Jewish Perspectives on Hellenistic Rulers »

Tessa Rajak is Professor of Ancient History, University of Reading, and Horace W. Goldsmith Visiting Professor at Yale. She was Codirector of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Parkes Greek Bible in the Graeco-Roman World Project. Her many publications include Josephus: The Historian and his Society. Sarah Pearce is Senior Lecturer in History, University of Southampton and was Codirector of the AHRC Parkes Greek Bible in the Graeco-Roman World Project. She is the author of The Land of the Body: Studies in Philo's Representation of Egypt. James Aitken was Research Fellow of the AHRC Parkes
Institute Greek Bible in the Graeco-Roman World Project and is currently Teaching Fellow in Hebrew and Aramaic at Cambridge University. He is the author of The Semantics of Blessing and Cursing in Ancient Hebrew. Jennifer Dines was Research Associate of the AHRC Parkes
Institute Greek Bible in the Graeco-Roman World Project and a former Lecturer at Heythrop College, University of London. She is the author of a classic handbook, The Septuagint.

"The lively, serious, and informed discussions in this book provide impressive examples of the insights achieved when the Jewish evidence of the late Second Temple period is shown both to illuminate and to reflect the wider history of the Hellenistic world."—Martin Goodman, author of Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations

"What sets this book apart is that it bears the fruits of a truly interdisciplinary investigation into the topic. The result sheds light not just on Hellenistic kings and how they were viewed by their Jewish subjects, but also on the early Greek Bible and, more generally, the meeting of, and cross-fertilization between, Jewish and Graeco-Roman culture that occurred in the centuries following Alexander's conquest."—Guido Schepens, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

"This wonderful collection of essays illuminates many facets of kingship in the Hellenistic world. The essays range over Hellenistic philosophy, Jewish fiction, the nuances of translation in the Greek Bible and archaeological evidence. Richly informative, and enjoyable reading besides!"—John J. Collins, author of Jewish Cult and Hellenistic Culture

"This wide-ranging collection of essays brings together the too often separate perspectives of classical scholarship and Jewish studies. Jewish Perspectives on Hellenistic Rulers will be an indispensable reference work for anyone working on virtually any aspect of Hellenistic Jewish studies."—Sara Raup Johnson, author of Historical Fictions and Hellenistic Jewish Identity: Third Maccabees in its Cultural Context

"This thought-provoking book presents a series of superb studies on Jewish-Greek views of hellenistic monarchy that together are suggestive of the rich interplay between Hellenistic Jewish intellectual traditions and their deep connections to the greater world of the Hellenistic monarchies. The volume will surely stimulate much more work on the subject, and will be required reading for all those whose interests touch on the subject of Hellenistic Judaism and Hellenistic history and culture more broadly."—J.G. Manning, author of Land and Power in Hellenistic Egypt: The Structure of Land Tenure

Preface     ix
Abbreviations     xi
Introduction   Tessa Rajak     1
Theories and Practices of Hellenistic Rulers
Philosophy and Monarchy in the Hellenistic World   Oswyn Murray     13
The Character of Ptolemaic Aristocracy: Problems of Definition and Evidence   Jane Rowlandson     29
Rulers in Greek-Jewish Texts
Persia through the Jewish Looking-Glass   Erich Gruen     53
Ben Sira on Kings and Kingship   Benjamin Wright     76
The Image of the Oriental Monarch in the Third Book of Maccabees   Philip Alexander   Loveday Alexander     92
The Angry Tyrant   Tessa Rajak     110
The Narrative Function of the King and the Library in the Letter of Aristeas   Sylvie Honigman     128
Kingship and Banditry: The Parthian Empire and Its Western Subjects   Richard Fowler     147
Light from the Septuagint Translators?
Translating for Ptolemy: Patriotism and Politics in the Greek Pentateuch?   Sarah Pearce     165
Poet and Critic: Royal Ideology and the Greek Translator of Proverbs   James Aitken     190
The King's Good Servant? Loyalty, Subversion, and Greek Daniel   Jennifer Dines     205
TheTerminology of Government in the Septuagint-in Comparison with Hebrew, Aramaic, and Other Languages   Lester Grabbe     225
The Court Function of the Interpreter in Genesis 42.23 and Early Greek Papyri   Trevor Evans     238
Ideologies of Jewish Rule
The Greek Bible and Jewish Concepts of Royal Priesthood and Priestly Monarchy   Arie van der Kooij     255
Royal Ideology: 1 and 2 Maccabees and Egypt   Jan Willem van Henten     265
Constructing Kings-from the Ptolemies to the Herodians: The Archaeological Evidence   Douglas Edwards     283
Cumulative Bibliography     295
List of Contributors     325
Indexes
General     327
Ancient Sources     337
Modern Authors     357