Hellenistic Judaism Section
Society of Biblical Literature
Co-chairs: Annette Yoshiko Reed and Zulieka Rodgers

The SBL Hellenistic Judaism Section is devoted to the history of [1] Judaism of the Hellenistic period (that is, "Hellenistic" understood chronologically from Alexander the Great to Augustus), [2] Greek-speaking Judaism in antiquity (that is, "Hellenistic" understood linguistically), and [3] the interaction between Judaism and its host cultures in antiquity ("Hellenistic understood culturally and socially).

Tentative schedule for 2008 Annual Meeting, Boston, Mass.

For the 2008 Annual Meeting, the SBL Hellenistic Judaism Section will sponsor, together with the History and Literature of Early Rabbinic Judaism Section, a special evening session on Martin Goodman's Rome and Jerusalem:

Book Review Session: Martin Goodman's Rome and Jerusalem
SBL23-156 - Hellenistic Judaism
Joint Session with History and Literature of Early Rabbinic Judaism
11/23/2008, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Seth Schwartz, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Presiding
John M. G. Barclay, Durham University, Panelist (20 min)
Shaye J. D. Cohen, Harvard University, Panelist (20 min)
Tessa Rajak, University of Reading, Panelist (20 min)

Martin Goodman, University of Oxford, Respondent (20 min)

Discussion (40 min)

In addition, we will dedicate two sessions to the writings of Greek Jewish authors such as Artapanus, Aristeas the Exegete, Demetrius the Chronographer, Eupolemus, Ezekiel the Tragedian, and Philo the Epic Poet (i.e., writings preserved in excerpts by Alexander Polyhistor, Eusebius, et al.). One panel will focus on Artapanus, while the other will consider these authors more generally. Among the issues that we hope to explore, in these sessions = How do such works enrich our understanding of the negotiation of Jewish identities in Hellenistic cultural contexts? What might they tell us about the history of exegesis and the creative redeployment of Hellenistic literary genres? What are the challenges involved in reconstructing their aims and provenance?

Greek Jewish Voices in Fragments
SBL23-72 - Hellenistic Judaism
11/23/2008, 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM

Zuleika Rodgers, Trinity College - Dublin, Presiding

Sabrina Inowlocki, Université Libre de Bruxelles
Modern Scholarship and Identity Construction in Hellenistic Judaism: The Problematic Case of Artapanos (20 min)

Discussion (10 min)

Jed Wyrick, California State University, Chico
The Alleged Fictionalization of the Plagues and the Exodus in Artapanus (20 min)

Discussion (10 min)

Doo Hee Lee, Graduate Theological Union
A Comparative Study of Ezekiel’s Exagoge 68–89 with Aeschylus’s Persae (20 min)

Discussion (10 min)

Magnar Kartveit, School of Mission and Theology (Misjonshogskolen i Stavanger)
Gen 34 Used as an Anti-Samaritan Text in Jewish Writings from the Second Century BCE (20 min)

Discussion (10 min)

William Adler, North Carolina State University
Alexander Polyhistor as a Mediator of Eastern Wisdom (20 min)

Discussion (10 min)

Artapanus as Egyptian and Jew
SBL24-73 - Hellenistic Judaism
11/24/2008, 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM

Tessa Rajak, University of Reading, Presiding

John J. Collins, Yale University
Artapanus Revisited (20 min)

Holger Zellentin, Graduate Theological Union
Chaos in the Land of Egypt: Decoding Artapanus’ Message (20 min)

Discussion (20 min)

Christopher Stroup, Yale University
How Remarkable Is Artapanus? Questions of Authorship and Jewish Identity in Artapanus’ Work on Moses (20 min)

Robert A. Kugler, Lewis and Clark College
Hearing the Story of Moses in Ptolemaic Egypt: Artapanus Accommodates the Tradition, Revisited (20 min)

Discussion (20 min)

Break (10 min)

Business Meeting (20 min)

For further information (including abstracts of the above papers), please consult the Society of Biblical Literature website.

We welcome suggestions for ideas for future sessions! Suggestions and questions should be addressed to Annette Y. Reed and/or Zuleika Rodgers. Scholars interested in the work of this session are especially encouraged to attend our Business Meeting at the SBL Annual Meeting (11/24/2008, 3:10pm; see above).