Language:
German
Year of publication:
2022
Titel der Quelle:
Saeculum; Jahrbuch für Universalgeschichte
Angaben zur Quelle:
72,1 (2022) 59-104
Keywords:
Letter of Aristeas Criticism, interpretation, etc.
;
Bible. Versions
;
Septuagint
;
History
;
Hellenism
;
Jews History To 600
;
Alexandria (Egypt) History
Abstract:
Since the 1980s, Jewish writings in Greek from the Hellenistic age have been increasingly studied. The Letter of Aristeas, the legend of the Septuagint, is among those attracting particular attention. Weighing different interpretations, I ask (1) how the text operates to bring Jewish and Greek agendas in relation to each other – the notorious issue of ‘Hellenism’; (2) what can we find out about contexts, though there is no particular historical situation to which we can relate the legend. Nevertheless we can (3) bring together the observations made to come to conclusions about what the Letter stands for. As points of reference, I introduce (a) the tension between doing Jewish history and doing Ancient history as part of the traditional narrative; (b) the reception history of the legend, which is interwined with the reception of the Greek Jewish Bibel; and finally (c) a side-glance at “the cultural memory of the Abendland” (Jan Assmann).
DOI:
10.7788/saec.2022.72.1.59
URL:
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