Scriptural Tales Retold: The Inventiveness of Second Temple Jews

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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.

Reviews

Gruen, a master historian of antiquity and a sensitive reader of ancient texts, beautifully illustrates The Inventiveness of Second Temple Jewsthis wonderfully accessible books subtitle. He shows that even from the earliest period, Jewish Scripture was never stagnant, but through creativity was reinterpreted and reinterpreted to remain ever relevant. * Marc Zvi Brettler, Duke University, USA *
In this immensely learned book, Erich Gruen asks an obvious question to which, typically, he provides a surprising answer. How to explain the persistent claim of authenticity by authors such as Philo and Josephus in light of so much inventiveness throughout Jewish-Hellenistic rewriting of biblical tales Gruen shows how these creative retellings, from Genesis to Esther, often underscored the power of the sacred narrative. This book is a true pleasure to read and will be of interest to scholars of Biblical Studies, Classics, and Jewish Studies alike. * Ren Bloch, University of Bern, Switzerland *
Gruen, an expert on Greco-Roman civilization and Second Temple Judaism, brings his expertise to bear on the literary creativity of the scribblers who refashioned biblical stories in this era. He shows, with his own literary flair, how these authors sought not simply to interpret biblical stories, but to entertain and edify, their writings laced with wit and creativity. A must-read for students, scholars, and mavens of the Bible. * Ronald S. Hendel, Berkeley, USA *
With his characteristic insight, Erich Gruen regales us with a variety of ancient Jewish retellings of biblical narratives, which use the scriptural text as a springboard for inventing tales that instruct, exhort, critique, correct, and entertain. Challenging the idea of rewritten Bible as a genre, Gruen highlights the creativity of these Jewish authors, who simultaneously offer new versions of scripture at the same time that they reaffirm its authority. * Benjamin G. Wright, Lehigh University, USA *

Author Bio

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