The Phenomenon of Rewriting Scripture in Late Second Temple Judaism: Some Methodological Reflections on the So-Called “Rewritten Bible” Category

The term “Rewritten Bible” was introduced by Géza Vermes in 1961 to describe works from late Second Temple period that “retell” or “rewrite” Scriptures with characteristic changes. Since then, much has been written about this category of texts. Today some researchers are tired of discussing this concept, suggesting even a move away from the notion. Others, on the contrary, apply it to an increasing number of texts, including even works lying outside the specific context of late Second Temple Jewish literature. This article discusses the phenomenon of the “Rewritten Bible” (RewB) and takes up a polemic with certain approaches to the category, concerning terminology, scope, and character, as well as indication of the purposes of rewriting activity. The article shows that the category remains useful and important, within certain methodological clarifications.

Traditions about the Martyrdom and Resurrection of Daniel and the Three Youths

The article deals with the Christian legend about the persecution and martyrdom of Daniel and his three companions at the hands of a wicked Persian king. This story is found in mediaeval Eastern Orthodox liturgical, hagiographical, and homiletical texts and is based on extracanonical traditions similar to those of the “rewritten Bible” in the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. The article demonstrates how the “canonical” story about Daniel and the Three Youths developed into this legend, which narrates their martyrdom for Christ and their subsequent resurrection together with him. The origins and textual history of this legend are discussed, as well as its content and structure. It is demonstrated that this legend combines a martyrological account, which is similar to the narrative of Dan 3, 6; 2 Macc 7, with a reinterpretation of stories about biblical heroes. In addition, it is shown how the tradition about the resurrection of the righteous, which is based on an eccentric exegesis of the New Testament passages of Math. 27:52-53 and 1 Cor 15:6, functions in this legend. The liturgical, homiletic and hagiographical traditions regarding the martyrdom and the resurrection of Daniel and the Three Youths.

The martyrdom of Daniel and the Three Youths

This article investigates the legend about the persecution and martyrdom of Daniel and his three companions at the hand of a wicked Persian king. This story is found in Eastern Orthodox liturgical, hagiographical, and homiletical texts and is based on extracanonical traditions similar to those of the “rewritten Bible” in the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. The article investigates how the canonical story about Daniel and the Three Youths developed into this account of their martyrdom for Christ. The origins, liturgical function, and textual history of this legend are discussed, as well as its structure and tradition-history. My analysis demonstrates that this legend combines a martyrological account (similar to other stories about Jewish martyrs, for example, Daniel 3, 6; 2 Macc 7) with a reinterpretation of stories about biblical heroes. The legend also includes a resurrection story based on an unexpected exegesis of Matt 27:52–53 and 1 Cor 15:6.

Rescripting Sinai

This chapter interprets the Golden Calf narrative in the Qur’an as a profound, subtle, and intentional engagement with the version of the story known from the book of Exodus, reshaped according to exegetical predispositions anticipated by older late antique Jewish and Christian approaches to the story. It discusses the findings of the previous chapter in the context of both the Qur’an’s relationship to its literary precursors and the Calf narrative’s particular points of resonance with other themes and topoi in the qur’anic corpus. Though the term is a problematic one, the Qur’an’s novel treatment of the Calf story will be considered as an example of “rewritten Bible” here—a reshaping of an older scriptural story that is not only a reimagining but in some ways a re-revelation of a narrative with a considerably freighted history in previous scriptural tradition. This chapter also considers a possible context for the qur’anic presentation of the Calf narrative, particularly its subordination of Aaron as priest to Moses as prophet, in the conflict that traditional Muslim sources describe between Muḥammad and the Jews of Medina after the hijrah. At the same time, the chapter also takes into account the significance of central themes of the story such as transgression, repentance, and authority for the Qur’an’s original audience at a transformative moment in their history.

Religious Motives of the Creation of Old Testament Pseudepigrapha

В статье исследуется гипотетическое отношение авторов псевдоэпиграфов, как носителей религиозного сознания, к их собственному творчеству. Для этого выявляется специфика псевдоэпиграфа как особого типа текста, а также рассматриваются различные виды литературного творчества и его мотивации, с тем чтобы выявить наиболее релевантные мотивы. Также предпринимается обзор и критика существующих гипотез природы псевдонимии в парабиблейской литературе, включая концепции, касающиеся предпосылок и условий создания «переписанной Библии». Выясняются причины, по которым, отличаясь и от канонического текста, и от литературной фикции, но представляя собой то, что сами его создатели считают записью откровения, псевдоэпиграф не мог не быть псевдонимичным по условиям литературного процесса эпохи, его породившей. В конце статьи сделаны выводы о природе отношения псевдоэпиграфического корпуса текстов к каноническому. There is explored in the article a hypothetical attitude of the authors of pseudepigrapha, given that they had a religious consciousness, to their literary work. For such a purpose there is revealed a specifity of pseudepigraph as a special type of text, and different types of literary creativity and its motivation are examined in order to identify the most relevant motives. There is also undertaken the review and criticism of existing hypotheses of the nature of the pseudonymity in parabiblical literature, including concepts relating to the background and conditions for the creation of a «rewritten Bible». There are clarified the reasons for which pseudepigraph, differing from both the canonical text and the literary fiction, but representing what its creators themselves consider to be a record of revelation, could not but be pseudonymous in conditions of the literary process of the era that gave rise to it. At the end of the article, conclusions are drawn about the nature of relation between the pseudepigraphic corpus of texts and the canonical one.