Language:
English
Year of publication:
2024
Titel der Quelle:
Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Period
Angaben zur Quelle:
55,1 (2024) 76-99
Keywords:
Midrash rabbah. Language, style
;
Hebrew language, Talmudic Foreign words and phrases
;
Greek
Abstract:
This article is a discussion of two Greek loanwords found in the Rabbinic text Song of Songs Rabbah. It shows that these words are best identified and explained through a comparison with a Stoic theory of fire, described and refuted by Philo of Alexandria. That these words, both hapax legomena in Rabbinic literature, are used in the Midrash show that at least some rabbis were conversant in Greek scientific terminology—and perhaps specifically with a version of this Stoic dispute. The uses to which these terms were put show that the rabbis deployed their vast, specialized knowledge where it was most important to them: interpreting the scriptures.
DOI:
10.1163/15700631-bja10077
URL:
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