Jewish Cult And Hellenistic Culture ― Essays on the Jewish Encounter With Hellenism And Roman Rule

Collins (Old Testament, Yale Divinity School) begins this book of twelve essays with a review of recent scholarship on Hellenistic Judaism. He considers the encounter between Judaism and Hellenism as occurring in two arenas: in Israel, where most people continued to speak Aramaic or Hebrew; and in the Diaspora, where Greek was used by Jews and Gentiles alike. Contrary to the opinion of many scholars, Collins maintains that Jews in the Diaspora were neither tempted nor threatened by Hellenistic culture. Further essays address topics such as the limits of Hellenization in Judea, the reinterpretation of apocalyptic traditions in the Wisdom of Solomon, anti-semitism in antiquity, and the Jewish world and the coming of Rome. Indexed by author and by biblical passages. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

John J. Collins, Ph.D. Harvard (1972) is Holmes Professor of Old Testament at Yale Divinity School. He has published extensively on the Hebrew Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls, and Second Temple Judaism. His books includeThe Apocalyptic Imagination (Eerdmans, 1998), Between Athens and Jerusalem (Eerdmans, 2000),Seers, Sibyls and Sages in Hellenistic-Roman Judaism (Brill, 1997).