be Demetrius' conclusion from Gen
45:6
and
the
events thaI follow.
b. 'The MSS read 45 yean;,
c.
'The MSS read 43 years.
d, The
MSS
read 2 months.
e, The MSS omit Dan and
his
age entirely, by
haplography,
f.
The MSS read 7 months.
g, The MSS read
3
months,
h, The MSS omit ISSachar and his age
by
haplography.
i, 'The MSS read 40 years.
j. 'The MSS read 28 years,
k,
'The
MSS for the list
in
PrEy 9,2L17 are
problematic. Although the ages of Simeon. Asher.
and Dinah are correct, some of the fisures are
corrupt. while others appear rounded off. 'The
pallem of
10
months between births, seen in PrEy
9.2U-5
8,
is
not followed, and Dan and I ....
char
are
again missing frum
the list.
both
by
homoiote
ieuton because of the age of the preeeding brother
in
each case. The emended
and
reconstructed list
seen
in
the translation follows Demetrius' own
eSlablished patterns and conforms to OT lraditions,
which
he
carefully followed; cf.
Gen
46:8-27.
18 .
I.e
..
Demetrius.
b. 'The MSS erroneously read thaI Joseph wa.
in Egypt for 39 years. which in context
is
impos
sible,
II
is, however. Joseph's age at !he time (read
eU " inslead
of
eli ; cf. Seder Olam
2,
c.
'The
period of 3624 years agrees with the
LXX system of calculalion; tbe MT has 2238 years.
II a.
The MSS read "Mamre of Hebron." as
if
each name refers to a different enlity. But Mamre
- Hebron according to Gen 35:27; Jub 19:5, See
n. lOa.
b. Oen 35:27
c, Oen 37:2,
d, Oen 41 :46.
e, In Demetrius' schema, 120 years Joseph's
l3'year
imprisonment (PrEv 9,21, II), plus Jacob's
age
al
the time of Dinah's rape.
107 (PrEv9.21.9).
r.
'Oen 35;2Sf. Such an age also accords with
Demetrius' calcUlations: Isaac is 137 when Jacob
leaves for Haran (PrEv 9.21.2), plus Jacob's 7
years with Laban, 7 yean;
of
child-be gelling , 6
additional years with Laban, 10 years with Hamor.
13
years
of
imprisonment -
ISO. On
the other
hand,
it is
not clear
why
the calculation
is one
year before." and the Oreek
is
similarly perplexing
af
this poinL
12 a,
Oen
41
:45, The pries!'s name varies:
LXX,
Petephre;
MT.
Potiphera; TJos
12: I.
Pentephri.
Some LXX cursives parallel Demetrius' speHing;
cf. Josephus. Ant 2,91.
b. Oen 41:50-52, Waller (JSHRZ 3.2
(19751
287), sugges'" that a
SUmmary
similar
10
Oen
41:4S-49; 42:6. belong. here. as
is
in fact found
in
PrEv 9,23.4 amid a F,
by
Artapanus
bUI
which
may have had its origins elsewhere.
Is
the source
Demetrius?
c, Oen 45:6.
14 a. Who
is
at loss. Joseph' s brothers or
readers of Oen? The Ok,
is
ambIguous. If the
latter,
to
be al loss
(85
10
why)"
is
language
characteristic of
aporia; llli I"seis
texts and
is
to
be
rel.1ed to the "someone
asked in F,
5 (PrEv
9.29.I6end),
b. Oen 43:34. Jub 42:23(, has Benjamin receive
7 limes as much,
c, 'The remad
!hat
Benjamin could no! eat all
that was given
10
him bas no OT basis,
d, 'The MSS read 7. " 'The emendation to
6
is
supponed
by
Oen 35:23 (eL Oen 46:8-15) and
Demetrius him..,lf
(PrEv 9,2
LJ-5 and the last
phrase here
in
9,21.14), where Leah had only
6
sons. 'The occurrence of 7 in the MSS is possibly
the resull of corruption, since the abbreviations of
these numbers in Ok, are so similar(so Freudenthal.
Alexander PoIylUstor.
p. 53f.), To maintain
1.
as
in
Mms's telll (which then emends
one
to
two (see nelll n.), is not convincing, Leah had
7 children, but Dinah was not senl to Egypt.
e. Thai Ihe MSS read one here may confirm
the emendation discussed
in
the previous n,
15 a.
Demetrius. Ilke LXX Oen 45:22,
reads
gold ;
MT
rends silver.
b. Oen 45:22[,; cf. Jub 43;22, The Ok. here is
ambiguous; it is not clear whether a similar gifl
was given or that Benjamin was sent
in
a
similar
fashion
10
his father,
16
a. This period
of
time is derived from Oen
12:4. Abraham
is
75 years old when he leaves
Haran
and is
100 when
Isaac is
bom (Oen 21:5).
b. lsaac's age when Jacob is bom (Oen 25:26),
i.e 137 ( Isaac'. age) minus 77
=
Jacob's
age) = 60.
Cf.
PrEy 9.21.1-2,
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that, after
he
had finished ordermg all things,
he:
so orders them tor all time.
12For
the
legislation signifies that
in six days he made heaven and earth and all
rhings which are in rhem in order that he might make manifest the times and
foreordain what precedes what with respect to order. For, having set all things in
order, he maintains and alters them so (in accordance with that order). And the
legislation has shown plainly that the seventh day
is
legally binding for
us
as a
sign
of the
sevenfold principle" which isestablished around us,
by
which
we
have
knowledge of human and divine matters.
13 And indeed all the cosmos of all living beings and growing things revolves in
series
of
sevens. ( Its being called "sab bath "
is
translated as
"rest."
And both
Homer andHesiod, having taken information from our books, say clearly that the
F
2;4
seventh day
is
holy. Hesiod (speaks) so:
To begin with, (the) first, (the) fourth and (the) seventh, (each) a holy
day;-
And again he says:
And on the seventh day (is) again the bright light of the sun.'
14 And Homer speaks so:
And then indeed the seventh day returned. a holy day;i
[and
Then was the holy seventh dayp
and again:
It was the seventh day and on itall things had been completed
k
and:
And on the seventh morning we left the stream
of
Acheron.'
I
He (Homer) thereby signifying that away from the forgetfulness and evil
of
the
soul, by means of the sevenfold principle
m
in accordam:e with the truth, the things
mentioned before are left behind and we receive knowledge of the truth. as has
been said above.'
16And Linus speaks so:
And on the seventh morning all things were made complete;.
and again:
(The) seventh (day) isof good quality
and
(the) seventh (day) is birth;.
and:
(The) seventh (day) is among the prime (numbers) and (the) seventh (day) is
perfect;
[and}
And all seven (heavenly bodies) have beencreated in the starry heaven,
Shining in their orbits in the revolving years.
Such then are the remarks
of
Aristobulus.'
e.
Or "as a sign or our seventh faculty, namely.
re son
r. There are various points or contact berween
F. 5:9-13
and
Oement, Slrotn 6.137-44.
8 Hesiod, apero el
Die.. 770.
h. 'The verse is 001 8Itested in
the
works or
He,iocl; cf.
Homer.
Iliad 1.605; Hesiocl. Theog
760.958.
i This
Verse
is
001
attested
in
Homer's work
j 'The malerill/ in brackets does
001
occur in
PrE. 1l.12.
14;
itis
cited in 13.13. 34 and
by
Clement. SIrotn S.107. 2.
Ie This verse seems
10
be based on Homer.
Odymry 5.262. which reads
"the fourth day."
I This verse Is 001 a!tested but is related
Odyuey 10.SI3. 12.1.
m.
Or
"reason."
n.
'TheGreek here isnearly unintelligible.
o. A mythicll/singer. lilteMusaeus
and
Orpheus.
p.
This vene
is
probably
a
Jewish composition.
q.
Or "'The
seventh day
andthe .seventh
birth
are good." According
to
Philo
the
seventh
daywas
the
birthday of
the world
Op 89).
r.
Oement cites
the
same
veflleSas F 5:13-16
in Strom 5.107. 1-108. I
and
attribules them 10
CaJJimachus.
CHRONOGR PHY
DEMETRIUS THE CHRONOGR PHER
(Third Century B.C.)
A NEW TRANSLA
nON
AND INTRODUCTION
BY
J.
HANSON
fragments are customarily ascribed to Demetrius.' All are concerned with the Old
in one way or another. Fragment I
is
a synopsis of the story
of
the sacrifice of
(Oen 22). Fragment 2, the longest of the six, mainly involves patriarchal chronology.
Jacob's career and the birthdates and ages of his twelve sons and one daughter
in
with it and concluding with a brief treatment of the main events of Joseph' s
and of the chronology Moses' ancestors. Fragment 3 chiefly concerns
genealogy of Moses and Zipporah, reconciling the various Old Testament traditions
the latter's father.
2
Fragment 4 is a synopsis of the story of Ibe changing of bitter
to sweet at Mamb, and the anival
of
the people
at
Elim (Ex
15:22-27).
Fragment
5
with the question of how the people of the Exodus got their weapons.
isno internal evidence for the title of the workfrom which the first five fragments
Fragment 6; however, is said to
be
from Demetrius' work
On rhe Kings
in
and gives the number of years between the various deportations of Israel and Judah
Demetrius' own time. This
is
a period of biblical history much later than that treated
fragments
1-5.
Yet it is not necessary to posit that these fragments were taken from a
work, however inappropriate the title mayseem for patriarchal traditions.)
~ F r a g m e n t s 1-5
are preserved in Eusebius.
Praeparario Evangelica,
Book 9, where he
excerpted the work of Alexander Polyhistor On the Jews: PolyhistOf had. in tum,
the work
of
Demetrius. The translation
of
the
first five
fragments follows the lext
numbered divisions of K. Mras's edition of Eusebius' Praeparatio Evangelica;" the
used for the translation
of
fragment 6 isO. Stiihlin' s edition of Clement of Alexandria's
the work
in
which this fragment ispreserved. $
Demetrius' Greek style-if we may judge from Polyhistor, who systematically converts
into indirect speech-is grammatically uncomplex and straightforward, if
tedious and restricted in vocabulary. It isunaffected bythedescriptive flourishes
in
other Graeco-Jewish authors, such as Artapanus or Pseudo-Eupolemus, and lacks
'1'5.
I and S la.:k
any
attribution or authorship. Although more
II'Ue or
F.
S
bothare
genemUy
compatible with the
and
style
or the
ascribed
Fs.
and
iIIuslnlte similar interests.
See
also
F.
I.
n. a.
and
F.
5. n
. .
,ild
F.
is often cited by Byzantine authors, e.g. Leo
the
Grammarian and George Cedrenus; c(. Denis.
IlIIrodJu::iion. p.
249(,
For
some discussion or
thisF.
as a whole.
cr.
Wacholder.
EltpOlemu.
(Cincinnati. Ohio. 1974).
Since
Fl. 1-5 do
001 deal
with
the
kings
in
Judea. asdoes
F.
6.
tbe
one title
rorall
or
them seems
awkward
and
the
speculation
thai
Demetrius
mayhave
written
more than
one
work.
Yet Justus or Tiberias
wrO(e a
history
kinss
/oudDilm Basileiln
en
lois SlttlllllOSl).
which
covered
the
period
from MosestoAgrippa II. Philo.
cancll/I
Moses
a "kins" ViI Mos
2.292).
'See Bibliograpby
ror
complete details, as well as. list
or
0Iber editions
and
collections
or
Demetrius' fragments.
'For detail
see Bibliography. Oemen! may. likeEusebiu., have drawn
on
Alexander
PoIyhistOf
as his""""" for
Demetrius;
cf. Denis.
Ittlrodut'lion.
p. 2:SO.
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UW
(JOY!nu;;
apuloget c biases
of
Josephtls. IU5tead
ot the Jegendary andfabulous
features
foundamong thelikesof Artapanus,Demetrius ismarked by soberchronologicalPrecision'
usingthetraditions
of
theSeptuagintasabase.
6
As
aconstructivechronographer,
hisSourcewellandgenerallyfollows
it
closely,downtothespellingsof proper
wherehispurposesrequire it.DemetriuscanalterandCombinediversetraditionsand
openconjectures(cf.F. 3.PrEy
9.29.1-3;
F.
5,
PrEy 9.29.16).
Dateandprovenance
Fragment6(Strom
I.
141.1f.)refers toPtolemyIV (c. 221-204
B.C.);
henceDemetrius'
workisoftendated tohisreignandplaCedinEgypt.A one-hundred_yeardiscrepancy
with
someotherdates inthis fragmenthasledSome scholarsto emendthe referencetoanother.
Ptolemy.7But suchan alternativeis withoutprobativeforce. sinceit
is
those
which haveprobably sufft'red !elttualcorruption.' Despitethe difficulnes
of
the
datingto the time of Ptolemy IV is appropriate because of Demetrius' relation to
literaryactivities
of
thethirdcenturyand totheSeptuagintinParticular.'Hence
is theearliest datableJewish author writingin Greek.loHe wroteafter the completion
the
Greektranslationof thePentateuch(3rdcent.B.C.), sinceheshowsknowledgeand
of
it,ll but before the first century
B.C.,
When
his work was excerpted byPolyhistor.
..
AlthoughPalestineor someotherplaceunderPtolemaicrulecannotbet:xcluded
of the referenceto Ptolemy IV Philopator
in
F. 6),Egypt,or Alexandriainparticular.
probablythe placein whichDemetrius composedhis
Work.
Suchajudgment
useof theSeptUagintandespeciallyuponhisrelationtoscientificchronography(see
islortaal
Importance
Demetrius'concernfortheinconSistenciesandobscuritiesfoundinthebiblicaltraditionsj
especiallyinmatters of chronography.givesevidenceforthebeginnings
of
oratleastscientificchronography. amonghellenisticJews. Thereare also
thatDemetriusdoesnot standalonebutmayrepresentaschool
of
biblicalchronographi
2
interpretation. This suggestion is reinforced by the observation thatnotonly
are
l
schoolsinevidencelater)butthattheSeptuagintitself,uponwhichDemetriusrelies,
hintsthat it. too, mayrepresenta schoolof biblicalchronology. Thispossibilityisse
thedivergencesindatingbetweentheHebrewandSeptuaginttexts. I. Althoughchronol02icil
concernsconstitutethebulk of Demetrius' preservedwork, hewasalso interested in
exegeticalmatters,asthe shorterfragments I,4.and5 maysuggest.
Demetrius is the first witness to the use
of
the Septuagint, or at least of the
Pentateuch." His work clearly. and perhaps exclusively. presupposes the Greek
"ThaIDemetriusdoes notuse
Ille
Heb. texl ismostclearly seen
in
his cboiceof vocabulary.whichemibilS a vast,
and
detailedoverlap
with
!hatof lhe
LXX.
Use
of heLXXis
alsoshow"
bythe
differencesbetween
IllecltmaographiClll
Syslem
of
Demetrius/LXXand !hat
of
Ille Heb.or the Samaritanvet>lon. ThatDemetriusmay heve known aHeb"
Penl8la1ch. bUI with Sepruaginla/cltmaolog
y
seems
tobe supPOrtedby F s
(see below.
n. U,
andF.S.
n. d).But
Ibis
possibility
is
called inloquestion
by F. 2(PrE. 9.21.
/0); cf.
n.
10c.
'Freudenthal.Alexander Polyhislor. pp. 5 7 ~ 2 wouldemend to Ptolemym
(246-221
a.c.). H.
Graetz.
"Die
OtronologiedesDemetrius."
MOWJ 27
(1877)
71.
preferred8
much
later
dare
for
the
Ptolemy
in
question.
Cf. F. 6.
n. f.
'For
further remllrl
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. .
..
", """JUt" ' ' ' i 1I1lluenc(' of [he C1U1(\Ulcal books upon Demetrius
seems tv reside solely in ihe language and system of chronology that are apparent
in
th
Septuagint.
Relation to apocryphal books
Demetrius belongs to those apocryphal traditions which similarly represent or reflect
chronological systems, if not schools: Jubilees, Genesis Apocryphon, Testament of
the
Twelve Patriarchs, Seder Olam. and Talmudic and Midrashic traditions. But. within
group. distinctions may be made. For example. the Testament of the Twelve
Patriarchs
certainly reflects a chronological system. but unlike Demetrius and Jubilees, this is nol
intricately related to the purpose of the work. Because Demetrius is so early. direct influences ,
upon him are difficult if not impossible to determine. Demetrius' influence upon
also a difficult matter lind
can rarely
be determined with precision.
21
Even
interpretation coincides with a later view influence or dependence is hard to prove.
is clear that he is to be considered in light of those apocryphal traditions which concenIM'
themselves with matters
of
chronography.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
..
Charlesworth, PMR, pp. 93f.
Delling.
Bibliographie.
pp. 53-55.
Denis. Introduction. pp. 24R-5
TEXTS
Denis,
A.
-M. (ed.).
Fragmenta pseudepigraphorum quae
Leiden. 1970; pp. 175-79.
Jacoby. F. (ed.). Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker. Leiden. 1958; vol. 3C.
666-71.
Mras.
K.
(ed.).
Eusebius Werke 8.1. Praeparatio Evangelica.
GCS 43.1; Berlin.
I
Stiiblin, O. (ed.). Clemens Alexandrinus. Stromata 1 4. GCS 52; Berlin. 1960;
p.
87.
S1110165
Bickerman. E. J.
"The
Jewish Historian Demetrios." Christianity. Judaism and
Greco-Roman Cults. ed. J. Neusner. SJLA 12.3; Leiden. 1975; pp. 72-84.
(Discussifl
by Artapanus.
The fragments
of
Artapanus are preserved in Eusebius. Pro,eparatio Evangelica. Book 9.
chapters 18. 23. and 27. The third fragment is partially paralleled in Clement.
Stromata.
1.23.154.2f. The present translation is based on the edition
of
Eusebius by Karl Mras.' The
lext can also
be
found
in
Jacoby's Die Fragmente der griechischen Histori ker and
in
A.-M.
Denis. Fragmenta pseudepigraphorum quae supersunt graeca.
On
the textual tradition
of
Eusebius see the general introduction
to
Alexander Polyhistor
by John Strugnell (above).
It is important to
bear
in mind that we do not have actual excerpts from Artapanus but
only
the summaries
of
Alexander Polyhistor, insofar as these have been preserved by
Eusebius. The parallel in Clement is limited to a single incident (the nocturnal visit
of
Moses to the king) and it omits some
of
the miraculous details
of
the text
in
Eusebius.
The first fragment in Eusebius is presented as an excerpt from Artapanus' Judaica. while
the other two fragments are said
to be
from his
Peri Joudaiiin
( About the Jews ).
The
latter title
is
also given
in
Clement. It is not clear. however. whether two distinct works
were involved. The three fragments could easily fit in one continuous history. and Judaica
is
most probably a loose reference to the
Peri loudaion.
rather than an exact title. The
evidence is not sufficient to permit certainty on this matter.
Mm. GCS 43.1.
pp.
504. S16f.. 519--24.
1
Jacoby.
FGH vol. 3C. no. 126. pp. 680-86.
'Denis. PVTG
2. PI .
186-95.
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vnglll l l l
Ilmguagt.
There is no reason to suspect that the original language was other than Greek.
Artap
..... i
vocabulary has many points of contact with classical Greek literature as well as the
of the heflenistic age.'
Date
The only clear evidence for the date of Anapanus is that he must have written prior
Alexander Polyhistor,
Who
summarized the work about the middle of the first century B.C.
Proposed dates include the time of Ptolemy IV Philopator
(221-204
B.C.),' the early second
century
B.C. ,.
alld about 100
B.C.
7
Artapanus apparently knew the Septuagint'
and
also
reflects many themes of the anti-jewish Egyptian accounts of Moses. of which the
is found in Manetho (who /lolJrishe
an earliest possible date
of approximately 250 B.C.
1
The syncretistic character of the
has been urged as an argument for an early date but is in fact compatible with any
in the period
250-100 B.C.
Three considerations may help to specify the date further. Cerfaux has argued that
passages in Anapanus reflect an attempt by Ptolemy IV Phi/opator to assimilate
to the worship
of
Dionysus.
12
Such an attempt is explicitly alleged in Maccabees
where Philopator
is
said to require that the Jews be registered and randed by fire on
bodies with an ivy leaf. the emblem of Dionysus." while those who voluntarily joi
mysteries are granted equal citizenship with the Alexandrians. J Cerfaux also notes
evidence
of
the Schuban Papyrus that Phi/opator attempted to organize the cult
of
by requiring those who practiced initiation to deposil their sacred doctrine
sealed and signed with their names. Cerfaux relates
this
requirement of the Schuban
10 the enigmatic passage in Anapanus
(PrEv 9.27.24-26)
Where the king bids Moses
the name
of
his God and then writes the name on a tablet and seals it. Cerfaux also
the statement in Anapanus (PrEv
9.27.20)
that Chenephres required the Jews to wear linen
garments as
an
allusion to the attempted assimilation to the cult
of
Dionysus.
If
Artapanus
is
indeed alluding to events in the reign
of
Philopator in this indirect manner. we should
assume that he wrote during that reign or shonly thereafter. However. CerfauII's a.r:gume
is 100 hypothetical to count as decisive evidence. and is no more than a possibility.
A second consideration arises from Artapanus' mention of the disease elephantiasis (PrEv
9.27.20).
According to Plutarch
QuaestiQ/1/UII
convivialium ti er
8.9.1)
this disease was
first identified in the time of Asclepiades
of
Prusa. who flOurished in the first century B.C,.
However. it had already been the subject of a treatise falsely ascribed 10 Democritus
and
believed to be the work of Bolus of Mendes. in Egypt, who was a contemporary of
See Freudenthal. AlltJUinder PO/yhillor,
I ll.
21St.; I. Merentites, Ho loudsio. Logio. Artapano. kill,o ErgOllAu,OII
(Athens, 19(1) pp. 184-86.
'So Deni . PVTG 2. p. 257. following a suggestion
of L.
Cerfaux. "In/luence des Mysteres sur
Ie
Judaisme
Alexandrin Avant Philon," ~ c l U "
L. Ceifawt
(Bibliofhec. Ephemeridum Theologicarum lavMiensium 6: G e m b l o u ~ ,
954), vol. I.
I ll.
81-85.
'So B. Z. Wacholder, "Bibli cal Chronology and World Chronicle
. . .
HT1/ 61 (1968) 460,
n.
34, and E"fW/e17tUJ:
A Study
of
Judseo.{Jreek Li'era,ure (Monographs of
die
Hebrew Union College 3; CinCinnati. 1974) p. 106.
n.
40.
'So Walter. JSHRZ 1.2 (1976)125; Merentites, Ho loudsios Logios. p. 9.
'freUdenthal, Alexandu Polyhis'or, p. 216.
'See
P. M. FrllSel.
P o l ~ m a i c Alexandria (O.fonl, 1972) vol. I.
p.
706.
ICThe
origins
of
die LXXarewidely di'puled. The traditional date. given by lIllAris, is the reign
of
Ptolemy
1/
Phil.delphus (287-247 B.C.). While the !.ener is nOI reliable
hisloriC41
evidence. thi. period isstill the most probable
for
die
translation of the Pentateuch. See the discussion by S. JeUicoe in Sep'lIagiltl and Modern Study (Oxford.
1968) pp. 52-S8.
He
"'llues thaI "association direct or lodireet with l'hiJadelphus places
die
undertaking well hefore
die
middle of the thinl cenrury
B.C.
and that "Apart from the Aristeas tradition this i. bome OUI by
die
available
e.lemal evidence
...
Jellicoe
al5.
Il
See
WacboJder, Eupolemus.
p. 80.
19 Freudenthal.
AIC!XIJJfder
Polylril/or, p. ISS.
III I. Gutman. Ha Si/rul IraYehudi, IraHelie ;l/i, (JeIUS4Ilem. 1963). I. 2. p. /35. See Wacholder.
EupoIem
p.
lOS.
Wacholder also notes other attempled identifications.
The affinities
of
Artapa11u. with hellenislic popular romances were shown especially by
M.
Braun.
HlIlory and
Romance (Oxford. 1938) pp. 26-31, 99-102.
See
die recent evaluation by
D.L.
Tiede, TIu!
haris_ric
Figure as
Miracl# Worker (SBLDS I; Mis. .... a. Mont . 1972)
I ll.
146-77.
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I
nroughout
fhe
Near
East,
from
t;gypt to Bahvlon, the native
SOV("tign ltingships
been suppressca
by {he
Greeks, Subsequent generations looked to their past nostalgically
and tended to romanticize their history by stressing its antiquity and superiority, Berossus
of Babylon and Manetho of Egypt. both of whom wrote in Greek at the beginning
of tbe;
third century
B.C
were outstanding examples
of
such propagandistic historiography.
Manetbo initiated a long line of Greco-Egyptian writers (Lysimachus, Chaeremon, Apion)
who augmented the glory of Egypt by disparaging the Jews and giving derogatory aCCOuntS
of their origins. Fragments of these writers are preserved by Josephus in his Against ion ,
j
Josephus attempts to refute the charges of these writers directly. Earlier Jewish writers,
such as Artapanus,24 did not address the charges directly but took up the weapons of their
adversaries and produced romanticiZed histories of their own,
The competitive historiography of Artapanus has both negative and positive aspects.
On
the one hand, several details, especially in the treatment
of
Moses, appear to
be
implicit:,
refutations of writers such as Manetho, who had alleged that Moses forbade his
worship the gods or abstain from the flesh of the sacred animals Apion 1.239). r t a o a n u ~
claimed that it was Moses who established these cults. Manetho alleged that
invaded Egypt Apion I
.241);
Artapanus stated that Moses restrained Raguel
When
the
wished to invade. According to Manetho , the phar aoh had to protect the sacred an .......
from Moses
Apion
1.244); Artapanus contended that the pharaoh buried the animals
o
Moses had made sacred since he wished to conceal Moses' inventions.ln]'4l111etho's account,
the pharaoh sought refuge in Ethiopia when Moses invaded Apion
1 . ~ 4 6 ;
in Artapanus,
Moses conducted a campaign against Ethiopia on behalf of the pharaoh. Such implicit
refutations
of
the Egyptian account constitute the negative side of Artapanus' historiography.
More POsitively, he portrayed each of his subjects, but especially Moses, as a founder of
culture, and attributed to them all the inventions which are beneficial to humanity. Here
again the claim is competitive. Ai1apanus repeatedly claimed for Moses achievements
elsewhere attributed to other legendary heroes, especially the Egyptian Sesostris," e.g.
inventions in military matters, and in construction and irrigation, the division
of
Egypt into
thirty-six nomes, and victory over the Ethiopians. Further, Artapanus exalted Moses even
above the divinities of the Egyptians. Isis was taught by Hermes,26 but Moses was identified
with him. The subordination
of Isis to Moses is also expressed through the episode in which
Moses strikes the earth (which was traditionally identified with Isis) with his rod (PrEv
9.27.32),21
The foregoing examples may suffice to set the work
of
Artapanus in the context
of
the
competitive historiography of the hellenistic age. The purpose of the work may be seen as
an attempt to bolster Jewish ethnic pride in the Jewish community.28A similar purpose, on
a much more sophisticated level, may be attributed to such writers as Josephus and Philo,
The work is apparently directed outward to any gentiles who might care to listen. but
undoubtedly had its main effect on the self-esteem
of
the Jewish communily.19
Perhaps the greatest historical significance of Artapanus, however,
is
that he represents
a very unusual. and distinctly syncretistic, theological stance within Judaism.
heological
importance
Artapanus has been sharply criticized as one who was more concerned with the glory of
Judaism than with the purity of his religion.
3IJ
He has also been defended as an apologist
II See Collins.
Between A.thens and Jerusalem.
pp,
33-35
2l Josephus. Apian I. 75-105, 227-50 (Manetho); 288-92 (Chaeremon); 304-11 (Lysimachus); 2.1-144 (ApiOll).
ee }, G, Gager. Moses in GrecoRoman Paganism (SBLMS 16; Nashville. Tenn,. 1972), pp. 113-24.
l
E.
1:8-14:
Joscp/l
. . .
Ant
2.9.1
202r.
EzeHragPrEv
3
Thisman begata daughterMerris,'whom
he
betrothed
to
acertain Chenephres'
whowas kingovertheregions beyondMemphis(for at thattimethereweremany
9.28.2)
kings
of
Egypt).'Sinceshewas barren
she adopted the child
of
one
of
he Jews
E>
2;10;
and named it Moses. As agrownman he wascalledMousaeushby theGreeks.
J_llhus,
Ant
4
ThisMousaeuswas thet eacher
of
Orpheus.
As agrownman
he bestowed many
2.9.S-71224_
321: Ptnlo.
VII
useful benefits
onmankind,ifor
he
inventedboatsanddevicesforstoneconstruction
Mo I.I9
d. HeliopoJis (biblicalOn) was the cityof the
sun-godRe.
II is
listed
as
one
of
thecitiesbuilt
by
the
Israelites in
LXX
Ex I: II. Sais should be
identified
as
Tanis. capitalof Egypt during the
Hyksosperiod. Neither city falls within the
....
a
usually identifiedas thebiblicalGoshen. In Jose.
phus, nt2.7.6 (188)Jacob is settledin Heliopolis.
e.
Athos
may be
the biblical Pithom (Ex
I: I).
In Ex
l:
II
the Hebrews build cities at these
k")a!ions. Herethey build temples.
Fralll1l"nl3(Moses)
a.
This passage
is
problematic and probably
corrupt. The mosl likely solution
is thaI
"Abra.
ham"was erroneously written (pemaps by Poly.
histor) in placeof "Joseph" (so Merentiles.
Ho
IvudtJios LOlivs.
p.
26). Mempsasthenoth is a
plausible name for ason ofJoseph and Aseneth
Alternatively. it is possiblethat ..Abraham"is an
error
for "Jacob." and "Mempsasthenoth" for
"Psonlhompha nech" Ooseph's Egyptian name in
Gen
41:45. LXX).
b.
Palmanothes
is
presumably the king's son.
Like all the Egyptian names in Anapanus. Pal
manothes
is
fictional.
but
il
is
apossibleEgyptian
name.
c.
TheMSS read ruson. probablyacorruption
of San. San must.
like
Sais. be identified with
Tanis(whichshouldpossibly be identifiedwith the
biblical Rameses).
Strug:nell
sugge..
ts
Gesson =
Goshen)
as
anotherpossibility (privatecommuni
cation
d. Fragment2 (PrEv 9.23.4) alreadyreferred to
the buildingof
the
tempte in Heliopolisbefore
the
deathof Joseph.
e. In
josephus. the daughter's name is Ther.
and tht E g ~ p l i a n arms andthe imrlements for drawing waleI' and for wartare,
and
philosophy.Furtherhedividedthestate into36nomesand appointedforea
:h
ofthe nomesthe godto
be
worshiped.and fortheprieststhe sacredlett ers,
and
that they should be catsanddogs and ibises."He alsoallotted achoice areato
the priests.
,He
did all these things for the sake
of
maintaining the monarchy firm for
Chenephres, for formerly the masseswere disorganized and would atone time
expelkings, atothersappointthem.oftenthesame peoplebutsometimesothers.
60n account
of
thesethingsthenMoseswasloved
by
themasses, andwas deemed
worthy
of
godlike honor by the priests andcalled Hermes,'
on
account of the
interpretation
of
thesacredletters,
The Ethiopiancampaign
7
ButwhenChenephressawthe excellence
of
Moses he was envious
of
himand
soughttodestroyhimonsomespeciouspretext.Onceindeedwhen theEthiopians
J"'U$.Ant
2.10.1-2(238
campaigned against Egypt,m Chenephres supposed he had found a convenient
S)l
opportunity and sentMosesagainstthemasa generalwithan army. Buthe put
togetherahost
of
fanners" for him,supposingthat
he
would be easilydestroyed
by
the enemyonaccountof theweaknessof thesoldiers.
8
When
Moses came to the district called Hermopolis." with about a hundred
thousandfanners,hepitchedcampthere,Hesentgeneralsto blockadetheregion,P
and these gained notable advantage in battles. He (Artapanus) says that the
HeJiopolitansassertthat thiswarlastedten years.
q
9ThosearoundMoses founded acity in that placeon account of
the
size
of
the
army. andmade
the
ibissacredt h ~ r e becauseitdestroys
the
creatureswhich
harm
men.'Theycalled
it
HermopoJis(thecity
of
Hermes).
10The Ethiopians, even though they were his enemies, lovedMoses somuchthat
theylearned thecireumcisionof thegenital organsfromhim,and notonlythey,
butalso
alI
the priests.'
The plot
apinst
Moses
II When thewarwasendedChenephresreceivedhim favorably
in
speechbutplotted
againsthim
in
deed,Hetookthehostawayfromhimandsentsometotheborders
.Ioo
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