Aquila's Bible Translation in Late Antiquity: Jewish and Christian Perspectives

2009 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny R. Labendz
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Careful Analysis ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Bible Translation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Nuanced Understanding

In the early or mid-second century c.e., a Jewish proselyte named Aquila1 translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek.2 The translation survives today only in fragments, but both Jewish and Christian sources from Late Antiquity offer perspectives on and information about Aquila as well as citations of his translation. To fully understand the role his legacy played in Jewish and Christian communities requires careful analysis of each of the sources. I believe that prior scholarship, especially regarding ancient perspectives on Aquila and his translation, as well as the popularity of his translation in various communities, has drawn conclusions based on overall impressions of texts that may appear quite differently when examined closely and in context. My goal in the following pages is to develop a more nuanced understanding of the history of Aquila's Bible translation in Late Antiquity.

Jesus and the Birds in Medieval Abrahamic Traditions

Traditio ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 189-230
Author(s):  
Mary Dzon
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Gospel Of Thomas ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
History Of ◽  
Infancy Gospel Of Thomas ◽  
Complex Transmission ◽  
Locus Classicus

As is well known, the three “Peoples of the Book” have in common versions of the tale of Abraham: the “Father of Faith,” who, in return for his willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac, was promised descendants as numerous as the stars (Exod. 32:13; cf. Qur'an 2:131–33).1It is less well known that, in the Middle Ages, the three religions shared versions of a legend about Jesus dating from late antiquity: the tale that Jesus once brought clay birds to life.2Thelocus classicusfor this legend, which is not found in the New Testament, is theInfancy Gospel of Thomas(hereafter IGT), an apocryphal text that focuses on the childhood of Christ, particularly his amazing deeds and words. This text is believed to have been composed in Greek in the second century, though it circulated in many languages and was variously appropriated in the late-antique and medieval periods.3An examination of the motif of Jesus bringing clay birds to life reveals the complex transmission history of the IGT and its derivatives, in both East and West, over the course of many centuries.4More broadly, this story about the legendary Christ Child (an adult in the Jewish version, actually) and his command over the animal kingdom specifically shows the different faiths' understanding of the source and extent of Jesus's power and suggests a reaction to one or both of the other groups. The appropriation of the legend in each case tells us something about each faith's convictions about the way God's power could work in Jesus, and something about how each group viewed Jesus's childhood.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. xvi-4
Author(s):  
Pamela Barmash
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Law And Literature ◽  
Biblical Law ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Literary Context ◽  
The Social ◽  
Legal Texts ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ritual Law

The introduction to the Oxford Handbook of Biblical Law advocates for the study of both the law of the Hebrew Bible in its historical and literary context as well as the history of its interpretation in emerging Jewish and Christian communities. It explains that biblical law encompasses both civil/criminal law and ritual law and justifies their inclusion in a single volume. The introduction offers a survey of the organization of the Oxford Handbook of Biblical, showing how the volume offers a reappraisal of comprehensive issues in the study of biblical law in the light of the re-evaluation of the social, religious, and political context and ideology of the legal texts of the Hebrew Bible and the employment of methodologies from the fields of law and literature, gender studies, anthropology, and political theory.

The First Book of Maccabees in Syriac: Dating and Context

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-123
Author(s):  
Philip Michael Forness
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Christian Communities

Abstract Syriac literature exhibits interest in narratives associated with the Maccabees by the fourth century. Seventh-century manuscripts preserve two different Syriac translations of 1 Maccabees. The translation of this book into Syriac is not part of the Peshitta Old Testament translated from the Hebrew Bible in the second century CE. Its dating and the possible context for its production have not yet been the topic of scholarly investigation. This article examines quotations of and allusions to 1 Maccabees in Aphrahat, Ephrem, and the Martyrdom of Simeon bar Ṣabbāʿē. The last of these texts, likely produced in the early fifth century, offers the earliest evidence for a Syriac translation of 1 Maccabees. The production of a Syriac translation of 1 Maccabees in the fourth or perhaps early fifth century reflects efforts of Christian communities around this time to appropriate the Maccabean narrative for their own interests.

scholarly journals Communicating meaningfully with Muslims: Analysing the Melkite language shift in the light of Christian-Muslim relations in Northern Nigeria

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillipus J. Buys ◽  
Samuel Nwokoro
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Critical Time ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Northern Nigeria ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Rule Following ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
History Of ◽  
Muslim Communities

The Melkites were one of the eastern Christian communities that came under Islamic rule following the Arab conquests. To stay in conversation with their Muslim codebaters and political leaders, the Melkites were the first among the Christian groups in the East to have their theological works appear in Arabic. One of the eras of rich interfaith exchange in the history of Christian-Muslim interaction came from this period. Today, Nigerian Christians exhibit a rising level of Islamophobia due to violent Islamic practices that have gone on in recent times. It is equally true that Muslims may have their levels of suspicion about Christians in the country. In any case, the Melkite-Muslim interfaith history indicates that there could not be a more critical time for differing faith groups to stay in communication than a period of sustained tension. Keeping this in mind, what could Nigerian Christians, in a time of interreligious relational strain, learn from the Melkites about interfaith communication? This article provides an answer to this question by drawing on lessons in the evaluation of the strategic use of the Arabic language by eastern Christian-Muslim communities of late antiquity (7th to the 10th century).

From Missionary Translation to Local Theological Inquiry: A Narrative History of the Lisu Bible

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-219
Author(s):  
Aminta Arrington
Keyword(s):  
Minority Group ◽  
Local Leadership ◽  
Bible Translation ◽  
Narrative History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Christian Practices ◽  
Village Elders ◽  
The Village ◽  
The Waves ◽  
Bible Reading

The Lisu are a largely Christian minority group in south-west China who, as an oral culture, express their faith more through a set of Christian practices done as a group and less through bible reading as individuals. Even so, the Lisu practice of Christianity specifically, and Lisu culture more generally, was profoundly impacted by the written scriptures. During the initial evangelisation of the Lisu by the China Inland Mission, missionaries created a written script for the Lisu language. Churches were constructed and organised, which led to the creation of bible schools and the work of bible translation. In the waves of government persecution after 1949, Lisu New Testaments were hidden away up in the mountains by Lisu Christians. After 1980, the Lisu reclaimed their faith by listening to the village elders tell the Old Story around the fires and reopening the churches that had been closed for twenty-two years. And they reclaimed their bible by retrieving the scriptures from the hills and copying them in the evening by the light of a torch. The Lisu bible has its own narrative history, consisting of script creating, translating, migrating, and copying by hand. At times it was largely influenced by the mission narrative, but at other times, the Lisu bible itself was the lead character in the story. Ultimately, the story of the Lisu bible reflects the Lisu Christian story of moving from missionary beginnings to local leadership and, ultimately, to local theological inquiry.

The Making of the Medieval Middle East

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Tannous
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Religious History ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Conversion To Islam ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Muslim Communities ◽  
The Middle Ages

In the second half of the first millennium CE, the Christian Middle East fractured irreparably into competing churches and Arabs conquered the region, setting in motion a process that would lead to its eventual conversion to Islam. This book argues that key to understanding these dramatic religious transformations are ordinary religious believers, often called “the simple” in late antique and medieval sources. Largely agrarian and illiterate, these Christians outnumbered Muslims well into the era of the Crusades, and yet they have typically been invisible in our understanding of the Middle East's history. What did it mean for Christian communities to break apart over theological disagreements that most people could not understand? How does our view of the rise of Islam change if we take seriously the fact that Muslims remained a demographic minority for much of the Middle Ages? In addressing these and other questions, the book provides a sweeping reinterpretation of the religious history of the medieval Middle East. The book draws on a wealth of Greek, Syriac, and Arabic sources to recast these conquered lands as largely Christian ones whose growing Muslim populations are properly understood as converting away from and in competition with the non-Muslim communities around them.

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