Normative Judaism, or evolution from/after the Septuagint?

Discussion about the Hebrew Bible, Septuagint, pseudepigrapha, Philo, Josephus, Talmud, Dead Sea Scrolls, archaeology, etc.
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spin
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Re: Hellenism & Judaism

Post by spin »

Blood wrote:
spin wrote:Half of the book of Daniel was written after the start of the Hellenistic crisis.
Half of the Book of Daniel? I'd say the whole thing was written after/in response to Antiochus IV's reforms in the 160s. Daniel was probably influenced by Herodotus, as was the Deuteronomistic History. I'd guess a post-400 date for most, if not all, of the Bible. There is a pronounced Greek influence on the Bible.
The other half represents middle 3rd c. BCE. The statue in chapter 2 for example represents a state of affairs prior to the ascendency of Antiochus III. Whereas all the allusions in Dan 7-12 focus on Antiochus IV, the pollution of the temple and the coming end. None of this is true for the first half.
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A_Nony_Mouse
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Re: Evolution from/after the Septuagint

Post by A_Nony_Mouse »

Blood wrote:I wouldn't put too much stock in 1 Maccabees. It's pseudo-history, not based on eyewitness testimony, the letters are invented, and I believe it's much later than the second century BCE. It may even be a Christian or proto-Christian text. It's significant that no copy was found at Qumran -- it simply was not part of the Hebrew Bible.
Actually if you read Josephus Wars of the Jews you find it was just a border war supported by the Ptolemys against the Seleucids. Ptolemy gave Onias not only refuge in Egypt but built his a city to rule that was a copy of Jerusalem. Take that for what it is worth. From Greek sources we find the Ptolemys had allied with the Spartans against the Seleucids in their border wars. So when the Maccabes write a letter to the Spartans calling them brothers in Abraham it can be taken as simply saying, We are both on the same side with Ptolemy and against Aristobulus.

In this case giving credibility to the version of Josephus unexplainable things in Maccabes start to make some sense.
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