The Socio-cultural setting of Joseph and Aseneth

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The Socio-cultural setting of Joseph and Aseneth

Howard Clark Kee

New Testament Studies / Volume 29 / Issue 03 / July 1983, pp 394 - 413DOI: 10.1017/S002868850000607X, Published online: 05 February 2009

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S002868850000607X

How to cite this article:Howard Clark Kee (1983). The Socio-cultural setting of Joseph and Aseneth. NewTestament Studies, 29, pp 394-413 doi:10.1017/S002868850000607X

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New Test. Stud. vol. 29, pp. 394-413

HOWARD CLARK KEE

THE SOCIO-CULTURAL SETTING

OF JOSEPH AND ASENETH*

One conclusion concerning Joseph and Aseneth on which recent scholarlystudies are in agreement is that the literary model for this fascinating workis the hellenistic romance. In both European1 and American analyses2 thatassumption is evident. But since the intention of a romance has not beenagreed upon - either by literary historians in general or by biblical scholarsassessing the aims of the writer of Joseph and Aseneth - the import of thisjudgment about the literary paradigm for our work varies widely. Burchardassumes 'that Joseph and Aseneth was composed for Jews, both born andnaturalized, including perhaps those "god-fearing" sympathizers whothought and lived Jewish, but never crossed the line formally and wereseldom pressed to do so. The document reminds not only the Jews of theprivileges they always enjoyed, but the converts of what they, or theirforefathers, gained by crossing over to Judaism.'3 This position is adoptedin opposition to the notion that the work was a missionary tract, aimed atenticing non-Jews to convert.4

Philonenko disagrees. He describes J & A as three different kinds ofromance: (1) missionary romance; (2) roman a clef; (3) mystical romance.s

By 'missionary' he means a document that will appeal to a questing spiritrather than a militant case for conversion. His second and third descriptivecategories tend to merge: both descriptions that Philonenko offers buildon history-of-religions analogies and mythical detail, which are to be seenas employed allegorically or in the form of evocative symbolic allusionwhich the sensitive reader will identify with, and thereby be drawn by thisstory to join in the adoration of the God of Israel. The links betweenAseneth and Neith (assuming that Aseneth means, 'one who belongs toNeith') are explored in detail, with lines traced not only to Egyptian andGreek mythology and cultic practices, but also to astrology and to Gnosti-cism.6 Allegorical meaning is found in the number of rays in Joseph's crown(twelve) and the number of windows in Aseneth's tower suite (three).7 Thesimiliarities between Joseph's splendorous arrival in his chariot and Heliosare not wholly obvious, but are made explicit when, in retrospect, Aseneth

* Seminai paper read at the SNTS meeting, Leuven, 1982.

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THE SOCIO-CULTURAL SETTING OF JOSEPH AND ASENETH 395

remarks, 'The sun has come from heaven to us in his chariot, and hasentered our house today.'8 A major point of difference between Philo-nenko and Burchard lies in their respective estimates of the significance ofthe four features of Aseneth's conversion experience: honey, bread, wine,and anointing with oil. Burchard considers them to be references to historicfeatures of ancient Israel - the honey means manna; the bread, wine andoil are a shorthand way of describing the supply of basic needs, then andnow - and are to be understood, not mystically, but as the blessing of thedaily bread at mealtime.9 Philonenko, on the other hand, sees sacramentalsignificance in all the details of the description of the honey, the bread,the cup and the anointing, though he is at a loss to identify the groupamong whom these practices developed.10

Burchard tests and rejects six different candidates for the Jewish settingof J & A: Pharisaic, Sadducean, Essene (including the Therapeutae), Zelotic,Philonic and apocalyptic. With some detailed qualifications, which will betouched on later, one can agree with his conclusions that J & A seems to fitneither the descriptions of these groups that have come down to us fromantiquity nor the documents produced by them that have survived.

Pervo tries to specify the place of J & A among the ancient novels, andparticularly those of Jewish origin. Since he considers the romances to beproducts of popular culture, he thinks that these works 'provide us withimportant data about the hopes, aspirations and beliefs of relatively ordi-nary people in the Mediterranean world of the late hellenistic and Romanperiods.' He classifies the novels, especially in the Jewish versions, ashistorical, national, and sapiential, of which Daniel 1-6 is his earliest andbest example.11 The author appeals to popular taste by clothing his messagein the form of an entertaining story, although the primary purpose is notto be identified with the hypothesis of Merkelbach that the erotic novelswere Veiled presentations of the actual cultic practices of various MysteryReligions.'12 He thinks that the love element is secondary in J & A, and thatthe work is to be classified with his third category: the Jewish sapientialnovels, such as Judith and Esther. Although his assertion that 'The Greekand Latin novels with a religious theme as a major purpose appear to besecondary'13 is ambiguous, he seems to mean that the earlier novels wereerotic, and that only later did they come to be used as religious propaganda.Yet Pervo's own candidates for the earlier sapiential novels - Esther, Danieland Judith - as well as what may be the earliest of the hellenistic novels,Xenophon's Ephesiaca,1* have religious propaganda as their first orderof business. Even those who would assign a later date to this particularromance observe that fundamental to the genre is the conviction that'appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, there is a divine powerwhich does guide and protect its special charges.' The romance thereforeoffers 'apologetics for a cult, or more probably for the cultural minority



396 HOWARD CLARK KEE

who are its devotees . . .' This was 'probably the earliest motivation forthe ancient novel.>1S Pervo's logic must be stood on its head, therefore:if Judith, Esther and Daniel qualify as romances, it is because they arewritten as apologies for a religion. Obviously, the erotic element is mini-mal in the first two and non-existent in the latter 'Sapiential novels'. Pervois utterly at a loss to account for the very features which are central inJ & A and completely absent from Judith, for example. Indeed, one won-ders why Judith and Esther are designated as 'sapiential' at all, unless,arbitrarily, any narrative writings from the post-Persian period are to beso classified, but in that case the word loses all significance as either a con-ceptual or a stylistic classification. As for the designation, sapiential, thereis nothing in Judith related to wisdom: the story is a militant, amoralaccount of the heroine's bravery and clever deception by means of whichthe leader of the nation's attacker is assassinated. By means of half-truthsand deceitful promises, which intimate that she is a candidate for his harem,Judith outwits Holophernes and destroys him. The superficial similaritiesto J & A are obvious, but careful examination of them will show how un-wise it is to draw literary or conceptual conclusions on such an unsoundbasis. It is true that the heroine of both stories is a beautiful woman facedwith the problem of her relationship with a powerful man who is a memberof an alien religion and with whom she must contemplate the possibilityof forced sexual relations.16 But the fundamental differences between thetwo tales point up dramatically that the interpretation of a text requiresthe interpreter to ask two basic questions of the text: What is the life-worldshared by the writer and his readership? What is the social function thatthe document is intended to fulfil? By life-world I mean the values, aspir-ations, views of God, world, evil, the nature of the group in which theauthor and his sympathetic readers find their personal identity.17

One basic difference between Judith and Joseph and Aseneth is that theformer seeks only the destruction of non-Israelites, while the latter showsthe desirability and the possibility of common understanding between Jewsand non-Jews, whether that stance takes the form of conversion or only ofsympathetic evaluation of the religion of the Jews, as in the case of Pente-phres. In place of Judith's trickery and plotting, J & A sets out the exampleof non-retaliation toward enemies, leaving vindication to God. Judith talksabout what God will do by his own hand (15. 10), but the action takesplace by Judith's own hands, which hack off the head of Holophernes.More is at issue between these two writings than abstract theological orethical points of view: What is basic is the differing answers to the twinquestions, Who are the people of God? and What is required of them tomaintain right relationship with God? These are not merely conceptualquestions; they are sociological as well. To ignore this dimension is toshort-circuit the interpretive task. Pervo notes that 'the first two-thirds of




[J &A] are occupied with symbolic and allegorical narrative', but he leavesunnoticed the fact that in his other candidates for 'sapiential novels', Daniel1-6, Judith and Esther, these features are entirely missing. In Daniel 7-12,of course, there is an abundance of symbolic material, but it is only to asmall degree narrative, and its apocalyptic orientation is basically differentfrom the mystical world of J & A, as Burchard and others have noted.18

What is called for, therefore, is to acknowledge that the literary or genericanalysis of a text must be carried out with constant inquiry about thespecifics of the world-view embodied in the document as well as the socialfunction it is intended to serve.

II

Significantly for our purposes, one of the most perceptive observationsabout ancient literary forms in recent decades has come from a study ofThe Ancient Romances, which bears the sub-title, A Historical Accountof their Origins. Written by Ben Edwin Perry, and delivered as the SatherLectures at the University of California at Berkeley, the author wants todiscount the notion that one can trace the lineal evolution of literary forms,and discern thereby the actualization of an ideal: 'That which generatesthe new form, and at the same time identifies it, is a new purpose or ideal,which acts from without upon what is traditional. . . What the old formsupplies is not motivation or causation, or inspiration, but only a loosestructural pattern and building materials of one kind and another that maybe used at will.'19 Perry scoffs at the notion that a genre 'lies deep-seatedin the nature of things' and is controlled by the laws of nature or someuniversal pattern. Rather, one must limit discussion of genre in a 'purelydescriptive sense', since to infer genre from content (externally considered)or content from genre 'is to argue in a circle'. That descriptive processshould note literary phenomena 'which may be greatly varied, multiplied,or restricted at will'.20 What shapes literature is 'individual fancy . . . artisticinvention . . . creative force.'21 Then Perry comes to the observation whichis central to our inquiry: 'Change in literature is geared to change in theway men think and react to life, both as groups and as individuals.' Thegenerative force that creates new literary forms, or alters older forms,operates 'partly because the outlook and interests of society as a wholechange with the passage of time and historical experience, and partlybecause every writer has a mind of his own which differs more or lessfrom that of any of his contemporaries.'22 Defying the charge of the so-called New Criticism that to inquire after the aim of the author is to fallinto the 'intentional fallacy',23 Perry declares: 'The purpose of an author,not his means nor the specific content and mechanical features of his book,is the only feasible criterion by which to classify it among genres. Any




other method leads to endless confusion and nullifies the value and use-fulness of the classification itself.'24

With full acknowledgement, therefore, that a genre is not a procrusteanbed into which a work must be forced to fit but a configuration of typicalfeatures which enable the interpreter to discern not only what is character-istic but also what is distinctive about the author's adaptation of the genre,we turn to an analysis of J & A in relation to the paradigm of the hellenisticromance. Represented in the surviving examples of the genre from theperiod (second century B.C. to second century A.D.) are the followingtypical features:

The work Serves as propaganda for a cult.It depicts a conversion experience.Conversion leads to a sacred marriage.The literary style shifts between narrative and poetical or liturgical forms.The plot is moved along by inner and external conflicts of the hero or heroine, with

deliverance accomplished by divine action.The climax of the story involves the death and re-birth of the hero or heroine, a theo-

phany, and the self-dedication of the hero or heroine to the god.

Not all of these features are present in every romance, but all are foundin J & A. There are important differences among scholars who have soughtto define the Jewish 'cult' which lies behind J & A.25 Burchard, for example,insists that 'Divine life is not mediated through the Law, through specialrevelation or mystical experience; it is obtained through the right use offood and ointment and by the avoidance of the pagan way of partaking ofthem.'26 Even if one regards this view as mistaken, as I do, Burchard seesthe document as written in defence of a particular type of Jewish piety,although he is at'a loss to classify it. Philonenko, on the other hand, tracesin impressive detail the likely links between J & A and a wide range ofmythological and mystical material, including the Iliad, Isis/Neith, myth-ology, wisdom speculation and astrology.27 Pervo, who is no more specificin locating J & A than to say that it 'stands somewhere in the middle of adevelopmental history in which Daniel represents one pole and the Acts ofThomas the other',28 does affirm the centrality of 'the religious message',29

noting that 'The first two-thirds of the work are occupied with symbolicand allegorical narrative.'30 But, of course, when one begins to speak ofsymbol and allegory - as Pervo correctly does in relation to J & A - thenone is no longer on the alleged trajectory leading from the stories of Daniel1-6 to the apocryphal Acts. Nor is it helpful to appeal, as Pervo does, toJ. M. Robinson's hypothesis of a line of development leading from thewisdom sayings in the gospel tradition to second and third century gnosti-cism.31 Central to Robinson's thesis is the fact that the wisdom traditionwith which he is concerned is devoid of narrative, consisting solely ofsayings. J & A is preeminently narrative, with the symbolic and liturgicalfeatures embedded in the course of the tale.



THE SOCIO-CULTURAL SETTING OF JOSEPH AND ASENETH 3 9 9

Obviously the central event of the first part of the story is the conver-sion of Aseneth from a proud devotee of the Egyptian gods into a humbleworshipper of the God of Israel whom she had earlier scorned. Does thismean, then, that the major aim of the book is to attract pagans to join inthe worship of the God of Israel? Philonenko thinks that it was, so thatthrough this writing the author was inviting the Egyptians 'to turn fromdeath to life'.32 A subsidiary aim was to offer counsel to Jews about mixedmarriage with the Egyptians. Burchard, on the other hand, thinks that ourwork was composed for Jews, whether natural-born or proselytes, to makethem faithful in and appreciative of the benefits accruing to Jews. But theabsence of reference to circumcision or baptism or the kosher laws in thenarrative seriously undercuts these proposals as to the aim and setting forthe book. What alternative interpretation is available that is more nearlyadequate to deal with the evidence?

in

The factors in the narrative left unexplained by the theory that J & A is adescription in symbolic language of the conversion of Gentiles, or that it isa tract to confirm Jews and proselytes in traditional Jewish practices, areas follows: the elaborate symbolism of death and renewal of life; therevelatory experience; the visual transformation of 'the convert'; the un-utterable mysteries, and the trials and miraculous deliverance of the faith-ful. Negatively, the absence of reference to food laws, to circumcision, orto any specific precepts of the Law, make it unlikely that we are dealinghere with traditional Jewish legal piety. It is true that women more readilyconverted to Judaism in the hellenistic and Roman periods because theywere spared the agony of adult circumcision, but since circumcision wasthe major factor in the conversion process, it seems odd that all referenceto this practice would be omitted in a story whose main aim was to por-tray conversion. If, on the other hand, we ask if there are within Judaism,as well as more broadly in the religions of the early Roman period, phenom-ena similar to those we have highlighted in J & A, the answer is, Yes. Letus examine both the document and the analogous phenomena in somedetail.

We begin our analysis by raising the question as to characteristic featuresto be found in pagan novels at the first and second centuries. There arefour elements in the story of Aseneth's transformation which have counter-parts in the mystical traditions of the early Roman period: (1) the sym-bolic death and rebirth of the initiate; (2) the epiphany of the deity; (3) thededication of the initiate, including partaking of a sacred meal and partici-pation in a sacred marriage; (4) the story of the conversion is preceded bya detailed account of the trials and difficulties of the devotee prior to the



4 0 0 HOWARD CLARK KEE

transforming encounter with the deity. Let us survey rapidly how thesefeatures appear in our document, and then consider the analogous phenom-ena in the Roman period cults.

The high point of the work is clearly that of the epiphany of the manfrom heaven to Aseneth. And the major focus of the epiphany is the dis-closure to her of unutterable mysteries (16. 7-16), which are linked bythe heavenly visitor with the participation in the bread, the cup and theanointing with oil. This experience is in answer to Joseph's prayer in herbehalf, that God would accomplish the following six transforming experi-ences for Aseneth: That she would be renewed by God's spirit; that shewould be formed anew by his hidden hand; that she would be made aliveagain by the divine life; that she would eat and drink of the heavenly sub-stance; that she would be numbered among God's people; that she wouldenter the eternal rest prepared by God for his people. Unless we dismissthese details as needless rhetoric, there emerges for us a picture of notmerely conversion, in the sense of a public change of religious allegiance,but a personal transformation paralleled only in the Isis and Asklepioscults of the second century A.D., as portrayed, for example, by Apuleiusand Aelius Aristides. These factors are represented in the very romanceswhich are a major focus of our interest.

The ascetic preparation through which Aseneth passes, including herdonning the garb symbolic of death (the black tunic) and her break withfamily and religious heritage,33 matches well with the preparations ofLucius for initiation into the Isis cult. Similarly, the giving of a new nameto Aseneth, with its symbolic significance, City of Refuge, corresponds tothe experience of those devoting themselves to the Isis cult, although thename itself and the connotations it carries are derived from biblical tra-dition.34 As Philonenko points out, however, the theme of flight appearsin both Philo and in hellenistic philosophy as a symbol of the basic meta-noia, 'change of mind' by which the earnest seeker of truth flees fromdarkness to light.35 Similarly, the imagery used by Apuleius to describe hisinitiation into the Isis cult and his movement through various stages of it,including escape from the cruelty of misfortune, is expressed in terms ofher role as cosmic source of light, and culminates in the epiphany when'about midnight I saw the sun shine brightly.'36

The epiphany of the 'man from heaven' to Aseneth alone in her toweroccurs following her prayer of confession (Ch. 11), her seeking refuge withthe God of Israel (Ch. 12), and her appeal and commitment of herself fordeliverance from her present condition (Ch. 13). The heavenly visitorcomes as her prayer concludes and as the morning star shines as 'herald ofthe light of the great day' (14. 2). The heaven is split asunder and an in-describable light appears. Aseneth prostrates herself before this vision. Onbeing approached and addressed by this heavenly figure she notes that her




room is closed so that no earthly intruder could reach her. After she hasbeen called by name for the second time, she addresses him as sir/lord(kurios) and asks him to identify himself (14. 3-6). Without giving hisname, the visitor declares his two-fold role: as stratiarch.es of the house ofthe Lord, and as archistrategos of the host of the Most High (14. 7). Thesefunctions are fulfilled by Michael in other pseudepigraphic literature, asPhilonenko has noted,37 although the leader of the heavenly host is earlierdepicted in Joshua 5. 13-15, where Yahweh's surrogate promises divinehelp in the conquest of Jericho. An outwardly similar epiphany occurs inthe experience of Ezekiel (Ezek. 1. 26-2. 7), but what is promised bythe heavenly visitor is not triumph over opposition but support in themidst of the difficulties that the prophet is about to experience at thehands of 'impudent, stubborn, and rebellious' Israel (2. 4, 7). The analogybetween the divine appearance to Ezekiel and that to Aseneth is madeevident in that both are instructed to rise to their feet from the prostrateposition to which they have fallen (Ezek. 2. 2; J & A 14. 11). Burchardhas noted the parallel between this and the conversion experience of Paul,addressed by the Risen Christ (Acts 9. 1-7). We shall return to this biblicalmaterial later, but for the moment we must consider evidence of similarphenomena from non-biblical sources.

Having besought the goddess to 'end my great travail and misery andraise up my fallen hopes', and to 'deliver me from the wretched fortunewhich so long pursued me' (Metamorphoses XI.2), Lucius beholds Isisradiant in appearance with the moon shining on her clothing 'like a flameof fire' (XI.3). Associated with her are the names of Greek and other god-desses, in addition to various characters from Greek mythology (XI.8).She is hailed as the one whose 'clear light lightens the other gods' (XI. 15).In turn she identifies herself as 'domina of all the elements, as the initialprogeny of the ages (= monogenesl), chief of the numina, the queen ofthose in the realms below, the first of those that dwell above, the uniquemanifestation of all the gods and goddesses' (deorum dearum fades uni-formis, XI.4). Her role is not dissimilar, therefore, to that of the 'man fromheaven' who visits our heroine.

Isis' address to Lucius begins with the statement that she has come inresponse to his petitions (XI.4), and includes the promise of guidance andprotection in this life, and a share in the life beyond death. In the secondstage of initiation through which Lucius passed, he was shown sacred books,written in unknown characters, the contents of which were 'wholly strangeand impossible to be read by the profane people' (XI.22). Similarly, themysteries which were disclosed to him cannot be revealed, though whatdetails he mentions hint at symbolic death and resurrection. His clothingincludes twelve stoles and his equipment includes a lighted torch - clearlysolar and astrological images. In the third stage of his initiation, he is told




by the priest of Osiris 'things not convenient to declare' (XI.27). Even theyear which passes between the second and the final stages of his initiationis described by the phrase, 'when the sun had passed through all signs ofheaven' (XI.26).

Solar imagery is dominant in the representation of Joseph as he arrivesin his chariot below the tower quarters of Aseneth. His complex crown,with its twelve stones and twelve rays, could symbolize the tribes of Israel,though it would seem singularly inappropriate for Joseph - the outsideramong his brothers - to fulfil that symbolic role. Far more likely is theastrological significance of the twelve, especially when linked with Josephas Helios: 'Behold, the sun from heaven has come to us in its chariot.' Weknow that the use of solar imagery in Judaism of the post-temple periodwas a common feature, and that it is regularly linked with the twelve signsof the zodiac. The mosaic floors from synagogues built in the third andsubsequent centuries, long familiar from the initial publications of E. Suk-enik and from E. R. Goodenough's volumes on Jewish Symbolism,3* havebeen importantly supplemented by a synagogue pavement from nearTiberias, which may be as early as the second century, and which includesintensely realistic representations of the zodiacal figures, together with thedistinctively Jewish representations of the Torah shrine and the menorah.It would be preposterous to suggest that these symbolic images are merelydecorative. Inscriptions attest that pious workmen were brought in by thevarious donors especially to produce these pavements.39 The portrayal ofYahweh as Helios in his celestial chariot was the central figure in the wholeof the synagogue spatially, and presumably conceptually, as the repro-ductions of the pavements show.40 That Joseph is represented in J & A asin some sense enjoying a special relationship to God is made explicit whenAseneth first sees him: He is the sun come to earth; his radiance fills theearth; his beauty is beyond ordinary human birth; she seeks to flee fromthe presence of this holy man; she knows that nothing escapes his notice'because of the great light that is inside him'.41 The solemnity and therhetorical force with which Joseph is thus portrayed may intend nothingmore than that he is a just man, and that he possesses prophetic powers,42

but far more seems implied when Joseph's heavenly counterpart appearsto Aseneth, also in a sun-chariot (17. 8), which resembles a flame of fire,and whose four horses are like lightning. We need not imagine that thissolar imagery had penetrated deeply into Jewish portrayal of the God ofIsrael in order to read J & A in this way; we have the concrete evidence inthe synagogue pavements of an only slightly later period.

The response to the epiphany in J & A likewise resembles that depictedin the Metamorphoses. Isis, carried in sacred procession, has her radianceheightened by mirrors carried by attendants of the goddess, her womendevotees. But the latter also reflect her brightness by the glistening white




robes that they wear (XI. 11). As we have noted, Lucius himself, at thesecond stage of his initiation, is publicly displayed carrying a lighted torch,white radiant palms sprouting like rays from his head. He is 'adorned likethe sun' (XI.24). Similarly, at the second stage of her experience, whenAseneth is prepared for the sacred marriage, she dons a robe that becomeslike lightning in appearance, her face becomes radiant like the sun and hereyes like the morning star, with the result that her foster father is astoundedat her radiant beauty (18. 6-9).

The actual means by which the transformation of Lucius occurred waseating the garland of roses that had been carried in the Isis procession(XI. 13). With this prerequisite behind him, he can then seek initiation into'the mysteries of the holy night', although it is only on the initiative ofthe goddess that his admission into the mystic circle was possible.

Analogously, Aseneth must first eat of the honeycomb in order toreceive 'the ineffable mysteries' which are to be revealed to her (16. 7-8).Thereby she is prepared for the next stage of revelation, which under theimage of the sacred marriage with Joseph, enables him to impart by threekisses the spirit of life, of wisdom, and of truth (19. 10-11). The symbolicmeaning of this embrace recalls that of Isis and Osiris, which is reflectedin the passionate kissing of Antheia and Hahrokomes, in Xenophon'sEphesiaca, as Merkelbach has noted.43 If for the author of J & A honeyconnoted what it did for Philo, then it is the symbol of divine wisdom,44

which is imparted by the provision through the man from heaven, as wellas - at a second stage - through Joseph, who is in the image of the heavenlyvisitor. The man from heaven declares that the honey brings eternal life tothose who partake of it (16. 14), and then goes on to tell her that by par-taking in this way she has 'eaten bread of life, and drunk a cup of immor-tality, and been anointed with the ointment of incorruptibility' (16. 15).

What is at stake in her participation is far more than bourgeois tranquil-lity arising out of the enjoyment of the privileges of considering oneself achild of God.4s

The account sounds closely akin to what F. Dunand has described inher outline of the changes in the Isis cult from the hellenistic period, whenit consisted of unorganized individual devotees, who were beneficiaries ofher grace in a personal and direct way, to the early imperial period whenheavy borrowing from the Greek mysteries transformed the cult into onewhich promised immortality. Isis and Osiris became the paradigms forthose who experienced a descent into Hades and the deliverance there-from. These new convictions found expression in cultic ceremonies, andin personal participation in meals and rites which guaranteed a share ineternal life.46 It is that view of reality which seems to have deeply in-fluenced the author of J & A in his telling of the heavenly encounter ofAseneth and its consequence for her destiny. This Isianic conception of




wisdom in a mystical role influenced in the New Testament as well, as weshall note below. As compared with Apuleius' portrait of her, Isis appearsin very different light in the treatise of Plutarch, who, as F. Solmsen hasshown, has intellectualized her by treating her as one of the forces ofnature, locked in ceaseless conflict with Tryphon, the power of drought,over the fruitfulness of the earth.47 The myth, therefore, functions in sig-nificantly different ways, given differences in cultural and social climate.As Dunand has observed, for example, in the first century B.C. hymnsof Isidorus, divine benefactions of Isis are enumerated, but there is nomention of mysteries. For the beneficiaries, salvation is visible in thematerial order: she comes to the aid of combatants, sailors, prisoners, thesick, in all the circumstances of a difficult life, but she never appears inthat period in any fashion as the guarantor of a blessed immortality.48

A central feature in Aseneth's response to the epiphany is the trans-formation she undergoes in the process of preparation for her wedding toJoseph. Her face was still marred by her fasting and period of contrition,but as she begins to prepare her wardrobe (including a robe 'like lightningin appearance', and a jewel-encrusted crown, 18. 6), the water in the basinwhere she was about to wash her face reflected her appearance, which waschanged in ways that are important for our purposes. Her face is like thesun, and her eyes are like the rising morning star. Her lips were like a roseof life. Her cheeks are (depending on the textual base used) like fields ofthe Most High - a likely reference to Song of Songs 5. 13 - or like the starsof heaven, both of which possibilities have been noted by Burchard.49

Whether magical transformation is involved, as Philonenko suggests,50 ornot, the vision of the heavenly visitor has altered her appearance funda-mentally. There is no baptism or sacred washing in the scene, since thetext reports explicitly that she does not wash (18. 10). But her companionprostrates himself in awe before her, as she had done before the man fromheaven (18. 11). Thus she is prepared to be the bride of God's first-bornson, Joseph, and her newly-acquired beauty is to be hers forever (21. 4).Even her parents are astounded at the change, which has given her theappearance of light, and a heavenly beauty (20. 5).

The full range of Aseneth's transforming experience is poetically sum-marized in the psalm-like confession and adoration with which the firstpart of the work comes to a close. After her long series of penitentialacknowledgements of her former arrogance and idolatry, she declaresthat it is the beauty and wisdom of Joseph that ensnared her and em-powered her for her new life. The climax of her conversion is fourfold:she has come to the God of the Ages; she has been brought to 'the chiefof the house of the Most High'; she has partaken of the bread of life andthe cup of wisdom; she has become the bride of Joseph forever (21. 22).Although it is possible that the rhetoric here is intended to convey nothing




more than the newly-found peace, privilege and sense of belonging that aconvert to the faith of Israel might experience, it seems far more likelythat the mystical dimensions of this liturgical language are paramount. Butbefore turning to what tradition within Judaism this mysticism might beakin to, we must examine the fourth feature of J & A: the report of thetrials that the faithful undergo.

Scholars have been at a loss to know whether the second part of J & Abelongs with the first, since there seems to some so little connectionbetween the two parts, apart from the appearance in both sections ofJoseph and Aseneth, as well as of their antagonists. Yet there are elementsof continuity between the two parts which should not be overlooked orunderestimated. Some of these are rather general, such as the light imageryin the portrait of the patriarch, Jacob, who is visited by Joseph and Aseneth.Included in this imagery are his angelic appearance, and especially thelightning-like flashes of his eyes and the physique that is compared withangels and giants (22. 6-8). But most striking is the portrayal of Levi, whois not seen as a priest but as a prophet, and a prophet of a type differentfrom the traditional biblical variety. His closeness to the Lord, his prudence,and his possession of prophetic powers would not be remarkable in them-selves, but his ability to discern and interpret letters written in heaven bythe finger of God, and to know the unspeakable secrets of the Most Highplaces the weight on the mystical dimensions of his role. These mysteriesare secretly revealed by Levi to Aseneth. It recalls the third stage of Lucius'initiation into the mysteries of Isis, and this is indeed the third phase ofthe revelatory experiences of Aseneth. Of utmost significance is the factthat Levi - and presumably Joseph - are the only sons of Jacob who haveaccess to these heavenly secrets. Others have lesser levels of perception, asdoes young Benjamin, while some of the sons of Israel work in oppositionto the divine purpose. It is clear, therefore, that in the mind of the writer,true participation in the people of God is not a matter of merely (1) bio-logical descent from Jacob or (2) conversion to the religion of Israel. Birth-right Jews, including the patriarchs themselves, are here represented as notonly failing to discern his will but also as actively opposing it, as do Danand Gad. One must raise the question, therefore, whether the revelatoryexperiences of Aseneth are not intended to represent more than merelyconversion to Judaism. More of this in a moment.

The harassment and dangers through which Joseph and Aseneth mustgo are perpetrated by the son of Pharaoh, with the connivance of therenegade sons of Jacob. These difficulties include an ambush of Aseneth(26), an attempt by the son of Pharaoh to assassinate his father (25), aplot to kill Joseph (23). All the wicked efforts are frustrated by a blend ofdivine and human intervention, of which the most spectacular examplesare little Benjamin's deadly accuracy with a sling (27. 1-5) and God's




reducing the swords of Dan and Gad to ashes (27. 10-11). Benjamin'sadmirable intention (but lack of perception) is evident when his effort tokill the son of Pharaoh is checked by Levi, and then is resolved by God,who takes the wicked son off the scene (29. 1-6). God's purpose is achievedwhen Joseph succeeds Pharaoh to the throne. Critics have raised the ques-tion why these difficulties are reserved for the end of the work rather thancoming in the earlier part of the narrative, as is regularly the case in thehellenistic romances. The question may be recast, however: Is there a typeof Jewish literature in the post-biblical period in which the revelatoryexperience is followed by the time of trials and testings? The answer isclearly in the affirmative. And the same literature that fits this descriptionalso contains accounts of transforming encounters with the divine. Thatliterature derives from the tradition of Merkavah mysticism.

The antecedents of this mystical development in Judaism are to be foundin the divine encounters of Isaiah of Jerusalem and Ezekiel. The two ofthem are granted a vision of Yahweh in his sanctuary (Isa. 6; Ezek. 1). Thedifferences between these two accounts are instructive for our purposes.Isaiah's account is straightforward. In the year that King Uzziah died, hesaw Yahweh in the temple. Though initially overcome with a sense of hisimpurity and inadequacy, he received the divine commissioning for hisprophetic task. Ezekiel's account, on the other hand, is almost whollycircumlocutious, so that his description of the divine chariot-throne isfilled with 'like' and 'as-it-were'. Ezekiel's vision is intended to preparehim for his mission to a rebellious Israel, which requires him to challengeand rebuke, and to do so in the confidence that beyond the impendingdestruction of the nation is the hope of restoration, including the marvel-lously rebuilt temple. As Paul Hanson and others have shown,51 this dimen-sion of the prophetic tradition led into apocalypticism. Daniel, in additionto sections of Isaiah and Zecharaiah (Isa. 24-27; Zech. 9-14), is widelythought to be our earliest apocalyptic document. The visions of Danielresult in the alteration of his appearance or his physical condition (Dan.7. 28; 8. 17; 8. 27; 10. 8). The divine confrontation is with an angel,usually identified as Gabriel (8. 15; 9. 21), but associated with Michael(10. 13), or merely as 'one having the appearance of a man', who turns outto be Michael himself (10. 21). The epiphanies experienced by Daniel arepreceded by confessions (9. 4; 20), and include, in addition to the apoca-lyptic information proper, the encouragement to endure (10. 12, 19) andthe grant of wisdom (8. 16-17; 9. 22). The wisdom, of course, is insightinto the meaning of the visions, whereby the purpose of God is revealed.

Now the obvious fact that what is disclosed to Aseneth is not apoca-lyptic insight should not mislead us into dismissing the similarities betweenthese two documents as of no import. In both writings, the epiphaniesoccur not only for revelatory purposes, but also to encourage the recipient




of the revelation in the midst of difficulty and to offer the promise ofeternal life beyond the present distress (Dan. 12. 1-4, 9-12) for thosewhose names are written in the heavenly book (Dan. 12. 1; J & A 15. 4).It is worth noting in passing that both these works place their narratives inthe Persian period, perhaps because of the influence of Persian angelologyand dualism on their respective world-views. Yet Merkavah mysticism isnot simply an extension of apocalyptic; rather apocalyptic is transformedas the mysticism develops in the later hellenistic-early Roman period, ashas been demonstrated in recent studies.52 Michael Stone's short study ofJewish post-biblical literature has shown that the phenomenon of ascentto the divine presence developed in at least two directions: (1) the mysticaltexts, and (2) such apocalyptic writings as the Book of Watchers, for whichthe goal is not mystical experience but disclosure of the fate of the FallenAngels.s3 The Angelic Liturgy from Qumrah describes the seven chiefprinces of the angels (= the equivalent of archistrategos and stratiarches inJ & A 14. 7?) and their roles in the protection of the faithful. As A. Dupont-Sommer has pointed out, this material in a first century document cor-responds to the seven chief angels in 3 Enoch 17-18, which comes fromas late as the sixth century, but which incorporates earlier Hekhalothtraditions.54 The description of the Chariot Throne in the Angelic Liturgyincludes such features as the firmament of light beneath the throne, thestreams of fire, the shining creatures in glorious garments - all of whichhave equivalents in J & A. As Ithamar Gruenwald has observed, the wres-tling with the problem of evil in the historical sphere which took a particu-lar form in apocalypticism was developed in the direction of cosmologicalas well as personal, mystical meaning in the Merkavah tradition.ss

The view of revelation embodied in this development differed fromapocalypticism, not on the issues of whether higher wisdom was grantedby revelation,56 or whether this wisdom was reserved for the elect, but on'the locus and focus of revelation', as I have phrased it elsewhere.57 Theeschatology as hope for history is converted into the eschatology of theself (and of other like-minded persons) to whom the truth has beendivinely disclosed. As G. Scholem has phrased it in his classic study ofJewish mysticism, 'With no thought of denying Revelation as a fact ofhistory, the mystic still conceives the source of religious knowledge andexperience which bursts forth from the heart as being of equal importancefor the conception of religious truth.'58 The scriptural tradition which isbeing appropriated by the mystical conventicle is public, but the interpret-ation of those texts may engage in allegorical exegesis, or it may seek topenetrate to a deeper meaning through symbolic perception. Yet beyondall that can be declared within the group, there is the ineffable mystery ofthe transcendent reality.59

Among documents which include Merkavah material of the kind just




alluded to are the Testament of Job and the Apocalypse of Abraham. Inthe former, it will be recalled, Job is asked late in his life how he had beenable to endure the sufferings and misfortunes that plagued him. His answerwas to describe the ascent to 'the chariots of the Father'60 with the resultthat he beheld the divine radiance and was transformed by it, being offeredassurance that God would support him and sustain him in all his trials.61 Inthe Apocalypse of Abraham, the patriarch is preparing to offer sacrifice,but is caught up to heaven, to which the summit of Horeb is the access.The appearance of the angel recalls the similar scene in Daniel 10, and thevision of the throne builds on Ezekiel l.The work concludes with assuranceof vindication.62 A consistent feature of these accounts of epiphany experi-ences is the imagery of the chariot, as representing the divine throne. Thisway of representing the presence of Yahweh is apparent in the biblical tra-dition (1 Chronicles 28. 18, where the mercy-seat is described as a chariot;2 Kings 2. 11-12, where the chariot of fire appears at the taking up toheaven of Elijah; Sirach 49. 8, where Ezekiel's vision of God is describedin terms of the chariot of the cherubim). And of course it is frequent inthe extra-biblical literature, especially in the Enoch literature.63 The inter-preter of J & A is obligated, therefore, to consider the significance of theimage of the chariot as it figures so importantly in the narrative of thatdocument. When Joseph first appears it is in a quadriga made of gold(5. 4). Aseneth and her family prostrate themselves before him as hedescends from it (5. 7), and she explicitly identifies him as the sun whohas come from heaven into their midst to shed his divine light upon theearth in their house (6. 2). Similarly, his departure is given cosmic signifi-cance, since it is linked with a reference to the day of creation (9. 3). Thevehicle which conveys the Man from Heaven to and from the earth is likethat of Joseph, 'like a flame of fire' and its 'horses like lightning' (17. 8).The links with the image of the chariot-throne cannot be missed. All theseworks in the Merkavah tradition depict someone brought out of darknessor grave difficulty, who has been privileged by God to see the divine reality.The consequence was to give them insight into the divine purpose, and toprovide them both courage and understanding, as well as divine supportfor life's vicissitudes. That, it seems to me, is a capsule description ofJoseph and Aseneth. But how can we classify it within Judaism of theopening or subsequent century of our era when it seems to have beenproduced?

IV

The temptation remains strong among New Testament scholars to seek toclassify movements or documents within Judaism of the early centuries ofour era by appeal to Josephus' sketch of the Four Philosophies, or to some




variant of George Foote Moore's 'normative Judaism', which reads backinto the period before Yavneh what emerged from that process as thedominant and licit type of Judaism. The important work of such earlierscholars as Saul Liebermann, in his studies of hellenism in Jewish Palestine,and the more recent monumental study by Martin Hengel in Judaism andHellenism is often not taken adequately into account.64 Rather than totreat evidence of hellenistic influence on Judaism during the period afterAlexander as odd or aberrant, we should ask ourselves specifically in whatways Jews were coming to terms with the pervasive impact of that culture.

Philo, for example, remains unique, not in that he sought to synthesizehellenistic culture and the biblical heritage, but only in the specifics of hisenterprise of employing allegorical exegesis in his effort to correlate Torahand hellenistic philosophy. Others, less sophisticated than he, undertookanalogous tasks, of which portions of the Wisdom of Solomon, Testamentsof the XII, and IV Maccabees would be obvious examples. It should notsurprise us, therefore, if still other Jews and Jewish groups that sought tostand faithful to their traditions, endeavoured to interpret that heritage ina medium which derived from the surrounding culture, a medium definedby both literary form - in our case, the hellenistic romance - and by worldview, which in the case of Philo and the writings just mentioned is a blendof Platonic and/or Stoic ontology and ethics. Traces of philosophical influ-ence on J & A are scarce; one instance is in 12. 2, where God's creation ofall things is described as transforming the unseen into light and the mani-festation of what was without appearance.65 But the chief interests ofJ & A are experiential rather than philosophical.

Although one cannot speak of a direct cause-and-effect relationship ofthe Isis cult and J & A, it is the changing image of Isis which seems to havedeveloped in ways that shed light on the portrait of Aseneth and her con-version in our document. From a role as agent of creation and of fertility(in the older form of the Osiris-Isis myth), Isis had become identified withMa'at as the goddess of Wisdom. But she also became in later hellenistictimes the benefactress of those in special need of health or some form ofrestoration. By the late first/early second century of our era, she hadbecome both symbol of philosophical wisdom (in the treatise of Plutarch)and mediator of the transformed life (in Apuleius). In the Gospel of John,the portrayal of Jesus has been powerfully influenced by the Isis tradition:he is introduced as logos, the masculine equivalent of sophia; his role inthe creation of the world and in the calling of his special people is depicted;he is the benefactor of those in need; he addresses his own in the first-person singular rhetorical form, exactly as Isis does in the authentic areta-logies66 and in Apuleius; he is the instrument of participation in the divinelife. Similarly, as we have noted in passing, Asklepios is for Aelius Aristidesno longer the agent of healing but the one through whom his devotee can




discover the meaning of his own existence.67 Though there are extraordinarymanifestations of divine power in J & A, there are no signs of direct bene-factions from the hand of the deity, nor are there addresses in the 'I am'form, apart from the answer of the Man from Heaven to Aseneth's questionabout his identity: 'I am the chief of the house of the Most High'(15. 12).In J & A, disclosure of the divine glory, participation in the food of heaven,and assurance of eternal life parallel the Isis material. In addition, the Heliosimagery and mythology have clearly influenced the author's representationof Joseph and of the heavenly visitor. What we see happening in J & A,therefore, is neither rejection of the religious aspirations and imagery ofthe pagan world contemporary with the author and his readership, nor abland assimilation to the culture. Rather, we can discern a careful adapta-tion of living religious tradition and of literary forms in which that traditionhas found expression - all in the service of the God of Israel as experiencedand worshipped within the Jewish community addressed in this document.

The central concern of the group in which this writing originated doesnot seem to be at all to encourage Jews to adopt a way of life in conform-ity with the Jewish laws of purity.68 We have had occasion to note severaltimes that the practices of circumcision and baptism are absent from thedocument, so that the standards of proselytism are not observed, or arenot important. Neither is birth-right participation in Israel of highest value,since many of the sons of Jacob are portrayed in an unfavourable light.What is central is the epiphanic experience of the God of light, whosepresence illumines the faithful seeker and transforms that individual, sothat he (Joseph) or she (Aseneth), whether of Jewish or pagan origins,shares in the divine life. While participation in idolatrous offerings is re-peatedly denounced, there is scarcely a trace of kosher laws as a means ofmaintaining separate identity. There is no clue as to the economic or sociallevel of the group; Aseneth's showering gifts down on the poor are notacts of charity but an easy way to rid herself of what she no longer values.The literary level of the work is adequate, with occasional touches of allit-eration and assonance, but the work does not assume the intellectualsophistication of Philo, or even of the Wisdom of Solomon. It seems tohave been addressed to an esoteric group of upper-middle class Jews andconverts, though it may also have served - like other romances of theperiod - to entice others to join such a group, while merely alluding to,but never actually disclosing 'the unspeakable mysteries'.

Finally a few brief notes about the bearing of the work on the New Testa-ment. We have already noted some analogies with the Letter to the Hebrewsand to the Gospel of John. Literarily, the closest analogy is with the Book




of Acts, which, like J & A, has adapted for its purposes the hellenisticromance, presumably to address an audience of comparable literary andsocial level. Acts, of course, has many features of the romance lacking fromJ & A, including speeches in public forums, portents, fortuitous meetingsof the various characters, a shipwreck and a miraculous deliverance.69

More specific analogies between Acts and J & A are to be seen, however,in the visions of the divine, especially those of Paul (Acts 9, when the lightfrom heaven flashed upon him; retold with differing details in 22. 4-16and 26. 9-18) and of Stephen (7. 55-56). Visions and voices permeate thenarrative (Acts 10 and 11; 27. 23 among others). The context of meaningin which these heavenly disclosures take place is akin to Merkavah mysti-cism. Although Paul's own account of his conversion omits - or is ignorantof- the details included in Acts, his own description of his ascent to heaven(2 Cor. 12) is seen by Gershom Scholem to be a paradigm of the Merkavahtype:70 Paul was taken up to the third heaven; told things he may not utter;given strength to endure his subsequent sufferings. The transfigurationscene in the gospels is likewise akin to this phenomenon. The significantdetails include the reflected radiance; the inability of the followers tounderstand what is happening (as in Dan. 10), the assurance of strengthto endure suffering; the presence of two others who had made the ascent:Moses and Elijah.71

J & A, therefore, is of importance for our understanding of the originsof Christianity. It documents that a significant segment of Judaism in thefirst century was neither nationalistic nor separatist in its outlook. It soughtto see Israel as an inclusive people, but the crucial criterion for participationwas to have shared in the divine self-disclosure which enabled the beholderto share in the divine light and life.

NOTES

[l.J Burchaid, Christoph, 'Joseph and Asenath' for Anchor Bible Pseudepigrapha, ed. J. H. Charles-worth, preliminary draft. M. Philonenko, Joseph etAseneth, Introduction, Texte Critique, Traduc-tion et Notes (Leiden: Brill, 1968).[2] Pervo, Richard I., 'Joseph and Asenath and the Greek Novel', in SBL Seminar Papers 1976.Missoula, Montana: Scholars Press, pp. 171-82. Also in same volume, H. C. Kee, The Socio-ReligiousSetting and Aims of Joseph and Asenath', pp. 183-92.[3] Burchard, p. 45. P. 115: 'not a Missionschrift'. [4] Ibid., p. 38.[5] Philonenko, J&A, pp. 51-98. [6] Ibid., p. 83.[7] Ibid., p. 81. [8] Ibid.,p.80;cf../(£/16.5. [9] Burchard, p. 36.[10] Philonenko quotes approvingly Massebieu: 'quelque secte mystique'.[11] Pervo, op. cit. [12] Ibid., p. 176. [13] Ibid., p. 177.[14] So R. Merkelbach, Roman und Mysterium in der Antike (Munich and Berlin: C. H. Beck,1962), p. 336; Johannes Helms, Character Portrayal in the Romance of Chariton (The Hague:Mouton, 1966), p. 17, who assigns the origin of the hellenistic romance to the same date. Otherswould place Chariton as the oldest of the genre.




[15] Hadas, Moses, Three Greek Romances, trans, and intro. (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1953),p. ix.[16] On Judith's beauty, Jth. 8. 7-8; 10. 19; 12. 16. On the problem of the relationship of Jewsto non-Jews, 12. 2, 20.[17] Here I refer the reader to my Christian Origins in Sociological Perspective (Philadelphia andLondon, 1980). German trans., Das friihe Christentum in soziologischer Sicht (Go ttingen: Vanden-hoeck & Ruprecht (Taschenbuch), 1982).[18] Burchard, pp. 43-4.[19] Perry, Ben Edwin, The Ancient Romances: A Literary-Historical Account of their Origins(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967), p. 10.[20] Perry, Romances, pp. 18-20. [21] Ibid., p. 21.[22] Ibid., p. 25. [23] As in Northrup Frye's The Anatomy of Criticism.[24] Perry, p. 30. [25] See, for example, Philonenko, under Note 10.[26] Burchard, pp. 35-6. [27] Philonenko, pp. 62-82. [28] Pervo, p. 177.[29] Ibid., p. 176. [30] Ibid., p. 175. [31] Ibid., p. 175.[32] Philonenko, p. 106.[33] J & A 7.1; 8. 5; donning the black tunic, 10. 8; abstinence from food, 21. 7, though the issueof kosher food is never raised; break with the family leads to new familial relationships, 11. 3-13.[34] The six cities of refuge are designated and their function described in Num. 35. 9-15.[35] Philonenko, who draws attention to the portrait of Tamar {De virtutibus) and to the identi-fication of Abraham with the city of refuge in Quaest. Gen 4. 120. Similarly, he notes that 'flight'is linked with repentance by the neo-Pythagorean philosopher, Pseudo-Cebes, writing at the openingof our era. He further observes that in LXX, the term katapheuxontai is used at Zech. 2. 15 (in MT,2. 11) to depict the turning of the nations to Yahweh 'in that day', 55-57.[36] The portrayal of Apuleius' misery in Metamorphoses XI.2.12; the account of the secondepiphany in XI.23.[37] Philonenko, p. 178, note on 14. 7.[38] Goodenough, Erwin R., Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period. Vol. I, The Archaeo-logical Evidence from Palestine (Bollingen Series XXXVII) (New York: Pantheon Books, 1953);also Vol. Ill, Illustrations, especially the mosaics at Beth Alpha, 248-53 and Naaran, 253-7.[39] See the discussion of the inscriptions in Goodenough, Symbols, I, p. 243.[40] E.g., Goodenough, Symbols, III, pp. 631, 632, 640.[41] J & A 6. 1-6. [42] As Burchard suggests, p. 37; note to 6. 6.

[43] Merkelbach, Roman, pp. 94-5; also R. E. Witt, Isis in the Graeco-Roman World (Ithaca: Cor-nell University Press, 1971), pp. 240-51.

[44] Noted by J. Horst in TDNT IV: In Fug. 138 (from Ex. 16. 31) and in Det. Pot. Ins., basedon Dt. 32. 13, honey is seen as representing divine wisdom.

[45 ] As implied by Burchard, p. 36.[46] Dunand, Francpisc, Le Culte d'Isis dans le Bassin Orientate de la Mediterranie. 3 vols. (Lei-den: Brill, 1973); in Vol. Ill, pp. 250-1. In the first century B.C. hymns of Isidorus, for example,the divine benefactions are enumerated, but no mention is made of the mysteries. For the bene-ficiaries of Isis, salvation occurs visibly in the material order, since she comes to the aid of comba-tants, sailors, prisoners, the sick and the blind, in all the circumstances of a difficult life. But shenever appears in any fashion - in this period - as the guarantor of blessed immortality.[47] Solmsen, Friedrich, Isis among the Greeks and Romans (Cambridge: Harvard UniversityPress, 1979), pp. 62-5.[48] Dunand, Culte, III, p. 244. [49] Burchard, note to 18. 9.[50] Philonenko, p. 103.[51] Hanson, Paul D., The Dawn of Apocalyptic, rev. ed. (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1982); alsoOtto Ploeger, Theocracy and Eschatology (Oxford, 1968).[52] Gruenwald, Ithamax, Apocalyptic and Merkavah Mysticism (Leiden: Brill, 1980); also MichaelStone, Scriptures, Sects and Visions: A Profile of Judaism from Ezra to the Jewish Revolts (Phila-delphia: Fortress, 1980).




[53] Stone, Sects, p. 35.[54] So Jonas Greenfield in his introduction to the re-issue of 3 Enoch, p. xxvi.[55] Gruenwald, p. 12. [56] Hengel, Martin, Judaism and Hellenism, I, p. 217.[57] Kee, H. C, Christian Origins, p. 153. See now the German edition.[58] Scholem, Gershom, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (New York: Schocken (1941), 1973),p. 9.[59] Summarized from my Christian Origins, p. 154.[60] Testament of Job 33. 9. Discussed by A. Dupont-Sommer, Essene Writings from Qumran,p. 334, note 4.[61 ] Kee, H. C, 'Satan, Magic and Salvation in the Testament of Job', SBL Seminar Papers, Vol. I(Scholars Press, 1974).[62] Discussed by I. Gruenwald./lpoca/ypfic, pp. 54-7. G. Scholem remarked that the Apocalypseof Abraham more closely resembles Merkavah texts than any other text in Jewish apocalypticliterature (in Jewish Gnosticism, Merkavah Mysticism and Talmudic Tradition, 2nd ed. New York:Jewish Theological Seminary, 1965).[63] Chariots and/or their wheels are associated with the presence of Yahweh in 1 Enoch 14. 18-23; 61.10; 71. 7-8; 2 Enoch 9; and in the Apocalypse of Moses 33.[64] A chief case in point is the new Schiirer, which mostly adds information without calling intoquestion the fundamentally flawed structure and presuppositions of Schiirer's original work.[65] Philonenko quite properly sees a kinship here with Philo, De Somniis 1. 76. He and Burchardalso cite Heb. 11. 3; Burchard underlines the later part of the passage, where it is the Word whicheffects creation.[66] See my forthcoming study, Miracle in the Early Christian World, esp. the chapter on Isis andmiracles.[67] Also discussed in my Miracle, chapter on Asklepios;and in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition,III, ed. E. P. Sanders (Philadelphia, 1983), pp. 118-36.[68] Jacob Neusner has made a persuasive case for the theory that the origins of rabbinic Judaismare to be found in Phariseeism, which, following the disillusionment with the Hasmonean rulers,turned from politics to piety, making the paramount issue for Jewish identity to be the laws ofpurity. In the process, their interpreters of Torah applied to themselves the standards and practiceslaid down in the Law for the temple, its cult, and its priesthood. See his Meaning and Method inAncient Judaism, Series III, pp. 15-101 (Scholars Press, 1981).[69] Also discussed in my Miracle, in the chapter on Acts, with special attention to the influenceon Luke of the hellenistic romances.

[70] G. Scholem, Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism and Talmudic Tradition (New York:Jewish Theological Seminary, 1965), p. 17.[71] Discussed in my studies in Mark, Community of the New Age (Philadelphia, 1977), pp. 132-4.


Documents

The Socio-cultural setting of Joseph and Aseneth