Scriptural Tales Retold

The Inventiveness of Second Temple Jews

Erich S. Gruen

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English

T.& T.Clark Ltd
22 August 2024

Christianity; Judaism: sacred texts; Sacred texts

Series: Jewish and Christian Texts

Erich S. Gruen investigates a remarkable phenomenon in religious and literary history: the freedom with which Jewish writers in antiquity retold and recast, sometimes distorted or bypassed, biblical narratives that ostensibly had the status of sacred texts. Gruen asks the question of what prompted such tampering with tales that carried divine authority, and what implications this widespread practice of liberal revising had for attitudes toward the sacrality of the scriptures in general.

Gruen focuses upon writings of the Second Temple period, an era of the deep integration of Jewish history and the Greco-Roman world. Gruen brings to the task the training of a classicist and ancient historian rather than that of a biblical textual critic or a rabbinics scholar, not pursuing the commentaries of the later rabbis with their very different approaches, methods, and goals. As such, Gruen's emphasis rests upon narrative rather than legal matters, the haggadic rather than the halakhic. The former lends itself most readily to the creative instincts of the re-tellers.

By: Erich S. Gruen
Imprint: T.& T.Clark Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9780567715173
ISBN 10: 0567715175
Series: Jewish and Christian Texts
Pages: 184
Publication Date: 22 August 2024
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Preface Abbreviations Introduction 1. The Tower of Babel 2. Abraham in Egypt 3. Sarah and Hager 4.The Aqedah 5.The Testament of Abraham 6. The Rape of Dinah 7. The Conflicting Character of Joseph 8. Tamar and Judah 9. Moses and God 10. Moses in Ethiopia 11. Moses as Universal Figure 12. Balaam and Wayward Prophecy 13. Yael and he Death of Sisera 14. Jephthah and his Daughter 15. Samson as Superhero 16. The Judean Monarchy and Saul 17. Solomon and the Building of the Temple 18. The Travails of Job 19. The Additions to Esther Conclusion Index

Erich S. Gruen is the Gladys Rehard Wood Professor Emeritus of History and Classics at the University of California, Berkeley, USA.