Morten Hørning Jensen

Discussion about the Hebrew Bible, Septuagint, pseudepigrapha, Philo, Josephus, Talmud, Dead Sea Scrolls, archaeology, etc.
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DCHindley
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Morten Hørning Jensen

Post by DCHindley »

I found an essay by this scholar on my computer, so I must have downloaded it in the last year.

He seems to have a lot of information on The Herodian family, especially Antipas the tetrarch and Galilee in general (climate, politics, etc.).

Is anyone familiar with this scholar?

I liked his way of covering the subjects he investigates (very detailed), but he is also steeped in Lutheran tradition which occasionally enters his analysis.

The reason for looking at this scholar is that I was following up on my whimsical analysis of 2 Thess as a skreed against Herod Agrippa I, who was appointed tetrarch of Phillip's region. When Antipas, at the instance of his wife (Agrippa's own sister), petitioned the Emperor to reconsider around 39-40 CE, it backfired and caused Antipas to be unseated and exiled, making Agrippa I king of all of Herod's former domains until he died from cancer in 44 CE. My hypothesis was that Paul was a retainer of Antipas, and continued to champion his cause after he was exiled.

Of course, I think the "christ" passages were added later, and whenever Paul originally uses the term "lord" he was talking about Antipas, who he hoped would be recalled by Nero and put on the throne in a manner even more dramatic as Agrippa I's reversal of fortune. Agrippa had a very weird path to his kingship, almost falling into it after his start as a "looser" who was forced to escape the clutches of an imperial procurator in situation ever as dramatic as Paul's escape from Damascus. A connection to Antipas's household might explain why an ethnarch in Damascus representing the Nabatean' king Aretas' interests was so keen to arrest him (as a debtor to the king).

DCH
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